War vs exploitation of nurses
WE, IN Ang Nars, strongly urge President Aquino, as he is about to give his second State of the Nation Address, to finally put a stop to the exploitative practices victimizing our nurses.
Over 400,000 of our country’s registered nurses are exploited by many health care institutions. In the name of volunteerism and/or in the guise of training them (through non-accredited training programs), they are made to work with the full responsibilities of an employed staff nurse, without any form of compensation, benefits and employer protection. Most are even required to pay for the “opportunity/privilege” to do “volunteer” work or render actual nursing care services in “training.”
These exploitative practices have been around for more than 15 years in private and government hospitals. They were temporarily halted in 2008, through the efforts of the Philippine Nurses Association. In January 2011, this exploitation issue broke out again in the media, but the exploitation stopped only for one week, because it seems the government is not concerned at all about it.
The whole Philippine population is deeply concerned. The hundreds of thousands of exploited nurses can be found among our brothers and sisters, spouses, parents and children. The Filipino nurses are clamoring for jobs they are already trained to do. Give them what is due, starting with a decent salary.
We have 12,000 signatures in support of our call. More signatures have also been gathered online at www.angnars.com.
We, the Filipino people, implore our government and our “People’s President,” to put a stop to the exploitative practices that victimize our nurses and violate their constitutional and God-given rights.
We hope that during the Sona, President Aquino will include, as one of his priority concerns, the plight of our nurses, and take concrete actions to stop the false volunteerism and non-accredited training programs for nurses. Doing so would deliver a strong message that the Aquino administration is committed to promoting human rights and keeping the country on “Daang Matuwid.” This will be a significant achievement for Mr. Aquino in his second year as President of our beloved country.
—LEAH PRIMITIVA G.
SAMACO-PAQUIZ,
Unit 208, 385 GJ Bldg.,
Quezon Ave. Quezon City
