St. Luke’s hospital union leader corrects Duque, seeks MAT allowance release

NO DISPUTE OVER RISK ALLOWANCE

By HANA BORDEY, GMA News, 20 Aug 2021

St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) Employees Association leader Jao Clumia corrected Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday after the latter accused him of issuing a false statement on the release of the special risk allowances for the hospital’s healthcare workers.

St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) Employees Association leader Jao Clumia corrected Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday after the latter accused him of issuing a false statement on the release of the special risk allowances for the hospital’s healthcare workers.

At a House hearing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the SLMC’s employee association had claimed that had not received their hazard pays.

“Nu’ng nakaraang hearing naglabas na sila ng statement na walang katotohanan ‘yung ibinigay na SRA samantalang ito naman po ang statement from the St. Luke’s management both in Global and Quezon city,” Duque said.

(In a recent hearing they released a statement claiming that there is no truth on the release of the SRAs, but St. Luke’s management issued another statement on the disbursement.)

The Health Secretary showed the House panel a copy of the SLMC statement which informs the public that they already released the P41.7 million from the DOH for the SRAs of their employees catering to COVID-19 patients both in their hospitals in Quezon City and Bonifacio Global City.

According to the SLMC management, there are 2,277 employees from Global City and 2,115 employees from Quezon City who have received the SRA.

“So ito po maliwanag na maliwanag po, your honor, na hindi totoo na hindi kami nagbigay ng SRA,” Duque said.

(It is clear, your honor, that the statement, claiming that we are not releasing the SRA, is not true.)

However, Clumia corrected Duque, saying they are raising the issue of non-release of meals, accommodation, and transportation (MAT) allowances and not the non-release of the SRAs.

“Kailan lang po nagharap po tayo sa Senate hearing, sinabi ko po na naka-tanggap po kami, bago po maglabas ang mangement St. Lukes ng SRA at nagpapsalamat po ako doon. Kaya lang po regarding doon sa MAT, ‘yun po ang hindi namin natatanggap,” Clumia said.

(We recently attended a Senate hearing and I clarified that we received the benefit and we thank you for that. However, we were not able to receive our MAT allowances yet.)

In a separate statement, the SLMC Employee Association in Quezon City clarified that there is no dispute between the union and management on the issue of benefits to healthcare workers.

“We are hoping that the DOH will release the funds for our special benefits pertaining to Meal, Accommodation, and Transportation as provided in the Bayanihan Law,” the statement read.

Several groups of health workers from both government hospitals and private institutions have been complaining of the non-release of their special risk allowance and the removal of their other benefits such as meal and transportation allowance even as they continue to be at the frontlines in the battle against COVID-19.

Some have threatened to go on mass leave over what they called the government’s neglect of their plight. — DVM, GMA News