Workers troop to medical clinics in time of SARS

The Labor Day celebration at the World Trade Center (WTC) along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City showed what workers will line up for in this time of SARS: Free medicines and medical services.

While the team of lawyers from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) at the WTC faced a dearth of clients, the medical team from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) had its hands full providing free medicines and medical services to long queues of people.

The OWWA staff said majority of their clients sought free vitamin C, which health authorities said is essential for disease prevention – and particularly important for SARS prevention.

Other medical services provided to workers were free blood typing, random blood sugar determination and dental services.

A DOLE employee observed that last year’s Labor Day activities saw workers forming the longest lines at the job registry and medical services areas.

This year, however, more people sought medical services than the 300 who applied for various local and overseas jobs offered by participating firms, the DOLE employee, requesting anonymity, said.

DOLE’s Employees Compensation Commission distributed materials containing basic information on SARS and SARS-prevention tips.

President Arroyo, in her Labor Day speech, promised to grant Filipino medical workers additional insurance and other financial benefits in case they acquire SARS in the line of duty.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said DOLE and the Departments of Health and Budget and Management were instructed to come up with the appropriate benefits for the country’s 100,000 health workers.

DOLE’s Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) is now drafting possible financial assistance for health workers caring for possible SARS patients.

In the coastal province of Cavite, wining, dining, sun-worshipping and dancing at Mardi Gras-style festivities on the beach took precedence over the traditional Labor Day marches.

Most if not all of Cavite’s workforce of 1,000,000 people were too tired or hung-over from the day-long "Parangal sa Manggagawa" celebration thrown for them by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the provincial government of Cavite Tuesday.

The party included a day on the beaches of Cavite and nearby Batangas province, where the workers and their families enjoyed the sea, sand and sun as a gift from their employers.

Except for five jeepney-loads of protesters stopped by police from entering Metro Manila yesterday, most of Cavite’s workers were no-shows at assembly points where they were supposed to begin their march to Manila.

In Metro Manila the PNP said the Labor Day celebration was generally peaceful, except for a few clashes between protesters and riot police.

At the historic Edsa Shrine on the corner of Ortigas Avenue and Edsa in Pasig City, the absence of protesters expected to converge there prompted contingents of riot police and military civil disturbance personnel assigned to the area to go window shopping inside nearby malls.