FOLLOWING the enactment of the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) on Monday, a Bicolano lawmaker urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Health (DOH) to immediately release simplified guidelines for the disbursement of the Health Emergency Allowance (HEA) to healthcare workers who served during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2026 national budget, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law today at Malacañang, included ₱6.77 billion for Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances (PHEBA) for health and non-healthcare workers.
“Now that the budget is in place, we need the DBM and DOH to act quickly. Our health workers have waited long enough. Maybe, an affidavit could suffice, maybe we can simplify the process by accepting sworn affidavits from health workers attesting to their eligibility and service,” House Special Committee on Food Security chairman and Albay Third District Representative Raymond Adrian Salceda said.
Under Salceda’s proposal, each unpaid health worker would execute a sworn affidavit attesting to their eligibility, the period and nature of their service, and other relevant details to qualify for the remuneration.
These affidavits would be submitted to the DOH and validated against existing records.
The DBM would then process payments immediately even as the Commission on Audit (COA) conducts post-audit verification. Maricel V. Cruz
“The current system is bogged down by documentation requirements that many health facilities simply cannot meet. Many claims remain pending due to missing or inconsistent facility documentation. The affidavit solution is meant to end this cycle of delay,” Salceda noted.
Earlier on, Salceda filed House Resolution 127 directing the DBM and the DOH to jointly ensure the full payment of HEA to all eligible health workers for their service during the COVID-19 pandemic, determine the exact amount of unpaid benefits, and ensure that such amount is included in the budget for the current year.
The HEA was mandated under Republic Act 11712 or the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act, signed into law on 27 April 2022.
It entitles health workers to a monthly allowance during a declared public health emergency, with rates ranging from ₱3,000 to ₱9,000 based on their level of risk exposure.
To date, the DBM has released over ₱121 billion for PHEBA from 2020 to early 2025, including ₱27.453 billion in July 2024 to cover more than 5 million HEA claims and thousands of sickness and death compensation cases. However, numerous claims remained pending due to record-keeping issues.
