The UNI Global Union – Philippine Liaison Council (UNI-PLC) and the National Confederation of Barangay Health Workers of the Philippines (NCBHWP), representing the country’s 277,000 community health workers, known locally as barangay health workers (BHWs), expressed dismay over the total absence of the Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address. Labor leaders stressed that the referral to the LEDAC Secretariat marks a crucial moment to lock the bill back onto the government’s official priority agenda. “Our focus now shifts to Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and the LEDAC Secretariat. We urge Secretary Balisacan to act favorably on Malacañang’s endorsement and reinstate the Magna Carta of BHWs in the LEDAC Common Legislative Agenda. Institutionalizing fair compensation and legal protections for community health workers is a vital step toward building a sustainable Universal Health Care system.”