President Rodrigo Duterte has given government agencies until June 9 to compensate health workers who had died of or contracted Covid-19, Malacañang said Thursday.
“Ito ay pagkaraang makarating kay Presidente na hindi pa pala natatanggap ng kahit sino sa mga bayaning frontliners ang benepisyong ipinagkaloob sa ilalim ng Republic Act 11469 or ‘Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,'” Roque said in a virtual Malacañang news briefing.
In a separate briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the Department of Health would release the implementing guidelines for the distribution within the day.
Senators earlier hit the DOH for the “criminal” delay in the distribution of benefits to frontliners.
Vergeire said that of the 32 health workers who had died due to Covid-19, 26 were doctors, four were nurses and two were non-medical staff.
The latest data showed that 60 health workers have been severely hit by the disease, with 19 critical cases.
Under the Bayanihan Act, the government must provide P100,000 in compensation to health workers who will contract Covid-19 in the line of duty and P1 million to those who will die due to the coronavirus disease. John Ezekiel J. Hirro