Nurses celebrate win vs ‘demotion’. Inquirer Newsletter June 7, 2021

No images? Click here   NATURAL HABITAT Critically endangered turtles Sonja and Euds, hatched and bred by the Katala Foundation Inc. in Puerto Princesa City, are released into their natural habitat in the Palawan forest in the hopes that they will eventually help augment dwindling wild populations elsewhere. PHOTO COURTESY OF Katala Foundation and Mandai Nature.         Board Talk Taking it slow in a fast-paced world There is value in taking the pace down a notch to recover fast from the pandemic. Yes we want to change things fast, but in a slow way. And what inspires us to do so is our being part of Slow Food (www.slowfood.com), a grassroots movement to eat good, clean and fair food. —Story by Pacita U. Juan Read more: newsinfo.inquirer.net   World Taiwan quarantines migrant workers All foreign workers at a plant of major Taiwanese chip packager King Yuan Electronics in Taiwan’s northern city of Miaoli will be quarantined as health workers try to stop an outbreak of COVID-19 there, the government said on Sunday. —REPORTS FROM REUTERS AND AFP Read more: newsinfo.inquirer.net   Newsletter / Join us Has this been forwarded by a friend? Subscribe now to the Philippine Daily Inquirer Newsletter and get your latest news and important updates on COVID-19. Subscribe   Inquirer Project Rebound     Banner Story Nurses celebrate win vs ‘demotion’.  By Meg Adonis and Ben O. De Vera Malacañang has reversed a circular last year by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which increased the salary of entry-level nurses but consequently demoted long-serving senior nurses and put a freeze on salary increases on their behalf. Associations of nurses on Sunday hailed the reversal of the DBM Circular No. 2020-4 issued on July 17, 2020, saying it was a vindication. A memorandum by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea dated June 1 reversed the DBM circular, which raised the salary of entry-level nurses from salary grade (SG) 11, or about P22,000, to SG 15, or about P32,000 a month. But Section 8 in the circular did not correspondingly upgrade the salaries of senior nurses and instead effectively demoted the positions of Nurses II to VII to one rank lower, even while retaining their salary levels. Thus under the circular, Nurse II with SG 15 retained that salary but was demoted to Nurse I. Nurse III with SG 17 (P38,000) would become Nurse II, but with the same salary; Nurse IV with SG 19 (P46,000) would become Nurse III, but with the same salary; Nurse V with SG 20 (P52,000) would become Nurse IV, with the same salary; Nurse VI with SG 22 (P66,000) would become Nurse V, with the same salary; and Nurse VII with SG 24 (P85,000) would become Nurse VI with the same salary. DOH order ignored In October last year, the Department of Health (DOH) issued Memorandum No. 2020-466 suspending the implementation of the DBM circular for Nurse II and above. But according to the Filipino Nurses United (FNU) association, many hospitals ignored the order and accordingly demoted their senior nurses. Medialdea’s memorandum raises the salary of Nurse II from SG 15 to SG 16 (currently about P36,000), while retaining the “position titles of Nurse III to Nurse VII with their corresponding SGs.” Read more: newsinfo.inquirer.net   Editorial Overdue tax measure President Duterte last month certified as urgent a Senate bill defining the tax policy on Pogos. The social costs to the country of hosting online gambling have been enormous and wide-ranging, from Filipinos being kicked out of rented condominium units or homes due to jacked-up rent bids by Pogo workers or their handlers, to criminal activities such as bribery of immigration officials, money laundering, tax evasion, and online fraud.    Read full story: opinion.inquirer.net           Share    Tweet    Share    Forward  Copyright © 2020 PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: P.O. Box 2353, Makati Central Post Office, 1263 Makati City, Philippines. Preferences  |  Unsubscribe