HUMAN RIGHTS

Turning grief into courage: Joie Cruz and her continuing fight

By Kristine Rebote

Over a year after frontline healthcare worker Maria Theresa Cruz passed away from COVID-19, her daughter, Joie Cruz, translated her grief into a fight for justice. And to this day, she carries on.

When her mother passed away, Joie was determined from the start to investigate the events that led to her sudden demise.

Joie trended on social media when she revealed that her mother, a public hospital nurse, died without even receiving her hazard pay. In a Facebook post, she lamented how her mother was posthumously given a measly sum of Php 7,265, or approximately Php 60 per day.

“In our own investigation we discovered that Dr. Sierra showed a dismissive attitude towards my mother’s request for a COVID-19 test on all three occasions that she was exposed to a positive patient. On several occasions, Dr. Sierra also chastised and berated my mother when she expressed her concerns about the COVID-19 situation in CMH. To add to this, she also had to purchase her own personal protective equipment (PPEs) because the hospital was unable to provide her with a PPE that fits her large frame,” Joie said in a statement.

To this, Joie, represented by Attorney Anshe Bacudio of IDEALS, Inc., filed a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman against the hospital administrator of the hospital, for Gross Neglect of Duty and Conduct Unbecoming of a Public Officer.

“When my mother’s story was put on the national limelight, we received hundreds of messages of support, and calls from government officials extending their help and condolences,” said Joie.

It was not without threats. Joie was accused of making false claims and for politicizing her mother’s demise. But to Joie, she’s struggling for a fight bigger than that of her mom alone.

“Everything is political. And my “politics” for this fight is to make sure that the co-workers of my mom and other healthcare workers with similar experiences will get the benefits that have been promised to them by the government – on time and in the promised amount,” Joie said in a statement she published on Facebook.”

“This fight is to make sure that our frontline workers are given what they deserve and what they are promised,” she furthered.

Indeed, Joie has decided not only to speak up, but to advance and forward the fight of those who have fallen. Last year of October, she started a non-stock and non-profit organization named after her mother, the Ma. Theresa Cruz Foundation.

Its roots may be grim, but its noble mission is to promote fair wages, safe working conditions, dignity, and respect for all healthcare workers in the country.

“We’re doing this because our mother raised us with convictions. She taught us that if we’re fighting for what’s right, we have to persist,” Joie said.