A furious President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to fire officials responsible for the delay in the release of compensation for health workers at the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
In his public address aired on PTV4, Duterte said he was willing to “sacrifice” the people behind the delay.
The president said taxpayers’ money was being wasted on these officials who have no sense of urgency in performing their duties.
“There are so many well-intentioned and well-meaning Filipinos, doctors and all, who would want to serve the government to contribute to humanity. And we do not have to suffer these people,” he said.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd took responsibility for the delay in disbursing the cash aid to anti-Covid frontliners who died or got severely ill, but the president appears to have absolved him.
Duterte said Duque could not do everything on his own.
“I understand your problem, and I know that you have a hard time because there’s the due process,” the president said. “That’s why it’s called ‘You cannot run your own errands.’ Somebody has to do it for you because you cannot really do it beyond human comprehension.”
Several senators were dismayed that no health worker has so far been compensated under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act.
Under the law, the government must provide P100,000-compensation to a health worker who is infected with the coronavirus while on the job.
P1mn will be given to the family of a worker who will die while fighting the pandemic.
All public health workers are also entitled to a special risk allowance, in addition to the hazard pay granted under Republic Act 7305 or the “Magna Carta of Public Health Workers.”
The Bayanihan Act, which cloaks the president with powers to respond to the pandemic, was signed last March 2 and will expire on June 24.
The president earlier gave concerned government agencies until Tuesday to release the compensation to health workers.
He also ordered Duque to form a new team that will focus on the swift release of the assistance. In a Twitter post, Duque said: “While I expressed disappointment towards some members of my team, I acknowledge that this is still my responsibility as (health secretary).” During a meeting with Duterte in Davao City, Duque said his staff had no sense of urgency over the matter.
“It is embarrassing, Sir. Frontliners died, and my people look like no sense of urgency,” Duque said.
The DoH lists 32 frontliners — four nurses, 26 doctors and two non-medical staff — who died from the virus.
At the same televised meeting, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said 155 barangay (village) officials are being investigated for irregularities in the distribution of aid under the Social Amelioration Programme (SAP). Ano said complaints against three barangay officials have been referred to the Office of the Ombudsman.
Ano said over 4mn families left out in the first wave of SAP distribution would be prioritised in the aid’s second tranche.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development will implement cashless transactions for the second tranche as advised by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The Social Welfare department tapped PayMaya as one of the featured payment methods in the ReliefAgad app.
Under the programme, qualified indigent, marginalised, poor, or disadvantaged individuals or families may avail themselves of any medical, educational, burial or transportation aid to help them recover from a crisis. Last month, the agency also tapped GCash in distributing amelioration to drivers of transport network vehicles service and public utility vehicles in Metro Manila.
President Duterte also warned the public against online scammers who are exploiting the coronavirus Covid crisis.
“Do not go for that kind of wrong information where the seller you’re texting with, could be in Pampanga or Abra province. Where will they get masks there? There are no masks even in Manila,” Duterte said.
The president advised consumers to inspect the face masks they ordered first before handing out payment.
He said scammers who “take advantage of the misery of people” must be “dumped into the Pasig River.”
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