The much-awaited salary increase of government nurses working in hospitals of the Department of Health (DOH) will be implemented starting January 2020 once President Rodrigo Duterte signs the national budget.
Nurses in DOH-retained hospitals will receive Salary Grade 15 as mandated by Supreme Court in a ruling last October 8. Currently, SG 15 is at P30,531 but it will be increased to P32,053 in 2020 as Congress also passed Salary Standardization Law V which the President is expected to sign before the year ends.
That’s P11,299 more than the current basic salary of DOH nurses which is at SG 11 or P20,754.
The salary increase was already included in the P4.1-trillion General Appropriations Act of 2020 which the President is reviewing. Senate and House of Representatives approved the P3.173 billion funding needed for the adjustment in their compensation.
In the upper chamber, Senator Panfilo Lacson introduced a special provision to take the P3.173 billion budget gap from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund (MPBF).
“Nurses will not wait for the passage of legislation or the availability of funds to be provided by DBM because the funds are already there under MPBF,” Lacson said.
“They don’t have to wait six months or another year. By January once we enact the GAA for 2020, ang salary upgrade nila is taken care of,” he said.
Also, P31.1 billion was allotted for the new SSL V which will be implemented in four tranches up to 2023.
In the SSL V, nurses will receive SG 15 Step 1 at P32,053 starting January 2020 (1st tranche); P33,575 starting January 2021 (2nd tranche); P35,097 starting January 2022 (3rd tranche); and P36,619 starting January 2023 (4th tranche).
About 40,000 nurses DOH nurses will benefit from the salary hike. A total of 7,193 Nurse I will get SG 15 and 32,842 Nurse II will get SG 16.
Not only nurses will get to benefit from the new SSL, but all civilian personnel of the government such as entry-level teachers, engineers, cashiers, geologists, and others.