In August, at least 16 contractual nurses at Taguig-Pateros District Hospital were fired days after they “liked” a volunteer doctor’s Facebook status updates critical of the hospital administration.
The Facebook posts were made in July by volunteer doctor Jocelyn Imbao, who has since left the hospital run by the city government.
After failing to get any assistance from the Department of Health, Civil Service Commission and Department of Labor and Employment, the nurses sought the help of the media to draw public attention to their plight.
One of the 16 nurses told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that although they had accepted the hospital officials’ decision to terminate their services, they did not understand why they had not been issued their certificates of employment—one of the requirements for nurses who want to work overseas.
She claimed that in all 46 nurses faced dismissal, but 30 of them opted to resign and received their certificates of employment.
Taguig legal officer Marianito D. Miranda said that “these terminated personnel have manifested blatant disobedience and disregard of authority and protocols, engaged in sowing intrigues and encouraged discontent among the hospital’s staff and personnel.”
The Alliance of Health Workers said it supported the nurses who were fired “for expressing their opinion on the grave state of that hospital’s health care delivery system.”
“What happened to them reflects the collective injustice that nurses are made to suffer. Massive unemployment has brought about the monster that is contractualization which feeds on the desperation of many from among our ranks to find a job,” it said.
Source: Inquirer Archives