NEGROS Occidental Eugenio Jose Lacson said they have not yet received any feelers coming from local health workers if they will join the ongoing protest or if they are threatening a mass resignation.
Lacson said it is going to be a very unfortunate situation if the health workers decide to walk out of their jobs.
However, as of the present, Lacson said he has not received any information if health workers in the province will also do the same.
Lacson made the reaction as health workers in the country threaten to resign from their posts due to the alleged inability of the Department of Health (DOH) to deliver on their benefits amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Diocese of San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, who is also the chairperson of the Churchpeople and Workers Solidarity movement, meanwhile, said they are backing the protests of the health workers from both private and public hospitals over the DOH's failure to release their benefits.
Alminaza said the planned mass protest by the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) is just and legitimate in the midst of government’s failure to listen to the grievances of the health sector, which includes meal, transportation, and accommodation allowance, special risk allowance, and active hazard duty pay.
"In his message to the participants in the European Regional Meeting of the World Medical Association, Pope Francis strongly denounced what he perceived as the “growing inequality in health care” due to the State’s abandonment of its duty to protect and provide adequate health services. The pope emphasizes “serving the poor, the infirm, the suffering, the outcast and the marginalized," Alminaza added.
Earlier this week, healthcare workers in the country have threatened to resign en masse unless the DOH gives their benefits properly.
The DOH, meanwhile, has made assurances that they are currently addressing the issue and are urging the healthcare workers to reconsider.