The Department of Budget and Management said Thursday there was no allocation for special risk allowance for health workers in the proposed P5.02 trillion national budget for 2022 as there was no pressing need for it when the spending plan was being prepared.
The DBM officer-in-charge, Usec. Tina Rose Marie Canda, told senators that there was "no legal basis" yet for the special risk allowance to be included in the budget while it was drafted.
She said the allowances that have been released to health workers over the past months were covered by the two Bayanihan laws.
"When we were reviewing the budget proposal of DOH since there was no legal basis, the COVID statistics are going down, there was no Delta variant, so it was not part of the recommendation for Tier 2 [budget phase] insofar as DOH is concerned," Canda said.
"That's primarily the reason why there is no SRA included in the budget of DOH," she added.
It is during the Tier 2 budget phase where new and expanded programs are considered and assessed based on their alignment to budget priorities and implementation readiness.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon expressed concern over the absence of a budget for special risk allowance under the 2022 budget.
"Only when we effectively manage the threat of COVID-19 can economic activity resume. But how can we do that if we continue to disregard as we have disregarded in this budget the health sector?" he asked.
Canda said that if the DBM would include the special risk allowance in the 2022 budget, it would have to source funds from other items.
“Some will suffer as a result, some special purpose funds might be decreased," she said.
Drilon told the DBM to look for an item in the budget where the funds for the special risk allowance for next year can be sourced.
Under the Bayanihan laws, health workers directly catering to COVID-19 patients are entitled to a P5,000 special risk allowance per month. Senators have argued that this should cover all health workers whether or not they are directly treating COVID-19 cases.
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