MANILA - The country's healthcare system might collapse if government does not give its medical frontliners their due benefits, the Philippine Nurses Association said Tuesday.

Aside from nurses in the private sector, contractual health workers and some medical personnel in the public sector have yet to receive their special risk allowance, active hazard duty pay, and transportation and accommodation allowance, said PNA president Maristela Abenojar.

Some 30,000 nurses work in the private sector while there are 13,000 contractual nurses nationwide, she said.

"May families sila na nakasandig sa kanila for their basic survival. If you deprive 1 nurse of their basic benefits ibig sabihin marami siya di mapapakain o mabibigyan ng pangangailangan," she told ANC's Headstart.

(They have families who rely on them for basic survival. If you deprive 1 nurse of their basic benefits, it would mean they would not be able to provide food or basic needs for their family.)

"We're afraid our health care system will collapse if this will not be addressed immediately because for nurses for instance we have 72 percent of the total labor force."

UST Hospital union president Donnel John Siason earlier said health workers are considering a strike or a "medical lockdown" due to their low salaries and lack of benefits.

• 'Medical lockdown', mass resignation of PH health workers in private sector possible: union

Abenojar cited as an example 150 UST Hospital health workers who have contracted COVID-19, some several times, but have yet to receive their compensation.

"There is this growing frustration among our ranks that they feel they're not really appreciated despite the huge sacrifices they had, despite a lot of them getting ill of COVID, and some of us are also dying yet we were not given due recognition in terms of our contribution," she said.

The Senate can pass "within a day" a resolution extending the health department's authority to release lapsed Bayanihan 2 funds if President Rodrigo Duterte orders it to do so, said Senator Miguel Zubiri.

"Kung kailangan talaga ng extension (If an extension is needed), we can go to work tomorrow. We can pass it within a day," he said.

"Ang bottomline, no questions asked, ibigay na po natin itong special risk allowances sa ating health workers."

(The bottomline is, no questions asked, we should give health workers their special risk allowances.)

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'HEADS HAVE TO ROLL'

Zubiri said blaming the lapse of Bayanihan 2 law is "a lot of BS" because there are funds allocated for the benefits for health workers still lodged at the DOH.

He also emphasized that the health ministry is accountable for the release of these allowances even after supposedly downloading the money to local government units.

"Somebody has to be an implementer for that. Hindi pwedeng hugas-kamay na lang na pag-release mo sa regional office, hugas na lang ng kamay tapos bahala na kayo dyan," he said.

(Somebody has to be an implementer for that. It cannot stop at passing the blame after it's released to the regional office, wash hands and you're on your own.)

He said he is willing to give Sec. Francisco Duque III the benefit of the doubt that DOH regional directors might have lied to him, but still, officials must be held responsible for the failure to release the funds to health workers.

"Eh di palitan niya o i-suspend niya. Somebody has to get blamed for this mess, particularly yung sa risk allowance. Itong allowance na ito, heads have to roll on the non-release of these funds kasi right now, we have to appeal to our health sector partners, yung nurses na wag naman sana mag-resign," he said.

(He should replace them or suspend them. Somebody has to get blamed for this mess, particularly on the risk allowance. On this allowance, heads have to roll on the non-release of these funds because right now, we have to appeal to our health sector partners, our nurses to please not resign.)

The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAPI) has estimated 40 percent of private hospital nurses resigned last year, and more followed after new waves of infections this year. Public hospitals are facing similar challenges.

• Nurses' group discourages health workers' mass resignation
• Overwhelmed Philippine hospitals hit by staff resignations

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--With a report from Reuters