On-time payments of salaries and release of hazard pay to all hospital frontliners are a must- Legarda

Deputy Speaker and Antique Lone District Representative Loren Legarda urged all public and private hospitals to pay workers on time and release hazard pay to all the frontliners fighting Covid-19.

Legarda made this call after receiving reports that contractual and job order staff were not receiving their salaries.

As of March 29, 2020, 12 doctors have died fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Philippine Medical Association.

As per Dr. Oscar Tinio, Chairman of the association’s Commission on Legislation, doctor-to-patient ratio currently stands at 1:40,000 compared to the ideal ratio of 1:10,000. Dr. Tinio also estimated that more than 5 percent of the country’s health workers are on quarantine due to their exposure to Covid-19 positive patients.

“Our healthcare professionals, health workers, and frontline personnel are our warriors. They care for Covid-19 patients and are at the highest risk of being exposed to the virus. Paying on time and giving them hazard pay is our way of showing them that we care and will ensure that our medical personnel continue to go to work to care for our loved ones,” Legarda stated.

“We should not wait for more health workers to die and be quarantined because of the lack of financial support. We should give them with all the protection that they need because they are the ones sacrificing for us,” Legarda concluded.