DILG endorses bill standardizing benefits for BHWs

This pertains to the two articles about the plight of barangay health workers that came out in your newspaper last Sept. 12 and 13. The articles “Barangay health workers: Unsung, unpaid, undaunted,” and “Barangay health workers’ local knowledge is key to effective contact tracing” by Jane Bautista talked about the invaluable contributions of our barangay health workers (BHWs) to local communities which the national government, particularly the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), truly appreciate.We do not only support the call of our BHWs, we also want to strengthen their role in the 42,046 barangays nationwide.

As of Sept. 15, there are 102,404 BHWs nationwide. There are 1,925 of them in the National Capital Region; 16,573 in Region 1; 3,598 in Region 2; 11,721 in Region 3; 16,847 in Region 4-A; 2,714 in Mimaropa; 6,027 in Region 5; 9,256 in Region 6; 8,324 in Region 7; 8,284 in Region 8; 1,573 in Region 9; 5,290 in Region 10; 2,497 in Region 11; 2,140 in Region 12; 3,110 in CAR; 2,176 in Caraga; and 349 in ARMM.

The Department of Health is mandated to train all health workers in the barangays which are under the general supervision of the DILG. Republic Act No. 7883, or the Barangay Health Workers’ Benefits and Incentives Act of 1995, provides that BHWs “voluntarily render primary health and services in the community.” Like all volunteer workers, they draw their honorarium from the barangay which is dependent on the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) released to them by the Department of Budget and Management for funding. Most of the time, this honorarium is not commensurate to the services they render.

The problem is that not all barangays are created equal. Some barangays get more IRA funding than others, the allotment of which depends on many factors, including population. The richer the LGU is, the more IRA it gets. Barangay health workers in the rural localities have limited sources of funding, that is why they are usually underpaid compared to their counterparts in richer barangays. It all depends on the financial capacity of each barangay, which cannot spend more than 55 percent of its budget on personnel services.

To address this concern, the DILG is pushing for amendments to the Local Government Code which, among others, aim to professionalize the operations of the barangays, impose minimum qualification standards on barangay officials and employees, and provide them with regular salaries regardless of the financial standing of the barangay. It is our hope that Congress will pass these amendments soon.

In your second story, we agree with you that these BHWs who have more local knowledge and experience in servicing the community, are key to the contact tracing of COVID-19-infected individuals. Under the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act (Bayanihan 2), the DILG will hire 50,000 additional contact tracers for this year. Applicants must have college-level education, as the job involves special skills like knowledge on investigation. Each contact tracer will receive a minimum of P18,000 compensation a month.

It might interest you to know that the DILG has decided to give priority to qualified BHWs, displaced OFWs, and local workers, beneficiaries of 4Ps, and members of civil society groups in selecting applicants for contract tracers. A selection process will be put in place to screen all applicants to make sure that only those who are fit to do the job are selected.

Secretary Eduardo Año and the DILG organization do not ignore the plight of any particular group or sector under their supervision. We encourage and champion local autonomy to strengthen the capacity of our local government units to address the problems in the communities, particularly at the barangay level. Rest assured that we are one with our BHWs in seeking better compensation for their hard work. Hence, we endorse House Bill No. 3985, or the Barangay Health and Wellness Reform, filed by Barangay Health Workers Rep. Angelica Natasha Co in 2019, which seeks to standardize benefits for BHWs.

I hope this clarified our full support for our BHWs. Thank you.

Jonathan E. Malaya
Undersecretary
Department of the Interior and Local Government