Ben Madilynn
THE Zamboanga City Government, through the City Health Office, has released a P71 million Health Emergency Allowance (HEA) to 1,600 frontliners and health workers who served during the pandemic.
Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe said those who received HEA on Saturday, August 31, are those who served during the pandemic under the City Government.
Dalipe said the allowance is based on the risk of exposure, as mandated under the Department of Health (DOH) guidelines — high risk is equivalent to P9,000 a month; moderate risk — P6,000 a month; while low risk is equivalent to P3,000 a month.
The other beneficiaries received their HEA through their automated teller machine (ATM) accounts.
Dalipe said the health workers deserve the benefits for risking their lives to save people from Covid-1 during the pandemic.
The DOH-Zamboanga Peninsula on August 6 downloaded the last tranche of unpaid Covid-19 HEA for the city’s 2,117 health workers in the amount of P148 million.
The downloaded amount pays the remaining 19 unpaid months that the health workers, including job order employees, barangay health workers and those assigned to isolation facilities, are entitled to receive.
The unpaid months cover July to December 2021, July to December 2022, and January to July 2023.
The HEA is based on Republic Act 11712, an act granting mandatory continuing benefits and allowances to public and private health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic and other future public health emergencies. (SunStar Zamboanga)
