SPECIAL RISK ALLOWANCE PARA SA PUBLIC HEALTHCARE FRONTLINERS

ISUSULONG ni Senadora Grace Poe ang pagbibigay ng “special risk allowance” para sa lahat ng public healthcare frontliners na nahaharap sa panganib dulot ng  corona virus disease (COVID-19)  na  isa sa tinalakay kaugnay sa pagkakaloob ng special powers para kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.

Sa isinagawang interpelasyon hinggil sa Senate Bill No. 1418, iginiit ni Poe ang paglalaan ng pondo para sa extra allowance na ipagkakaloob sa mga doctor, nurse at iba pang health workers na nararapat bukod pa sa hazard pay.

“While the law states that they shall receive a hazard pay, we propose that a special risk allowance be added to this pay because our health workers are confronted with a different kind of hazard this time, which can be potentially fatal when they are not able to take the necessary safety precautions,” anang senadora.

Aniya, isang seryosong panganib ang pakikipaglaban sa COVID-19 na karapat-dapat lamang na bigyan ng insentibo ang mga frontliner.

Sa ilalim ng Magna Carta of Public Health Workers, ang hazard allowance ng  health workers na nasa salary grade 19 pababa ay may katumbas na 25 percent mula sa kanilang monthly basic pay, at  5 percent para naman sa nasa  salary grade 20 pataas.

At nagpalabas ang Department of Health (DOH) ng halagang P378 million para rito.

Gayunpaman, ani Poe na kung walang discretionary fund  ang DOH para sa  special risk allowance sa mga health worker ay maaaring magtalaga ang  Department of Finance (DOF) at Department of Budget and Management ( DBM) kung saan pondo kukunin ang dagdag kompensasyon.

“It doesn’t necessarily need to match the amount of their actual hazard pay, just extra compensation to cover for their other needs,” diin nito.

Gayundin, pinasisiguro ni Poe ang pagbibigay prayoridad sa  procurement ng personal protective equipment, testing kits, at iba pang medical devices gaya mechanical ventilators, vaccines  at iba pang gamot na panlaban sa COVID-19.

“This will be very helpful because once a vaccine has been discovered and proven to be effective or other drugs found to be potent against the disease, we will be able to act fast and avail of that as quickly as possible,” diin ni Poe. VICKY CERVALES