Health workers led by the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) held a picket protest on Rizal Avenue in Santa Cruz, Manila on November 4 to call on the Marcos regime to provide the delayed performance-based bonus (PBB) from 2021 to 2023 and increase their salaries. Health workers from the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, San Lazaro Hospital, and Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital joined the protest.

According to AHW, as early as April 11, its unions had already held a dialogue with the secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) regarding the unpaid benefits for health workers, including the Health Emergency Allowance (HEA) and PBB. The DBM explained that it could not provide the benefits because the Department of Health (DOH) had failed to secure the PBB rating four times.

The AHW had already appealed to the DBM to provide the PBB of health workers who had worked hard during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The group stressed that health workers work for 8 to 16 hours and that their demand for the timely provision of their benefits is only just.

Nurse and AHW secretary general Cristy Donguines said “public hospitals should not be penalized for the DOH’s failure to perform its duties. She suggested that the “rating” should be done at the hospital level to ensure that it is resolved.

She added that health workers’ salaries are not enough and that their meager compensation and benefits are even being withheld. “Paying health workers on time is only fair,” the nurse-leader said.

The AHW also called for a salary increase to a national minimum of ₱33,000. The newly-formed Health Workers Party-list joined the protest. The party will run in the party-list election in 2025.

Meanwhile, AHW national treasurer Myleen Tiangco, along with leaders of PHCEA-AHW and SLHEA-AHW, went to the DOH office on November 8 to deliver a letter to the DOH Secretary. They requested a dialogue on November 15 to discuss their concerns about the unfair distribution of PhilHealth shares to health workers in public hospitals and health facilities.