Black hearts, they said, signify the government’s lack of concern for the plight of health workers, most of whom suffer from long hours of work with not enough take home pay. By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA -- On Valentine’s Day health workers took to...
“Civilian employees will be left far behind by their armed counterparts although they have similar, even higher qualifications, or have spent equal, even more years in government service.”
While public hospitals are understaffed, government fails to fill some 20,000 vacancies for health workers.
The 2018 budget for public hospitals was cut by P1.5 billion.
Trainings cost half or even double the salary of a low-wage professional.
On V-day, health workers are not feeling any love from government.
“It would be much better if President Aquino alloted the budget in this summit for the modernization of government hospitals .”
Rank-and-file employees will get only up to 22 percent increase, while the President gets 233 percent raise.
“Its health agenda document, like that of past administrations...is all rhetorics of accessibility and quality health care for the poor, while in reality, the people are left miserable and dying with inadequate health care.”
MANILA – Health workers under the banner of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) stormed the main office of the Department of Health on Monday, Oct. 27, denouncing its continuing neglect of the public health service system. The health workers lament that the DOH...
Nurses care for sick patients, but government is not caring for them.
“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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“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
One million signatures against privatization (Text and photos by Anne Marxze D. Umil / Bulatlat.com)
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA – Progressive unions are the Filipino people’s last line of defense against the privatization of government hospitals. The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), an alliance of unions in government hospitals, together with the...
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA – The privatization of public hospitals has been going on since the regime of the late president Ferdinand Marcos. The different administrations had different names for it: public-private partnerships, corporatization,...
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
The costs of health services in earlier corporatized government hospitals such as the Philippine Heart Center, the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI) and Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) belie the government’s claim that privatization will lead to more “accessible and affordable health care” for the poor.
Sidebar:
Laying the foundations for the privatization of government hospitals
Attacking progressive unions in government hospitals to pave the way for privatization
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“The government is passing its obligation to the private sector to reduce its social spending.” – Health Alliance for Democracy
Other Stories: Gov’t temporary employment program for nurses, exploitative
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Around 6,340 living-in patients, 56,000 out-patients, 1,713 health workers, and 20,000 residents will be affected by the planned sale of Welfareville, aside from the promotion of preventive mental health care, in the name of Public-Private Partnership projects.
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