Like the benefits implemented by President Rodrigo Duterte to the police and soldiers, Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) president Robert Mendoza insisted that the salaries of healthcare workers who are the main fighters of the pandemic should now be doubled as well.
“Sana, dagdagan at itaas ang sahod both public and private health workers. Kung nadoble ni Pangulong Duterte ang sahod ng mga kapulisan, sana sa panahon ng pandemya, magkaroon siya ng political will na doblehin ang sahod ng ating health workers,” said Mendoza.
Mendoza said that despite calling them heroes by the President, healthcare workers are still left behind when it comes to safety and benefits.
“Wala tayong nakitang pagkalinga at pangangalaga ng Presidente at Department of Health,” said Mendoza.
Apart from the special risk allowance (SRA), AHW also demands the release of their hazard pay, meals, accommodation, and transportation allowances.
President Rodrigo Duterte paid tribute to the sacrifices made by health workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic on Heroes’ Day.
Group urges gov’t to double salary of healthcare workers
“This National Heroes Day, we pay tribute to a new breed of heroes who readily answered the call to fight in a war against one of the greatest threats to our way of life,” said Duterte.
“These past two years, we have witnessed the indomitable spirit of these nameless health workers, uniformed personnel, government employees, and frontliners in essential industries who — hiding in anonymity — bravely led out battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Countless healthcare workers were hit and killed by COVID-19 while saving the lives of others in hospitals.
According to Duterte, health workers do this even though they know they will not be honored one by one with books and statues.
“This year, let us consecrate this day not just as a memorial to their extraordinary heroism, but as an enduring testament to our inherent capacity to rise above self-interest to fight for a cause far greater than our own. Mabuhay ang mga bayaning Pilipino,” the President said.
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