Top officials blamed for delayed allowances

Private health care workers on Thursday called for the resignations of top government officials for bungling the release of their mandated health emergency allowances (HEA).

“Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman should resign for their negligence and dismissing the plight of health care workers in the country,” said Edgar Aran of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Employees Association, as members of the United Private Hospital Unions of the Philippines (UPHUP) staged a protest outside the Department of Health (DOH) regional office in the National Capital Region.

“The fund has been with you (DOH) since January. What’s the reason why you have not given the HEA for private hospital workers?” UPHUP spokesperson Ronald Richie Ignacio said.

READ: P9 billion released for health workers’ special risk allowance – DBM

UPHUP members complained that the current situation was “mired in confusion,” as both the Department of Budget and Management and the DOH engaged in a “blame game” which caused the delay. —DEXTER CABALZA