COTABATO CITY — A resolution urging the Office of the Chief Minister and the Ministry of Health in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to provide additional incentives for Bangsamoro health workers who have been working during the pandemic was filed before the Bangsamoro parliament.
The resolution, which was tackled in the plenary on Tuesday, July 21, emphasized that under the Special Provisions of 2020 Bangsamoro Appropriations Act (BAA), an amount of P200 million has been allotted for health for the Quick Response Fund of the Office of the Chief Minister.
“Despite Bangsamoro health workers’ deplorable conditions—overworked, underpaid, unsafe, and unsupported—they are now in the forefront of fighting the deadly virus across the nation, to the extent that some health workers have succumbed or fallen victims to the coronavirus,” according to the resolution authored by members of the Bangsamoro parliament Amir Mawallil, Baintan Adil-Ampatuan, and Sittie Shahara Mastura.
Data from the Bangsamoro Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 shows that, as of July 23, the region has recorded 416 cases in the region, of which 280 are still active.
“The salaries of health care workers in the country are below the daily minimum cost of living, and fall short compared to the remuneration other countries pay for the same profession, hence the substantial difference in salaries and benefits of health workers in the country is the main reason that drives Bangsamoro health workers to work abroad.”
RA 11466 or the Salary Standardization Law V allows for a 20-percent increase in the salaries of nurses spread across four years, from ₱31,531 in January 1, 2020 to ₱36,619 in January 2023.
According to the resolution, the nursing profession argued that this new salary increase is still far below nurses’ salaries overseas.
With almost 2,000 regular health workers in the region, providing additional incentives to the Bangsamoro health workers will “help ease their burden in these trying times,” and would “provide recognition to their dedicated service for the Bangsamoro people.”
(Office of MP Amir Mawallil)