📷: Alliance of Health Workers – AHW National | FB
Members of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) held a lunch break noise barrage protest today to denounce worsening conditions in the public health system, rampant corruption, and the government’s continued neglect of health workers’ rights and welfare.
AHW National President Bonifacio Carmona criticized the administration for failing to address hospital understaffing, unpaid benefits, and low wages.
“We are enraged. While billions are lost to corruption, our hospitals remain understaffed, our benefits unpaid, and our salaries insufficient. We will not be silenced until the government fulfills its responsibility to protect the health and dignity of both health workers and the people,” said Bonifacio Carmona, AHW national president.
The group reiterated demands for a living wage—₱36,000 for entry-level health workers and ₱50,000 for nurses and allied professionals—as well as the immediate release of long-delayed Performance-Based Bonuses (PBB) from 2021 to 2023 and a ₱7,000 medical allowance in full cash.
AHW acknowledged a recent Department of Budget and Management (DBM) communication granting partial approval for the 2023 PBB, but lamented the exclusion of 2021 and 2022 bonuses.
“Many of us served tirelessly and courageously during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, working long hours under extreme pressure, risking our health and even our lives to save others. It is only just and rightful that the government must release the 2021–2022 PBB immediately and NOT only the 2023, as these represent the fruits of our hard work, sacrifices, and unwavering dedication to public service during the most difficult times,” said John Paul Gubaton of Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center Employees Union-AHW. “We served during the pandemic. We deserve full recognition.”
More so, AHW also called on the government to release the ₱7,000 medical allowance directly in cash, instead of channeling it through Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs).
The group asserts that the benefit should be received in full and without deductions, as health workers urgently need the cash for their daily medical, health, and personal needs.
“We stressed that this allowance is part of the health workers and government employee’s compensation and not a privilege that can be controlled by private intermediaries. We have earned this allowance through our continued service, especially amid difficult working conditions. It is our right to receive the full ₱7,000 in cash. Every peso counts for our families, especially with the rising cost of living.” stated Eleazar Sobinsky, president, Lung Center of the Philippines Employees Association-AHW.
AHW expressed frustration over the lack of response from President Marcos Jr. after submitting a letter last June. The only reply came four months later—a brief endorsement to the Department of Health, which the group described as bureaucratic neglect.
Benjamin Santos, AHW public relations officer, warned of a public health crisis due to thousands of vacant plantilla positions in hospitals.
“For years, we have been urging the Department of Health and the national government to fill the thousands of vacant plantilla positions in public hospitals and regularize contractual health workers, yet our calls remain unheeded. The government finds funds for infrastructure, confidential and pork barrel, but not for health workers and people’s health,” lamented Santos
Today’s protest follows similar actions last October and builds momentum toward a nationwide mass protest on November 30, demanding accountability for corruption and urgent reforms in the health sector.
AHW vowed to continue mobilizing until their demands are met and those responsible for corruption are held accountable. (RRN)
