By Pearl Gumapos
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday (Aug. 15) released to the Department of Health (DOH) its requested P311 million worth of special risk allowance, DOH Sec. Francisco Duque III said during the Senate’s Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the same day.
“It’s already been released, I am told, so we will already download this to the regions, to the hospitals,” Duque said.
“We were able to finance the SRA for the 20,000 healthcare workers whose claims have not been paid under [the] Bayanihan 2 law, and we released it today. DOH will be downloading it, I would assume, starting this afternoon,” DBM officer-in-charge Tina Canda said during the hearing.
“Ang pondo nito para sa government healthcare workers ay kukunin ito sa miscellaneous personnel benefits fund,” Canda added during the Laging Handa public briefing on the same day.
“Tapos ‘yun namang iba, kukunin mula sa isang unprogrammed appropriation. Mayroon namang cash backup ‘yun para bayaran ang mga healthcare workers coming from the private sector,” she said.
According to Canda, the special risk allowance will first be given to health workers that have been directly affected.
“Ang DOH ang magbibigay sa amin ng listahan kung magkano; kung saka-sakaling bibigyan ito, ano ang magnitude at saka ilan itong mga healthcare workers na ito. Kasi, pati daw empleyado o nagda-drive ng ambulansya covered nitong [special risk allowance],” she said. – bny
