Lasallians for Health Workers

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞” - Carson Mccullers

Last December 30, 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte officially signed the P5.2 trillion national budget for 2022, which was meant to augment the expansion of face-to-face classes, booster shots for Filipinos, and help those who were severely affected by Typhoon Odette (Ranada, 2021).

Sadly, from the trillion peso budget, only a mere P188.3 billion would be allotted for the Department of Health, which was meant to cover the provision of health workers’ benefits, coronavirus vaccine booster shots, and other programs aimed at combating the effects of the pandemic. (Cepeda, 2021).

Nevertheless, prior to the signing of the national budget, health workers had already been calling for an increased allocation of the health budget in the following year and an increase in the pay for public health workers. (Sarao, 2021). But as many would also soon find out amongst the budget that was allocated, health care workers were not even seen as top priority. Though as it would turn out, a P50 billion budget would be set to compensate the workers, it remains to be seen that in the process of planning health care workers are still somewhat omitted in spite of the sacrifice they have made to save lives.

This short clip taken from an interview with Melbert Reyes, the President of Philippine Nurses Association makes it clear that the government really needs to ramp up its efforts amidst the pandemic.

To watch the full video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UBzPpZGhPM&t)

References:
Cepeda, M. (2021, December 15). Congress OKs P5.024-trillion budget in 2022 for pandemic-hit PH. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/nation/congress-approved-2022-budget-december-2021/

Ranada, P. (2021, December 30). Duterte signs P5.2 trillion national budget for 2022. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/nation/duterte-approves-2022-national-budget/

Sarao, Z. (2021, November 11). Health workers demand higher health budget in 2022, increased pay. Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1515972/health-workers-demand-higher-budget-for-health-in-2022-increased-pay

📌Follow our page to learn more about HCWs and how YOU can help:
https://www.facebook.com/Lasallians-for-Health-Workers-106183401908889

𝐃𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩? 🤔

In the past few weeks, we learned how important and dire the situation of our Filipino healthcare workers is because of the lack of government support. In this video, we asked the Lasallians for Healthcare Workers team for their insights about advocating for HCWs.

Share your thoughts/questions in the comments below! 💭

📌Follow our page to learn more about HCWs and how YOU can help:
https://www.facebook.com/Lasallians-for-Health-Workers-106183401908889