Ben Madilynn
THE Department of Health (DOH) said on Saturday, September 21, 2024, that 64 percent of the remaining P27.3 billion unpaid Covid-19 health emergency allowance (HEA) to healthcare workers have already been disbursed.
In a statement, the DOH said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) immediately released a Special Allotment Release Order (Saro) to enable the health department to fulfill the obligation following the instruction of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to fully fund the remaining arrears within the year rather than wait for the national budget for 2025.
The DOH said as of September 21, the HEA obligation of P103.5 billion is 90 percent paid.
“Ang sobrang bayad na di naman nagamit at siyang isinauli ng PhilHealth ay naging pang pondo para sa HEA ng ating mga health workers. Lumipat po mula sa bangko, papunta sa tao. Sa ngalan ng ating mga Covid-19 frontliners, maraming salamat po,” Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said.
The DOH said health facilities have been key players in the final payment of HEA to health workers themselves.
The agency has listed 2,853 facilities to which checks have been issued to 2,070 or 73 percent of them.
In compliance with Commission on Audit guidelines, the DOH is continually reminding 517 health facilities to finalize the memorandum of agreement, and 649 of them to completely liquidate previous payments. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
