ILOILO City – The Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas said it is fast-tracking the processing of the One COVID-19 allowance (OCA) of eligible public and private healthcare workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs involved in the COVID-19 response.
“As of Dec. 21, DOH-WV has posted 69 percent obligation rate amounting to more than P766.2 million processed and paid from the P1.1 billion fund allocated for the region,” read part of the news release from DOH signed by regional director, Dr. Adriano P. Suba-an.
The over P766.2-million OCA grant covers the months of January to June 2022.
The rate that eligible HCWs and non-HCWs receive monthly varies depending on their COVID-19 Risk Exposure Classification (CREC): P9,000 for high risk; P6,000 for moderate risk, and P3,000 for low risk.
Broken down per month, the following HCWs and non-HCWs in public health facilities already received their OCA:
* January – 16,524 out of 29,928 HCWs and non-HCWs
* February – 7,024 out of 27,254
* March – 4,158 out of 19,863
* April – 3,503 of 17,172
* May – 1,753 out of 18,221
* June – 509 out of 11,335
For private health facilities, here is the breakdown of HCWs and non-HCWs provided with OCA, to date:
* January – 13,239 out of 13,239
* February – 13,703 out of 13,703
* March – 11,534 out of 10,509
Suba-an explained that the mode of payment from DOH-6 to the concerned health facility is done either through a memorandum of agreement (MOA), which enables the regional office to download the fund directly to the concerned health facility, or through payroll, either credited directly to the health workers’ Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) account or through a scheduled payout.
There were delays due to the incompleteness of the required documents such as the daily time record (DTR), LBP account, certificate of tax exemption, or inconsistency in the CREC, among others.
“As it continues to work overtime to process the One COVID-19 allowance, DOH appeals for understanding and assures healthcare workers of the continuing provision of necessary support and recognition due to them,” Suba-an added.
Earlier, Iloilo Provincial Health Office head, Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon, said more than 1,000 municipal vaccinators in the province have yet to receive their OCA from January to April 2022.
According to Quiñon, funds are directly downloaded by the DOH central office to its regional office, which is in charge of releasing them to concerned HCWs and non-HCWs./PN
