Nurses in Cebu City still waiting for local gov’t allowance

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — Nurses working in private hospitals here have yet to receive the cash incentives promised by the city government more than three months ago.

Joseph Stephen Descallar, president of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) chapter in Cebu, said the amount would be a big help for nurses and other health-care workers who had been risking their lives during the pandemic to care for others.

“We are reminding, once again, the Cebu City government of the release of the incentive promised to our nurses. We hope that this kindness will be enjoyed by our nurses,” he said in a statement.

Mayor Edgardo Labella earlier requested the city council to allot P54 million as cash incentives to at least 1,800 doctors, nurses and other medical personnel working in private hospitals here. Each medical worker is expected to receive P10,000 a month for three months.

Salary increase

Many nurses in the city had earlier thought about quitting their jobs, lamenting the lack of support from the government. They also raised concerns over the huge disparity in salaries between nurses in government hospitals, who receive a monthly pay of P28,000, and those in private hospitals, who get only P15,000.

Descallar, however, expressed gratitude to the provincial government after it announced that salaries of nurses serving in hospitals supervised by the province would be increased.

On Oct. 5, the provincial board approved on final reading a proposed ordinance that would increase the salaries of nurses in Cebu’s 12 district hospitals, four provincial hospitals, Provincial Health Office, and the Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.

Board Member Glenn Anthony Soco, head of the board’s budget and appropriations committee and author of the ordinance, cited the need to boost the morale of nurses during the health crisis.

Provincial budget officer Emme Gingoyon, however, clarified that the salary upgrade did not include outsourced personnel since the ordinance only covered regular, casual or contractual, full-time or part-time nurses hired by the province.

Under the ordinance, those with Nurse I rank, who are currently receiving P22,316 a month, will get P32,053. A Nurse II will get P41,508 a month, up from P35,097; Nurse III, P49,835 a month; and Nurse IV, P55,799.