Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Friday, Feb. 18 that the One COVID-19 Allowance (OCA) will lessen the chance of the delay in the releasing of the allowances for healthcare workers.
"Kasi po naiayos na natin ang proseso. Hindi na po tayo magtatagal sa mga validation. Ito po ay maipapatupad, because the budget has been released already (Because we fixed the process. We won't take long with the validation. This will be implemented because the budget has been released already)," Vergeire said during the Palace press briefing.
"Gagawin lang po ang proseso and as soon as matapos po ang lahat ng kailangan, maaari na po nating umpisahan at ma-release na sa ating health care workers (We will just work on the process and as soon as it is finished, we can start releasing it to our healthcare workers)," she added.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released the appropriated amount of P7.92 billion to the Department of Health (DOH) for OCA to 526,727 eligible public and private healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers who are involved in the COVID-19 response.
DOH said that in line with the President's pronouncement that the HCWs should be given higher Special Risk Allowance (SRA) in 2022, commensurate with their risks, the DOH will be implementing the OCA this year.
Benefits, which have been previously enjoyed by a limited number of HCWs — Active Hazard Duty Pay for Public Health Workers; Meals, Accommodation and Transportation Allowance; and the Special Risk Allowance, for HCWs directly catering or exposed to COVID-19 patients — shall be discontinued and replaced by a more inclusive and responsive OCA.
The OCA shall be provided to all health workers involved in COVID-19 response in line with the National Action Plan COVID-19 strategy of Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, Rehabilitation, and Vaccination (PDITR+) strategy.
Further, the allowance shall be equitably distributed to HCWs, taking into account their COVID-19 exposure classification -- this considers the type of health facility where they are assigned, work setting, and nature of work. Those deemed classified to be high risk will be eligible for P9,000.00 per month while those classified as moderate and low risk shall be given P6,000.00 and P3,000.00 respectively. The OCA shall also be pro-rated.