Health workers at the public hospital Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital (ASMGH) in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique collectively walked off the job from October 1 to October 4. Around 60 nurses and other contract of service (COS) employees staged the protest over a four-month delay in salaries and threats to job security.

They bewailed having to ask the provincial government repeatedly for their yet unpaid salaries. The local government claimed having only ₱19 million remaining from the funds allocated for COS salaries for all of the province’s public hospitals this year, compared to the estimated ₱225 million needed for all COS workers’ wages.

The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) and Filipino Nurses United (FNU) expressed support for the ASMGH health workers’ fight. Both groups praised the courage of strikers to defend their rights and dignity. “Your struggle is just, and your voices must be heard,” the AHW statement said.

According to AHW, the hospital’s health workers faithfully provide service despite their employment status’ limitations. “It is unacceptable that they are made to suffer delayed payment of their salaries and distress due to the incompetence, inefficiency, and bureaucratic red tape of the provincial government,” the group added.

The group said the local government must find and implement solutions, considering the health workers’ welfare and the entire province’s health system. ASMGH is the main hospital serving Antiqueños.

“In this kind of broken health care system, both health workers and patients suffer,” the group said. For FNU, amid revelations of widespread government corruption, incidents like these only show how Filipinos suffer while a powerful elite indulge themselves with public money.

This situation exists not only at ASMGH. According to AHW, the root cause is the national government’s transfer of its responsibility to local governments to manage public hospitals. The group added that local governments often lack the capacity or resources, and do not prioritize running hospitals, which compromises the health care system.

“Health is a national and government responsibility,” AHW said. They asserted that public hospitals in the country must be under full control and funded by the national government through the Department of Health. “[This will help] ensure a quality health care system and fair treatment of health workers across all regions, as well as the patients,” it said.

Both AHW and FNU called on the Antique local government to conduct an investigation into its systematic failure to address the salaries of health workers. They also said there must be accountability, timely salary payments, and an end to contractualization.