In a bid to stop the steady exodus of Filipino physicians for high-paying jobs overseas, Sen. Antonio Trillanes pushed an increase in the salary and benefits of doctors employed by government.
Senate Billl 319 “aims to (provide) our government doctors (with) decent pay and benefits long withheld from them,” said Trillanes, chairman of the Senate committee on civil service and government reorganization.
At present, the basic salary of public doctors in local government hospitals is pegged at grade 16 or about P26,878 a month, while that of doctors conferred by Department of Health (DoH) is pegged at grade 21 or P39,493.
“This does not do justice to our hardworking doctors who had spent years in their studies and whose duties go beyond the normal eight-hour workload,” he said.
The bill adjusts the minimum base pay of physicians working in government to not lower than salary grade 27 or P62,670.
Trillanes said the Philippines is the second-largest exporter of physicians next to India as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Consequently, the exodus of doctors in the last five years is exacting a toll on the country’s already second-rate health service. The ratio of doctor vis-à-vis patients in the Philippines is one doctor per 28,493 patients, a far cry from the ideal 1:1000 ratio prescribed by the WHO,” he pointed out.
The bill also proposes an annual loyalty pay equivalent to P50,000 to public doctors who have rendered at least three consecutive years of service.
It also provides transportation allowance of P10,000 to P18,000 depending on the municipality, food allowance from P5,000 to P12,000 and medical allowance ranging from P5,000 to P10,000 per month.
The bill includes an educational grant not exceeding P200,000 for government physicians who have rendered at least five years of continuous service.