THE COLLECTIVE action of university workers led the city government of Manila to change its mandatory health permit policy, UST Faculty Union (USTFU) President Emerito Gonzales said during the USTFU General Assembly on June 9.
In his address, the reelected union president declared the proposed revisions to the controversial Manila Ordinance No. 8793 a “major victory” for the Thomasian workforce.
“If there is one lesson the last few years have taught us, it is this: solidarity works. When we spoke with courage and in one voice, the people in authority had to listen,” Gonzales said.
“When workers come together, when they speak clearly, and when they stand by one another, policies can change, and burdens that once seemed fixed can begin to lift,” he added.
The union chief’s statement came after a city council panel approved a draft amendment to the health permit ordinance, which calls for a risk-based classification system and narrows implementation to “high-risk” occupations.
The proposed amendments will limit the mandatory health certification only to workers whose duties “directly and substantially affect public health.”
Unrelated professions such as teaching and administrative staff will be classified as “low risk” and exempted from individual health permits, provided they are covered by their employers’ institutional medical screenings.
The amended policy will also allow equivalent tests from accredited facilities, rather than a single government facility.
The ordinance, or the city’s Sanitation and Disinfection Code signed by Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso in April 2022, drew flak from faculty members, who were required to line up on the street for screenings at the old, dilapidated city laboratory and pay for the permit using an app.
The amendments to the health permit ordinance are set to be taken up for plenary approval by the Manila City Council.
