The Du30 government is MALTREATING our nurses during this time of pandemic.
This is WRONG and should STOP.
A thread. 1/
The Nursing Act of 2002 states that entry level nurses (Nurse 1) in govt should receive a salary at least salary grade (SG) 15.
Since 2002, govt, thru the Dept of Budget and Management (DBM), REFUSED to implement this.
The nurses insisted and struggled.
The DOH did nothing. 2/
Without the law, Nurse 1 in govt get paid 18k-22k per month. By law, they should get around 32k per month.
Nurses in govt deployment programs, like RN HEALS before and NDP now, get even less.
Nurses in private sector have the lowest pay.
No govt agency protects any of them. 3/
In 2019, the Supreme Court finally decided in favor of the nurses.
If implemented, govt nurses with rank Nurse 1 will have a salary of SG 15.
If that is the entry level salary, higher ranking nurses (Nurse 2 and above) will logically have a proportional increase as well. 4/
But the DBM thinks otherwise.
This year, thru Circular 2020-4, it insists that ONLY those with rank Nurse 1 will have a salary increase.
All other nurses will NOT have any increase. Worse, they will ALL BE DEMOTED one rank down!
The DBM confirmed this in a letter below. 5/
The DBM justified this as an "unavoidable consequence" necessary "to preserve the hierarchy".
It does not want to call it a demotion because the salaries are retained.
But is a nurse position merely a matter of salary?
This is a very narrow-minded view of work and rank. 6/
For example, if you're a Nurse 2 with 10 years of experience and training, then you are suddenly told you're now Nurse 1, and need to work hard again to be promoted to Nurse 2 instead of working to be Nurse 3,
this is UNFAIR and DEMORALIZING!
Again, the DOH is doing nothing. 7/
Bakit ginigipit at tinitipid ang mga nurses? Bakit kapag health worker, walang pera ang govt?
and the DOH wonders why HWs would rather go abroad than join govt?!
Govt has money for everything else except the right things.
Puro salita at pakitang-tao lang sa mga "bayani". 8/
Let us condemn the DBM for this injustice!
Let us condemn the DOH for its inaction rather than protect HWs!
Let us condemn the Du30 govt for doing this amidst a pandemic!
The current debate is about having an HONEST AND CRITICAL APPRAISAL of what went wrong with the PH pandemic response.
Sadly, the discourse is hampered not only by the refusal to admit that there IS SOMETHING WRONG, but also by the vociferous defense of it!
2/
The patent refusal to admit such shortcomings is worsened by the attitude of IATF advisers, particularly doctors, who not only ignored valid concerns and criticisms but actually BELITTLED those who raised them!
I cannot accept that a decade of studying all boils down to a single exam. Who would NOT BE STRESSED by that?!
At best, the PLE only measures a fraction of how much we learned or know.
But the process is as outdated as the questions are random.
1/
I mean, 100 questions covering an entire subject you took five years prior IS NOT an adequate measure of how much we know.
Worse, the questions do not always reflect the fundamentals required of each subject.
TBH, a great deal of testmanship is needed.
So how is this FAIR?
2/
The PLE does not even take into account changes in med educ!
Some years ago, when some med schools decided to change to problem- or organ-system based educ, they erroneously still used the PLE as a measure of success.
Nung dumami yung bumagsak, binalik sa dati yung system.
3/
If you just bothered to find out before dishing out your response, you would have known that cases such as this actually happens quite frequently.
While PhilHealth has different case rates for different severities of COVID-19, these depend on WHERE the patient is confined. 2/
Since the patient was confined in a primary hospital (level 1), the hospital cannot reimburse for specialized care, which are mainly reserved for tertiary hospitals (level 3).
Kaya hindi ma-cover ng PhilHealth yung malaking bahagi ng bill nung pasyente. 3/
Mahalaga na maalala natin ang mga basic details ng Philippine Pandemic Response para mabalikan at masuri natin BAKIT at PAANO tayo umabot sa ganitong KAWAWANG kalagayan.
Eto ang isng short QUIZ to refresh our memory.
Ilan ang makukuha ninyo na TAMA?
1. Sino ang pangunahing namumuno sa COVID-19 Pandemic Response sa bansa?
a) IATF
b) NTF-ELCAC
c) OCTA
d) Hindi pa rin alam hanggang ngayon pero malamang hindi si Duque
2. Kelan itinakdang matatapos ang quarantine sa Pilipinas?
a) Pag alam na ng IATF yung dapat gawin
b) Pag naging humble na yung mga experts
c) Pag doktor na ulit si Duque
d) Pag naliligo na araw-araw lahat ng mga work from home
Health officials should stop hiding behind the law to impose its unjustifiable increased contribution rates.
PhilHealth is allegedly forced to require higher payments from members as this is a provision of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law.
Totoo ba ito? NO.
1/
True, increased PhilHealth rates are part of the UHC Law. In fact, it is one of the controversial provisions that oppositors wanted to remove or change.
But even if the increased rates are part of the law, is govt really forced to implement it? NO.
Are there precedents? YES.
2/
The Magna Carta of Public Health Workers (1992) states the benefits that govt healthcare workers are entitled to.
But to date, these benefits are not all given to HCWs in govt hospitals. Govt refuses to provide funds for these benefits.