Audit called after revised total of delayed COVID benefits
NEGLECTED SECTOR Health workers from various government hospitals hold a noise barrage in front of the Philippine Heart Center in this 2022 photo, as they demand the release of their allowances that had been long overdue since the pandemic. —Grig C. Montegrande
MANILA, Philippines — The government must look for funding to pay an additional P6.8 billion in long-delayed health emergency allowances (HEA) for COVID-19 front-liners, as the amount due was not covered by previous releases that totaled over P120 billion.
Noting, however, that funding requirements for settling the incentives have kept changing, the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) have asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct a special audit of previously released and disbursed funds for the payment of all Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances (PHEBA), specifically HEA, to “ensure proper accounting of public funds spent for this purpose.”
In a recent joint statement, the DOH and DBM said economic managers have raised “serious concerns” as to why the funding requirements to cover the PHEBA incentives “remain a moving target” almost two years since the state of national public health emergency due to the pandemic was lifted in July 2023.
READ: Emergency allowance of healthcare workers now 90% paid, says DOH
“This situation creates uncertainties regarding the government’s payment obligations for this purpose,” the agencies said.
Article continues after this advertisementAside from properly accounting for the disbursed funds, the special audit will assist the DOH in validating and consolidating all requests and disbursements related to the HEA.
Article continues after this advertisementThe DOH also agreed to finalize the list of HEA recipients “to resolve this long standing concern once and for all.”
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Basis for incentive
The national government had authorized the granting of benefits and compensation to healthcare and non-healthcare workers who served during the tail end of the pandemic from 2021 to 2023, as provided for under Republic Act No. 11712 or the PHEBA for Health Care Workers Act, enacted on April 27, 2022.
Under the law, these workers are entitled to HEA for every month of service while the country remained under a state of public health emergency. It set an allowance of P3,000 for those deployed to low-risk areas, P6,000 for those in medium-risk areas and P9,000 for those in high-risk areas.
Since then, the DBM has allotted and released to the DOH a total of P121.325 billion for PHEBA, which covers HEA or “One COVID-19 Allowance,” Special Risk Allowance, COVID-19 Sickness and Death Compensation and other benefits, such as meal, accommodation and transportation allowances.
Final computation
During the hearings of the Senate committee on health and demography in April and May last year, the DOH requested that P27.543 billion in its 2025 budget fully cover all remaining unpaid HEA claims.
In response, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman in July 2024 approved the special allotment release order (SARO) for the amount requested, with a specification that the “allotment release therein shall cover the full funding requirements for the PHEBA of eligible healthcare and non-healthcare workers” based on the DOH’s final and validated computation as of April 26, 2024.
Any additional funding requirements for the PHEBA, if any, shall be charged to the DOH’s available budget, the DBM said.
“However, despite the final and validated computation of HEA payments timely filed before the announced deadline, the DOH and DBM have received various appeals and additional requests for HEA payments from health facilities that were not covered by previous releases,” the agencies said.
According to DOH and DBM, the PHEBA requirements as of Dec. 12, 2024 had ballooned to P110.3 billion, instead of the earlier reported P103.5 billion.
“Thus, an additional funding requirement of P6.8 billion, in addition to the P121.325 billion cumulative funding provided for the benefits and compensation claims, is requested,” they said.
Asked where it would source the additional funding for HEA, DOH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo told the Inquirer that “the DOH and DBM will look for legal remedies available to the executive branch to fund legitimate and validated requests guided by findings, if any, of the COA special audit.”
The DOH may also reallocate funds from its current budget, or tap its continuing allocations from the 2023 and 2024 budgets amounting to P26.5 billion and P19 billion, respectively.
Last year, the DOH requested a P7-billion budget for PHEBA under the 2025 National Expenditure Program.
In its enrolled bill, Congress approved only P2 billion for PHEBA but under the DOH’s unprogrammed appropriations, although this was eventually vetoed by President Marcos in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.
Sen. Christopher Go, chair of the Senate committee on health and demography, earlier expressed disappointment over the presidential veto, saying that HEA was not a discretionary fund but payment for work already rendered by health workers.
Since the earliest opportunity to allocate additional HEA funding would be in the 2026 budget proposal, he urged DBM and DOH to identify alternative funding sources within the current year’s budget.
