Health
workers on Health Workers’ Day
Sick with Government Neglect
It was health workers’
day last May 7 but the more than 400 health workers from different
hospitals in Manila gathered a day before not to celebrate but to call the government’s
attention to the worsening condition of the health sector. Their plan to
bring their grievances to Malacañang Palace was blocked when the police
refused to allow them to march.
BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat
Police look on (left) as health workers
demonstrate against government neglect of the health sector on Health
Workers' Day Photos by Aubrey SC Makilan
It was health
workers’ day last May 7 but the more than 400 health workers from
different hospitals in Manila gathered a day before not to celebrate but to call the
government’s attention to the worsening condition of the health sector.
Their plan to bring their grievances to Malacañang Palace was blocked when
the police refused to allow them to march.
The protesters
assembled inside the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) compound in Manila
at 9 a.m. and were planning to march along Taft Avenue. However, a 50-man
anti-riot police contingent from the Western Police District (WPD), armed
with truncheons and batons, closed the hospital gates, including the
pedestrian gates. They banned the entry and exit even of patients and
relatives who needed to buy medicine from the hospital pharmacy. Everyone
was made to use the Padre Faura gate, including a woman in labor.
The rallyists, led by
the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and Kilosbayan para sa Kalusugan (KBK)
then decided to hold their protest action inside the PGH compound.
One of the rally
speakers, Remedios Maltu, president of the San Lazaro Hospital Employees
Association-Alliance of Health Workers, using the sound system addressed
the anti-riot police that blocked the gates of the PGH where they
assembled before proceeding to Mendiola, the road leading to the
presidential palace.
“Kung wala kaming
mga unyonistang nakikipaglaban dito, may matitira pa bang ospital na libre
ngayon?,” (Without unionists like us, do you think there would still
be hospitals offering free services?), asked Maltu.
Maltu said the
government should not have declared a “special” day for them if they could
not even exercise their freedom of expression on that day. Through an
executive order, former Corazon Aquino declared May 7 as health workers’
day.
Jenny Manuel of the
Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) said the creation of Health Workers’ Day
was just a consuelo de bobo (meaningless token) to them. “Kami
na nga lang ang nagse-celebrate, di pa pinapayagan,” she said. “They
have lined us with the other unsung heroes, and are now forgotten.”
Bulatlat
called the Department of Health (DoH) but its personnel said no one is
available that Friday due to the new four-day work policy of the
government.
Health crisis
Both AHW and KBK hold
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo responsible for the health sector’s
worsening condition. The administration’s inaction with regards the health
workers’ demands – a P3,000 across-the-board salary increase; higher
budget allocation for health workers’ benefits; and priority to health
budget – are part of the reasons the militant health workers support the
call for Macapagal-Arroyo’s ouster. Aside from health-related issues, they
also criticize other state policies, particularly the anti-terrorism bill
and value-added tax (VAT).
Manuel added that
aside from reducing the budget for health services, the government is
gearing on the restructuring of government-owned hospitals, including the
Lung Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), Philippine
Heart Center, East Avenue Medical Center and Philippine Children’s Medical
Center.
Meanwhile, Celestina
Latonero, also called Nanay Seling by her fellow protesters and a
community health volunteer in Pook Libis, Diliman, Quezon City, said in
Filipino that Macapagal-Arroyo “may be the smallest president but the
worst of all.”
Nanay Seling, 68, is
a native of Samar (a Visayan province 800 kms south of Manila). She told
Bulatlat how difficult and expensive it is to avail of medical
services whether in the province or in Manila. The problem doesn’t end
when the patient dies, she said. She shared how even children are forced
to play sakla (a card game) to raise money for the burial expenses
of their dead loved ones.
Dr. Gene Nisperos,
secretary general of Health Alliance for Democracy (Head), said that the
police’s behavior was not surprising and reflects only their chief’s
attitude.
Sympathy
Although they blocked
the protesters as instructed by their superiors, some members of the
anti-riot police believe that the health workers’ calls were legitimate.
Five policemen
interviewed by Bulatlat said they sympathized with them but they
had to follow orders. One of them even said, “Sana ‘wag naman nila
kaming i-reject sa mga ospital, pero wala talaga kaming magagawa,
kaysa naman mawalan kami ng trabaho.”
According to another,
they know how hard life is with a meager salary. This PO2 ranking
policeman said he only receives around P11, 000 because of so many
deductions.
But Maltu pointed out
that performing their task should not mean the curtailment of other
people’s rights. Bulatlat
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