Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (Facebook)

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte said he is "optimistic" that local medical frontliners would be able to get their Covid-19 emergency allowances soon.

This, after President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. himself ordered the release of the still-unpaid benefits during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday, July 24.

Just days before this, Malacañang lifted the state of public emergency that was first declared in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Villafuerte said the lifting of the public emergency status "caps President Marcos’ intrepid yet calibrated moves since last year to relax mobility and health restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and send a clear message to the world about the reopening of our economy to business and tourism".

“However, I had initial apprehension that this official declaration that the coronavirus pandemic is over in the Philippines might give rise to the DOH (Department of Health) putting on cold storage Secretary Ted [Herbosa]’s promise during his first day in office last June 7 to give top priority to fast-tracking the release of still-unpaid Covid-related emergency allowances to our medical frontliners in both government and private hospitals,” he said.

But the President's SONA statement has allayed the Bicol solon's doubts.

Villafuerte was a lead author of the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” (Republic Act or RA 11469) and “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act” (RA 11494), which granted financial aid to Covid-hit sectors, including health care workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs in the health sector; and RA 11712, or the “Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Healthcare Workers Act,” which ensured the continued release of emergency allowances to medical frontliners after the expiration of these two Bayanihan laws.

Herbosa had assured the public in June that the payment of such financial relief would be one of his top concerns at the DOH.

Villafuerte earlier cited a United Private Hospital Unions of the Philippines (UPHUP) report, which said that 20,304 HCWs have not received their law-mandated Covid-19 allowances and other benefits totaling P1.94 billion dating back from October 2021.