Manila Bulletin
Duque: Private hospitals, not DOH, accountable for delayed health workers' benefits
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon urged Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to take responsibility for the delayed release of benefits to medical frontliners.
Drilon stated that Duque should focus on identifying and solving the problem instead of blaming other entities.
He pointed out that the Department of Health was given P77 billion for pandemic response, yet 31% remained unobligated, with some P900 million intended for health worker benefits not being spent.
During a Senate hearing, Duque had previously assigned accountability to private hospitals for processing and releasing benefits to their staff.
However, Duque's claim that hospitals are to blame was rejected by private hospitals and Drilon, who believes Duque should assume full responsibility.
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Officials from the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) are engaged in a blame game regarding the delayed release of the special risk allowance (SRA) for healthcare workers.
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President Rodrigo Duterte has directed the Department of Health (DOH) to prioritize the release of benefits for health workers, provided sufficient funds are available.
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A health workers group has given the Department of Health (DOH) until August 31 to release withheld COVID-19 benefits for medical frontliners.
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Ang Probinsyano Party-list Representative Alfred Delos Santos is seeking an investigation into the delayed release and discrepancies in the special risk allowance (SRA) for healthcare workers.
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Senators expressed dissatisfaction with the Department of Health's (DOH) explanations regarding the utilization of its COVID-19 funds during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing.
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