Nursing graduates opting to find greener pastures abroad remain a trend in the country due to low salaries, Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo revealed Sunday.

According to Rillo, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, a total of 6,879 Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates from the Philippines took the US licensure examination for the first time from January to March 2024, in the hope of obtaining gainful employment in America.

“We expect a large number of Philippine nursing graduates to persist in pursuing their career aspirations in America and other foreign labor markets as long as we continue to underpay them here at home,” he said in a statement on International Nurses Day.

“Congress must substantially upgrade the starting base pay of our nurses now if we want to retain at least some of them for our public hospitals,” he added.