There is no excuse for authorities not to provide benefits for health workers across the country as there has been more than a year to do so, Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday.
Robredo said health workers are entitled to these benefits because it shows that the government recognizes their hard work, and the risks they took to treat COVID-19 patients.
“Pero ngayon walang excuse na hindi natin naasikaso. Last year pa ang pandemic. ‘Yung 2021 budget ginawa siya panahon ng pandemic so ito inaasahan na natin na kinakailangan natin ito. Dapat nakahanap ng paraan para mabigay ito,” Robredo said in her weekly radio show, reacting to mass protests of medical frontline workers due to unpaid benefits.
(There’s no excuse that we did not process it. The pandemic has been a problem since last year. The 2021 budget was allocated for the pandemic so we expect that these funds will be needed so they should receive them.)
The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) shortened its deadline for its mass protests to August 31 from September 1 as they demanded their long-overdue special risk allowance and other promised benefits.
In response, the Department of Health sought understanding from health workers, adding that mass protests will endanger patients’ welfare.
For Robredo, the government should not have waited for medical workers to complain before processing the allowance.
“Kaya hindi ko alam, parang hinintay pa natin na magkaroon ng mass actions para pakinggan sila. Dapat nga hindi natin hinintay na nagreklamo sila. Dapat inasikaso natin,” she said.
(It looked like we waited for them to undertake a mass action. We should not have done that. We should have addressed it.)
The vice president also took issue with the slow processing of hospital claims by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
“Pero ‘pag pinakinggan parang mas mahaba dito kasi ang tagal noong claims na hindi pa nababayaran,” she said reacting to the 60 days of processing payment to hospitals.
(But if we listen to that, it looks as if it takes longer to process because there are still hospitals who have yet to receive their payments from the state insurer.)
PhilHealth spokesperson Shirley Domingo earlier said that the P21 billion in unpaid hospital claims are not all debts but also under process. She added that they had 60 days to process these claims. — DVM, GMA News
Robredo: Don’t wait for health workers to protest, give special risk allowance
Source: Pinoy Hub News
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