Health workers score 19th Congress over shelved Magna Carta

FRONTLINERS On duty Healthworker at the Santa Ana hospital in Manila. —INQUIRER file photo/Edwin Bacasmas

MANILA, Philippines — Barangay health workers (BHWs) on Saturday denounced the nonpassage by the outgoing 19th Congress of the proposed Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers.

“Despite the bill having been passed by both chambers prior to the May 2025 elections—with the Senate approving its version as early as February and the House later adopting the Senate version to bypass bicameral proceedings—the measure ultimately collapsed after the House of Representatives withdrew its transmittal,” the National Federation of Barangay Health Workers and Uni Global Union-Philippine Liaison Council (Uni-PLC) said in a statement.

For barangay health workers across the country, the outcome felt like “deliberate abandonment and a cruel political betrayal,” the two groups said.

Myrna Gaite, BHW Federation-National Capital Region president, said health workers have tirelessly waited for nearly four decades for recognition.

“Every Congress repeats the same pain of promises left unfulfilled. We have served our communities for nearly four decades—most of us without pay, without benefits, without protection. And now, just when the Magna Carta was finally within reach, we’ve been abandoned once again. How much longer must we endure?” she said.

“This is yet another broken promise to the 251,000 barangay health workers of this country. For years, administration after administration pledged to pass the Magna Carta—only to abandon it at the finish line. How can a government claim to value public health when it continuously fails the very workers who uphold it? This isn’t just negligence—it’s betrayal,” added Roland De La Cruz, president of Uni-PLC.

‘Cruel reversal’

In a separate statement, the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) said the “gross betrayal” and “cruel reversal” exposes not only the low regard for health and care workers, but also the “glaring lack” of political will to advance universal health care.

PSLINK said the House was first to unanimously approve the bill in December 2022, while the Senate passed its version in February 2025.

The House agreed to adopt the Senate version to fast-track enactment and thus was only awaiting the President’s signature to be enacted into law.

“The bill was a priority measure of President Marcos, but the House’s sudden, unexplained backtracking has dealt a devastating blow to our BHWs,” the group said.

According to PSLINK, the Magna Marta would have recognized and provided funding to barangay health workers across the country. /.cb