Frontliners
By Aron Lacanilao
When Betty* returned to the country after her tenure as a nurse in Saudi Arabia, she immediately landed a job in a private hospital in Manila.
As a medical worker, she served several months looking after patients who have been suffering from COVID-19 amid the rising rate of coronavirus infection.
While President Rodrigo Duterte’s militarized measures made borders look like trenches, the real struggle begins in the medical wards and hospital corridors where Betty and her fellow health care workers labor.
“Grabe ang titiising init dahil hindi air-conditioned ang kwarto ng mga pasyente sa COVID-19 ward, titiisin ding hindi muna umihi at kumain para hindi magastos sa Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),” Betty said.
After exhausting days and sleepless nights, Betty had to travel to their house with a sense of uncertainty. She does not want to contract the coronavirus and spread it at home.
As the days turned into weeks, she recalled how the face masks they wore left a mark on their faces. For Betty, the marks will fade but the lingering feeling of isolation away from her family offers a different pain.
“Ang sakit na malayo sa pamilya sa gitna ng pandemya ang talagang nag-iiwan ng sakit, sa likod ng pag-aalala na sana huwag silang dapuan ng sakit tinitiis naming mawalay para maalagaan ang aming mga pasyente, para sa aming sinumpaang tungkulin,” she said.
Amid the degree of separation between Betty and her family, she had also observed how her fellow nurses became unable to work.
They were trying to solve the pandemic but they were not immune to COVID. And Betty had to watch as more patients were confined while her colleagues lost their numbers.
“Nahirapan din kami dahil sa pagdami ng bilang ng pasyenteng may COVID-19 ang pag unti-unti ng nurses na nakakapasok sa duty sapagkat ang ilan sa aking mga kabaro ay nagkakasakit na rin. Mahabang oras sa duty, matagal na exposure sa pasyente, pagbaba ng immune system ng mga nurse, hanggang sila na rin ay mahawa,” Betty said.
It was not just physical fatigue medical workers have to endure.
Inez*, another healthcare worker, had an identical experience with Betty. In her four years as a midwife in a public hospital in Pampanga, the current health crisis brought a heavy storm towards her mental health.
“Mahirap, dahil ‘yong anxiety level super taas habang naka-duty. Twenty-four hours na duty, pinaka-break namin noon ay lunch at dinner. Nakakapagod dala ng napakarami ng pasyente. Lalo na ‘pag caesarian section hindi naman manganganak lang iyon ng kadali magpe-prepare ka pa tapos ‘yong suot mo na PPEs patong-patong,” Inez said.
Inez also remarked that in the earlier surge of the coronavirus, there was a limited reserve of PPE. The supply increased for a few months only to decline again.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the shortage of personal equipment had placed the lives of healthcare providers at risk from COVID.
PPEs offer protection not only to nurses and doctors but also to patients. WHO said however during the first few months of the pandemic last year, “shortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other frontline workers dangerously ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients, due to limited access to supplies such as gloves, medical masks, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and aprons.”
Like protective supplies, benefits and payment for health workers are also necessary for the pandemic. In Inez’s experience, the pay she receives is just enough for her family who she had communicated with rarely since she was tied in her daily hospital duties. But she admitted that the benefits she received were low.
And while she was glad her friends in the nursing department received an increase in their salaries, Inez remarked that other health workers should also have a raise.
“Lahat may ginagawa at exposed din. Nakakalungkot lang hindi kami na-increase ng salary na parang deserve din namin ‘yon,” Inez said.
In the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, a “Special Risk Allowance (SRA)” was given to both public and private medical workers “directly catering to or in contact with COVID-19 patients.” The amount of the SRA will later translate to a grant of P5,000 every month.
Bayanihan 2 as the law is called, was a P2.14-billion stimulus signed by Duterte on September 11, 2020. It was effective until December 19 of the same year but another law extended its validity until June 30, 2021.
When the law eventually lapsed and reports began to pour in that there were unspent COVID funds, medical workers have protested in the streets to demand the release of unpaid benefits.
Last year, the Alliance of Health Care Worker (AHW) called for the immediate release of the “Meals, Accommodation and Transportation (MAT)” benefits, a provision which also falls under Bayanihan 2. AHW also said that an order from the Department of Health (DOH) forced hospitals to return their funds.
“We urge the DOH to immediately release our benefits before the extension of Bayanihan Law 2 ends. We will not stop and never get tired of fighting until we get the living wage, just benefits, rights, and welfare we deserve,” said Robert Mendoza, the president of AHW.
Mendoza also urged Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to defend the rights of health care workers, whose ranks have also encountered deaths. Under the pandemic, critics continue to pressure Duque to resign due to the government’s pandemic response.
With the surge of COVID for the year, both the MAT and SRA would have assisted health care workers to find their footing at work.
While medical workers continue to rally for unreleased benefits, the limits of who acquires allowances like in the case of SRA are also being questioned.
For James*, a nurse of almost eleven years in a public hospital in Bulacan, the release of SRA should be available to all hospital employees without restrictions in its definition.
“Dapat sana lahat ng empleyado ng ospital mula chief hanggang sa utility ay magkroon,” James said.
James resides in San Miguel, Bulacan which is kilometers away from his work. He chose to come home every day using a motorcycle and his supposed rest has always been consumed by the long drive. Besides transport, sacrifices have to be made in the morning.
“Dun sa mga sacrifice hindi tayo matatapos. Mag-suot lang ng PPE maghapon sakripisyo na. May mga kilala akong mga nurses na naka diaper kase d’on na sila umiihi sa loob ng PPE,” James said. “May biruan nga kame ‘pag papasok ng duty na ‘game na digmaan na ulet’ kasi kakain ka n’ong breakfast dapat isabay mo na ‘yong merienda, lunch at dinner pati tubig inumin mo na.”
But amid the arduous task, the government’s underwhelming response to the pandemic had even treated medical workers as commodities it can exchange with COVID vaccines.
The country has played with the idea in February last year when the commotion on trading Filipino nurses to secure doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Germany and the United Kingdom was linked to a statement by a senior official of the labor department.
“Medyo masakit sa loob ‘yan. Noong una bina-ban kami umalis ng bansa kasi wala ng nurse sa Pinas ayaw naman taasan ang sahod. Tapos ngayon pinapayagan na kayong [nurses] umalis kapalit ng bakuna, parang nabili ka na nila ‘no? [Ang] kakapal din [ng] mukha noong mga nagsasabi sa gobyerno na ‘yan,” James said, dissatisfied hearing the news as nurses appeared to be a bargaining chip.
To protect the rights of medical frontliners, healthcare workers are now seeking better representation in Congress. For Maristela Abenojar, president of Nurses United Partylist (NU), healthcare frontliners need to be heard in policy creation to improve their working conditions.
“Fulfilled nurses and health workers can best serve patients in hospitals, clinics, and communities and help the country realize a health system that is truly compassionate and nurturing to nurses, health workers, and the Filipino people,” Abenojar said.
However, while NU is looking to participate in the election, their very own political rights are threatened. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has refused to grant accreditation to the partylist, denying them a chance to run in election.
“Kahit maliit ang sahod o kulang sa proteksyon at PPE, hindi kami umatras. Marami sa aming hanay ang nagkasakit at namatay nang dahil sa kadusta-dustang kalagayan. Hanggang ngayon ay kailangan pa rin ba naming patunayan ang aming halaga?” Abenojar said.
Commodified, overworked, and undercompensated, medical workers have found themselves fending off a health crisis despite inadequate government support. But their battles go outside hospital doors as they continue to campaign for a better health system that would truly value its frontliners and serve those in the margins.
*Not their real names
