Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega. PRESIDENTIAL FILE PHOTO
The Department of Health (DOH) hopes to distribute by next week the meal and transportation allowances that some 426,000 health-care workers have yet to receive, Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said on Friday.
Vega said the DOH had been in touch with the Office of the President and was waiting for the guidelines for the P1.5 billion in funds for the workers’ benefits.
“Anytime next week, we could probably distribute the repurposed fund or contingency fund from the Office of the President,” Vega said at the Laging Handa briefing.
He said President Duterte had approved the use of the funds for the meal allowances and transportation expenses of the workers.
Health workers earlier complained of their delayed benefits from the government, saying they have been treated shabbily despite being hailed as heroes for their work during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, more health workers would be able to fly abroad for work after the government’s pandemic task force raised the annual deployment ceiling from 6,500 to 7,000.
In its latest meeting, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases increased the deployment cap for new hire health workers for occupations identified as Mission Critical Skills, according to acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles.