The Senate on Monday, Jan. 31 approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 2421 granting benefits and allowances to public and private health workers during current State of Public Health Emergency.

Senator Richard J. Gordon said the measure would boost the morale of health workers.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G, Recto said there is already P51 billion in the 2022 General Appropriation Act (GAA or national budget) to finance the allowances authorized under the Bayanihan law and under this bill.

‘’P9 billion of this amount is booked as programmed appropriations, which means it is good to go. The rest, P42 billion, is under the Unprogrammed Fund, which can only be triggered to be released by excess revenues or new loans—the latter a certainty, given our P2.47 trillion gross borrowing program this year,’’ he said.

Recto said the most important question, however, is if the rates prescribed in the bill are commensurate to the work done and the dangers and risks associated.

The measure gives Special Risk Allowance (SRA) amounting to P3,000 every month at low risk areas; P6,000 monthly at medium risk areas; and P9,000 monthly at high risk areas.

Recto then asked if the following compensation rates - P15,000 for mild or moderate infection case; P100,000 for severe or critical case; and P1 million to families of those who die of COVID-19 infection - are enough.

‘’My answer is no. Hindi po talaga sapat (This is not enough). It will be hard to pin a monetary value to their sacrifice. Cliché it may sound, no amount will be enough,’’ he said.

‘’But within the finite resource that our taxpayers can raise, as it is they who will eventually foot the bill, this is the best which can be cobbled together, given the other important needs of our people which must also be met,’’ he added.

Recto recalls that exactly two years ago today, the swab test on the country’s COVID-19 Patient 2, a Chinese national, returned positive.

A day later, on February 1, 2020, he expired. Patient 2 was confirmed as the first COVID-19 death outside of China

‘’Yesterday, we recorded our Patient No. 3,528,796. And based also on yesterday’s death tally, Patient 2 was followed by 53,870 more,’’ he added.

‘ ’Because the pandemic billboard displays only the running bottomlines, it does not carry the number of health personnel who got sick or died while on the frontlines,’’ he added.

===30==