The Commission on Audit (COA) has asked the Department of Health (DOH) to come up with standardized guidelines on the disbursement of meal allowances of healthcare workers.

This, after the DOH clarified that the P275.9 million worth of meal allowances reported as “unauthorized” by the COA has been resolved through the presidential memorandum dated June 2021 which “allows the provision” of meal, transportation, accommodation benefits in “cash equivalents.”

COA, for its part, said the guidelines which they applied for the audit was DOH’s Administrative Order 2020-0554 which stated that healthcare workers should be provided with “quality meals.”

“Di po nakalagay na cash kaya po ang audit action, observation namin diyan, ay yung binigay in form of gift check, cash, or in whatever form aside from quality meals ay talaga pong nailagay namin sa audit findings namin (It was not stated there that it should be given in cash, that's why in our audit action, observation, the benefits given in a form of gift check, cash, or in whatever form aside from quality meals we really included in our audit findings) ” COA Supervising Auditor Rhodora Ugay told the House Committee on Public Accounts during a hearing.

Ugay added that they followed the DOH order because during the time of their auditing, the memorandum allowing the cash equivalent for meal allowances was not yet approved by President Rodrigo Duterte.

“But now when we go back to those disbursements, ngayon, ang di po namin alam magkano (now, we don't know how much), how much is the cash equivalent of the meal, we have to have standard amount po sana doon,” she said.

Ugay also asked the DOH to provide clear guidelines on the disbursement of the allowances.

“In COA, we have questions, so how much is the cash equivalent, how do we determine, what is the standard because only with that approval of the President it would again give the possibility of different amounts. Mag kaka-inggitan. Etong si hospital na ito ganitong binigay, etong sa hospital na ito ganito binigay, 'yon po sana ma- standardized po sana at maging malinaw yung guidelines (Jealousy will arise. This hospital gave a certain amount, and in another hospital, this amount was given, that's why we wanted it to be standardized, we wanted to have clear guidelines),” she said.

COA Chairman Michael Aguinaldo echoed Ugay’s concern.

“Hopefully, maybe the secretary can act on this. Siguro kung pwede sila gumawa ng conversion (Maybe they could create a conversion). In other words, a quality meal is equivalent to so many pesos,” Aguinaldo said.

“It will help kasi sa audit 'e, kasi baka mamaya, sabi nga ni Auditor Doris, baka may hospital diyan na masyadong generous yung conversion niya or what (because as what Auditor Doris has said there might be hospital which may be too generous in their conversion or what). But it's just some kind of guide para alam nila di naman excess or at least uniform yung pag bigay (so that they know if the amount given is not in excess or at least uniform),” he added.

When asked by Committee Chairman and Probinsyano Ako Partylist Representative Jose "Bonito" Singson Jr. if the DOH has come up with the proper guidelines on the granting of meal allowances, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said: “May formula po kami for that (We have a formula for that).”

Singson then asked DOH to make the guidelines public so that healthcare workers will know how much they are entitled to.