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‘SANA ALL’

Recto wants salaries of other health professionals equal to nurses’


Senator Ralph Recto on Sunday proposed to equalize the salaries of health workers in the government with the wages received by nurses, urging that those receiving measly compensation be given rightful pay raises.

"The 'sana all' principle must be applied to the salaries of health workers in government, because a pay raise for one should cause a raise for all," Recto said in a statement.

The Supreme Court recently upheld the validity of a legal provision that sets the basic pay for nurses in government health institutions to Salary Grade 15.

Recto said Salary Grade 15 should be set as the new benchmark for compensation for all licensed health professionals in the government.

According to him, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has shown the bravery of other health professions, and they, too, deserve a pay raise.

For one, medical technologists, who take samples and test them for COVID-19, are only at Salary Grade 11, with a monthly base pay of P22,316, he said.

Radiology technicians and dietitian-nutritionists, who are also board passers like nurses, also hold Salary Grade 11, he added, while government dentists are at Salary Grade 17, at P38,464 per month.

Recto also said the government plantilla of positions for doctors should be abolished.

"Hanggang ngayon, nakasaad pa rin doon na ang entry level item ng doktor ay Medical Officer I, na babayaran lang ng P29,277 kada buwan," he said.

"Dapat at least Salary Grade 23 ang entry-level position, na halos P76,000 ang base monthy pay, hindi pa kasama ang mga allowances," he added.

Recto said it is not enough to honor the hard work and sacrifices of health professionals with platitudes.

"They are best honored by providing them with PPEs, better pay and support services, which they have earned for themselves with their sacrifices and selflessness. Making such a grant is the duty of the government, not merely a prerogative," he said. — Erwin Colcol/BM, GMA News

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