Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito confirmed that the minimum honorarium for Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) will soon increase to P3,000.
Ejercito, who is the principal author of the bill, announced that the proposed Magna Carta for BHWs was approved by the Senate on Monday in its third and final reading.
Senate Bill No. 2838 was approved with 19 affirmative votes, zero negatives, and zero abstentions.
Ejercito called the honorarium increase a long-overdue legislative measure that would finally deliver better recognition and support for BHWs.
“BHWs are an extension of the Department of Health in our communities,” Ejercito said. “They provide services as part of our preventive healthcare system. Most importantly, they answered the call during the pandemic, serving as frontliners. They are heroes in their own right.”
The bill aims to institutionalize fair and standardized compensation for BHWs, ensuring a minimum monthly honorarium of P3,000, along with subsistence and travel allowances. It also seeks national government subsidies to help fund BHW compensation, particularly in third- to fifth-class municipalities.
Ejercito emphasized that the passage of the bill is significant for the implementation of the Universal Health Law, which he also authored. (TDE)
