Probe into working conditions at CHD

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council has called for an investigation into the alleged “excessive working conditions” at the City Health Department following the death of a midwife, whose last login records showed more than 56 working hours in a week.

The council has directed the Human Resource Development Office of Cebu City Hall to work with the Cebu City Legal Office and to spearhead the investigation to determine if there were any violations of the Magna Carta law.

It also called upon the Cebu City Health Department to amend its policy to ensure that no employees are “overworked.”

These actions by the council were prompted by the privilege speech of Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos delivered yesterday, March 26, 2025.

In her speech, de los Santos raised concerns about the operations that were allegedly not “employee-friendly.” According to de los Santos, several complaints had been forwarded to her, most of which came from individuals who wishes to remain anonymous.

During her speech, de los Santos also presented several screenshots of grievances from health workers across the city. De los Santos said she is taking it upon herself to air these concerns before the body as a health advocate.

De los Santos reminded the body on a speech she delivered last August 7, 2024, where she raised concerns about a memorandum issued by the Cebu City Health Department, which she quoted as saying, “if a midwife on 24-hour duty does not deliver a baby during her shift, they are not entitled to off-duty time the following day.”

“In that speech, I mentioned that requiring the delivery of a baby to avail of off-duty time the following day violates the Magna Carta for public workers,” said de los Santos.

This Magna Carta provision, also known as Republic Act 7305, stipulates that public health workers required to render 24-hour service shall be granted an extra day off immediately after each 24-hour shift.

De los Santos pointed out that this provision does not mandate that a midwife must deliver a baby to avail of the extra day off, as was required in the memorandum issued.

De los Santos stressed that the issuance of the said memorandum was not only a violation of the law but also a “display of abuse of authority.”

She added, however, that although the memorandum was later rectified, the violation had already occurred.

It is on this premise that de los Santos brought up the loss of life of a midwife, who, according to her family, had been “stressed out and tired” from her duties.

In the same speech, de los Santos also presented the login records of the said midwife. She explained that during the second week of March 2025, the employee had logged a total of 28 hours. She further presented that, in that same week, the midwife had logged a total of 56 hours and 27 minutes of duty.

De los Santos explained that the standard rule for working hours is stipulated under Section 1 of Rule 15 of the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers, which states that public health workers should work eight hours a day for 40 hours a week.

While more hours are allowed in times of emergencies, de los Santos clarified that the law also stipulates that employees who work more than 24 hours should be granted an extra day off. She stressed that the hours logged by the midwife exceeded the limits set by the Magna Carta law.

“Isn’t this a clear and blatant violation of the law? Even if there was voluntary consent on the part of the employee to adapt to the scheme, has the employees’ welfare been considered?” asked de los Santos.

She added that she thought this issue had already been resolved following her previous privilege speech.

“If only the mayor had heeded the plea of the city health workers and our doctors, if only the mayor had paid attention to my privilege speech to revisit or change the management of the Cebu City Health Department under the leadership of Dr. Daisy Villa,” said de los Santos.

“If only the mayor were compassionate, listened, and truly took action, the unfortunate death of the midwife could have been avoided,” she added.

She then highlighted that the current administration cannot “wash their hands” of the midwife’s death and called for prudence and humanity in scheduling the employees.

“Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, the clamor is loud and clear: the midwives are complaining, the doctors are complaining, the nurses are complaining,” said de los Santos, adding that now a family is also grieving.

“What will it take for you and your office to take drastic action to address and perhaps change the management of the City Health Department?” she asked, as she challenged Garcia, a “self-proclaimed action mayor” to take measures regarding what happened. – /ATO (FREEMAN)