📷 Alliance of Health Workers – AHW National | FB
Members of Alliance of Health Workers from specialty hospitals such as the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC), National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), and the Philippine Heart Center (PHC), as well as from Manila hospitals like Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, San Lazaro Hospital, and Fabella Hospital staged a simultaneous lunch break protest to demand livable wage increase, job security, mass hiring and free health services for all.
“We cannot feel the salary increase through EO64 because it was swallowed up by the high cost of living and tax deductions The prices of goods on the market, such as rice, vegetables, meat, fish, and fruits, as well as gas, are increasing almost weekly. We asked for a livable wage but President BBM’s response was EO64, which only provides a meager and inhumane salary increase,” Sally Ejes, president, Philippine Heart Center Employees Association-Alliance of Health Workers.
On August 2, 2024, PBBM issued Executive Order No. 64 increasing the salaries of government workers and authorizing the grant of an additional allowance to state employees.
Health workers also criticized Malacañang’s refusal to certify the P200 legislated wage increase as urgent. In fact, P200 is not enough. They emphasize the need for the nationwide implementation of a family living wage, currently set at P1,200 per day and P33,000 per month, as the entry-level salary for all health workers, both in public and private sectors, as well as government employees. P50K entry salary for nurses and other allied health professionals in both public and private sectors.
“Moreover, we also demand the regularization of contractual health workers and mass hiring to address the severe understaffing in public hospitals. In NKTI and PHC, there are a total of 1,753 contract of service workers, including in-house, outsourced, and regular contractuals. The titles may differ, but the scheme is the same,” expressed Jocelyn Guinto, president, National Kidney and Transplant Institute Employees Association-Alliance of Health Workers.
“We health workers see the deplorable condition in public hospitals—long queue of patients seeking medical consultation and treatment at the hospitals, no medicine, and inadequate health facilities. As health workers, we are fighting for free health services for all citizens because we believe that health is a basic human right,” Edwin Pacheco, AHW national officer
While health workers and the Filipino people are suffering from the economic and health crisis, the constant political clashes between former allies Marcos and Duterte continue, and rampant corruption in the bureaucracy persists. We have no one to rely on but our collective action.
Health workers will also hold a series of protest actions as part of their buildup activities leading up to May 1 – International Labor Day, continuing until May 7 – Health Workers Day. #
