Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 29) — President Rodrigo Duterte signs a law granting benefits and allowances for health care workers in the Covid-19 pandemic and future emergencies.
Republic Act 1172, or the “Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act,” covers public and private health care and non-health care workers assigned in hospitals, health facilities, laboratories, medical or temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, or vaccination sites.
Also included are “outsourced personnel hired under institutional or individual contract of service or job order basis” as well as barangay health workers assigned in swabbing and vaccination sites and those assigned in health emergency response teams.
The law categorizes risk exposure as low, medium, and high.
Depending on this, the government will provide health emergency allowance (HEA) for every month of service during the state of public health emergency to covered individuals:
-at least ₱3,000 for those deployed in low risk areas
-at least ₱6,000 for those deployed in medium risk areas
-at least ₱9,000 for those deployed in high risk areas
The law adds that “the HEA shall be released in full if a health care worker or non-health care worker physically renders services for at least 96 hours in a month”.
Compensation will also be given to those who caught Covid-19:
-₱1 million to the heirs of the worker in case of death
-₱100,000 to the worker in case of severe or critical sickness
-₱15,000 to the worker in case of mild or moderate sickness
These should be given to the beneficiaries not later than three months after the date of confinement or death, the law states.
