On behalf of my fellow health workers or the so-called human resource for health (HRH), I would like to appeal to the management of Department of Health-CAR to listen and understand our plight – our seemingly unheard and disregarded plea for the on-time delivery of our monthly salaries.
While I am grateful for the opportunity to be absorbed as a job contractor nurse for DOH under the Nurse Deployment Program because it enables me to be near and still look after my family, being the sole breadwinner for that matter, I am disappointed and disgusted on how DOH-CAR treats its job contractors with the late and long-delayed provision of salaries.
In the health workforce under DOH-CAR, there are many breadwinners like me. We work our best to make ends meet but to our dismay, our efforts are not reciprocated by at least on-time release of our salaries.
During this Covid-19 pandemic, the economic situations have worsened and no one is spared of the difficulties of providing for one’s family – for food, medicines, monthly house rent, electric and water bills, hospital bills, and other basic necessities.
It is a sad and disappointing fact this government agency was never on-time in providing us our hard-earned salaries. We learned that DOH has been receiving complaints sent through 8888 or the Presidential Complaint Center regarding delayed salaries but seemingly these are not even enough to awaken the agency to the reality that it is too slow in paying us for our hard work.
I received my first salary from DOH-CAR two months after I joined the agency. I thought that since it was two months late, I would receive two months’ pay.
To my surprise, I only received a month’s pay. I let it pass; I thought it might be an isolated case and since I just entered DOH. But then, the same thing happened months after, then until the next year, until now.
Every monthly sahod was months delayed. I later learned that many share the same experience as mine, worse for those in the other provinces. Even the job contracts who are at the regional office are not spared; because mostly, their salaries for the first 15-day cut off are also delayed. Katapusan na and beyond, at submission na naman ng daily time record at monthly accomplishment report pero wala pa po ‘yung sahod for the first half ng buwan.
Although DOH speaks proud that it is ISO certified, something is clearly wrong with its system that it cannot even provide us that quality service it boasts of. Would it take DOH months to review the DTRs and accomplishment reports of its workers before it could say that it is good for payment? Where is compassion when we, your human resource for health, who DOH puts in the frontline for public health and Covid-19, are always on a quandary and in debt on where to get money for our families’ needs?
This matter is affecting our mental health; in case DOH still do not know. Please note that my friends assigned in far-flung areas also make use of their own money for fuel to transport their patients, and to provide for supplies which are lacking in their areas. They provide compassion in service delivery so please reciprocate these services properly and promptly.
Give us – the young generation of health workers – an encouraging picture of DOH; at least show and give us reasons to stay longer for our community and for our country. — NAME WITHHELD
April 24, 2024