📷: Alliance of Health Workers | FB
On a day meant to honor the nation’s heroes, health workers across the country staged a lunch break protest to demand long-overdue justice. Marking National Heroes’ Day, frontline medical workers called out the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the Marcos Jr. administration for failing to address chronic issues that continue to plague the public health sector.
Despite their sacrifices during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, health workers say they remain underpaid, overworked, and undervalued. Their demands include:
– Immediate release of Performance-Based Bonuses (PBB) for 2021–2023
– Conversion of the ₱7,000 medical allowance into non-taxable cash
– A living wage of ₱36,000 for entry-level health workers and ₱50,000 for nurses and health professionals
– Mass hiring into regular plantilla positions to address severe understaffing
– Increased hospital budgets to ensure free and quality health services for all
“It’s been two years since the state of public health emergency was lifted, yet our conditions have only worsened,” said Ely Sobinsky, Lung Center of the Philippines Employees Association-AHW. “We’ve served with dedication, but without real improvements, many of us are forced to seek work abroad—not out of disloyalty, but out of necessity.”
Health workers also criticized President Marcos Jr.’s recent call for them to “stay and serve” in the country. “If the government truly wants us to stay, it must go beyond rhetoric and fulfill its obligations,” said Reynaldo Villamater, acting president of the National Center for Mental Health Employees Association-AHW.
The protest comes amid growing public scrutiny over billions in questionable government spending—from unprogrammed funds and confidential budgets to flood control contracts—while health workers and ordinary Filipinos struggle to access basic services.
“This Heroes’ Day, we don’t need to be glorified,” Sobinsky added. “We need our rights respected, our demands addressed, and public health prioritized over politics and profit.” (ZIA LUNA)
