It was the threat of mass resignation and walkout of health care workers (HCWs) that forced the Senate and its Blue-Ribbon Committee chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon to conduct an official inquiry on how the Department of Health (DOH) has utilized its budget for the COVID-19 response. The need for such was bolstered further when the 2020 Annual Audit Report of the Commission on Audit (COA) found glaring “deficiencies” in the utilization of DOH’s P67B budget for the 2020.
Then smokes begin to fan out from that COA report, specifically, on the issue of overpriced procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) conducted by the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Services (DBM-PS) which is then headed by Christopher Lao.
I will deal with that particular topic of corruption separately. But before everyone else jumps into this nerve-wracking episode of the Senate investigation of the Pharmally anomaly, let me deal first with the issues raised by our HCWs on Special Risk Allowance (SRA) and other benefits due them as healthcare frontliners. I am afraid this issue would soon be sidelined by the bigger issue of corruption as the country inches closer to the conduct of the 2022 elections.
High level corruption surely sends everyone’s blood pressure up. But how about the government’s gross negligence on the needs of our healthcare frontliners? Is non-payment of their benefits something less important than say, the due diligence required in the procurement of medical supplies? Is delay in the payout of SRA less disturbing than delays in the delivery of face masks and face shields during the pandemic?
The latest on this issue after the Senate inquiry was that the DOH has committed to fast track the release of SRA and other benefits, including the insurance as well as the meal, accommodation, and transportation (MAT) allowance. The DBM on the other hand has to ensure that funds needed for them are made available. President Duterte, on his part, ordered the release of those benefits in ten days or not later than September 1 of this year.
However, let me stress the point that had it not for the protest actions undertaken by HCWs in the public and private hospitals, the SRA may have suffered the same fate with the billions of unutilized funds that went back to the treasury upon their expiration. Imagine the consequence of this kind of neglect, cold-bloodedness, and straight face incompetence. Shame!
Under the Bayanihan law, the SRA, in real terms, provides for a maximum amount of P500 a day for public and private HCWs, regular or contractual, who are assigned in COVID areas of any healthcare facilities. This is on top of the hazard pay being received by HCWs in public hospitals. The SRA, unfortunately, is not universal for all workers in the hospital as it is accompanied by eligibility conditions. The rules say it is only applicable for workers assigned in COVID areas which were defined later as either red (for covid) and green (for non-covid) lanes. HCWs protested this exclusion, arguing vehemently that hospital workers were all at risks of getting infected anywhere in their respective healthcare facilities. However, it’s not yet clear whether existing rules on this matter will be amended and additional budget will be appropriated to address their demand for universal coverage. I am also not sure whether the DOH, DBM, and Malacanang have already complied with their self-imposed deadline.
Yet, the protest actions conducted by HCWs over the past several weeks already achieved two important things. Firstly, they put into the spotlight the importance of collective action in gaining victory over the issue of SRA, and, secondly, they expose the sad state of our healthcare system and underpins the growing frustrations of our people on the inexcusable indifference and incompetence of our health officials who, obviously, are being shielded to the max by the Duterte administration.
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