Some health worker unions are set to march to the Department of Health (DOH) in Manila to press their demand for the release of their Health Emergency Allowance (HEA) by both private and public hospitals.
Jao Clumia, spokesman of the Private Healthcare Worker’s Network said in a radio interview that they will march from Tayuman Street in Sta. Cruz to the DOH compound in San Lazaro to raise their concerns to the agency despite heavy rains.
“We have not yet received our health emergency allowance for COVID even though our respective human resource units have already uploaded the requirements asked of us by the DOH,” Clumia said.
He also said the march would only be the beginning of their crusade to express their concern for equal pay and treatment for health workers.
Clumia further called on healthcare professionals around the country to join their cause which he called a desperate plea for equality.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said earlier this week that they were trying to find a more efficient way to distribute HEAs through the General Appropriations Act.
He also said the department was working on getting the list of names of workers that have yet to receive their pay which will be sent through their ATM accounts.
Meanwhile, the United Private Hospital Unions of the Philippines (UPHUP) is also set to protest in front of the DOH compound to raise concerns on emergency pay.
“We feel as if the private hospitals are being oppressed because it took the DOH two years to give this HEA. There are even those who have not received anything for these past two years, so we cannot blame them if they want to stand up for their rights,” UPHUP spokesman Ronald Richie Ignacio said in an interview.
Ignacio also said the HEA was “only the tip of the iceberg” of the problems faced by Filipino health frontliners. He also emphasized on the unequal pay received by workers in private hospitals compared to those in government facilities despite having to face the same health risks.
“Secretary Herbosa should focus on resolving the exodus of nurses from the country through equal salary and additional benefits alike those offered by other countries because we have seen that nurses from the Philippines are the best,” he added.
Around 200 health workers are poised to march to the DOH to call on the agency to distribute their HEAs.