President Rodrigo Duterte called on medical healthcare workers of the New People's Army (NPA) to help the government's fight against COVID-19 as more health professionals were under quarantine due to the increasing cases of Coronavirus disease.

"Those NPA nurses, there are many of you, go down here. I assure you if you give us in advance a notice that you are going down to participate in this, the people who are offering their services, since I am going to pay, you can help," Duterte said during his Talk to The People on Thursday night.

"If you go down with a good motivation and you do it, I will order, you can go around and you will not be arrested. And if you are arrested, I will order your release. When you return, same guarantee, after that, you can go back to your unit and fight another day," he added.

Duterte said he may also invite the NPA nurses to the Palace for coffee if they volunteer to help in the fight against Covid-19.

"If you're going down to help, after that let's have coffee in my office, in the palace of the people," he said.

"I will be gracious as long as you do it for your fellow men, I will be very happy. I will be gracious and we will even eat here," he added.

Meanwhile, Duterte vowed to increase the 5,000 pesos special risk allowance for the volunteer healthcare workers.

"I think that the 5,000 is too small considering the attendant danger to the guys, they should be given more. You take into account the possibility of danger they themselves will get because they have to go near and they have to treat those people," he said.

"I will increase. I cannot say yet how much, we do not yet have a budget here. To those who are entertaining the idea of getting into the role of volunteers, I will raise the amount," he added. Robina Asido/DMS