Batches 3, 4 of SRA disbursed to health workers total P617.2M —Duque

The Department of Health has distributed P617.2 million in special risk allowances to health workers, up from the P536.74 million reported last week, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Monday. 

In the taped weekly Talk to the People briefing led by President Rodrigo Duterte, Duque said that they distributed Batches 3 and 4 of SRA worth P617.2 million to 48,226 healthcare workers in the country, as of October 6, 2021.

He also reported that for Batch 2 of SRA, P309.2 million was distributed to 21,248 medical frontliners, as of August 31.

In Batch 1 of SRA, Duque said, P6.92 billion was released from December 2020 to June 2021 while P6.4 billion was disbursed for the SRA and hazard pay of healthcare frontliners from September 2020 to December 2020.

So far, Duque said the health department has distributed P15.88 billion worth of benefits for health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health workers' groups have decried the slow pace of the distribution of their benefits amid the pandemic. — BM, GMA News