PH health frontliners ‘itinaboy’ ng bulok na sistema

ni Rose Novenario

MISTULANG gobyerno ang nagtataboy sa health care workers para mag-abroad kaya nakararanas ng pagbulusok ng bilang ng health workforce sa bansa.

Ayon kay Dr. Magdalena Barcelon ng grupong Community Medicine Practitioners and Advocates Association (COMPASS), ang pangingibang bansa ng health workers ay sanhi ng napakaliit na sahod at benepisyo, hindi maayos na kondisyon sa paggawa, pagkakait ng kanilang mga karapatan, at kakulangan sa proteksiyon ng health frontliners.

“Temporary or contractual hiring is widespread in the health sector, in both public and private facilities.  This practice deprives many healthcare workers of the rights and benefits of regular employees,” sabi niya.

Ani Barcelon, hindi lamang ang naturang mga salik ang nakaimpluwensiya sa pagnipis ng bilang ng mga doktor at iba pang health workers sa bansa, lalo sa kanayunan, kung saan sila higit na kailangan.

Hindi aniya ligtas ang healthcare workers sa pinaigting na paglabag sa karapatang pantao at pampolitikang panunupil.

“Doctors and healthcare personnel, working in both public service and private non-government organizations, have been targeted by uniformed personnel and paramilitary forces,” paliwanag ni Barcelon.

Nakararanas aniya ang healthcare workers ng “harassment, intimidation, terrorist labelling  (“red-tagging)”, false accusation, abduction, unlawful arrest, illegal detention, and extrajudicial killing.”

“At the community level and in the peripheries of the health care system, obstacles to the enjoyment of the people’s right to health include the lack of resources – infrastructure, equipment, medicines and finances, the deeply -ingrained patronage system and dynasties in local politics, rampant corruption within the local government units (LGUs) and other deleterious effects of poor governance on the provision of health services to their target populations.”  

Ang mga doktor aniya sa public health facilities na nagtangkang magpatupad ng reporma upang matugunan ang sistematikong korupsiyon ay naging target ng mga abusadong nasa kapangyarihan.

Ang paglaban sa korupsiyon ang nakikitang dahilan sa pagpaslang kay Dr. George Repique, provincial health officer ng Cavite, noong 2017, Dr. Dreyfus Perlas, isang municipal health officer sa Southern Mindanao, at Dr. Avelex Amor, hepe sa isang ospital sa Negros Island noong 2018.

“Some doctors and health personnel associated with organizations critical of government policies were labeled as communists or rebel sympathizers and subsequently killed by unidentified gunmen, usually associated with self-proclaimed civilian anti-communist groups. Among them were healthcare workers in Negros Island killed in 2020 – Zara Alvarez, advocacy officer of a local community health program and human rights defender,  and Dr. Mary Rose Genisan- Sancelan, city health officer and head of the city’s task force against COVID -19.”

Kaugnay nito, nanawagan si Barcelon sa Department of Justice (DOJ) na ibasura ang lahat ng kaso laban kay Dr. Natividad Castro na iniutos ng Bayugan regional trail court kamakailan na muling arestohin sa kasong kidnapping at serious illegal detention at inakusahang kasapi ng kilusang komunista.

Ang ginagawa aniya ng estado kay Castro ay nagdudulot ng pangamba sa mga batang doktor na gustong manatili sa bansa at maglingkod sa mga napababayaang sektor sa mga liblib na lugar.

“We will have more doctorless municipalities as a consequence of this ill-conceived hounding of a physician who dared to go beyond the hospital and conventional medical practice to render much-needed health services to neglected lumad communities and unserved rural people and to defend their right to health and a decent life within their ancestral lands,” ani Barcelon.

               Kahit ilang araw na lamang ang natitira sa administrasyong Duterte ay tila aniya desidido itong  mag-iwan ng “legacy of terror and repression” at maitala sa kasaysayan bilang “purveyors of injustice with utter disregard for health, social services and the peoples welfare.”

Nanawagan ang COMPASS sa Department of Justice (DOJ) na itigil ang hilig sa pag-iimbento ng mga kaso laban sa mga taong nagpapahayag ng pagtutol at tumutuligsa sa mga maling patakaran.

“We call on the judicial authorities to end the practice of fabricating charges against citizens expressing opposition and legitimate dissent. Drop all the charges against Dr. Castro! Justice must be served and her rights under the law must be respected and upheld.”