18 MONTHS NO PAY

UPM guards slam UP-PGH over P108K health allowance delay

by Lian Gabrielle Inlong and Jose Vicente Miguel Dave

Philippine General Hospital Human Resource Development Division (PGH-HRDD)’s subsequent neglect to distribute the health emergency allowance (HEA), which approximately amounts to Php 108,000 per guard, has left the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) security guards with no choice but to air their complaints to the Department of Health (DOH) and Raffy Tulfo in Action, an informal national grievance desk.

Fifty-one security guards called for PGH-HRDD to finally release their 18 months’ worth of health allowance, citing they really served as frontliners during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and their families anticipate this allowance.

In The Manila Collegian’s interview with the UPM security guards, they demanded fair treatment among all UPM-PGH security personnel when they confirmed that they were not given the monthly health emergency allowance (HEA) amounting to Php 6,000 — a cash incentive for those who served during the height of the pandemic.

The guards said they were not recognized as frontliners for not being stationed at PGH or any emergency wards despite being on duty in the UPM colleges that served as quarantine facilities and housing for healthcare workers.

However, contrastingly, UPM guards stationed at the Office of the UPM administration already received the HEA, raising a question on how different the job they rendered was to those assigned to college buildings.

According to them, only one COVID-19 allowance (OCA) amounting to Php 36,000 was distributed to UPM guards, which only covered the months of July to December of 2021. They also found out that this came from DOH, not from PGH.

With many of them who are in dire need of the allowance, they have decided to reach out to the PGH-HRDD about the delays. They were asked to provide multiple certifications to prove their service during the pandemic — a process that took six months to finalize.

However, when the certifications were rejected for being lacking, the group contacted DOH last Aug. 10. Still, no action was taken, citing a lack of papers. This urged the group to seek the help of Raffy Tulfo in Action in October, who then directed them back to DOH and endorsed their complaint.

With the complaint being endorsed, DOH brought the employees’ request to the HRDD’s attention, to which they responded with ‘still awaiting feedback from the Hospital Infection Control Unit (HICU)’ in the third week of November.

“Sana maging fair sila at ibigay ang dapat para sa lahat,” said Lorina Badajos, head of the initiative, on the calls for equality between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers who were in the frontline.

“Nakaka-low morale kaya. Alam mo ‘yong nakakasama ng loob na naranasan na namin mapalayas, ‘yong ibang guards napalayas talaga sa tirahan tapos dito na kami nag-s-stay. Hindi namin mabisita ‘yong mga pamilya namin kasi natatakot din kami sa virus na maiuwi namin sa pamilya namin, kahit naman sino. Tapos wala man lang silang maiabot sa amin na health allowance,” Badajos stressed.

The delay of benefits is exacerbated by the fact that their agency, Crossline Security Agency, remains silent about the issue — it does not assist the security guards on their calls to finally release HEA.

Similar to the university’s security guards, UPM faculty share the same plight under the university. Delays in their first salary are common for all incoming academic instructors.

According to Reggie Vallejos of All UP Workers Union-UPM, their collected reports cite that the delays for the instructors’ first salary can range from 3 to 13 months.

These delays are caused by the arduous process of new faculty members, aggravated by the vague and changing requirements.

“Kadalasan, ang delayed ay ang unang salary. Sa karanasan at kasaysayan ng unyon, pwedeng three months up hanggang 13 months depende sa processing… at least sa sinasabi ng UP. Pangalawa, dahil sa pabago-bagong requirements,” Vallejos explained.

Vallejos reported that since new instructors do not know when they will get paid, they are forced to take out loans as a substitute for their salary — a case Vallejos also experienced when he first taught in the institution.

“Mahirap sa mga faculty na ang ikinabubuhay lang ang pagtuturo. Mababaon ka talaga sa utang kapag sobrang delayed ang sahod. Ako ay halos seven months bago makuha ang unang salary, [maraming] mga pabalik-balik na requirements at proseso. Mabuti na lamang ay may mga nagpa-utang sa akin sa mga panahong walang sahod,” Vallejos recalled.

Vallejos said that the union and the new administration have constant dialogues regarding this concern. The admin vowed to improve the processes to lessen the delays the faculty experienced.

Meanwhile, in the security guards’ case, they continuously battle for the health allowance they are yet to receive — something that should not be denied in the first place.