On International Nurses Day, the minority bloc in the House of Representatives rallied behind proposed new legislation that would increase by 75 percent the starting base pay of public nurses.
House Minority Leader and 4Ps party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan on Friday moved to formally co-author House Bill No. 5276, which seeks to raise from P36,619 to P63,997 the minimum monthly base pay of government nurses.
Under the bill, the lowest base pay of nurses employed in publichealth institutions would be bumped up by six notches to Salary Grade 21 prescribed under the Salary Standardization Law of 2019.
Libanan expressed his desire to co-author HB No. 5276 in a letter addressed to Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo, who first introduced the measure in September last year.
In his letter to Rillo, Libanan said: “I am in agreement with you that we have to provide our nurses working in public health institutions with competitive salary and benefits so as to entice them to continue their service to the Filipino people.”
Libanan cited the heroism of Filipino nurses and other health professionals serving on the frontlines at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to improve the compensation and benefits of public physicians, nurses, medical technologists, midwives, and other health professionals if we want to discourage them from leaving for greener pastures abroad,” Libanan said in a statement on Friday.
Though a lawyer by profession, Libanan also holds a degree in medical technology.
The world marks May 12 of every year as International Nurses Day to celebrate the contributions of nurses to society.
May 12 is the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, an English social reformer and the founder of modern nursing.