The Department of Health (DOH) said PHP14.3 billion worth of benefits for healthcare workers has been disbursed in two tranches as of Sept. 3 this year.

The first tranche worth PHP6.4 billion, covering Sept. 15 to Dec. 19, 2020, has been disbursed, representing active hazard duty pay for 384,159 healthcare workers and special risk allowance (SRA) for 306,314 healthcare workers.

For the same period, a total of 103,096 healthcare workers received PHP991 million worth of meal, accommodation, and transportation (MAT) allowances.

On the other hand, the second tranche worth PHP6.9 billion has also been disbursed for SRAs of 379,117 healthcare workers for the period covering Dec. 20, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Further, 32,281 healthcare workers were covered with life insurance worth PHP16 million.

The DOH also said PHP570 million worth of checks has also been released to 24,034 healthcare workers as Covid-19 sickness and death compensation.

Healthcare workers from both public and private health facilities catering to Covid-19 patients are beneficiaries of the benefits.

As stated in the guidelines, the DOH through its Centers for Health Development (CHD) entered into a memorandum of understanding with health facilities to legally disburse the benefits of the healthcare workers.

It said the health facilities are then responsible for disbursing the benefits to their employees and submitting a liquidation report thereafter.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured that the department will push for additional budget for the same benefits of health care workers next year as the country continues to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Maliwanag sa amin ang sakripisyo ng mga (It is clear to us the sacrifices of our) medical frontliners,” Duque said in a news release on Sunday.

Duque said the DOH has 72 registered hospitals with more than 10,000 medical front-liners all over the country.

“They, like many others, put their lives at-risk every day in order to serve patients from all over the country and from all walks of life. Kaya sinisiguro namin na maibigay ang benepisyo sa pinakamaagang panahon, at ipaglalaban talaga namin ang budget para sa patuloy na pagkakaroon nitong mga benepisyo sa susunod na taon (So we assured that the benefits will be given as soon as possible, and we will really fight for the budget of these benefits for next year),” he said. (PNA)