• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Councilor Claudio Jesus Puentevella is pushing for a P7,000 monthly allowance for barangay health workers (BHWs) in Bacolod City, from the current P5,500.
“The salary increase is one way of expressing our appreciation to our frontliners, who have tirelessly worked to ensure that every Bacolodnon is provided with the proper healthcare,” Puentevella, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Health and Sanitation, said in his proposed ordinance approved on first reading during the SP regular session Nov. 22.
He said the present allowance of a BHW “is not sufficient to meet the current demand of prices of basic commodities.”
Puentevella added that the Department of Health recommends a ratio of one BHW per 20 households, but in reality, a BHW typically deals with 200 to 300 households, so there is need to at least increase the monthly allowance.
The increase in the honorarium has already been allocated a budget under the proposed P3.6 billion Bacolod appropriations in 2024.
Mayor Alfredo Benitez said the increased honoraria of BHWs and barangay nutrition scholars (BNS) is under the social services subsector, that is given an allocation of P461,549,710.
Social services shall include those mandated to be funded or otherwise devolved by the national government, such as the Gender and Development Fund, Local Council for the Protection of Children, and Sustainable Livelihood Program, he said in his budget message.
“Also under this subsector are donations, inclusive of the increased number of senior citizen-beneficiaries and the newly-granted financial assistance to solo parents, as well as the increased honoraria of BHWs and BNS, from P5,500 to P7,000,” Benitez added. | CGC
