THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said it has released P311 million to its regional offices for the payment of the special risk allowance (SRA) of 20,208 healthcare workers.
“This is the first batch of fund transfers for the grant of SRA to hospitals and health facilities that have earlier submitted an additional list of eligible healthcare workers,” Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said in a statement.
Vega said the P311 million released to the DOH’s Centers for Health Development is just an initial allocation as more public and private hospitals are expected to submit their lists of health workers eligible for the SRA.
The release of funds comes days after President Duterte, in a taped speech aired Saturday, gave the DOH and the Department of Budget and Management 10 days to “use whatever money there is” to pay the medical workers who have been complaining about not having received their SRAs.
In response, Health Secretary Francisco Duque opted to source the funds from the agency’s Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund.
Earlier, the DOH reported it has disbursed P10.33 billion for the SRA of 685,431 medical workers for the period of September 2020 and June 2021.
Still, many healthcare workers are complaining about not getting their SRAs despite serving for months during the pandemic.
