GORDON URGES GOV'T TO CHANGE POLICY FOR NURSES

Senator Richard J. Gordon stated that nurses should be compensated well as their salaries are not commensurate to their labor, aside from spending a lot of money for their education.

Approximately, a Nursing student pays up to P500,000 for tuition fees and other educational expenses until he graduates and passes the board exam. However, an entry-level nurse only receives a salary of P8,000 to P13,500 on a monthly basis even the law says that the minimum base pay of nurses working in the public health institutions shall not be lower than salary grade 15 or P30,531 per month.

"The government promised them SG-15 pero hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin nakukuha. Mali iyan. Dapat once you pass the exam, it is the duty of the government to give you opportunities. Once nurses graduate and become licensed, they should be hired by the government at a proper pay," he said.

Gordon added that the local government units (LGU) should allocate a reasonable budget for nurses and they should be dispatched to places in the country where health care services are needed the most like in small communities in rural areas.

"We need to create a cycle. We want our nurses to graduate and be paid well to serve our people then after two or three years, they can go abroad. Program for language and culture training of their chosen country should also be made accessible to them. Dapat magturo tayo ng Nihonggo. The population of Japan is getting old. They will need nurses and you must learn also their culture," he explained.

Aside from Japan, Gordon said that nurses may also go to Germany, which is currently hiring 200,000 Filipino nurses until 2020 to fill up their manpower needs in the healthcare sector.

"That way, everybody has a measure of dignity and the people are protected. Lahat ng tao, mapo-protesksyunan natin," he said.