DBM releases P6.7B for health workers’ unpaid COVID pay
Health-care workers with pending claims for services rendered at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic may finally get their long-overdue benefits after more than P6.7 billion was released to the Department of Health (DOH) for their Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances (PHEBA).
In a statement on Tuesday, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had approved a Special Allotment Release Order to fund the remaining unpaid Health Emergency Allowance (HEA) for eligible health care and nonhealth-care workers (HCWs and non-HCWs).
Under the PHEBA for Health Care Workers Act, HCWs and non-HCWs who are also employed in the health-care sector will receive an allowance for every month of service rendered during a public health emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, based on their risk exposure.
Pay rate
Those deployed to “low-risk” areas should receive P3,000 per month, while those in “medium-risk” areas should get P6,000. For those deployed to “high-risk” areas, the monthly HEA should be P9,000.
The PHEBA includes the Special Risk Allowance, compensation for COVID-19 sickness and death, and additional benefits like meals, accommodation and transportation allowances for health-care workers.
In a separate statement also on Tuesday, the DBM said the amount it released would cover the more than 1.4 million claims between 2021 and 2023 that were filed by local government units and private health facilities, state universities and other institutions across various regions.
According to the DBM, the DOH had requested for an additional fund of P6.727 billion to pay for the remaining HEA of workers during a meeting on Feb. 17.
It said that this amount was charged against the Strengthening Assistance for Government Infrastructure and Social Programs under the unprogrammed appropriations of the 2025 General Appropriations Act.
The DBM noted that last year, it already released a total of P121.325 billion to pay for the allowances of qualified HCWs and non-HCWs, of which P27.383 billion was allotted for their HEA, while P70.7 million was allocated to their COVID-19 compensation package.
“We ask the DOH that hopefully, this latest release for the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances of our workers in the health sector will be distributed immediately. They have been waiting for this for a long time,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in the statement.
‘Unacceptable’
For the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), however, the “long overdue” release is “unacceptable,” as the group pointed out that many health-care workers had already passed away without benefiting from their allowances.
“It is unacceptable that our front-line health workers, who risked and continue to risk their lives during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, have had to endure such long delays in receiving their HEA,” it said.
The AHW added that while the DBM already released over P121 billion worth of funds for the allowances of HCWs and non-HCWs in 2024, many of them have yet to receive their full benefits.
“The slow disbursement and bureaucratic red tape within the [DOH] have caused unnecessary hardship and frustration among our ranks,” it said.
The group called for the immediate and full distribution of the newly released P6.7 billion “without further delays,” as it also called for transparency and accountability from the DOH and the DBM about the status of all pending claims.
