DBM releases remaining P27 billion HCW allowances

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P27 billion in unpaid health emergency allowances (HEA) of the country’s health care workers (HCW).

About two months ago, the Department of Health (DOH) requested for the issuance of a special allotment release order and notice of cash allocation amounting to P27.453 billion.

This will cover the payment of roughly five million remaining validated unpaid HEA and over 4,000 COVID sickness and death compensation claims of eligible health care and non-health care workers.

This was also presented to the Senate and was initially proposed to be included in the DOH’s budget for 2025.

At the time, the DBM said DOH should develop a HEA mapping that will capture and present all Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances (PHEBA) claims and payments by region and health facilities.

The information gathered from the HEA mapping will be used in expediting final determination of the amount of deficiency to cover the full settlement of arrears.

The DBM also recommended that records be published in the DOH website for transparency to all claimants and stakeholders alike.

To date, DBM has freed up P91.283 billion for PHEBA covering all health care workers’ benefits from 2021 until last year.

Broken down, the bulk of the budget at P73.26 billion was earmarked for HEA.

Another P12.9 billion was released for special risk allowances of health care workers.

The remaining P3.65 billion was for COVID Sickness and Death Compensation and P1.4 billion for other benefits such as meals, accommodation and transportation allowance.

The DOH said that once it becomes available, allocation of the HEA for health care workers will be made to all its regional offices.

“Once the Department of Budget and Management has downloaded the P27-billion Special Allotment Release Order to the Department of Health, we will immediately sub-allot it to our respective Centers for Health Development (CHD),” the DOH said in a statement.

The DOH said the CHD is responsible for the distribution of HEA to the different health facilities.

“The CHD will then facilitate the disbursement of HEA to the local government units and private health facilities under their jurisdiction, subject to requirements such as liquidations from previous fund transfers and memorandum of agreement,” the agency added.

On Wednesday, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said the P27 billion worth of HEA is set for release to the country’s health workers within the year.

Herbosa said there will no longer be an allocated budget for the HEA under the 2025 National Expenditure Program as the unpaid allowance can already be released this year.

“This falls under the unprogrammed (funds) because there is no budget but the DBM said a budget (for this) has become available,” said the DOH chief.

Under Republic Act 11712, health workers who responded during a “state of public health emergency” shall be granted HEAs for every month of service, ranging from P3,000 for workers deployed in low-risk areas to P9,000 for those deployed in high-risk areas. – Rhodina Villanueva