P1-B benefits for health workers out next week

MANILA – The Department of Health ( DOH) will start distributing next week about P1 billion in COVID-19 benefits for healthcare workers due them in the first two years of the pandemic.

DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Tuesday that the Department of Budget (DBM) has approved the health agency’s request to release P1.04 billion for the payment of special risk allowances (SRA) of 55,211 eligible health-care workers.

According to the DOH, SRA is a monthly allowance of not more than P5,000 for healthcare workers who catered to or had “direct contact” with COVID-19 patients from Sept. 15, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

“[ It] is currently being processed. We wi l l be downloading [ the funds] to our regional offices. So hopefully, next week, we can start disbursing these for our health-care workers,” she said at a press briefing.

However, the DOH has yet to get funding from the DBM for the health emergency allowance (HEA) worth P11.5 billion for services rendered from January to June this year, she noted.

Also on Tuesday, health workers’ unions from private and public hospitals mounted a protest in front of the DOH headquarters to demand

Healthcare workers attend to patients at the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital in Manila. After more than two years, they will finally receive their special risk allowance.