Go chides agencies for slow distribution of health workers' sickness, death benefit

Pro-administration Senator Christopher "Bong" Go on Thursday slammed various government agencies for the snail-paced distribution of P100,000 sickness and P1 million death benefits to health workers affected by severe COVID-19.

"Bakit po nangyari ito? Dumaan ang Abril, dumaan ang Mayo, ngayon Hunyo na. Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa naibibigay ang benepisyo na dapat matanggap ng ating health workers o ng kanilang mga pamilyang naulila," Go, chair of the Senate committee on health, said in a privilege speech.

"Hoy DBM [Department of Budget and Management], DOH [Department of Health], at pati na rin DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment]! Mag-usap-usap naman kayo at mag-coordinate kayo sa isa’t isa. Marahil hindi po alam ng Pangulo, patay-patayan kayo. Ngayon na na-expose na sa publiko ang problema, mag-i-issue kayo ng joint issuance para i-implement ang isang bagay na noon pa ninyo dapat ginawa," he added.

Go stressed that President Rodrigo Duterte already issued directives before on cutting red tapes.

"Kung kailan kayo sinabihan, doon pa ninyo ginagawa ang guidelines. Kung kailan kayo pinuna, doon lang ninyo tatawagan ang mga pamilyang naulila ng frontliners na sinakripisyo ang kanilang buhay para sa bayan," he said.

He also reminded undersecretaries and other executive government officials to assist their respective chiefs, especially during this pandemic.

"Hindi nila kaya mag-isa sa panahon ngayon. Gumising naman kayo. Nagtutulug-tulugan ba kayo? O nagpapatay-patayan kayo? O talagang patay na kayo?" he said.

"Kung ayaw nyong magtrabaho, eh ‘di umalis na kayo. Ginagawa na nga ng Pangulo ang lahat, eh ang mga tao sa baba ayaw tumulong, ayaw gumalaw, umalis na kayo. Wala na ang programang ‘Hoy Gising!’ pero Hoy! Gumising naman kayo!" he added. 

As a member of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the implementation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, Go urged the concerned agencies to release the benefits immediately.

President Rodrigo Duterte gave the concerned government officials until June 9 to complete the financial assistance to COVID-19-stricken health workers, according to Malacañang on Thursday.

The Department of Health, for its part, said that the distribution will start within the day as long as the families of  beneficiaries are able to comply with the requirements.

Earlier this week, several senators expressed disappointment upon learning that the benefits for affected health workers have not been given yet due to lack of implementing rules and regulations.

Section 4 (f) of the Bayanihan Law, which was passed in March, states that public and private health workers who would contract severe COVID-19 must receive a P100,000 compensation from the government. A death benefit of P1 million must also be provided to those who will die due to COVID-19 in line of duty. The provision has a retroactive application from February 1, 2020. — BM, GMA News