SC sets oral arguments on public nurses' pay issue

The Supreme Court has set oral arguments for a four-year-old petition that wants to compel the government to pay its nurses a minimum base pay provided for by law.

The justices will hear arguments from Ang Nars Party-list and the government on February 26, according to a court advisory made public Friday.

In 2015, the party-list asked the SC to nullify an executive order by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which upgraded an entry-level nurse's salary from Salary Grade 10 to Salary Grade 11, which is below the Salary Grade 15 provided under the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.

The monthly compensation equivalent to the different salary grades varies across areas, but Salary Grade 15 for civilian personnel of the national government and in first class provinces and cities starts at P29,010.

Four years later, the SC announced that it wants the parties to discuss their stances on a few issues, including whether or not a joint resolution by Congress has repealed the nursing law's provision, Section 32, on the minimum base pay for nurses in public hospitals.

Joint Resolution No. 4 authorizes the president to modify the compensation and position classification system of civilian personnel and the base pay schedule of military and uniformed personnel in the government.

The SC said the parties will also have to argue whether or not a joint resolution that followed the passage of the bill into law is itself a law, and whether or not Joint Resolution No. 4 followed the procedure of a bill passing into law.

Another issue for discussion is whether the joint resolution has not repealed Section 32 of the law, and if the Court can compel the government to pay public nurses under Salary Grade 15.

The petitioners are Ang Nars Party-list and the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation, while the respondents are the Executive Secretary, the Budget Secretary and the Health Secretary. —KBK, GMA News