HEALTHCARE workers from UST Hospital protested at the Department of Health over their long-delayed health emergency allowance (HEA), blasting the government’s “faulty system” and “bureaucratic inefficiency” that have left them waiting for benefits due since 2023.
Members of the Ugnayan ng Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng University of Santo Tomas Hospital (UNM-USTH) and the United Private Hospital Unions of the Philippines (UPHUP) said they were still waiting for at least one month’s worth of the allowance — part of a seven-month backlog of Covid 19 pandemic-related allowances that have yet to be fully distributed.
“Supposedly, the HEA was to be given every month from July 2021 to July 2023. Two years na ang nakalipas, hanggang ngayon hindi pa nabibigay,” said Ronald Ignacio, chairperson of UMN-USTH and spokesperson of the UPHUP, a coalition of 32 private hospital unions nationwide, during the Oct. 28 protest.
While the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) worth P6.77 billion on Sept. 2, the funds have yet to reach Metro Manila hospitals like USTH, Ignacio said.
“Madami [ang] nangangailangan, kahit isang buwan lang ‘yon, madami nangangailangan. Nagpunta union members namin, sasabihin sa’min, ‘uuwi kami probinsya,’ ‘‘yong gatas ng anak,’ ‘pang-tuition ng mga anak,’” he said.
UNM-USTH President Donnel Saizon attributed the delay to the failure of the DOH’s Health Emergency Allowance Processing System (HEAPS)—an online portal designed to streamline the encoding and validation of health workers’ information.
“Ang problema hindi kinaya ng system ni DOH. Kapag nag-overload ‘yong pinapasok, masasakal ‘yong system, magkakaroon ng traffic,” Saizon said. “Like every month, isang araw lang ang sine-set nilang schedule to unload ‘yong mga applications monthly.”
The DOH has since closed the HEAPS portal, which health workers said had prevented them from filing further appeals for uncredited or underpaid months.
The union leaders also raised concerns over the exclusion of outsourced and contractual personnel from the HEA list, despite the provisions of Republic Act No. 11712, which mandates that all healthcare workers—regardless of employment status—receive the allowance.
Under the law, high-risk workers were entitled to P9,000 monthly, while moderate-risk workers received P6,000.
Ignacio said, however, that some outsourced personnel reported receiving only P4,000.
The union is also appealing for a reclassification of some medical technologists and other personnel as high-risk, given their exposure inside hospital premises.
Mid-protest, Ignacio and Saizon were called inside the DOH office to explain their grievances to Assistant Regional Director Aleli Annie Grace Sudiacal.
Saizon and Ignacio were reportedly assured the delayed allowance would be released by the second week of November.
Saizon said he was doubtful the DOH would follow through because of previous delays. But union representatives will be in direct communication with Sudiacal for updates, he said.
The UNM-USTH estimated that P7.8 million in total HEA funds remained pending for UST Hospital personnel under the budget release order.
