Nurses still waiting for Cebu City’s promised cash aid

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CEBU CITY, Philippines — The promised P10,000 per month financial incentive to nurses in private hospitals working in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ward has not been released until now.

The city government promised the nurses last September 24, 2020 that cash incentives would be released by the first week of October 2020.

Read more: Fulfilling a promise: Cebu City gov’t to release financial aid for private hospital nurses next week

“Again we would like to remind the honorable mayor and the City of Cebu on their promise for the nurses who fought so hard in the pandemic. We appreciate their effort but we just hope they will be true to their promise,” said John Stephen Descallar, the president of the Philippines Nurse’s Association (PNA) Cebu Chapter.

“The monetary bonus would be of great help to our nurses especially those working in the private hospitals since they are not receiving as much as our nurses in the government,” he said.

The city attributes the delay of the release of the financial assistance to the documents required by the Commission on Audit (COA) for the cash incentives to be considered legal.

As of October 16, 2020, the money has yet to be released by the city government.

Mayor Edgardo Labella said the money was ready, but they were awaiting the final list compiled by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Incorporated (RAFI) before they would release it.

The RAFI has offered to help the city collect the requirements and documents of the nurses and other medical professionals in the private hospitals who should benefit from the incentive.

However, Labella said the organization had not completed the list yet. They need the list for COA or else the city might be administratively charged.

“We are waiting for that list. We are hoping that we can distribute before October ends,” said the mayor.

The mayor no longer promised a specific date but he assured the nurses that this incentive would be released soon.

Each nurse will receive a total of P30,000 for the months of July, August, and September 2020.

As for the nurses in Cebu City, they continue to hope that the city will stay true to their promise of providing the cash incentives after they fought hard on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic risking their lives in the process.

/dbs