DOH to settle P27-B special allowances for COVID-19 health frontliners

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DOH to settle P27-B special allowances for COVID-19 health frontliners

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

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MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) is set to complete the disbursement of the P27 billion needed to pay the health emergency allowance (HEA) of health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said on Tuesday.

The DOH has released P10 billion in July, and will disburse P9.8 billion in August, P4.5 billion in September and P2.9 billion in October to finally settle the HEA of pandemic health workers, said DOH Undersecretary Achilles Gerard Bravo.

“Due to cash progrmming, staggard, by phases ang release natin,” he said during a Senate Committee on Health hearing.

“By October we should be able to release all the P27 billion,” he said.

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At least 6 hospitals in Metro Manila have yet to release months-worth of special allowances for their pandemic frontliners, according to Ronald Ignacio of the Untied Private Hospital Union.

“Marami pa kami nakukuhang reports sa mga non-unionized members namin na hindi pa nila nakukuha ang kanilang HEA,” he told senators.

“Napapatawan yung mga workers doon ng sanction at reprimand pag nagtatanong tungkol sa HEA nila,” he said.

Several health workers were unable to receive their allowances due to the late submission of their requests, while other hospitals could not receive funds from the government until they complete their respective liquidation papers, the Bravo said.

“Unfortunately, after ng cut-off date namin sa May 20, naka-receive pa din kami ng request for appeals,” he said.

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As of July, the late requests have amounted to P2.3 billion, the Health Undersecretary said, noting that the amount does not include the requests of barangay health workers.

“We will subject this to validation and kung kaya pa ba subject to the availability of funds,” he said.

“Once validated, we will check if we can still accommodate them in our budget, if not, we will ask DBM for additional funds,” he said, referring to the Department of Budget and Management.

The HEA is provided for under Republic Act 11712 or the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act, which entitles healthcare workers to receive HEA for every month of service during public health emergencies, like the COVID pandemic.

Under the law, those deployed in "low risk areas" shall be given at least P3,000, at least P6,000 for those in "medium risk areas", and at least P9,000 for those in "high risk areas".

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According to the DBM, it has already released P91.283 billion to the DOH for the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances (PHEBA), which covers "all benefits for healthcare workers from 2021 to 2023".

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