June 4, 16

A Brief Analysis On The Labor Pay Of

Government Employed Registered Nurses
(RN) In The Philippines

In partial fulfillment for the requirements of the subject Economics

with Land, Reform and Taxation
Submitted to: Ms. Chealyn J. Lleno
Submitted by: Ma. Eryne Gayle P. Lagman
Human Biology 2-1

As the first semester of the year dawns, more and more socio-economic problems
unaddressed by the previous administration led by President Noynoy Aquino is
resurfacing.
One of the socio-economic problems encountered is the climbing rate of jobless
Registered Nurses in the country. From here stems other wide-rooted predicaments that
needs to be solved or at least, addressed; like public and private hospitals not having
enough working nurses and those nurses that are currently working handles 30 patients
per shift when the proper ratio is 12 is to 1. Another massive dilemma is the income being
received. Nurses working for the government are receiving Php. 18,000 a month, which
is under the category of Salary Grade 11. This is lower than Salary Grade 15 or more than
P24, 000 as stipulated in Republic Act 9173 otherwise known as Philippine Nursing Act.
One would clearly deduce that Php. 18, 000 a month would be greatly insufficient when
providing for a family especially in the present state of the market. The R.A. 7305 or the
Magna Carta of Public Health workers has pegged that the starting pay of nurses in
government hospitals must be around Php. 26,000 and the pay that the institutions are
providing is far from what the law states.
Due to the neglect of care and consideration for medical health workers in the
Philippines, there has been a 16.4 percent increase in the number of Filipino nurses that
are seeking better jobs in the United States of America. According to the US Bureau of
Labor Statistics, registered nurses in the US receive a median annual pay of $66,640 or
PhP3.1 million, or an hourly rate of $32.04 or PhP1, 492. (Filipino Times, 2016.)
The inevitable migration of Registered Nurses abroad this year could have a large impact
on the results of the Philippines GDP. As migration and OFWs causes the Philippines
economy to continuously prosper albeit the issues that goes unnoticed or purposely
shrugged off. What could be said though, of whats going on inside the country for its
people to fly off and seek better paying jobs to prevent families from being starved and
uneducated. What could be said of the people of authority imposing taxes that, most of
the time, borders on the citizens annual income?
Lately, the Philippines underwent a revolutionary election; voting and putting a president
that they think would put their nation under and over the throes of success. Solving and
eliminating issues many have tried and failed to do. Agrarian Reforms, Extreme
corruption hitting the countrys poorest of the poor and those of the middle class, poverty,
and of course the continuous scalping of labor providers in the country. Perhaps by
solving something grand, one would have to start out in the littlest things, putting the
Philippines modern day heroes in the frontline of their priorities and providing an
adequate and efficient system that not only helps the lower caste citizens but would also
spread equity and fair justice among those who need it.
References:
http://filipinotimes.ae/news/2016/05/16/16-4-rise-in-filipinos-seeking-nursing-jobs-in-us/
http://www.manilatimes.net/200000-registered-nurses-are-jobless/262211/