ANGELES CITY – Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr. shared that some 111 nurses assigned at the Rafael Lazatin Memorial Medical Center (RLMMC) – 19 permanent, 4 casual, and 88 Contract of Service (COS) status – have started to receive their P12,000 salary increase this January 2021.
All 19 permanent and 4 casual RLLMC nurses from Salary Grade (SG) 11 – equivalent to P22,316 – were upgraded to SG 15, with a monthly basic salary of P33,575.
Meanwhile, all 88 COS nurses receiving P20,000 basic monthly salary (SG10) were raised to SG 15, amounting to P32,000.
The 111 nurses received at least P12,000 salary increase each.
“This is really timely since we have seen how our health workers have been sacrificing their own lives to serve Angeleños this pandemic,” Lazatin said.
To pave way for its immediate implementation this 2021, City Budget Officer Corazon Ayson said that Mayor Lazatin appropriated a total budget of P43,058,700 for the salary increase of the said 111 nurses – P9,266,700 for the 19 permanent and 4 casual, and P33,792,000 for 88 nurses.
The RLMMC currently has 30 permanent employed nurses but only 19 were qualified to receive the said salary increase, since the remaining 11 are already receiving their accorded salaries, Ayson explained.
This initiative, Mayor Lazatin’s Chief Adviser and Tactician Director IC Calaguas said, is in line with the national government’s pay adjustment, following the Department of Budget and Management’s Budget Circular 2020-4, pursuant to Section 32 of Republic Act No. 9173, or the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.
“Their crucial role in the ongoing battle against COVID-19 deserves a recognition, way beyond. This is why the city government strongly pushed for the reinforcement of the said salary increase,” Calaguas added.
Further, RLMMC Head Dr. Froilan Canlas thanked the city government for rushing the implementation of the salary increase, which is a great help for them and their families.
Dr. Canlas also stressed that the RLMMC is diligently observing safety and health protocols, particularly the regular swabbing every two weeks of the 42 health workers assigned at the COVID-19 wards.
It can be recalled that in November 2020, Mayor Lazatin announced the move for the said increase. Last August of the same mentioned year, the city government had allocated P10 million for the immediate release of the Special Risk Allowance (SRA) for city health workers handling COVID-19 patients. The health workers received their SRA last October, amounting to 50% of their monthly salary. They are also afforded free lodging, which allows them to isolate themselves.