Under the proposed budget, P3.173 billion has been appropriated to upgrade the salaries of Nurse I and II positions. #nursepayhike

Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, said Thursday the long overdue salary increase that government nurses deserve will be implemented early next year after the Senate Committee on Finance approved the corresponding appropriations in compliance with a Supreme Court decision upholding Section 32 of the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.

“I also want to commend the Committee on Finance and our distinguished colleagues for taking measures that would allow us to implement the Supreme Court decision upholding the validity of Section 32 of the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002, which provides that the ‘minimum base pay of nurses working in the public health institutions shall not be lower than Salary Grade 15,’” Go said.

“This is a long overdue compensation denied to them. Hindi na natin sila paghihintayin pa…magkakaroon na sila ng increase sa kanilang sweldo…next year,” he added.

Go’s statement was part of his explanation of his vote during the third and final reading for the Senate version of the 2020 national budget.

Under the proposed budget, P3.173 billion has been appropriated to upgrade the salaries of Nurse I and II positions.

In his speech, Go added, “As Chairman of the Committee on Health, I commend this chamber for approving the additional P7 billion for the Human Resources for Health Deployment Program. This is to ensure the continued employment of our health workers in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas and economically disadvantaged municipalities. Wala pong mawawalan ng trabaho, tuloy-tuloy po ang serbisyo.”

Go has also commended the Senate Finance Committee for increasing the budget of PhilHealth, which will be of big help to progressively realize universal health care in the country and to ensure that all Filipinos are guaranteed equitable access to quality and affordable health care.

With sufficient funds for the health sector, Go urged the Department of Health and PhilHealth to “ensure judicious and prudent use of public funds” as he expressed his trust and confidence that the government agencies involved will institute reforms to improve efficiency in spending their funds.

Go further said he will prioritize the passage of a new Salary Standardization Law (SSL) which will provide for the increase in the current salaries of all government workers.

He filed in July Senate Bill (SB) 200 or the proposed “Act Modifying the Salary Schedule for Civilian Government Personnel” which seeks to increase the salaries of all government workers, including nurses and teachers.