‘Di lang thank you sukli! Angara: P13B in Bayanihan 2 to fund hiring of health workers, grant of risk allowance

Health workers will receive additional compensation for their hard work in the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic with the passage of the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.

Senate Committee on Finance chairman Sonny Angara said P40.5 billion of the P140-billion allotted under the Bayanihan 2 bill would go to health-related programs.

This includes P13.5 billion for the continuous employment and hiring of emergency human resource for health (HRH); augmentation for operations of DOH hospitals; special risk allowance for public and private health workers; free life insurance, accommodation, transportation and meals for health workers; and compensation for health workers who contract COVID-19 or die while fighting the pandemic.

“The hiring of additional health personnel, as well as the special risk allowance and benefits for our health workers, were promised by President Duterte and these are all reflected in Bayanihan 2. Our health system is under so much pressure already and we need to recognize all of the sacrifices our health workers are making at this very challenging time,” Angara said.

As of June 2020, the Department of Health said that around 5,100 health personnel have been recruited through emergency hiring. To meet the projected requirements for the COVID-19 response, the DOH said it needed to hire 4,200 more health personnel.

The Bayanihan 2 bill also provides for compensation for health workers who will contract severe COVID-19 (P100,000 each) and those who die while fighting the disease (P1 million each) under Bayanihan 1 will be continued in Bayanihan 2 but in addition to this, P15,000 would be provided for those who have mild or moderate cases.

A total of P3 billion is provided in Bayanihan 2 for the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, gowns, shoe covers, and face shields for distribution to health workers, barangay personnel and other indigent persons who could not afford to purchase these.

To provide support to local industries, the bill states that preference should be given to PPEs made in the Philippines.

For the construction of temporary medical isolation and quarantine facilities, field hospitals, dormitories for frontliners and for the expansion of hospital capacity across the country, a total of P4.5 billion is allocated in the measure.

This includes funding support for the repair and upgrading of the existing biosafety laboratory of the Bureau of Quarantine and the renovation of its temporary quarantine facility.

Another P4.5 billion is allocated for the construction and maintenance of isolation facilities, including the billing of hotels, food and transportation used for the COVID-19 response.

For the hiring of at least 50,000 contact tracers by the Department of Interior and Local Government, a total of P5 billion is also provided in the bill.

“We have heard from the different members of the IATF that we still need more contact tracers, and isolation and quarantine facilities. We need to take a holistic approach in battling COVID-19. Hindi pwedeng nagtetest ka lang tapos wala kang contact tracing, isolation at quarantine. All of these components are crucial,” Angara said.

He said that strengthening these become even more important now when the economy is being opened up already and more people start to go out of their homes.

The post ‘Di lang thank you sukli! Angara: P13B in Bayanihan 2 to fund hiring of health workers, grant of risk allowance first appeared on Latest Philippine politics news today.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)