Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Thursday, Sept. 9 expressed his support for a proposal to give a fixed monthly Special Risk Allowance (SRA) for both public and private healthcare workers (HCWs) who physically report for duty in hospitals and other health facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Go, chairman of the Senate Health and Demography committee, urged concerned authorities to provide a certain level of flexibility in the implementation of the provisions of the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act which provides the legal basis for the provision of SRA.
“Bigyan natin ng sapat na suporta ang medical frontliners. Bawat araw ay nasa panganib ang kanilang buha (Let us provide the medical frontliners with enough support. Everyday, their lives are at risk). Siguraduhin nating mabibigyan ang lahat ng qualified healthcare workers ng Special Risk Allowance at iba pang insentibo o benepisyo na naaayon sa batas (Let us ensure that all qualified healthcare workers will be given Special Risk Allowance and other incentives or benefits as provided by law),” Go said.
“Kaya ako umaapela na maging flexible tayo sa pag-iimplementa ng nakasaad sa batas at kung kakayanin ng pondo ay bigyan na ang lahat nang qualified ng fixed na amount ng SRA kaysa bilangin pa natin ang kanilang pag-duty bawat araw (This is why I am appealing that we have to be flexible in implementing in what is in the law, and if we have sufficient funds, let us give all those qualified with a fixed amount of SRA instead of counting their duties per day),” he added.
At present, all HCWs who are directly catering to or in contact with COVID-19 patients receive an SRA not exceeding P5,000 per month.
The allowance is pro-rated based on the number of days that they physically reported for work, pursuant to Administrative Order (AO) 42 which President Duterte signed last June 1.
To ensure their contributions and the risks they face are sufficiently recognized, Go also gave his support for expanding the provision of the SRA to all HCWs serving in the hospitals.
He pointed out that almost all HCWs fall within the scope of the definition of the law given the high number of COVID-19 cases admitted in the country’s health care facilities.
“Lahat naman ng health workers na naka-duty ay maituturing na exposed sa banta ng COVID-19 (All health workers on duty are deemed exposed to the threat of COVID-19). Hindi nakikita ang kalaban na ito kung kaya’t mahirap paghiwalayin pa kung sino ang exposed at sino ang hindi (The enemy is invisible and therefore it is hard to separate those who are exposed from those who are not),” he added.
Go emphasized that the government must provide all the support they could to medical frontliners given their crucial role in fighting the pandemic and in saving lives.
“As much as possible, kung kakayanin naman ng pondo, ibigay na natin lahat ng suportang pwede nating ibigay sa medical frontliners dahil sila naman ang maituturing na mga bayani sa laban na ito (As much as possible, if the fund suffices, let us give all the possible support for the medical frontliners who are considered heroes in this battle),” he stressed.
The senator from Davao reminded the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to make sure the relevant benefits are sufficiently and immediately disbursed to the HCWs as provided by the law.
As vice chairman of the Senate committee on Finance, Go vowed to ensure that the necessary funds are available in the 2022 national budget for the continuous provision of the SRA and other related benefits for health workers.
Senator Risa Hontiveros said the proposed 2022 national budget does not contain a provision on SRAs for healthworkers.
The DOH recently disclosed that it initially proposed to the DBM a total of P50.4 billion for 365,000 public and private health workers and their COVID-19 SRA, hazard pay, transport, insurance, accommodation or meals for a period of 12 months.
The SRA has a funding requirement of P18.03 billion or P1.5 billion per month for a total of 300,500 health workers.