P888-M SRA funds to cover 97.5K health care workers: DOH

MANILA – The additional PHP888.12 million released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the special risk allowance (SRA) of health care workers will cover more than 97,000 front-liners, a Department of Health (DOH) official said Saturday.

Once the DBM issues the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) on Monday, the funds will be downloaded to hospitals as soon as possible, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a Laging Handa briefing.

“This will cover about 97,560 health care workers (for this batch’s SRA),” she said.

Meanwhile, the DOH has yet to determine the number of workers who have not received their SRA as more health facilities are still submitting their list of eligible beneficiaries to the DOH’s regional offices, Vergeire said.

Public and private health workers directly catering to Covid-19 patients are entitled to an SRA not exceeding PHP5,000 per month, which will be pro-rated based on the number of days the health worker physically reported for work.

The DOH is tasked to facilitate the downloading of the funds to DOH-retained hospitals, treatment and rehabilitation centers, private hospitals, and other Covid-19 facilities.

Vergeire noted that a total of PHP311.79 million was earlier released for the SRA of about 20,000 front-liners on top of the PHP7 billion that covered more than 300,000 health workers.