Malacañang on Thursday said it wanted the salaries of nurses from public and private hospitals increased after a study showed the Philippines having the lowest salary for nurses in Southeast Asia.
For public hospitals, Palace spokesman Harry Roque recommended a reclassification of the nurses’ salary grades.
“Kung iyan po ay mababa pa sa ating mga karatig na bansa, pagdating po sa mga nurses sa gobyerno ang solusyon po diyan ay siguro bago iyong classification—o baguhin iyong classification ng nurses sa government Salary Standardization Law nang mailagay ang mga frontliners natin sa mas mataas na salary grade,” he said during Thursday’s Palace briefing.
Private hospitals, on the other hand, need to provide higher pay to nurses to entice them to work locally.
“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.
Roque said the government has programs to provide hazard allowances for health workers under the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act” or “Bayanihan 2.”
Under Bayanihan 2, P40.5 billion was allotted to the government’s health-related programs.
“Binigyan din natin sila ng libreng board and binigyan po natin silang ng libreng life insurance at mayroon din po silang mga libreng tests. So sa tingin ko, maganda naman po iyong package na binibigay natin ngayon sa ating mga frontliners,” Roque said.
Medical workers with contracts from March 9 onwards were prohibited from being deployed overseas amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Earlier, Malacañang urged health workers to avail themselves of the Department of Health’s emergency hiring program to take advantage of the overseas deployment ban amid the Covid-19 pandemic. John Ezekiel J. Hirro