DAGUPAN CITY (PNA) – The monthly salary of barangay nurses here will soon be increased from P9,000 to P15,000.
"They are earning equivalent to job order employee’s salary in the city hall, but they are doing much more as they are also involved in contact tracing as part of the protocol on coronavirus disease (COVID-19). They interview family members of positive cases. It is about time to increase their salary and show our appreciation," said Mayor Marc Brian Lim in an interview on Thursday.
Lim also encouraged the barangay nurses to remain motivated even if they seldom or none at all hear words or receive actions or gestures showing appreciation for their work in their community.
"Sometimes we hear this statement from public servants – this is our job-it is a thankless job. But I tell this, there is no such thing as a thankless job. Maybe there exists thankless people, but never a thankless job," he said.
The salary hike for the barangay nurses will be applied in the next pay cycle.
Lim said the barangay nurses will be among the first recipients of the vaccine once the city acquires a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved vaccines since many pharmaceutical companies around the world are now on their second or third clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine.
"What you, medical front-liners are doing is not only to help the sick but also you are actually helping the poor earn a living. If the city does not go into quarantine, the poor have the chance to earn to feed their families,” he told the barangay nurses during a meeting.
The hiring of nurses for the 31 barangays of the city was introduced in 2011 by Lim's father, the late former mayor Benjamin Lim.
The objective is to augment the workforce from the City Health Office as they are the city government's co-workers at the barangays in the implementation of health programs.