Marcos vows release of pending emergency allowances, benefits for health workers
Credit to Author: Gaea Katreena Cabico| Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2023 19:13:00 +0800
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. vowed Monday the release of special allowances and benefits for healthcare workers who have been at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19.
“In order to repay the sacrifices made by our health workers in private and public hospitals during the pandemic, their COVID-19 health emergency allowances and other pending benefits will be distributed to them,” Marcos said in his second State of the Nation Address.
Healthcare workers had expressed concerns that the distribution of health emergency allowance (HEA) will be discontinued with the lifting of the public health emergency.
Marcos lifted over the weekend the nationwide state of public health emergency due to COVID-19, which revokes all pandemic-related orders except for the validity of the emergency use authorization on vaccines for one year.
The grant of allowances and benefits to medical workers applies only during a public health emergency, but health workers said the government must guarantee the continuity of HEA even after the declaration is withdrawn.
Reacting to Marcos’ pronouncement, Filipino Nurses United secretary general Jocelyn Andamo told Philstar.com: “The government has been saying that, so we wonder how they would do it? What is taking them so long?”
Andamo called on the government to release the allowances and benefits immediately as these have been delayed for seven to 12 months in the case of workers in private facilities, and three to six months for workers in government hospitals.
Marcos said the government is “now refocusing our health priorities, applying the lessons learnt from the pandemic and addressing the weaknesses that it has exposed.”
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa earlier said the COVID-19 pandemic no longer constitutes a crisis, noting that physicians now consider COVID-19 “as just one of the respiratory diseases.”
The Philippines has confirmed over 4.1 million COVID-19 infections, with more than 66,000 fatalities, since the pandemic began in early 2020. There were 5,121 active cases as of Sunday.
Here are the administration’s new health priorities:
Marcos also said his administration is now addressing the shortage of healthcare workers through educational reforms, continuing training, and measures to ensure their well-being. Many Filipino health workers—especially nurses—seek employment abroad as they are often overworked but underpaid.
“We have placed doctors in almost 200 municipalities in the country. We will deploy doctors in the remaining 19 towns that do not yet have one,” he said.