Image by nursing-now.blogspot - Philippine Nurses Association disappointed with Aquino’s decision to veto nurses’ salary increase
- PNA president says it might lead more nurses to go out of the country
- She also hope incoming administration will be more sympathetic to the plight of nurses
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) has expressed its disappointment with President Benigno Aquino III’s decision to veto the P25K salary increase for the country’s long-suffering nurses.
In her message, PNA President Paulita Cruz warned that Aquino’s veto would yet spur more nurses to leave for greener pastures especially as more countries are opening their doors.
“With the opening of other countries for nurses, there might be again, an exodus ng nurses because of the very low salaries,” she told ABS-CBN. “Can a nurse live on P8,000 and below in a month?”
As one of his reasons for vetoing the bill, Aquino said the salary for government nurses had already been raised from P228,924 to P344,074 annual base pay through his Executive Order 201.
However, Cruz said the rejected bill would have raised the standard not just for nurses but for everyone else working in the private and the public healthcare sector.
“If this law had been passed as supposed to be, what would have happened is that Salary Grade 15 would become the reference for all health workers so everyone can earn a decent salary,” she said. “Our nurses would earn a decent living and working standard.”
At the same time, Cruz said they are placing their hope in the incoming administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to give nurses the salary and treatment they deserve.
“We are just hoping that the next administration wherein one of the economic agenda of the incoming administration is to invest in human resources, including health human resources,” she stressed.
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