By MARYA SALAMAT
In the Philippines, the bulk of employed health workers and professionals are in the public sector. But over the years, the effect of government neglect on health, such as low wages and deplorable working conditions of health workers, coupled with the government’s active labor export policy, have combined to shrink the number of the country’s employed health professionals and workers.
Tunay na malaki ang gawain para ang karapatang pantao ay maging bahagi ng panlipunang kamulatan. Idagdag pa rito ang madalas na pagkakasangkot ng militar, paramilitary na grupo, maging ang war lords, sa paglabag ng karapatang pantao. Ang ibig sabihin nito, kahit pa show window ng isang demokratikong bansa ang pagpapatupad sa karapatang pantao, mismong ang mga koersibong aparato ng estado ang gumagamit sa karahasan—kasama ang paglabag sa karapatang pantao—para sa pagtataguyod ng tradisyonal na politikang sistema ng bansa, na ang epekto, ay nagtataguyod ng global na sistema ng kapitalismo.
Media Release 22 February 2010 Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) strongly condemned the intransigence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which seeks to award two officers involved in the illegal arrest, detention, and torture of 43 health workers. “Rewarding human rights violators is not only insulting to the victims and their families but also…
Media Release February 22, 2010 Women OFWs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia linked arms on Friday to protest what they claim as government’s abandonment of its responsibility to the plight of ‘stranded’ Filipinos by charging for air-tickets. Beth Medina, Gabriela Women’s Party – Jeddah Chapter Spokesperson, revealed that local Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) staff was…
Media Release February 22, 2010 Palparan, Alcover, persona non-grata in the city Gabriela Women’s Party lauds the unanimous passing of a resolution by the Davao City Council declaring Jovito Palparan and Jun Alcover persona non grata after the duo repeatedly pronounced Davao City as unsafe for being a breeding ground of insurgents. “Palparan and Alcover’s…
Media Release February 22, 2010 Statement on the Commemoration of EDSA People Power I Today, as the nation commemorates the historic EDSA People Power I uprising, the continuing illegal detention and torture of 43 health workers by the Philippine military stands as a manifest and complete reversal of everything that EDSA I stood for. While…
Media Release February 22, 2010 The left-wing Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines) conveyed the call of farmers in Isabela and Cagayan provinces, led by the Alyansa Dagiti Mannalon Iti Cagayan (Kagimungan, KMP Cagayan Valley), for relief as their crops, majorly rice and corn are nearing total damage at present valued…
Media Release February 22, 2010 Militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno today called on leading presidential candidate Sen. Manny Villar to “learn the lessons of history” in the wake of the latter’s statement that he is “open” to giving a hero’s burial to former president Ferdinand Marcos. Villar recently said he sees no problem in…
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Before the Morong 43, community doctors and health workers serving in rural areas have been the targets of attacks that range from murder, assassination attempts, raid and strafing to filing of fabricated charges and other forms of harassment.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Jane was born with a positive point of view. “Jane is the type of person who would always smile even if she has problems,” her mother said. “Whenever I have a problem, she would always say, ‘You can handle it, Ma.’ That is why despite what they are going through she is always smiling and her morale is high. It’s as if we the relatives are the ones in jail.”
By MARYA SALAMAT
“She is a community health worker who wanted to help people with medical needs. She and others like her painstakingly reach out to the poor and in farflung areas. They go out of their way to do sacrifices without asking for much in return.”