Guimaras gov't docs, nurses want 'hazard pay' too
From the Province of Iloilo, the clamor for the government's mandatory "Hazard Pay" due to government doctors, nurses and others in the medical and para-medical field have now reached the island-Province of Guimaras.
Albeit currently done in a "silent" campaign, information obtained by The News Today (TNT) disclosed of similar "peace talks" underway in various government hospitals in the island. This, after hospital personnel got word of the notification and memorandum from the Health Department stating "Hazard Pay" benefits is due to the health workers as a mandatory obligation from the government.
Said benefits is distinct from the 'cash gifts' which is not mandatory but is said to have been dangled as the "peace offering" with the "Hazard Pay" yet to be included in the supplemental budget sought here by the provincial government.
The health personnel from Guimaras Provincial Hospital has reportedly linked up with other hospital workers in Buenavista, Sibunag, San Lorenzo and Nueva Valencia.
If this week's appeal will not work, the group will allegedly seek legal action similar to what has been pushed by counterparts under the employ of the Provincial Government of Iloilo.
To recall, member doctors, nurses and health workers of the Iloilo Capitol banded and demanded over P30 million in "hazard pay." Emergency meetings were called by Governor Niel Tupas and top aides to "negotiate" for a compromise agreement. Yet in latest developments, the medical personnel under the Iloilo Health Workers Association (IHWA) reportedly refused to budge and instead push for the earlier case set to be filed against the governor.