Manila – Department of Health (DOH) Officer-in-Charge Secretary Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire today assured health care workers (HCWs) that the agency is now facilitating the immediate processing of the Php 1.04 Billion and Php 11.5 Billion released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on October 3, 2022 and October 5, 2022, respectively.
Vergeire said the Php 1.04 billion is for the payment of the remaining 55, 211 unpaid Special Risk Allowance (SRA) for eligible healthcare workers and eligible non-healthcare workers for the period of September 2020 to June 2021. Meanwhile, the Php 11.5 Billion will be processed by the DOH for the payment of 1,617,660 unpaid Health Emergency Allowance (HEA)/One COVID-19 Allowance (OCA) covering January 2022 to June 2022.
“We are currently preparing the sub-allotment guidelines and has already informed the regional offices to prepare the necessary paperwork and documents for an expedited and quick disbursement of the released funds.”
“Our healthcare workers are the backbone of our healthcare system, and we have to ensure that they received their share of compensation and benefits,” she added.
Additional funding is also needed to cover for services rendered from July 2021 to present pursuant to Republic Act No. 11712 otherwise known as the “Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act”.
Vergeire assured that the DOH will exhaust all efforts to expedite the process of transferring these funds to our implementing units and facilities for the immediate release to all eligible HCWs before the yuletide season.
