Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured the public Saturday, May 1, that all acts of discrimination and all forms of violence against healthcare workers (HCWs) will not go unpunished.

He said those who discriminate, intimidate and even re-tag the healthcare workers will all be held accountable.

"Now more than ever HCWs play a crucial role in our COVID-19 response. We stand against any form of discrimination, intimidation, and violence against them,” he said in a statement.

"These acts will not be tolerated. We will hold perpetrators of these acts accountable and will collate reports from our HCWs for proper investigation and resolution.”

The DOH chief said after their consultation with the HCWs, they "have been notified on incidents of discrimination, intimidation, and violence against our HCWs including cases of red-tagging for simply asking for better benefits and pay.”

He assured HCWs that the agency “is one” with them as they continuously fulfill their sworn duty to serve and promote the right to quality and equitable health of Filipinos.

"Apart from ensuring the safety of our HCWs, we continue to strive for better compensation and benefits befitting their service and sacrifices for our nation,” Duque said.

"It is not enough that we thank our HCWs for their bravery during this pandemic, we have to protect them too,” he added.

He called on the public and other government agencies to stand up for our health care workers and protect them against any form of discrimination, intimidation, and violence.

"Together with our health care workers, let us unite to defeat COVID-19,” he said.