ILOILO – The chief of Western Visayas Sanitarium and General Hospital (WVSGH) in Barangay Inangayan, Santa Barbara town denied that the salaries of their personnel were not released on time.
“Wala sang delay. Before the year (2022) ended, ang salaries (and benefits) of the plantilla personnel with permanent positions nahatag na ‘ya tanan,” said Dr. Judy Ann Dumayas, WVSGH medical center chief, in an exclusive interview with Panay News on Friday afternoon, Jan. 6.
The hospital has 172 plantilla personnel and 255 contract of service (CoS) workers composed of doctors, nurses, midwives, nursing aids, medical technologists, staff, security, maintenance, and housekeeping, among others.
Dumayas issued the clarification in the wake of a viral Facebook post complaining that the salaries of WVSGH personnel were always delayed, and following a “silent protest” of not more than 15 plantilla personnel and seven CoS personnel during te recent visit to the hospital of Department of Health (DOH) undersecretary Camilo Cascolan.
The Facebook post by Moika Arana Arguelles, a former operating room nurse at WVSGH, read: “Last December 22, 2022, some of our hospital employees organized a picket/silent protest, the same day as the undersecretary of health visited the institution. Out of curiosity, I visited the hospital to witness the said silent protest on my day off. I took photos and posted my sentiments about their cause aka our salaries that have been delayed for a maximum of three months for years now and benefits which already had allotted budgets but has not been given to us.”
Dumayas explained that CoS must submit their daily time records (DTRs), statements of account, and monthly reports of accomplishments before their salaries could be released.
For example, she said, their salaries for November 2022 were already released on Dec. 26, 2022, while their December 2022 salaries will be released on the second to third week of January 2023.
This flow of salary processing for CoS workers is practiced not just in WVSGH but also in other government offices as well, stressed Dumayas.
“Once the documentation is complete, second to third week of January. Amo na usual nga sweldohanay bisan diin ka nga agency. Kon contract of service ka, you were hired for a reason so you have to show your performance,” she added.
Dumayas also said the hospital’s executive committee tried to rush the release of the December 2022 salary before Christmas Day but it was only released on Dec. 26.
The budget for plantilla employees is provided by the national government through the DOH, while the hospital’s generated income covers the CoS, she added.
Dumayas insisted that the releasing of salaries has in fact improved since she assumed as WVSGH’s medical center chief in 2018.
“Kami diri sa management bal-an man namon ang nagakatabu. I saw how efforts are done, may mga times nga bisan sang Dec. 30 nagbalik di ang HR namon para i-complete ang tanan nga documents,” Dumayas explained.
‘FALLEN 22’
Dumayas also revealed that the contracts of 255 WVSGH CoS employees expired on Dec. 31, 2022. And of those, 22 contracts were not renewed for 2023.
“End of contract was Dec. 31, 2022 so they have to reapply because we have to rehire, ma-rehire gid sila, but not really a renewal nga masugpon lang sila sang ila contract. They should apply. They will be reassessed and they will be rehired kon nami man ang performance nila,” explained Dumayas.
Of the 22 CoS, including Arguelles, the medical center chief said most opted to resign for health reasons, take a break, or look for another job. There were some, too, who were not rehired for failing the performance evaluation.
In a Facebook post, Arguelles stated: “I have worked there as a contract of service employee for three years. Despite knowing that we dont have security of tenure and that they could just terminate us in their discretion and even without a justifiable cause, daw indi man insakto nga gulpi lang timo hulugon sa lista without any notice (sic).”
She added: “Two days after, Dec. 31, 2022, I had a conversation with one of my seniors who informed me that I’m under ‘deliberation’ because of that certain Facebook post as expected. It didn’t really make sense in my head because I might not know a lot of things, but I know that I have the freedom of speech to express my sentiments especially about injustice and oppression in a certain workplace. That is something that they cannot hold against me. It is my right.”
“But knowing how dirty these people work, I already anticipated that they will use whatever I post in the future against me. To my surprise, they had more “pasabog” gali. They laid off 21 other employees. Some of which opted to resign but 11 of those were from the finance department. ALL of the COS employees from their department got fired. The reason is still unclear up to this day. Yesterday, Jan 3, I was informed that my contract was DISAPPROVED despite the fact that my performance evaluation scale was outstanding and that I didn’t have any major grievances in the past years. It was because nakita kuno ang post ko nga nagreklamo about sa 8 hour shift amuna wala nalang ako gin-renew (sic),” Arguelles’ Facebook post further stated./PN
