Roque: Funds may not be enough for gov't nurses' back wages

The Duterte administration has yet to find a clear source of funding for the backpay of government nurses in compliance with a Supreme Court ruling increasing their salaries, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on Tuesday.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on June 1 issued a memo raising the salary grade of entry level nurses from Salary Grade 11 (P22,000) to Salary Grade 15 (P32,000).

The memo was to comply with the October 2019 Supreme Court ruling which set the base pay for nurses in government institutions at Salary Grade 15 as provided under the Philippine Nursing Act.

Roque said the Department of Budget and Management was confident that it could find funding for the increased salaries of government nurses moving forward.

"Pero doon po sa back wages... humihingi tayo ng guidance kasi mukhang wala pong sapat na funding for that for now,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.

[But for back wages...  we are asking for guidance because as of now there appears no sufficient funding for that.]

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to use the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) and pay the salary differentials of state nurses affected by the department circular which effectively demoted Nurse II to Nurse VII positions.

The DBM Circular No. 2020-4 has since been corrected by Medialdea but the state nurses remained unpaid.

“I urge President Duterte to direct the DBM to fund the nurses’ backpay out of MPBF which is designed for such needs," Drilon said.

"The nation is forever grateful for the bravery and selfless act of our medical frontliners, most especially our nurses in crowded government hospitals, who lead the fight against COVID-19 every single day. Now that they need us, are we going to let them down?” he added. —Llanesca T. Panti/NB, GMA News