DOH eyes 'fully paid' health emergency allowance this year

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa on Wednesday said the remaining P27 billion arrears for the COVID-19 health emergency allowance (HEA) of healthcare workers may already be settled within the year.

Recalling his conversation with Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Herbosa said that there will no longer be an allocated budget for the HEA under the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP) as the unpaid allowance may already be released in 2024.

“Sabi ni Secretary Pangandaman, wala na do’n ‘yung budget ng allowance. Sabi ko, bakit wala? ‘Mukhang kaya na namin ibigay this year,’” he said in a pre-SONA special interview on state-run PTV.

(Secretary Pangandaman said that there will be no budget for the allowance next year. I asked why. She said that they may already release it this year.)

“This year, oo, mukhang maibibigay na ng national government ‘yung remaining P27 billion pa ‘yun eh na hindi pa namin na-allocate para mabayaran na lahat. ‘Yun ang good news,” he added.

(This year, the national government might be able to distribute the remaining P27 billion that we haven’t allocated yet, so we could pay everyone. That’s the good news.)

GMA News Online sought a confirmation from Pangandaman, and she said that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is set to issue a statement on the matter within the day.

Meanwhile, DOH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo affirmed what Herbosa said, noting that the DOH requested the DBM if the HEA may be paid earlier or by this year.

“[The] DBM gave an assurance that the earlier timeline is possible and that they are looking for the fund source,” Domingo told GMA News Online.

Back in May, Pangandaman said that the DBM targeted to settle all the remaining P27.7 billion arrears for the HEA by the end of 2025.

She said the first step involves utilizing a P2.3-billion unprogrammed appropriations fund contingent upon the collection of excess revenue.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced Tuesday that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. already approved the proposed 2025 NEP, amounting to P6.352 trillion. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News