PALAYAN CITY – Senator Christopher Lawrence Go on Thursday urged newly-designated Health Secretary Ted Herbosa to prioritize “pro-poor programs” and the release of unpaid Covid-19 allowances for health workers.
This, even as Go, the chair of the Senate committee on health, welcomed Herbosa’s designation to the health portfolio.
“Sa kanyang karanasan bilang IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) adviser noong panahon ng Covid response period sa ilalim ni Pangulong Duterte, nandiriyan po siya at malawak po ang kanyang kaalaman,” Go said in an interview.
The senator earlier led the distribution of Aid to Individuals in Crisis Situations and food packs to beneficiaries from this city and the municipalities of Bongabon, Laur, and Gabaldon, along with Gov. Aurelio Umali and GP Partylist Rep. Jose Gay Padiernos at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum here.
“Ang pakiusap ko lang po sa kanya ay unahin yung mga pro-poor programs yung makakatulong po sa mga mahihirap, yung mga helpless hopeless nating kababayan na walang ibang matakbuhan kundi tayong nasa gobyerno” Go added.
For the payment due to health workers, Go expressed belief this is on top of Herbosa’s list.
“Nananawagan po ako na may pera na po ang gobyerno. Nanawagan ako sa DOH sa DBM (Department of Budget and Management) bilisan niyo na po. Ibigay niyo na po what is due to our health workers,” he said.
“These people, some of whom even got infected and died, sacrificed in helping fight Covid-19,” he noted.
Last February, then acting Health Secretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said some 805,000 health workers from national and local governments, as well as private institutions, have yet to receive their respective allowances.
