Nurses’ group stressed call to protect nurses, right to adequate and hazard pay as story of nurse Maria Theresa Cruz goes viral

“The Filipino Nurses United (FNU) would like to express our deep sympathy on the death of our colleague, Ms. Maria Theresa Cruz, a local government unit hospital nurse who died of COVID-19. This is one of the many sad stories of health workers’ whose lives have been placed in extreme risks as a result of inadequate protection and claims for compensation benefits have been a difficult challenge. We are one with her daughter, Ms. Joie Cruz who expressed her frustrations on her mother’s hazard pay,” said the group in a statement.

Joie’s post on the story of her mother three days ago has been shared 24,000 times. Her mother served as a health frontliner and died on July 23 before receiving her hazard pay. Theresa expected P30,000 (or P500 per day), but Joie only got to claim P7,265 (P60.93 per day additional during the COVID-19 pandemic). Theresa planned on using this for paying Joie’s sister’s Grolier Home Learning Materials.

As early as June 10, FNU demanded additional hazard pay and special risk allowance for all frontline health workers including nurses in both public and private health facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic distinct from and on top of the hazard pay provided for under the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers (Republic Act 7305).

The group insisted that the COVID-19 hazard pay and one-time risk allowance set under Administrative Order No. 26 and No. 28 are “neither commensurate nor equitably determined.”

“In fact, the Section 1 of the Administrative Order No. 26 is clearly unjust because it has a phrase of whichever is higher, that gives the employers the option to grant health workers with either the P500 per day COVID hazard pay or the existing hazard pay applicable under the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers or the collective bargaining agreement benefit for private health workers,” said FNU.

Following Joie’s post, the Department of Health (DOH) issued a statement and extended their condolences.

Trolls attacked Joie’s timeline, calling her names and labels, accusing her of using her mother’s death for political agenda and undermining Joie’s past connection with Rappler and blaming Rappler that came out with a story, following the revelation of what her mother went through.

Cainta Mayor Keith Nieto responded to Joie’s post. Nieto said Theresa was not assigned to a COVID-19 ward or a COVID-19 patient and was not denied a swab test. Nieto also said that the city provides P300 a day hazard pay, an amount that includes the nurse’s hazard pay prior to COVID-19.

Joie responded to Nieto’s statements with an open letter. She said her mother had a COVID-19 positive mother and her newborn in the pedia ward. She also opened more details surrounding her mother’s death—her mother’s request for a swab or RT-PCR test that was delayed and done seven days after her fever started and three days before her death, how contact tracing and testing were done to those exposed to her mother. Joie also slammed Nieto’s posting of Theresa and her co-nurses’ payroll.

FNU said that apathy, victim-blaming and lack of compassion from hospital management and government officials are totally unacceptable. Nurses and other frontline health workers deserve utmost protection and humane treatment at work so they can save more lives, they asserted.

“If this is still difficult to comprehend, FNU challenge the hospital management and the government officials to work as frontline health workers in COVID referral hospitals for one week with the same unsafe work conditions, inadequate PPEs, same low salary and unjust benefits so that you will fully understand the plight of the nurses and frontline health workers in this COVID pandemic,” said FNU.

As of April 13, the DOH recorded a total of 5,815 COVID-19 cases among health care workers. Of these cases, 4,999 (86%) have recovered, 777 (13.4%) active cases and 39 (0.7%) deaths.