Gov’t releases P1B for health workers’ incentives

MORE than 50,000 health workers will benefit from the release of more than P1 billion earmarked for their special risk allowance (SRA), according to the Department of Health (DoH).

Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Tuesday said the DBM has released the special allotment release order or SARO of P1.04 billion to the DoH on Monday.

The DBM said qualified health workers will receive a grant of P5,000 per month for services they rendered during the national emergency.

Qualified health workers refer to medical, allied medical and other personnel assigned

to hospitals and health care facilities who are directly catering to or in contact with Covid-19 patients, persons under investigation or persons under monitoring.

The DBM said the release of the funding for the Covid-19 is in accordance with Republic Act (RA) 11494 or the “Bayanihan to Recover As One Act.” RA 11494 mandates provision of allowances and benefits to all public and private health workers catering to or are in contact with Covid-19 patients.

In a media briefing on Tuesday, Health Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said 55,211 health care workers will get their SRAs from September 2020 to June 2021.

“These are just backpays from 2020 to 2021,” Vergeire said.

She added that the DoH requested an additional allotment of P11.5 billion from the DBM for the unpaid health emergency allowance from January to June of this year.

Around 1.617 million health care workers in the private and public sector are eligible for the health emergency allowance, which is covered under RA 11712 passed this year.

Vergeire said they have also made a request in the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP) for the health emergency allowance, which includes P76 billion for the payment of emergency benefits for 805,000 health care workers next year.

Congress only gave the DoH P37 billion for health care worker benefits for 2023.

“When the NEP was released, what was indicated is P19 billion for programmed and P18 billion for unprogrammed funds, and this is not enough, as you would still need P39 billion to complete the P76 billion to pay 805,000 health care workers,” Vergeire said.

Aside from this, the government also needs P64 billion in backpay for the health emergency allowance from June to December 2021 as stipulated in RA 11712.

“We have arrears to our health care workers because the law for health emergency allowance specifically states that we should pay them retroactively from June to December 2021, and we don’t have funds for it. This is what we are requesting Congress so we can pay them,” Vergeire said.

She also said the DoH remains committed to the payment of special allowances for health care workers as long as there is available funding from the DBM.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Health Care Workers also on Tuesday staged a protest rally in front of the DoH building in Tayuman, Manila, to call for the release of their benefits.

They also called on the DoH and the government to raise health care workers’ salaries and stop the hiring of contractuals and instead fill those positions with regular health care workers.

“This fight is not just a matter of fulfilling the economic needs of the health workers, but rather this is a fight for justice. We are deprived of our rights to avail of what is provided for by law,” Cristy Donguines, president of the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center Employees Union-AHW, said.