While he sympathizes with Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque due to his recent bout with insomnia, Deputy Speaker Benny Abante Jr. said on Wednesday he is more concerned about the sleepless nights of nurses who have yet to receive their benefits from the DOH, which is why he has called on the DOH to work overtime to release the benefits due to the country’s medical frontliners.
“Bilang kaibigan ni Sec. Duque, naaawa ako sa kanya dahil sa sinabi nya na hindi sya makatulog,” said Abante, who recently called on the Health chief to step down.
The DOH has been under fire after the Commission on Audit flagged the department’s unused and misused COVID-19 funds worth P67 billion.
“Pero sa totoo lang, mas concerned po ako sa ating mga nars, na bukod sa walang tulog, walang benepisyo.”
While testifying before the House on Tuesday, Duque said that he had lost sleep over Commission on Audit (COA) findings regarding the use of funds allocated to the DOH address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duque said “mula no’ng Wednesday na lumabas po ito, hindi na po ako nakakatulog, ang mga kasama kong mga opisyal sa DOH, hindi na rin halos nakakatulog.”
The Manila representative stressed that with hospitals now being flooded with COVID cases, “hindi makatulog ang mga nars natin as nurses and other medical frontliners are working without rest, working multiple shifts in order to care for the sick.”
“In my view, the DOH should likewise work overtime, double-time, even triple-time to release these benefits. The DOH leadership should not rest, should not sleep until this issue is properly resolved; it is the least government can do for our frontliners,” said the lawmaker.
The DOH has been under fire after the Commission on Audit flagged the department’s unused and misused COVID-19 funds worth P67 billion. Of these funds, P11.89 billion were reported as unobligated. These funds were allocated for the hazard pay and special risk allowance of medical personnel, among others.
