A neophyte solon is now pushing for an increase of 75% on the base salary of government nurses, or a take home pay of around P64,000.
Quezon City Representative Marvin Rillo filed House Bill 5267 that seeks to amend the current Philippine Nursing Law which puts the the nurse’s salary at Salary Grade 15, and make it to Salary Grade 21.
If the bill passes into law, the monthly salary of nurses of P36,619 will be hiked to P63,997. The solon hopes that the measure will solve the brain drain or the migration of nurses abroad for greener pastures.
“Once enacted, we expect our measure help slow down the rapid migration of Filipino nurses to English-speaking overseas labor markets,” said Rillo.
“Our measure will also encourage a greater number of high school graduates to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree in college,” added Rillo, Vice Chairperson ng House Committee on Higher and Technical Education.
Last July, the Commission on Higher Education removed the 10-year moratorium on the opening of new BSN Programs due to lack of nurses as majority of them went abroad for higher compensation particularly in United States and United Kingdom.
The Department of Health (DOH) also announced last month that the public and private hospitals in the country has a shortage of 106,541 nurses to fill their vacant positions.
According to World Health Organization, the projected shortfall of nurses is expected to be 249,843 by 2030, unless greater investment is made now to retain them in the Philippine health sector.