16,000 Health Leaders Still Not Receiving COVID-19 Hazard Payment: DOH

MANILA – Some 16,000 healthcare workers have yet to receive their hazard pay for serving the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic due to lack of funds, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

The government disbursed about P842 million for the dangerous benefit of 86,348 front-line doctors, but 16,764 health workers have not received the benefit, said Senator Pia Cayetano, who sponsored the DOH’s proposed 2021 budget in plenary.

“The reason for this is that there are no more funds,” he said.

“They only have enough for the time that Bayanihan was in effect … so for new hires, that might have to be a separate assignment,” he said, referring to the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the Philippines’ first COVID. Package of 19 aids.

The government needs P108.2 million more to cover the benefit for dangerous living conditions of the 16,000 health workers, he said.

According to Administrative Order No. 35 of President Rodrigo Duterte, healthcare workers are entitled to receive a P3,000 hazard payment for each month of service.

Administrative Order No. 36 grants healthcare professionals an “additional special COVID risk allowance not to exceed P5,000 per month.”

Although 60,682 health workers have received their special risk subsidy, there are still those who remain unpaid, Cayetano said.

“DOH is seeking clarification from various agencies … for clarification as to whether public health workers at DOH central and regional offices are entitled to receive it,” he said.

“There are healthcare workers who are not technically on the front line … They are waiting for legal opinion from the Justice Department,” he said.

Senator Francis Pangilinan, who asked about the status of benefits for healthcare workers, urged the government to continue funding special benefits for medical workers who are crucial players in the country’s fight against the global pandemic.

“We do not want to get into the bureaucratic quagmire … where none of the avant-garde who fell and died have not received the support that was their due,” he said.

Cayetano said the DOH “intends to request” another budget to cover the program by passing a third Bayanihan law.

Senators previously agreed to pass a resolution urging the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release remaining funds under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) to continually fund the government’s COVID-19 response programs.

As of October, the DBM has released P78 billion, roughly half of the P165 billion funding that the government is authorized to spend under Bayanihan 2.

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