P6.8 billion for unpaid pandemic workers’ allowances added to 2026 budget proposal

The Department of Health says it received appeals and late requests for compensation amounting to P8.1 billion

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday, June 3, said it requested P6.8 billion to settle the remaining health emergency allowance (HEA) claims of frontline healthcare workers.

DOH Undersecretary Achilles Gerard Bravo told the Senate Committee on Health and Demography that the funding was requested in the department’s 2026 budget proposal.

Bravo explained that they were able to release P103.5 billion in HEAs last year to pay off over 5 million unpaid HEA and 4,283 COVID-19 sickness and death compensation claims of eligible healthcare and non-healthcare workers who served the country during the pandemic.

However, Bravo said that the DOH continued to receive appeals and late requests for compensation amounting to P8.1 billion.

At the time the health officials met with the country’s economic managers in February, the requests and appeals amounted to P6.8 billion.

Because there was no line item for HEA payouts in the 2025 national budget, Bravo said the economic managers instructed the DOH to request for P6.8 billion in funding through their 2026 budget proposal.

Should Congress reduce this figure in the budget deliberation process this year, Bravo said they will ask the Commission on Audit (COA) to cover the remaining amount through money claims.

COA money claims are financial requests for payment against the government stemming from unpaid debts, contractual obligations, or other claims stemming from court decisions.

Senator Bong Go, who chairs the Senate’s health committee, suggested to begin paying off these claims through any savings.

Deputy National Treasurer Eduardo Anthony Marino III said this suggestion may be possible through the government’s non-tax collections such as dividends.

“I cannot speak to the specific amounts because it has yet to be finalized, but our economic managers will decide how it will be used, whether it’s to fill the budget deficit, to fund a program or whatever priority,” he said in English and Filipino. – Rappler.com