Aquino vetoes bill on nurses’ pay hike

President Benigno Simeon Aquino lll.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

President Benigno Aquino III has vetoed the bill seeking to increase the minimum pay of nurses, Malacanang said on Thursday.

In Mr. Aquino’s message to both houses of Congress, he said he has rejected the consolidated House Bill No. 6411 and Senate Bill No. 2720, which seeks the enactment of a comprehensive nursing law.

In his veto message, Mr. Aquino said the base pay for entry level nurses has already been increased as mandated through Executive Order No. 201, series of 2016. Their total guaranteed annual compensation was raised from P228,924.00 to P344,074.00.

The President said the bill would undermine the existing government salary structure and cause wage distortions not only among medical and health care practitioners but also other professionals in the government service.

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He said the proposed increase would place the salaries of nurses over and above their other similarly situated counterparts, such as optometrists and dentists.
“Such preferential treatment in favor of nurses over and above other health professionals and professionals in the government service appears unconscionable and violative of the equal protection clause enshrined in the Philippine Constitution,” Mr. Aquino said. CDG/rga

READ: House bill would raise PH nursing standards