THE government has ordered the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to hand over more than P400 million to cover the health insurance of COVID-19 patients.

In a resolution, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases said PCSO will transfer P420.6 million to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.(PHIC)

The amount will be used to cover COVID-19-related packages of the PHIC, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said at a briefing yesterday.

The task force will also endorse a Labor department proposal for the Budget department to release P1.5 billion in financial assistance to Filipino workers overseas, he said.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte earlier signed into law a measure that gives him special powers to deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The law gives 18 million low-income households an emergency cash aid worth P5,000 to P8,000 for two months, depending on a region’s minimum wage. — Gillian M. Cortez

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR