The Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) is fast-tracking the processing and release of the 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.
As of December 21, 2022, the DOH WV CHD has posted 69% obligation rate amounting to more than P766.2 million processed and paid from the P1.1 billion fund allocated for the region.
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) – P9,000 for high risk; P6,000 for moderate risk; and P3,000 for low risk per month.
If broken down per month, the DOH WV CHD 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 WV CHD to the concerned health facility is done either through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) – which enables the WV CHD to download the fund directly to the concerned health facility; or through payroll – either credited directly to the HCW’s LandBank of the Philippines account or through a scheduled payout.
The DOH WV CHD clarifies 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 (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, the DOH WV CHD appeals for understanding and assures health care workers of the continuing provision of necessary support and recognition due to them.
