"We Care for Our Frontliners; They Must Receive Their Long Overdue Benefits"

Written by Claire Therese P. Ferrer
Illustrated by Christine Raine V. Dela Cruz
Posted on September 17, 2021 | 6:25 PM

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started, our economy and working conditions have been gradually regressing. It has been a long year, soon to be two years, for everyone: government officials, healthcare workers, other frontliners, and the general population of the Philippines. In this time of need, many require assistance, especially those who have fallen ill due to the virus. As we’re all struggling to survive this pandemic, not many have been lucky enough to receive a sufficient amount of monetary assistance. That includes our diligent frontliners who have been working tirelessly to earn for themselves and to contribute for the betterment of our nation. Ever since January 2020, the start of the pandemic, The Philippines has been in dire need of healthcare workers and frontliners. As they, our medical frontliners, continue to serve our country, they haven’t been fully repaid for all their hard work. As the number of COVID-19 cases increases, our frontliners’ energy and drive to continue to serve continues to decrease, and this issue has only been brought up recently.

On National Heroes’ Day, August 30th, 2021, healthcare workers stormed over to the Department of Health (DOH) to demand for their unreleased COVID-19 benefits. They have strongly expressed their weariness from the work that they are not being paid for, and were even more enraged when they discovered that COVID-19 benefits only applied to those who have been in direct contact with COVID patients.

The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) has given the Department of Health until August 31st, 2021 to release healthcare workers their much-needed benefits. “We strongly demand more actions than words. Thus, we are giving the DOH until August 31, 2021 to implement the long overdue COVID-19 benefits to health workers.” says Robert Mendoza, President of the Alliance of Health Workers. On top of the protesting, many have also demanded the resignation of Health Secretary, Francisco Duque III, who has recently been under heat for mismanaging 67 billion pesos worth of COVID-19 funds.

Another issue that the Philippine Government has yet to address is the labor problems the Philippines is currently experiencing. Many employed Filipinos have demanded better working conditions and better pay, especially our frontliners. It even got to the point where they had to get money out of their own pockets just to buy their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that the government should be providing. Ever since July of 2021, it has been recorded that Filipino workers have temporarily stopped looking for work. On the other hand, there are also cases where many employed people are unsatisfied with their salary. We’ve observed that because of this, most cannot afford to support their families financially. According to most unemployed Filipinos, they have stopped looking for jobs because, aside from the fact that we are still in the midst of a pandemic, their chances of getting accepted are low. In over 3 months, the Philippines has reached an alarming rate of 8.69 million unemployed and underpaid Filipinos across the nation. Due to this, many have decided to resign in respect of themselves and for the sake of their hard work. To earn for themselves, many Filipinos are forced to seek work overseas. As many more Filipino workers leave the country for work, the more our economy declines.

A very recent issue has also been brought up recently and has struck conversation amongst Filipinos. During an IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) conference on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, a leaked video exclusively from Philippine Daily Inquirer reveals Presidential Spokesperson, Harry Roque scolding President of the Philippine College of Physicians, Dr. Maricar Limpin, for requesting a longer quarantine period in Metro Manila. Before the outburst itself has happened, Dr. Limpin, having experienced COVID19 herself, has turned quite emotional as she spoke and has freely expressed her emotions. Apparently, the frontlines and healthcare workers were overwhelmed with their duties, which did not reflect on the Department of Health’s statistics. Which is why the IATF, concerned with the skyrocketing amount of COVID19 cases and the well-being of healthcare workers, suggested that they don’t relax community quarantine for a few weeks. Thus, causing the fit from Roque. “Let me point out to everyone: this group, they have never said anything good about the government’s response,” he said. “Do not sit there as if you are the only ones right. We’re trying to achieve total health. Who wants COVID to kill people? Are you saying that only medical frontliners are concerned about the health of the people? We all want to save lives, for crying out loud!" he added.

After receiving backlash from the incident, Harry Roque has then apologized for his sudden outburst during the meeting. Although, he expresses that he still stands by his statement. “To those na hindi nakakaintindi dun’ sa tindi ng aking pagdaramdam, para dun' sa mga naghihirap, I apologize. But I cannot apologize for the message po.” (“To those who don’t understand it, the intensity of my emotions, to those who are struggling, I apologize. But I cannot apologize for the message.”) Even after his public apology, people are still not convinced it was sincere. Many people had things to say about the issue, especially healthcare workers who were the topic of his statement. Calling his remarks statements anti-health workers and ignorant of the hard work they do.

To address the situation, Dr. Limpin was asked about her thoughts on what had happened, and she explained IATF’s side of the story. “I think instead of getting angry at us, kailangan tignan nila bakit namin sinasabi ‘yon.” (“I think instead of getting angry at us, they need to see why we are saying this.”) she continued, “Instead of taking it negatively, he should take it in a very constructive way.” And her colleague, Dr. Antonio Dans, who had witnessed the incident firsthand, had something to say about the issue as well. “From our point of view, we were pleading that maybe the statistics of the DOH was not reflecting what was happening at the frontlines.” he continued, "It was very sincere and calm, so i do not understand what triggered secretary Roque’s outrage."

It is unfair for those frontliners to endure this in return for their hard work as they battle in the the frontline against this pandemic. It must have been extremely disappointing for them to discover that not only are they not getting paid, but they are also not receiving the benefits that the Department of Health has promised them. Frontliners are human too, and they deserve respect and gratitude, which they are not getting right now. During a press briefing on Friday, September 3rd, 2021, Dr. Maricar Limpin, expressed her feelings on the situation, while also asking for forgiveness to those patients who couldn’t be attended to. "Maraming healthcare workers ang pagod, umiiyak, naglalabas ng galit, o nagre-resign na sa trabaho. Nagdurugo ang puso namin, at humihingi kami ng patawad, sa mga pasyenteng kinakailangang tanggihan dahil di na kayang ma-admit," (“Many healthcare workers are tired, crying, letting out their anger, or resigning. Our hearts are bleeding, and we ask for forgiveness to those patients we have refused service to because we are unable to admit any more people,”) she said.

Amidst the situation, there are government officials who take action to help our frontliners during their time of need. Senator Risa Hontiveros has taken healthcare workers’ side on this issue. She has explained how it seems that we don’t care about our frontliners even if they are currently struggling, and we’re just letting them deal with it themselves. On the other hand, Senator Richard Gordon has decided to file a bill that will legislate the deserved salary of healthcare workers. Raising the Salary Grade (SG) of entry-level nurses (Nurses under the ranks I and II) while retaining the normal Salary Grade of higher ranking nurses (Ranks III to VII). That gives our healthcare workers the ability to advance in the medical field.

We wholeheartedly respect and support our frontliners and the work they do for our country. It is very disheartening to know that they still need to shout and protest over something that should be their right. Our government was given numerous chances to set this straight and address the situation at hand, yet it is still an ongoing problem. Unless something is done, this will greatly affect our country in a negative way.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous problems have arisen. As society is doing its best to look forward to the future, many obstacles still stand in the way. But we did not expect it to reach a point where even our frontliners—the backbone of our healthcare and economic system (especially during the pandemic), are being treated like this. These people do not deserve this. Even something as simple as receiving their salary, having a clean and comfortable workplace, or just having a job, in general, is very difficult to attain. These are not just laws; they are basic human rights that every Filipino frontliner should have. We cannot afford to be divided at a time like this. Unless these issues are resolved, this fight against this pandemic in our country will remain to be very far from even manageable.