Lady solon lauds move to hike pay of nurses

Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez. SCREENGRAB FROM YEDDAROMUALDEZ.COM

TACLOBAN CITY — Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez of the Tingog party-list group lauded the move to increase the salary of nurses, particularly those serving in government-run hospitals and health facilities.

Romualdez, a registered nurse by profession, said that increasing the salaries of nurses would help convince Filipino nurses to stay in the country instead of working abroad.

“I am so happy [on the proposed increase] being a registered nurse myself. I am very happy for them because it will encourage them to stay home and be with their families,” she said.

The Senate earlier adopted the amendment to the P4.1-trillion national budget bill which Sen. Panfilo Lacson had proposed in compliance with the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision that upheld the validity of a provision in the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002, which states that the minimum base pay of government nurses should not be lower than Salary Grade 15.

Lacson noted that under the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) 2020, there was an item of funding requirements for staffing modification and upgrading of salaries under the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF).

“We can introduce a special provision and extract or source the P3 billion from the P12.469 billion under that particular item,” Lacson said.

Romualdez recalled that she thought of leaving the country to work in the United States as a nurse until she met her future husband, Martin, who is now House Majority Floor Leader and Leyte’s first congressional district congressman.

“The intention is for our nurses to stay home and be with their families. Maybe they can leave for abroad and bring the technology here and apply it here for our fellow Filipinos,” Rep. Romualdez said.

In Eastern Visayas, nurses working in government-run hospitals receives P16,000 to more than P20,000, depending on their positions, still higher compared to those working in private hospitals which only received P8,000 to less than P20,000.

Edited by JPV