WITH the Department of Health (DOH) still failing to provide their benefits, healthcare workers from different parts of the country yesterday called for the immediate ouster of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
In a statement for the “National Day of Protest,” the Alliance Health Workers (AHW) said they are calling Duque to immediately resign or for President Duterte to fire the health chief immediately.
“The deadline we set with the DOH to grant our COVID-19 benefits is finally over. Our patience with Secretary Duque is also over. A year has passed, but the basic problem confronting health workers in relation to the COVID-19 issue remains. Enough is enough,” said AHW president Robert Mendoza.
“Now, let him face our collective call for him to step down and be accountable for his wrongdoings, especially in ensuring our health, safety, and welfare,” he added.
Duque, whose resignation is being sought by senators and other groups since last year for alleged incompetence, told a Senate hearing last Friday that he is prepared to resign but wants to first clear the Department of Health of deficiencies in the use of COVID-19 response funds, as flagged recently by the Commission on Audit.
“If the time comes when I need to resign, there’s no problem with me,” he told senators.
Medical staff have been overwhelmed during the pandemic and 103 have died from COVID-19, among some 33,400 coronavirus fatalities.
“It is sad that many of us have died, many of us became sick, and many have resigned or opted to retire early, yet we are still kneeling before the DOH to give us our benefits,” Mendoza said from the back of a pickup truck.
The AHW said aside from failing healthcare workers amid the pandemic, Duque has also shown gross negligence and incompetence since returning to the DOH in October 2017, as shown by expired medicines and the P15-billion scam at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp (PhilHealth) of which he is board chairman.
“He better step down now… Now is the best time for him to leave DOH,” said AHW secretary general Benjamin Santos.
“The government promised it will give the benefits today but up to now, it has not. I pity us because we are the ones begging,” said nurse Nico Oba.
The Philippine Nurses Association held its own protest virtually to demand better working conditions and more hospital staff.
President Duterte gave the health and budget departments 10 days from August 21 to pay health workers, following nurses’ threats to resign and unions warning of strikes.
Health workers from Metro Manila gathered in front of the DOH gate in Manila, wearing their uniforms and personal protective equipment and holding placards and empty pots, cans, and other kitchen utensils.
Health workers from Baguio City, Pampanga, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Bulacan, Samar, Leyte, and Isabela, staged protest actions from their wards by wearing red armbands and conducting a noontime noise barrage.
The healthcare workers have been protesting because of their unpaid allowances and other benefits under the Bayanihan 2 law.
At the House, Health Director Larry Cruz told the budget hearing on the DOH’s P242.22-billion proposed national budget for 2022 that more than P308 million of the additional P311 million funds released for the special risk allowance (SRA) of health workers had been disbursed to various health facilities, including both private hospitals and local government units.
Cruz said so far, P115 million has been received by health facilities and LGUs and 1,264 health workers have already received their SRAs which is just 20 percent of the 20,000.
The Bayanihan 2 law, which lapsed last June, mandates the provision of SRA, life insurance, free meals and transportation, among others, to public and private healthcare workers.
The DOH has so far disbursed P10.33 billion for the SRA of 685,431 medical workers for the period of September 2020 and June 2021.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that since only healthcare workers with direct exposure to COVID-19 cases are qualified to receive SRAs under the Bayanihan law, Congress will have to pass a new law to cover all health workers.
He said the Commission on Appointments will run after the DOH and those who allowed the distribution of SRAs to those who are not directly serving in COVID wards.
“The interpretation cannot be left to the head of the agency because it is a law. It is only by way of legislation that this can be amended,” he told lawmakers. — With Wendell Vigilia and Reuters
