Death Defying Driver

by Samantha Mae M. Abanes

All it took was a drop of a catastrophic pandemic to change our promising lives to its extent, but we could not withhold the fact that the heaviest medical burdens lie on the attentive hands of the frontline.

People often depict ‘front-liners’ as doctors, nurses, and any other medical professionals—disregarding the depth of the medical field and its workers who make a living out of a miserly amount. These assumptions lead to overlooking the dull spotlight of extensive health careers.

At the age of 27, Rully Linonhay currently works as an ambulance driver at the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Department (CDDRMD). He has been earning a short amount of nine-thousand pesos each month. Rully’s job as an ambulance driver is as hard as it is in his household; considering the fact that their small-scale income is as tight as their financial plans.

“Budgeting our income is hard because it is not enough for us”, Rully frankly said as he continues to share about the underpaid frontliners.

According to iPrice research, the salary gap between health workers in the Philippines and neighboring countries with a similar cost of living, such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, is substantial. Malaysian practitioners earn 178 % more than Filipino medical technologists, whereas registered nurses in Thailand and Indonesia earn 95 % more than Filipino nurses. This demonstrates the Philippines’ bleak approach to the medical field in the country.

The nine-thousand pesos salary for each month is hardly enough for him to make ends meet, but that does not stop Rully from striving by driving.

cross the most edged losses and opaque victories in this golden city. Hopefulness in hopelessness is the key to unravel the long blanket in the sky. The night may cast a pall of gloom, but for a survivor’s hue, there will always be a kernel of optimism.

In the middle of a big crisis, a fleck of belief can be your salvation. This was Cyrus’ and a few Kagayanons’: They believed that it is through the complementary grounds of faith and valor that lended them a paddle to row and survive the rogue waves of the unknown.