CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A nurse advocate who is also a high-ranking official of a nurse association in Northern Mindanao said that "there's nothing wrong for (new) nurses to serve the country for one year." Fatima Tanzo, governor of Philippine Nurses Association Inc.-Region 10, stressed that serving the country for at least a year is “their way of giving back,” especially those who benefited from the scholarship or subsidy from the government. Tanzo made the statement when asked to comment on House Bill (HB) No. 6232 that seeks to require examinees who passed the medical board examinations to render a one-year medical service in government hospitals or health facilities before the issuance of their certificate of registration. "I think it is just fitting, nga before sila mugawas, mu-serve sa siguro sila sa (that before they (go abroad), maybe they serve first the) country," said Tanzo in an interview with the Manila Bulletin. The proposed measure is titled Mandatory Medical Service Bill. It focuses mostly on newly passed physicians. However, when Malasakit and Bayanihan party-list Rep. Anthony Rolando Golez Jr., who is the author of the bill, was interviewed in ANC Headstart, Golez agreed when Karen Davila mentioned that the bill is for both doctors and nurses, saying that it aimed to address the shortage of healthcare workers in the Philippines. Tanzo said serving the country for one year can also be preparation for the new nurses who are planning to go abroad as many agencies have been requiring their applicants to have job experience as healthcare workers. For Jupeth Abella, a second-year nursing student in this city, rendering at least one year of service in a government health facility is alright, but he urged the government to increase the salary of the healthcare workers. "Because that’s one (referring to the increase in salary) of the things that would encourage the healthcare workers in the Philippines," Abella said in vernacular. To encourage nurses to stay in the country, nursing advocates urged the national government to provide nurses with what is due them according to the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002, and the government to also express its true commitment. "If our nurses are well-compensated, they would prefer to stay in the Philippines for their families," said Tanzo. Increasing the salary of nurses would not just solve the shortage, but it would also improve their productivity, explaining that nurses tend to burn out on their work due to the number of patients they cater to, which is not in line with the proper nurse-patient ratio. Department of Health officer-in-charge and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire revealed that the country needs 114,000 physicians and 127,000 nurses to be able to provide ideal healthcare, adding that the country will only fill the gap in nurses and doctors’ shortages after around 12 to 23 years, respectively. When asked if the said bill could violate the rights of the workers, Tanzo stressed that it would depend on the provisions of the bill, urging lawmakers to look for different perspectives that would ensure that the rights of the healthcare workers wouldn’t be violated. On May 2, Vergeire, who expressed full support for the proposed bill, stressed that it must have a mechanism, as healthcare workers also have the right to seek greener pastures.