Palace: Compensation given to kin of 26 of 30 health workers who died of COVID-19
MANILA, Philippines — Most of the families of health workers who died of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 have received compensation, Malacañang said Tuesday.
Under the 'Bayanihan' law, which sought to strengthen the government's response to the pandemic, families of health workers who died of COVID-19 will be given P1 million each. Medical frontliners who got severely ill while on duty will receive P100,000 each.
The health department has been criticized for the delayed release of compensation to the health workers, prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to give the agency until Monday to finish the distribution.
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Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said 26 out of 30 families of health workers who had died have been given P1 million. He said four families are still waiting for special power of attorney. Two of the families are abroad and two have been delisted because they are not eligible to receive the compensation.
With regard to the health workers who got severely ill while attending to coronavirus patients, 17 out of 18 have received checks worth P100,000.
"We will keep an eye on this. The president gave them until today (June 9) to completely deliver the benefits accorded our frontliners," Roque said at a press briefing.
"The president issued a deadline and so far no agency has failed to meet deadlines...Let's just say that I am hoping that DOH (Department of Health) officials can actually fulfill what the president wants them to do," he added.
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DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III has blamed his subordinates for the delay in the release of compensation to the health workers. Duterte has said health personnel who are responsible for the delay should be fired.
Roque said no official has been fired so far because the deadline set by the president has not yet lapsed.
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