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.
