Herbosa asks CSC to increase salary of psychologists, guidance counselors

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa on Thursday called on the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to provide higher wages to psychologists and guidance counselors working in the government to address their shortage in the healthcare profession.

At a press conference, Herbosa said the lack of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists in the country is considered one of the “big black holes” of the Health Department.

“Alam ko lang, subjectively, kulang ang clinical psychologists and psychiatrists (I know, subjectively, that we lack psychologists and psychiatrists). That’s one of our big black holes. So we need more young people to be encouraged to go in the psychological sciences,” he said.

In a bid to address this problem, the Health secretary said the CSC should increase the monthly salary of these professionals offering mental health services to at least Salary Grade 15 or P36,619.

“There’s also one petition…we also need to relook, and I'm talking to the Civil Service Commission here…ang problema natin sa psychology sa gobyerno kailangan may Master’s Degree pero ang ibibigay na salary, Salary Grade 11,” Herbosa said.

(The problem is for those working in the field of psychology in the government, they are required to have a Master's Degree, but the salary given to them is only Salary Grade 11.)

“Ang guidance counselor ganun din… Salary Grade 11? Mali ‘yun. So I’m calling on CSC to change that. Ang nurse Salary Grade 15, eh wala pang Master’s ‘yun. Dapat mataas ‘yan… That should be [SG] 15 or higher,” he added.

(Same goes with guidance counselors... Salary Grade 11? That's wrong. So I'm calling on CSC to change that. Nurses are already given Salary Grade 15, without a Master's Degree. Their salaries should also be high, about SG 15 or higher.)

Herbosa made the appeal during the launch of the 2024-2028 Philippine Council for Mental Health (PCMH) strategic framework by the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization.

This aims to guide the development and implementation of mental health policies, programs, and services in the country to address concerns on mental illnesses and improve the mental health and well-being of Filipinos.

“I call for all stakeholders and partners to stand with us in our fight against issues that underlie mental health concerns such as job insecurity, poverty, substance abuse problems, comorbidities, abusive environments, and many more. Mental health concerns are just the tip of the iceberg of longstanding socio-economic problems,” Herbosa said.

The event also featured the expansion of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) mental health benefit package, which provides mental health benefits for outpatient services.

The primary care package includes 12 consultations, diagnostic follow-up, psychoeducation, and psychosocial support provided by mental health outpatient facilities for medicine access sites.—AOL, GMA Integrated News