DOH awaits last tranche of pandemic workers' unpaid COVID-19 allowance

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said that the department is waiting for the release of the final tranche of all unpaid COVID-19 Health Emergency Allowance (HEA) for health workers, which the Department of Budget and Management scheduled for release today.

Herbosa told reporters on Friday that once the funds for the HEA are released, this will be downloaded to the DOH before being downloaded again to the regional offices.

The regional offices "know who will be the claimants from private and local hospitals," Herbosa said in a mix of English and Filipino.

The DOH chief said the P27 billion that the DBM will release on Friday is the last tranche to settle all unpaid HEA claims of health workers, making it "very good news for our healthcare workers." 

Herbosa said each hospital will consolidate worker claims into low, medium, and high-risk categories, with payment amounts depending on where they work. 

He estimates that payments should be distributed to healthcare workers within a month.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) on Friday questioned the timing of the release of the funds a few weeks before the president's third State of the Nation Address, which will be delivered on July 22.

The group added that they "welcome" the president's directive to release the funds, but "[are] not surprised."

"Why is it only now if there was funding available all along?” the group said.

"“We hope that all health workers in private and LGU hospitals and health facilities will be fully paid of their much deserved HEA because during our dialogue with DBM Secretary Pangandaman last April 11, 2024, DOH has not yet complied with the final lists and mapping of paid and unpaid health workers of their  COVID-19 allowances," AHW said.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman earlier said that the release of funds for all remaining unpaid claims of the HEA allowance was made ahead of the request of the DOH, which sought the release of the funds for 2025. 

Calling it a "promise fulfilled," Pangandaman said the DBM "did everything" to release the funds sooner. 

According to DBM data, a total of P91 billion has been released to the DOH for the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances (PHEBA), covering all benefits for healthcare workers from 2021 to 2023.

Of this amount, P73 billion has been allocated specifically for HEA.