Malacañang on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte was supportive of his son’s proposal to increase the salary of nurses working in private hospitals.

House Deputy Speaker for Political Affairs Paolo Duterte has filed House Bill 7569 or the “Mininum Wage for Nurses in the Private Sector Act of 2020,” which seeks to establish a minimum wage for nurses above their average monthly salary of about P9,757.

“Siyempre suportado ng presidente ang kaniyang anak. At tama naman po iyong bill ‘no, dahil kinakailangan naman talagang itaas ang sahod ng mga nurses sa pampribadong hospital, ipantay man lang mga suweldo ng nurses sa mga pampublikong ospital,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.

The government recently upgraded salaries of nurses in public hospitals to Salary Grade 15, or P19,845 to P30,531 monthly.

Roque earlier called on private hospitals to entice nurses to work locally by increasing their wages.

“Sa pribadong sektor naman po, iyan naman po ay nadi-determine nang malayang merkado. Ngayon pong maraming nurses na gustong umalis, siguro naman iyong mga pribadong ospital magbibigay rin nang mas mataas na sahod para engganyuhin na manatili sa Pilipinas ang mga nurses,” Roque said last Sept. 4.

‘Difficult’ to lift deployment ban’

Only medical workers with overseas employment contracts as of Aug. 31 are allowed by the government to work abroad.

Roque said it might be difficult to totally lift the ban as the country remained under a Covid-19 state of calamity.

“Habang mayroon po tayong state of calamity dahil sa Covid-19, mahihirapan pong i-lift iyang ban na iyan. At habang ang mga nurses po ay papunta sa mga bansa na mas maraming kaso kaysa sa Pilipinas e pangangalagaan pa rin po ng Presidente ang kalusugan ng ating mga frontliners,” he explained. John Ezekiel J. Hirro