By Mario Casayuran Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Tuesday lauded the government for granting a special risk allowance (SRA) to public health workers during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period. Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong’’ Go
(Office of Senator Bong Go / MANILA BULLETIN) This followed the signing by President Duterte 
of Administrative Order (AO) 28 granting a one-time COVID-19 special risk allowance, equivalent to a maximum of 25 percent of their monthly basic pay, to public health workers who are exposed to health risks in light of the present health emergency. “Nagpapasalamat po tayo sa gobyerno sa pagdinig ng ating rekomendasyon na bigyan ng special risk allowance ang ating public health workers. (We thanked the government for responding to our recommendation of granting a special risk allowance for our public health workers),” Go said. Go is chairman of the Senate health and demography committee. Under Section 4 of the ‘’Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,’’ President Duterte is given the necessary authority to provide SRA to public health workers. The public health workers refer to medical, allied medical, and other personnel assigned in hospitals and healthcare facilities directly catering to or in contact with COVID-19 patients, persons under investigation or persons under monitoring. For workers to avail themselves of the grant, they should either be “civilian employees under regular, contractual, casual, or part-time positions; workers engaged through job order; and barangay health workers regardless of the nature of engagements and have been assigned to health care facilities.” The grant of the special risk allowance will be pro-rated according to the number of days the public health workers were present at their place of work during the period of the ECQ. The AO also states that those who reported for work for three to seven days will get 25 percent of the incentive, 50 percent to those who worked for eight to twelve days, 75 percent for thirteen to seventeen days, and 100 percent incentive for those who worked for eighteen days or more. Go, likewise, appealed for the provision of proper pay, on top of the said special risk allowance and hazard pay, to volunteer health workers. “Despite being volunteers, they are professionals. Highly skilled sila at buhay nila ang nakataya para maprotektahan ang sambayanang Pilipino. Let us use the funds available to give them proper compensation and provide them with the tools, facilities and protection they need to resolve this health crisis,” he said. (They are highly skilled and they put their lives at risk to protect our countrymen.) Go suggested that the government could maximize volunteers by engaging them on the basis of contracts of service similar to job orders so that they can be compensated on a daily rate for a limited time period equivalent or close to the amount received by actual government-employed health workers. The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act also provides that health workers will receive P100,000 each if they “contract severe COVID-19 infection on duty” and P1 million each for their families in case of death. Go emphasized the need for frontliners, especially health workers, to be tested for COVID-19, as long as the right process is observed. “There’s an algorithm that determines who gets tested first. Sundin pa rin natin. Pero dahil dumadami naman ang available na test kits (Let us follow it. There are more test kits available), let us give due consideration to our frontliners given their critical role in defeating this virus,’’ he said. He also highlighted the efforts to procure and produce the much needed personal protective equipment and other necessary tools to equip hospitals in the fight against COVID-19. He also thanked private donors for their contributions and has continuously reiterated that a “whole-of-society” approach is needed in combating the public health emergency. He urged concerned agencies and the private sector to work together to expedite the delivery of the PPEs and other medical supplies to the frontliners who need them. “The best way to help the health sector respond to this crisis is by sufficiently providing them with the tools and protection needed to do their job,” he said.