LAKAS-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) vice presidential aspirant and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said she wants a law that would give better wages and benefits for barangay workers and volunteers.

Duterte stressed that during the coronavirus pandemic, the barangay workers are the first ones to help the city and municipal governments.

“Laging ang barangay volunteers natin ang tinatawag natin. It’s time po na pag-usapan sa kongreso na merong standardization sa pagpapasweldo ng ating barangay volunteers,” Duterte said during Friday’s Metro Manila Virtual Caravan with her running mate Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP).

Duterte said despite the contributions of barangay volunteers in the implementation of government programs in the grassroots level, they are not well compensated.

“Ang ating mga BHWs (barangay health workers) ay nakababad diyan sa mga tao, particularly na sa pagdadala ng mga health programs ng ating city health (at) municipal health office,” Duterte said.

Duterte, in her message, stressed that barangay workers and volunteers must not spend eight hours or more a day working.

“Ang volunteers sa amin sa Davao City not more than 2-3 hours a day ang trabaho. Ang nangyayari sa ating mga barangay nutrition scholar, barangay health worker at barangay kagawad ay naging main work na nila ‘yung pagiging volunteer. In that case, hindi na po sila dapat tawaging volunteers but dapat meron na po talaga silang standard na sweldo na tinatanggap,” Duterte said.

She also said government should look into mechanisms to justly compensate the volunteers for the tasks they perform.

“Dalawa lang po ang ating options: Una, i-acknowledge natin na kayo ay volunteers at ipagbawal natin ang full time na pagta-trabaho. Pangalawa, gawin nating standard ‘yung sweldo ng ating mga volunteers, in that way, na-renumerate nang maayos yung inyong pagserbisyo sa ating communities,” Duterte added.

The virtual caravan is a series of online meetups which aims to hear the sentiments of sectoral groups.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ryan Ponce Pacpaco