The Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas has processed and paid more than P766.2 million in One COVID-19 allowance (OCA) to all eligible public and private health care workers (HCW) and non-HCWs in health facilities who have been involved in the COVID-19 response.
The DOH in Western Visayas in continuing to fast track the processing and release of the rest of the OCA, Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH regional director, also assured in a press release.
As of Wednesday, December 21, the DOH has posted a 69 percent obligation rate amounting to more than P766.2 million processed and paid from the P1.1 billion fund allocated for Western Visayas, he said.
The grant of OCA covers the months of January to June 2022.
The rate that eligible HCWs and non-HCWs receive varies depending on their COVID-19 Risk Exposure Classification (CREC) with P9,000 granted for high risk, P6,000 for moderate risk, and P3,000 for low risk per month, he added.
If broken down per month, the DOH in Western Visayas has already provided the OCA of the following HCWs and non-HCWs in public health facilities:
January – 16,524 out of 29,928
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, the following 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 11,534
April – 10,509 out of 10,509
The mode of payment from the DOH to the concerned health facility is done either through a memorandum of agreement – which enables the downloading of the fund directly to the concerned health facility or through payroll – either credited directly to the HW’s LandBank of the Philippines account or through a scheduled payout, Suba-an said.
The DOH clarified that in some instances, there were delays noted in the grant of the OCA due to incompleteness of required documents such as daily time record, 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, the DOH appeals for understanding and assures health care workers of the continuing provision of necessary support and recognition due to them, Suba-an said.*