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| PH health workers' allowance was once again delayed. (Photo from ABS CBN news website) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] Senators questioned the “delay” in the special risk allowance (SRA) for healthcare workers provided under the Bayanihan to Recover as One-Act.
“What is the cause of this delay?” senators said in their compiled comments and questions on President Rodrigo Duterte’s first monthly report to Congress to carry out the Bayanihan 2 law. “The problem with distributing the Special Risk Allowance (SRA) for health workers has been a persistent issue and a recurring complaint of healthcare professionals,” they added.
The President’s monthly report showed that the Department of Health has only “just recently submitted” to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) the cost estimates for the granting of SRA and hazard pay of private and public healthcare workers,” according to the senators. They also sought a separate report on implementing the provision that grants compensation to healthcare workers who contract or have died of COVID-19 in the line of duty. This report includes the list of medical workers who received and who have yet to receive such benefits to “ensure that the same issue in the delay of receipt of benefits” will not happen again. Under the Bayanihan 2 law, the President is authorized to grant P15,000 in cash aid to healthcare workers who contract a mild infection of COVID-19 in the line of duty.
