The Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) earlier signed the Joint Administrative Order (JAO) establishing implementing guidelines on the grant of compensation to public and private health workers pursuant to the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act”.  
 
Today, DOH through Health Undersecretaries Gerardo Bayugo and Roger Tong-an also released the first of 32 checks for the loved ones of our fallen health care heroes. The remaining checks are ready for pick-up and delivery to the recipients, and its distribution will be prioritized in the next two days. 
 
Under Section 4(f) of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, public and private healthcare workers who contract severe COVID-19 infection while in the line of duty will be entitled to P100,000 compensation to any public and private health worker. Financial assistance of one million pesos (P1,000,000) shall likewise be granted to the family of any health worker who will succumb to COVID-19. 
 
“No amount of compensation will fully measure to the bravery of our health care workers and the sacrifices of their families,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said, referring to the health workers who are at highest risk in the fight against COVID-19. “It is a token from a grateful nation, and we will ensure that they get it without complication” Duque added. 
 
To ensure that beneficiaries will not encounter difficulties in filing their claims, they shall be assisted by the Malasakit Program Office and Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients coordinators in DOH Centers for Health Development nationwide. The DOH will send an official notification to the health worker or legal beneficiary once the claim is approved and available for release.  
 
“The fight against COVID-19 is far from over but we will not leave our frontliners fighting alone. We will always support them all the way,” Duque concluded.