Health workers stage walkout

MANILA, Philippines - At least 1,000 government health workers yesterday staged a walkout to protest a plan to privatize state-owned hospitals.

The health workers left their stations during lunch break from noon to 1 p.m. to stage a rally in front of their respective hospitals to denounce the privatization of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa and the Philippine Orthopedic Center in Quezon City.

Lovely Tanghal, media officer of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), said they could not be appeased by pronouncements of the Department of Health that the privatization of hospitals would lead to the improvement of services and benefit patients.

“They are claiming that hospitals will not be privatized but some of its services like laboratories will be passed on to the private sector. Whichever way, it won’t be good to patients,” she said.

Tanghal added the private sector would not invest in hospitals if they would not have any financial gains.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona warned the government health workers that they could be suspended or dismissed from the service if they disrupt hospital operations.

“They cannot do that, they are government employees. If they want to do that, (do so) from noon to 1 p.m.,” Ona said.

Ona again denied that hospitals are being privatized.

“They just don’t understand. This is not privatization. This is bringing certain private practices to improve efficiency and availability of public services that otherwise will take a long time or, maybe, we will not have that kind of resources at all,” he added.

Some 500 health workers, patients, and members of urban poor groups held a rally in front of the Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC).

POC is one of 26 state hospitals that are expected to be converted into government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).

Mel Garcia of the Health Alliance for Democracy said that POC was chosen as the main protest center because of the announcement that the government will soon start the bidding for the construction of the new POC building under the public-private partnership initiative.

Garcia said that the plan is a move towards privatizing POC, which would lead to an increase in the cost of services offered by the hospital.

In the Philippine Heart Center (PHC), around 100 health workers and members of militant groups joined the coordinated mass protest.

Bonifacio Carmona of the PHC Employees Association said that privatizing government hospitals would affect poor Filipinos who would not be able to afford the higher costs of services.

Carmona cited the case of PHC, a GOCC, which recently increased room rates and plans to reduce the hazard pay of its employees. With Janvic Mateo