N ALL cities, municipalities and provinces, barangay health workers have become a pervasive, effective and critical force multiplier of the city government, Department of Health and Department of Social Welfare and Development in the delivery of crucial basic health services at the community level, especially in rural areas.
But other than a few hundreds of pesos as honorarium or allowance, these army of volunteers are not receiving anything from the government for their services. They are in these posts not for anything but for love of their country and their fellowmen, and for their desire to improve the health conditions of our people. Some, if not most of them, are rendering their services for free for long years, or even decades, now. Most of them are already senior citizens even when they started in this volunteer work in the prime of their years.
Yet, the “security of tenure” of our nationwide army of barangay health workers is now in jeopardy as some incumbent and aspiring barangay officials are allegedly using these workers’ security or lack thereof as a strategy option in the ongoing barangay elections campaign.
Kabayan party-list bared that some barangay health workers are being used as pawns in the political campaign. Some of these workers are being threatened with ejection from their posts. Some are being forced to throw their support behind candidates.
This is unfortunate inasmuch as the barangay election is supposed to be non-partisan. Barangay health workers are apolitical. Besides, illnesses do not distinguish political color, neither the health and condition of our people.
Barangay health workers must be shielded from partisan political activity. Partisanship in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections means not just getting involved in political parties but express and implied support to particular candidates.
This could be addressed by House Bill 4277 which seeks to grant barangay health workers with civil service eligibility, incentives, benefits, security of tenure, regular allowances, and other social protections against economic hardships and political interference.
We must honor the hard work our barangay health workers have invested in their communities by protecting them.
