To the Philippine Government and Its People.

Nurses in the Philippines are currently overworked and underpaid. Particularly in light of the Covid-19 Pandemic, but even before these troubling times, a staggering number of nurses have been and remain unemployed and an equally staggering number are underemployed or misemployed. The far majority of nurses in hospitals and communities are devoid of any job protection. Moreover, meager nurses’ wages cannot sustain even a modest or decent way of life for a family.

As a result of being underpaid and overworked, the industry is diluted as many nurses choose other, more profitable, jobs. Of course, this results in a grave decrease in the standard of health care nationwide. Unfortunately, moreover, this is precisely why the Philippines is generally considered the number one exporter of nurses in the entire world. Wouldn’t it be nice to keep these talented professionals in the Philippines? Undoubtedly, this would go a long way in bettering the nation’s health care system.

Though the Philippines recently passed an order prohibiting nurses from working abroad to keep them in the country to reinforce the healthcare system amid the Pandemic, the country has now relaxed the order to allow health workers with existing overseas contracts to leave. However, future applications for health-care jobs abroad are currently frozen until further notice. Surely, such restrictive action should result in better pay and working conditions for those nurses that are prohibited from working abroad, where better pay and working conditions would be a certainty.  

Additionally, the countries perfunctory effort to increase nurses’ salaries is disheartening and concerning. Despite the Supreme Court ruling that nurses are entitled by law to a substantial increase in monthly salary, Congress has been unwilling or unable to fund such an increase, rendering the Court’s ruling hollow.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, it appears that the Government has come to understand the importance of its nurses (at least vocally) by instituting hazard pay for government personnel (including nurses) who continue to report to work during the current lock-down. Moreover, President Duterte has encouraged private hospitals and other health facilities to grant a similar benefit to their health workers and staff exposed to the threat of COVID-19. Though this is a positive development, the hazard pay is still low, not always being provided and seemingly disbursed in a subjective and/or discriminatory manner.

In addition to the above-highlighted pay inequities in the field of nursing, the Covid-19 Pandemic has created a rising culture of fear and apprehension in the Philippines against and towards the nurses stationed on the frontlines of the fight. Rather than celebrate these nurses as the heroes they are, the citizens see the nurses as potential virus carriers.

Inexplicably, such feelings have resulted in discrimination and violence against the nurses. As a result of this, these nurses not only have to contend with the dangers associated with being around Covid-19 patients, but now must fear their day-to-day interactions with the people of the Philippines.

In fact, the stigma associated with being a nurse while Covid-19 is threatening the nation has also resulted in discrimination against nurses by landlords. Whether landlords are attempting to evict nurses or village captains are not permitting nurses to leave their homes, the nurses are considered pariahs for no other reason than the fact that they are working on the frontlines trying to keep the country safe and provide medical assistance to those affected by Covid-19. The irony of this stigmatization is most concerning.

It is imperative that we take care of our nurses. These professionals are risking their lives, and the lives of their families, to assist the ill and ultimately make our country a safer place. To mistreat these professionals for the same reasons they would be revered in other countries is simply not right. If the government provides nurses with respect (i.e., better pay, better working conditions and job protections), so will the citizens of the Philippines.

We must continue the fight to provide our nurses with better benefits and larger salaries, while also ensuring their safety and well-being as the Covid-19 Pandemic continues. All facets of our government must work together to take bold actions, through the enactment of legislation, to ensure the foregoing objectives become reality. Our nurses should not be in this fight alone.