Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor is pushing for an increase in the basic salary of government or state nurses.

The proposal comes after the government decided to lift the travel ban for healthcare workers.

Defensor said that the government should increase the basic pay of nurses to Php60,000 to discourage them from leaving the country.

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Defensor filed House Bill 7933 which doubles the starting pay of government nurses from Salary Grade 15 or P32,053 to Salary Grade 21 or P60,901.

“Unless we assure our nurses a higher standard of living here at home, we are guaranteed to lose a larger number of them in the years ahead,” Defensor said in a statement.

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Defensor added that this move will make the country at par with Middle East countries and hence nurses will no longer be convinced to work in other countries.

“We cannot match the starting pay being offered by North American and European hospitals to Filipino nurses, but we can match the rate being offered by employers in Saudi Arabia, for instance,” Defensor said.

Image from Pixabay @iiijaoyingiii