Fate of local gov’t nurses unsure despite lauded memo

STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Groups representing nurses in the public sector have commended a recent directive by Malacañang reversing a budget department circular that resulted in the “demotion” of many in their ranks. The Palace is taking off from that initiative to further accommodate back pay for the affected nurses. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The fate of thousands of nurses employed by local governments remained uncertain, despite a memorandum by Malacañang reversing a circular last year that effectively demoted them and other government nurses.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) issued Circular No. 2020-4 on July 17 last year in line with a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that set the minimum pay for entry-level nurses (Nurse I) at Salary Grade (SG)-15, amounting to P32,053 as of 2020.

But while the circular raised the salaries of Nurse I from the previous SG-11, or about P22,000 a month, it also demoted those in the Nurse II to VII positions to one rank and one salary grade lower.

The Palace memo dated June 1 reversed the circular and raised Nurse II salaries by one salary grade — from SG-15 to SG-16 (P35,106 as of 2020)—while retaining the “position titles of Nurse III to Nurse VII with their corresponding SGs.”

‘New contracts’

In an interview on Wednesday, Melbert Reyes, president of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), said “the nursing community was happy” about the Palace action.

But he took note of the more complicated labor conditions faced by nurses hired by the local governments, regardless of Malacañang’s memo.

Following the DBM’s circular last year, several local governments “took the opportunity” to demote Nurse II-position nurses, Reyes said.

These nurses were ”forced to sign new contracts as Nurse I to keep their plantilla positions,” he said. “The question is, are they going to be asked to sign new contracts again now that [Malacañang has ordered] Nurse II positions retained?”

Reyes also cited the situation of nurses hired under the Nurse Deployment Program of the Department of Health (DOH). Entry-level nurses under the program were hired as Nurse II with the corresponding SG-15, as the DOH sought to entice more nurses to be deployed in poor and isolated communities, he recalled.

“Their contracts are set to expire this month. The question is, are they going to be rehired as Nurse II?” he asked.

Reyes said that apart from the DOH program, nurses in the provinces get low pay, which is also delayed from time to time.

The salaries of these nurses are also determined by the income classification and revenues of the local government concerned, he added.

“What we could just hold on to is the fact that if [a local government] does not match [the salaries in Metro Manila], a nurse would be forced to apply elsewhere,” Reyes said.

He said this would not be the case if all these wages were under a centralized budget, like the system followed for public schoolteachers.

DBM fund

Jossel Ebesate, president of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Nurses Association, said there are about 7,000 Nurse II-position nurses employed by local governments who lost about P400 million in salary differentials while the DBM circular was in effect.

Ebesate said the government could pay the nurses using the DBM’s Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund (MPBF) of 2020 and 2021.

Also on Tuesday, Anakalusugan Rep. Michael Defensor cited the same funding source, saying this fund “is precisely for contingencies [such as what] our nurses are entitled [to].”

He said the law allows that the MPBF be tapped “for deficiencies in authorized salaries, bonuses, allowances, associated premiums and similar benefits” of government personnel.

Defensor suggested that savings from last year’s P56.7-billion MPBF be used to pay the salary differentials of the nurses.

“The DBM should implement the order of the Office of the President (OP) as soon as possible and pay the salary adjustment of our nurses. The diminution in their rank and salary was totally unnecessary in the first place,” the lawmaker said.

“If you think about it, it’s just a small amount to pay,’’ Ebesate said. “The government could afford to give it if the President would want to.”

Guidance

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Malacañang would seek guidance from Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on whether the June 1 memo which he issued would cover nurses’ back pay.

“Regarding back wages, the reason [that] guidance is being sought is there is apparently not enough funding for that now. But let us not worry, if the guidance [of the executive secretary] is to give the back pay, that could be included in the 2022 budget,” Roque said at a press briefing.

Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said in an interview that his agency is also seeking clarification from the Palace on whether the back pay for nurses is covered by its directive.

Asked if the funds to be made available will also cover the P43 million in back pay sought by the PGH Nurses Association, Avisado said: “We will have to clarify that with the OP first.”

In a separate statement, he said, citing the Supreme Court ruling that became the basis of the DBM’s circular, that it was “not its [DBM’s] intention to deceive our nurses, as we have been consistent in saying that absent of any legal basis to effect the upgrading of the salary grade of the Nurse II position, the provisions of Budget Circular 2020-4 will continue to take effect consistent with the decision of the Supreme Court in Ang NARS Party List, et al. vs the Executive Secretary, et al.”

With regard to the salaries adjusted by the Palace directive, particularly for Nurse II, Roque said in his briefing that “Secretary Wendel is confident that we would be able to find the fund in the existing budget of the DOH.”

—WITH A REPORT FROM NESTOR CORRALES