Barangay health workers still waiting for COVID-19 allowance

Barangay health workers (BHWs) all over the country have asked the Department of Health (DOH) to release their much-delayed health emergency allowance (HEA) for the services they rendered at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Other health-care workers (both in public and private hospitals) have long received their HEA. But for us BHWs, we have yet to be paid. We are always the last ones in the distribution of HEA, even if we are the first ones people go to for help when they are sick,” Myrna Gaite, BHW National Capital Region (NCR) Federation president, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We are urgently appealing to the DOH: You already have the funds, so it is just right to give us what we worked hard for. This is not just an issue of money, but of justice and recognizing our … contribution during the pandemic,” she added.

A survey conducted last month revealed that almost 10,000 BHWs in 13 regions were facing an average of 14 months in HEA arrears, amounting to an estimated P793.3 million.

The bulk of the unpaid HEA were for BHWs in NCR, estimated at P332.5 million, followed by those in the Calabarzon (P166.9 million) and Central Visayas (P88.4 million) regions.

The delay in HEA disbursement has had significant adverse effects on BHWs, who rely on this allowance to supplement their modest incomes.

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Aries Dawa, president of the BHW Federation in San Juan City, said that she and her colleagues were relying on the release of the allowance before classes resume to buy uniforms and school supplies for their children.

To date, the Department of Budget and Management has released a total of P91.283 billion to the DOH for the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances, covering all benefits for health-care workers from July 2021 to July 2023. Of the total, P73.261 billion has been allocated specifically for HEA.

The payment of HEA is provided for under Republic Act No. 11712, or the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act.