ILOILO CITY (PIA) -- The Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development honored barangay health workers who were 25 years in service during the Western Visayas Barangay Health Workers (BHW) Summit held Oct. 19–21 at the Punta Villa Resort in Arevalo district, here.
Barangay Health Wellness Partylist representative Angelica Natasha Co, who was the resource speaker for the honoring rites, highlighted the salient points of the proposed Magna Carta for Barangay Health Workers.
“Once the Magna Carta for BHW is enacted, accredited BHWs shall be entitled to incentives and benefits that include hazard allowance, transportation allowance, subsistence allowance, one-time retirement cash incentive, health benefits, insurance coverage and benefits, vacation and maternity leaves, and cash gifts,” Co underscored.
BHWs will also be entitled to health benefits upon the enactment of the measure.Early this year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. pushed for the passage of the Magna Carta for barangay health workers, recognizing their contribution to the community.
“I hope that the passage of the Magna Carta bill will be the beginning of tuloy-tuloy na aming maibibigay na makabawi naman kami, makabawi naman kami sa inyong trabaho, sa inyong volunteer work at to recognize the importance of the work of the barangay health workers,” Marcos said in a Presidential Communications Office news release.
Meanwhile, in his message during the event, DOH6 regional director Dr. Adriano P. Suba-an recognized the contributions of the BHWs in improving the health system of the region and making sure that services are available for all.
“Hindi magsasawa ang Department of Health na suportahan at ipaglaban ang karapatan ng ating mga barangay health workers. Makakaasa po kayo na sa ating pag-abot sa mga hangarin ng Universal Health Care, kasama kayo naming walang maiiwan. At lagi’t-lagi, walang iwanan para sa Healthy Pilipinas,” said Suba-an.
For the first time, the DOH6 conferred the Service Recognition Award to 54 BHWs who have been in the service for 25 years or more during the 2023 BHW Performance-Based Incentives Awards, as one of the highlights of the three-day event.
In addition, the Federation of the Barangay Health Workers of Guimaras Inc. was declared the top-performing BHW Federation in Western Visayas.
70-year-old Leah Jison, who has served as BHW of Murcia town for 25 years now and one of the 12 BHW awardees from the province of Negros Occidental, expressed her excitement for the passage of the Magna Carta, knowing that the proposed legislative measure will institutionalize the incentives for them.
“We are very happy gid kon ma-push through ina. Kay ang BHW nang gamay lang ang ginabaton nila, allowance lang gid na ang ginabaton nila from the barangay and the LGU. Kon mag-successful ina, syempre may mabaton na kami nga amon na gid salary and other benefits (We are very happy if that (Magna Carta for BHW) will push through. Our BHWs only receive a little allowance from the barangay and the LGU. If this will be successful, we can now receive a salary of our own and with other benefits),” Jison shared.
Meanwhile, Antique’s longest-serving BHW for 43 years, 68-year-old Neoly Lanugon Mendoza of Valderrama town, emphasized that the proposed Magna Carta for BHWs will be of great help to the volunteers, knowing the hardship they are also experiencing with the day-to-day task in supporting the health programs of the government.
“Kabudlay gid kasia kapin pa kun grabe ang init kag ginasugo kami sa profiling or kun may obra nga kinahanglanon kami. Imaw lang ria ang medyo mabudlay. Kay syempre mangbalay-balat kami, lagson kami sang ido, ukon kun kasi naga-inulan pa. (It’s difficult sometimes especially if it’s too hot when we do the profiling and other work that we are needed. That’s the difficulty. When we do house-to-house activities, sometimes dogs will run after us, and there are also instances where we work even in the rainy days.),” Mendoza said, citing that in their community the five BHWs are covering more than 190 households each.
Both of them are receiving only minimal allowance from their barangay and municipal LGUs.
The summit also featured several discussions on Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, Adverse Events following Immunization (AEFI), Acute Flaccid Paralysis, and Community-based Integrated Management of Childhood Illness.
A total of 160 BHWs from all over the region attended the summit.*(AAL/FRG/PIA6)
