A rookie congressman who is batting for bigger entry-level pay for Filipino nurses gave an idea Sunday, Nov. 20 of just how badly homegrown nurses want to leave the Philippines for the United States (US).

Quezon City 4th district Rep. Marvin Rillo, in a statement Sunday, Nov. 20, said that a total of 12,399 local nursing graduates from took the US licensure examination for the first time from January to September this year.
“The nine-month figures already surpassed the 9,788 Filipino nursing graduates that took the US admissibility exam for the first time, without counting repeaters, in the whole 12 months of 2021,” Rillo, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Higher and Technical education, said.
The particular exam--also known as the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurse or simply NCLEX, is administered via computerized adaptive testing in domestic and international locations.
“Superb pay is the biggest factor driving Filipino nurses to migrate to America. Our nurses also want to live and work in America because there is no language barrier, and they identify with the Western culture,” noted Rillo.
The average median pay of nurses in America was $77,600 per annum in 2021, according to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is equal to around P4.4 million at the prevailing $1 to P57.45 exchange rate.
To dissuade Filipino nurses from seeking better opportunities in America and other foreign labor markets, Rillo has been pursuing the passage of new legislation that would increase by 75 percent their starting salary here at home.
The solon authored and filed House Bill (HB) No. 5276, which seeks to increase from P36,619 to P63,997 the minimum base monthly pay of nurses employed by the Philippine government.
Under his bill, the lowest base pay of nurses working in public health institutions would be raised by six notches to Salary Grade 21 prescribed under the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) of 2019.