President Rodrigo Duterte paid tribute to the sacrifices made by health workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic on Heroes’ Day.
Digong paid tribute to the aforementioned as healthcare workers protested on Monday. Many of them still do not have the almost P5,000 monthly “special risk allowance” (SRA) even though COVID-19 cases are rampant in hospitals.
“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.
Health workers honored on National Heroes Day
“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.
Earlier, healthcare workers of private hospitals such as St Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City launched a protest action because SRAs, meal accommodation, transportation allowance, and active hazard duty pay still do not reach them.
The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) had earlier said that the unions would have massive protests under their banner until tomorrow, August 31, especially since Bayanihan Law states such benefits.
AHW also slammed the Bayanihan law’s limitation of SRA and benefits to health workers who work directly with COVID-19 cases, even though all those working in the hospital full of patients are also at risk.
The Department of Health is requesting additional SAR for another 17,670 healthcare workers who submitted requirements. At present, only 20,000 healthcare workers are covered by the benefit.
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