A bill aimed at raising the minimum wage salary of nurses within public and private institutions to P50,000 has been submitted to the House of Representatives with concerns over the country’s non-competitive salary compared to other nations.

The proposal filed by lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc stated that it was concerning how local nurses have been forced to seek opportunities elsewhere due to the low salary grade that has been afforded to them.

“Napag-iiwanan na po ang sweldo ng nurse kaya grabe po ang kakulangan ng nurse sa ating mga ospital, dahil lahat sila nag-aabroad,” ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio said.

(Nurse salaries are being left behind that’s why the lack of nurses within hospitals are severe because all of them go abroad)

Tinio stated that even taking a look at the Philippines’ neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, it was clear that the country lagged behind in terms of the salary grade.

Aside from proposing a pay increase, the bloc also submitted a house resolution to investigate the incorrect implementation of Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Budget Circular No.601 which granted entry-level government nurses to receive compensation based under Salary Grade (SG) 15.

Through this order, these healthcare workers are prescribed to receive a monthly salary of P42,178, however, Tinio said that nurses in local government units, contractual nurses, and other public institutions did not comply with the mandate.

On 28 April, Makabayan also filed a bill to raise the minimum salary of public and private school teachers around the country to a similar P50,000.