Unreimbursed PhilHealth funds and "unfavorable" action from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) have led to the stalled release of hazard pay and Special Risk Allowance (SRA) of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) health workers, their director said in a letter.

In a letter obtained by Manila Bulletin Thursday, PGH Director Gerardo Legaspi said the reason why the PGH could not release the workers' hazard pay and allowances was lack of funds.

"Ang PGH ay walang mailalaang pondo para dito dahil sa mga sumusunod na pangyayari (The reasons why the PGH could not allow funds were due to the following):

1. Dahil sa ating ambisyon na maibigay lahat sa pasyente ang kanilang pangangailangan sa ospital, ang ating kita sa 2019 ay naubos sa pagbabayad ng mga ito. (Ito ay mahigit P360 milyon) (Because of our ambition to give our patients their medical needs, our 2019 income has been utilized. This is more than P360 million)

2. Dahil sa pandemya, hindi na-release ang ating inaasahang karagdagang pondo para sa gastusin ng ating mga pasyente. (Mahigit P800 milyon ito) (Because of the pandemic, an additional fund that we expect for the expenses of our patients has not been released. This is more than P800 million)

3. Dahil sa kaguluhan sa PhilHealth, tayo ay hindi maka-reimburse ng wasto. Kahit na tayo ay may IRM, hindi rin maayos ang mga patakaran sa pagkolekta dito kaya't hindi rin ito masyadong nakakatulong sa ating mga pagkukulang sa pondo. (Because of the anomalies in PhilHealth, they cannot reimburse their dues well. Although we have an existing Interim Reimbursement Mechanism, our collection of money is not also being properly implemented that's why it's not enough to cover our lacking funds)

4. Ang ating hawak na pondo ay nakalaan para sa pasyente, imprastraktura at equipment, na kahit na napakarami nito ay hindi magagamit para sa benepisyong pinaplano. Sadyang masalimuot ang patakaran ng gobyerno ukol sa paggamit ng pera nito (Our existing fund is dedicated to our patients, infrastructure projects and equipment. And although it is excessive, we cannot use it for the said benefits. The government's rules on utilizing the budget is really complicated)," Legaspi said in his letter.

Worse, the PGH also received on November 19 a "final decision" from the DBM, supposedly disapproving its request to release a fund to cover the health workers' allowances and dues.

"Noong ika-19 ng Nobyembre ay natanggap natin ang pinal na pasya ng DBM: Na hindi talaga nila paborableng maaksyunan ang ating hinihinging pagpopondo ng SRA at Hazard Pay" (On November 19, we received the final decision of DBM: That they would not give favorable action on our SRA and Hazard Pay funds), Legaspi said.

This means that about 4,275 health workers are on the brink of not receiving their dues, which have been pending for more than six months now, from the national government, Jet Garcia of All U.P. Workers Union-Manila said.

Missing P34 million?

The All U.P. Workers Union-Manila, in a recent press release, said that during an October 1 dialogue with Department of Health Undersecretary Roger Tong-An, the health official told their union's vice president, Benjamin Santos, that the DOH "has already released P34,717,901.30 to PGH for the SRA and COVID-19 Hazard Pay."

But, in an interview with Manila Bulletin on Thursday, Santos raised doubts about the supposed P34 million.

"Hanggang ngayon, medyo questionable yan. Ang sinasabi nila (PGH) hindi pumasok sa account ng PGH. Eh kaya nga sabi namin, saan napunta yan? Kung hindi totoo 'yan, e di nagsisinungaling pala si Usec. Roger Tong-an? (Until now, it's questionable. The PGH is saying that they have not yet received the money in their account. So, where has it gone? If it's not true that the DOH already released money, it means, Usec. Roger Tong-an is lying?" he said.

For the meantime, the PGH director said that he already asked their president, Danilo Concepcion, to request for the UP System to temporarily cover the fund.

"Kapag tayo ay nakaluwag-luwag sa ating pinansyal na sitwasyon ay atin itong ibabalik upang magamit naman sa nakalaang layunin ng Unibersidad (When our financial situation gets better, we'll return the loaned money so it can be used for the University," Legaspi said in his letter.

Santos said they still do not know if the request of the PGH to the UP System has already been approved.