MANILA, (PIA) — At least 1,533 health workers and emergency frontliners in Malabon City who served during the Covid-19 pandemic are set to receive their Health Emergency Allowance (HEA), the city government announced on Monday.
According to the city’s public information office, officials will continue to coordinate with the Department of Health (DOH) regarding the financial grants for these essential workers.
The announcement follows requests for updates from Covid-19 responders and various sectors concerned about the delay in payments.
The HEA, established under Republic Act No. 11712 in April 2022, provides allowances to both health and non-health care workers, including contact tracers and staff at isolation centers and vaccination sites. The amount is determined by the number of days worked and the worker’s exposure level in low, medium, or high-risk areas.
City Health Department (CHD) Officer-in-Charge Dr. Bernadette Bordador explained, “Since Covid-19 ended as a public health emergency in the Philippines in July 2023, the Covid Allowance or HEA also ended at that time. What is currently being awaited pertains to payments for certain periods in 2021, 2022, and from January to July 2023.”
Bordador emphasized that all workers in healthcare, isolation facilities, and vaccination sites during those timeframes are entitled to the allowance, which varies based on their risk level.
The city has submitted the necessary documents to the DOH, including a list of frontliners and a pre-audited payroll covering the specified periods. The city is now awaiting approval from the national agency.
Once approved, City Mayor Jeannie Sandoval will sign a memorandum of agreement with the DOH for the distribution of the HEA, amounting to approximately P76 million.
Bordador noted, “Right now, it’s not just Malabon waiting. There are many local government units and private companies in the same situation.”
She reassured the public, saying, “It’s coming; just a little more patience regarding the timing, but the HEA will arrive.” (JCO/PIA-NCR)
