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"The government's refusal to criminalize and prosecute safety violations consigns our defenseless women workers to modern day slavery. The Philippines will always be the worst place in the world for workers as DoLE stands idly by and merely counts dead women in killer workplaces." – Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Emmi de Jesus
“From the start, Gabriela has been pushing to abolish Philhealth and to give its budget to hospitals directly for spending on medicines, supplies, and salaries of health workers. Now the public really sees no benefits from this agency, and taxpayers are even burdened with paying for the bonuses of its officials, as if we are rewarding them for their botched job performance.” – Gabriela Women’s Party Re. Emmi de Jesus
“We first recorded young persons infected with HIV in 2009. After five years, it increased by 630 percent. From 218 reported cases in 2009, it increased to 1,375 reported cases in 2013.” – Department of Health
“We need long-term human rights-based solutions to a huge problem that will just continue to worsen right under our noses if we continue having only kneejerk reactions.”
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“The anti-people, anti-health worker, pro-foreign capitalist policies of the Aquino government erode the gains we attained in our 30 years of struggle.” – Jossel Ebesate, Alliance of Health Workers
“We call on all health workers and the Filipino people to continue the tradition of militancy that brought us the gains and victories in our fight for jobs, salaries and rights. Let us continue the struggle toward a just, healthy and sovereign society.”
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“We should not keep silent on this issue (of privatization) because health is a people’s right.” – Dr. Eleonor Jara, convenor of No to Privatization of Public Hospitals
“Because of the POC modernization, we are being asked to leave the hospital even if the medical treatment has not yet been completed.”
“We hope our SC justices will open their minds and hearts to the difficulties and hardships of poor patients who are being victimized by privatization and other anti-health policies.” Alliance of Health Workers
Petitioners say the Supreme Court has the perfect opportunity here to give life to state’s constitutional mandate to promote the people’s right to health through the accessibility of affordable health care.
‘It is the government’s Constitutional responsibility to improve, develop and modernize public hospitals and public health services. But for the service of the people, and not for profit-oriented investors.’
'The government may continue to claim partial ownership of Fabella, but the profit motive in the hospital’s operations is already being introduced and patients’ fees are sure to increase.'
"We refused to be deceived. We do not believe that the NKTI do not have money for the health workers' CNA incentive."
“The government’s privatization programs are allowing private investors to rake in profit out of people’s illnesses.” -- Alliance of Health Workers
“The failure of the measles eradication program is but a reflection of the glaring disconnect between national health programs and the actual health situation.” – Kilos Bayan Para sa Kalusugan
“By awarding the POC modernization project to the private investor, the Aquino administration had just signed the death sentence for public orthopedic hospital care.”
“In Haiti, many people died when the earthquake struck, but a lot more people died when cholera hit the country.” – Linda Benoit, volunteer nurse and president of the Haitian American Nurses Association
“What greater blow can an insensitive government give to the suffering people than privatizing the only public orthopedic hospital where the poor run for treatment?” – Emma Manuel, Alliance of Health Workers
“The government should stop making alibis and stop using scholars and poor patients to justify the lump sum and discretionary funds like the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). Is cutting the budget for government hospitals now called ‘underspending’ and ‘savings’ generation?” – Alliance of Health Workers
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