COVID-19 facility nurses in Iligan City unpaid for 4 months

Nurses in this city are now complaining that they have not been paid by the local government for 4 months, the reason for them to resign as frontliners.

According to a nurse who did not want to be identified, they were hired by the LGU last year but as of April 27, 2021, 14 COVID-19 facility nurses resigned due to the delay in their salary.

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They said they can no longer provide for their family’s needs so they want to find another job where they will be paid correctly and on time.

They also said that they were promised P24,000 in their salary but after they signed the contract, they said they received less than that.

According to Vice Mayor Jemar Vera Cruz, the council has not forgotten to allocate money for the salaries of health workers. The former department head allegedly failed to take care of it.

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“What has been prepared ay ‘yung sinasahod nila noon na mababa. Dahil dito, hindi napondohan lahat, hindi naisama sa budget ‘yung increase at nagkaproblema ang ating Finance how to pay,” he said.

According to Councilor Noli Pardillo, there were those who used to earn P13,000 and the LGU increased it to P18,000.

COVID-19 facility nurses in Iligan City unpaid for 4 months

The council has already had an emergency session about this.

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According to Vera Cruz, this week all unpaid health workers of the city hospital will be paid.

In November 2020, Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor filed a bill seeking a starting salary of over P60,000 for public nurses.

Defensor filed HB No.7833 amid after the government lifted the ban on deploying nurses abroad amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the proposed bill, Defensor increased public nurses’ salary in government health institutions from Salary Grade 15 to Salary Grade 21.

Currently, public nurses, such as those working in the Department of Health (DoH)-run hospitals, receive a starting monthly pay of P32,053.

Defensor said that in Europe, the starting monthly salary of Filipino nurses is equal to anywhere from P115,000 to P137,000, while in the United States, the pay is equal to around P185,000.

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