CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – A Central Luzon based workers’ group lambasted the government’s alleged lack of comprehensive plan on how to increase public health capacity to address the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pol Viuya, chair of the Workers’ Alliance of Region-III (WAR-3), said “there is nothing new in the president’s announcement on Tuesday (May 12), though it is true that areas were identified from being under different levels of community quarantine, but up to this day they continue to fail on having no specific plans on how to increase public health capacity to address the Covid-19 pandemic to prevent it from spreading.”
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also held a press conference where he cited areas that are under ECQ and GCQ, as stipulated in the IATF Resolution 35, where Region 3 will be under moderate GCQ.
Under the GCQ where movement in persons will still be limited, 50-75 percent of workers will be allowed to work, and public transportation in reduced capacity will also be allowed.
“It is only right for the workers to go back to work and also for the economy to start-up again, but the government should also guarantee the workers’ health in their workplaces. This is paramount,” said Viuya.
“They should require establishments to have facilities and equipment to provide their workers free regular check-ups, especially those in the economic zones where a large concentration of workers is,” Viuya added. “Otherwise, under the GCQ only the business sector will benefit.”
He also said the people of Central Luzon in their millions have been affected by the two-month lockdown, after the government failed to distribute aid such as the Department of Labor and Employment’s Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Social Amelioration Program.
“President Duterte should also stop obsessing on the New People’s Army. Every announcement he make,s he keeps using these statements as scapegoats to cover-up his failures,” Viuya charged.
“We are calling on the government, to get their minds right and stop failing the workers and the people. They should look into the public health capacity, hold free massive testing, support the health workers in the frontlines and provide adequate PPEs for them,” Viuya said.
“The government should continue its emergency aid assistance even when the lockdown eases up. Also, the workers should have paid quarantine leave, because, the wages that the workers will earn during the GCQ will just slip off their hands due to the possible increase of prices of basic necessities and huge amounts of bills to pay,” Viuya ended.
