Pay hikes for gov’t teachers, doctors, nurses, dentists pushed

OVERWORKED, BUT UNDERPAID | A nurse tests the urine specimen given by a senior citizen to check for kidney disease at the Urine Alkaline Creatinine Rate station. The free service was done on Senior Citizens’ Wellness Day 2023 held at Maybunga Rainforest Park in Pasig City. (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City 5th District Rep. Patrick Michael Vargas is pushing for the swift passage of his draft measures that seek pay hikes for all government teachers, nurses, doctors, and dentists.

Vargas, in four separate bills, called for the salary increases of government professionals in the education and health sectors as an “all-year-round Christmas gift” for them.

Vargas filed House Bill (HB) No. 1682, or the proposed Government Medical Doctors Salary Upgrading Act; HB 3776, or the Salary Increase for Public Dentists Act; HB 4070, or proposed Upgrading the Salary of Teachers Act; and HB 5806, or the proposed Nurse Appreciation through Raised Salaries Act.

The four bills are undergoing the scrutiny of the House Committee on Appropriations.

“Our public servants serve as the backbone of the State’s services for the people and deserve all the recognition for their invaluable contributions,” Vargas said.

‘Give back to them’

“They spend a big chunk of their lives serving other people. The least we could do is to give back to them with increase in their salaries to foster a more efficient and motivated workforce,” he added.

Vargas’ HB 1682 and 3776 seek to scale up the salary grade of public doctors and dentists by two levels while HB 4070 aims to raise public-school teachers from salary grade level 11 to 19.

HB 5806 seeks to upgrade public nurses’ salary grade level from 11 to 15 while also aiming to hike wages for those working in private hospitals.

“The sooner these bills will move forward the sooner we can grant our professionals the gratitude for their dedication to service for the people, all year round,” Vargas said.

Based on the latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website, the monthly rates under salary grade level 11 range from P27,000 to P29,075, salary grade 15 is from P36,619 to P39,367 and salary grade 19 is from P51,357 to P56,790.

“More than providing them higher wages, it’s making sure they are paid competitively among fellow professionals internationally,” Vargas added.

The lawmaker noted that teachers, doctors, and nurses in the Philippines remain among the lowest paid compared to their professional counterparts in Southeast Asia including in Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.