Govt hit anew over unpaid COVID allowance

THE Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) yesterday slammed the Marcos administration and the Department of Health (DOH) anew for failing to provide their health emergency benefits, saying the 2026 timeline is “far too long.”

Last week, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said the remaining P62.9 billion unpaid allowances of health workers who served as frontliners during the COVID-19 pandemic will be fully settled on or before 2026. He said the timeline can be shortened depending on the response of the Department of Budget to the DOH’s requested budget allocation for the health allowances,

“It will take three years more before the ‘modern-day heroes’ are fully paid. What a heartless government we have,” AHW said in a statement.

“We worked hard and served our countrymen wholeheartedly by providing quality care since pandemic until now. It is the duty of this government to provide what is rightfully and legally due to us,” it said.

The group said it is giving the government “not later than this year” to pay the allowances. – Gerard Naval