The House Committee on Appropriations on Monday approved a substitute bill granting mandatory Special Risk Allowance (SRA) to public and private health workers, including barangay health workers (BHW), during public health emergencies.
ACT-CIS Rep. Eric Go-Yap, the panel chairman, said the substitute bill would be also known as “Public Health Emergency Benefits for Health Workers Act.”
The proposal shall apply to all health workers, regardless of employment status, during the period of the public health emergency due to the Covid-19 and during public health emergencies that may be declared in the future, from the time of the President’s declaration of the public health emergency, to the time the President lifts such.
The bill said any health worker and BHWs covered under the proposal who contracted or is exposed to Covid-19 and such other disease or illness during a state of public health emergency that may occur in the future, or is affected by the public health emergency, and is presently working from home, isolated, or quarantined, shall be entitled to the benefits under the measure.
The bill said the national government shall ensure the grant of SRA for all health workers covered for every month of service during the state of public health emergency based on the risk exposure categorization as defined as follows:
A. Those deployed in “low risk areas” shall be given at least P3,000
B. Those deployed in “medium risk areas” shall be given at least P6,000
C. Those deployed in “high risk areas” shall be given P9,000.
For his part, Senior Citizens party-list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes, one of the principal authors of the bill, said the committee has deleted the provisions on active hazard duty pay, the life insurance, accommodation, meals, and transportation allowances.
While the Department of Health supports the intention of the bill, Health Assistant Secretary Maylene Beltran said the agency, however, proposes a singular allowance covering all health workers.
“The rate of the allowance will vary according to the risk exposure of the health-care worker in particular work settings. They can be either low, medium or high risk of exposure,” Beltran said.
“The proposal for a single type benefit is easier to implement as hospitals and other health-care facilities can be classified into to low, medium and high-risk areas with health-care workers receiving allowances based on their facilities or depending on type of facility they are deployed to,” she added.
Following lawmakers proposed rates, Beltran said their estimated funding for the proposal would require P50.4 billion to pay for 526,727 health-care workers.
For her part, Jane V. Abella, an assistant director with the Department of Budget and Management, expressed concern on the actual requirement of magnitude given the fiscal position of the government amid the pandemic.
“We have already released a total of P11.8 billion for the payment of SRA. In 2022, there is a budget provided of around P7.9 billion for the payment of the benefits and P1.1 billion for the compensation,” she added.
Under the bill, the amount necessary for the implementation of the measure in enacted into a law shall be charged against the current year available appropriations of the DOH and any sources available as may be identified by the DBM.
Thereafter, the amount necessary for its continuous implementation shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act subject to existing budgeting, accounting and auditing rules and regulations.
Image credits: Robinson Ninal Jr./Malacañang Presidential Photographers Division via AP