Senate bill seeks 6 addt’l benefits for frontliners during health emergencies

FILE – Frontliners at the Naga City Hospital. Image from Facebook / Naga City Hospital

MANILA, Philippines — A bill seeking to grant six additional benefits to frontline healthcare workers during public health emergencies has been filed in the Senate.

Senator Francis Pangilinan filed the proposed Healthcare Frontliners Protection Act, which seeks to institutionalize additional benefits for public and private healthcare workers in direct contact with persons affected by the disease during public health emergencies.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented public health crisis in the Philippines, overwhelming our already struggling healthcare system. It revealed gaps in financing for healthcare and highlighted the meager benefits and compensation being received by our healthcare workers,” Pangilinan said in filing the bill.

“Yet, in our battle against the pandemic, they continue to serve and save our people while risking their own lives and being grossly underpaid,” he added.

According to Pangilinan, six additional benefits are being proposed in his law.

During a State of National Emergency, a special risk allowance will be paid monthly. As an additional benefit, Public Health Workers are also entitled to Active Hazard Duty Pay under Republic Act No. 7305.

According to the bill, Active Hazard Duty Pay will be based on a percentage of healthcare workers’ daily salary rate based on how many days they physically report to work.

Other benefits under the bill include the payment of all medical expenses in case of exposure to the disease or any work-related injury; compensation for those who contracted the disease in the line of duty; free life insurance, accommodation, transportation and meals; and the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) sets and free and regular testing.

For the compensation proposed under the measure, P1 million will be given to a direct beneficiary of a healthcare worker who died in the line of duty, while P100,000 will be granted to a frontliner who contracts severe COVID-19.

In case of mild or moderate COVID-19, a health worker will receive P15,000 if the bill is passed into law.

“Ayaw na nating maulit ang nangyari ngayong COVID na grabe ang naging pasanin ng ating mga frontliners tapos late pa ang kanilang benefits at kung saan-saan pa napupunta. We will push for the rights of our healthcare workers in the Senate, especially in the upcoming budget deliberations,” Pangilinan went on.

Healthcare workers have repeatedly raised concerns over the government’s supposed failure to release financial assistance earmarked for healthcare workers during the pandemic.

The Commission on Audit (COA) said the P11.8 billion allotted to the Department of Health (DOH) under the Bayanihan 1 and 2 laws and foreign loans were unobligated as of the end of last year.

The DOH, however, said it had “resolved” some issues and was working on the others raised by COA on the department’s use of funds for the pandemic response last year.

In light of the COA report, the Senate blue ribbon committee will open an investigation into the DOH’s use of pandemic funds on Wednesday.

READ: Senate blue ribbon panel to probe DOH’s use of COVID-19 funds