REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

4751

House Bill

Introduced by MAGDALO Party-List Representative
HON. GARY C. ALEJANO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article 2, Section XVIII of the 1987 Constitution declares that the “State affirms labor as a
primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare".
However, the present condition of Doctors of Medicine working in government hospitals and
public health institutions runs counter to the aforementioned policy.

The entry level for resident physicians in government service is Php 43,439.00 as Medical
Officer III. Although it is atypical for the Department of Health to confer Medical Officer I or

II positions, local government units can do so. A junior resident physician who holds a position
of Medical Officer I is entitled to a meager basic salary of Php 28,417.00. This does not do
justice to our hardworking doctors who have spent years in their studies and whose duty goes
beyond the normal eight (8) hour workload.

The government has in effect escorted doctors out of the country making the Philippines the
second-largest exporter of physicians, next to India, as per a World Health Organization (WHO)
report. Recent studies confirm that seventy percent (70%) of doctors have emigrated for higher-
paying posts overseas and have even traded their medical profession to become nurses.
Consequently, the exodus of doctors in the last five years is exacting a toll on the country’s
already second-rate health service. The ratio of doctor vis-a-vis patients in the Philippines is
1:28,493 (one doctor per 28,493 Filipinos) - a far cry from the ideal 1:1,000 ratio prescribed by
the WHO.

This bill seeks to address this alarming outflow of doctors and its repercussions by increasing

the salary of government physicians and providing additional incentives therefor. This bill aims
to afford our government doctors the right to a decent pay and benefits long withheld from them.
The incentives shall include loyalty service pay, transportation, representation, food, and medical
allowances, and educational grant redound.

In view of the foregoing, immediate passage of this bill is earnest

io Para sa Pilipino Party-List


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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

3 A751

House

Introduced by MAGDALO Party-List Representative
HON. GARY C. ALEJANO

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR AN INCREASE IN THE SALARY OF, AND ADDITIONAL
INCENTIVES FOR, GOVERNMENT PHYSICIANS AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFORE

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to continuously
promote and improve the social and economic well-being of government physicians as well as
their living and working conditions to help ensure, promote and maintain the delivery of basic
health services.

SEC. 2. Coverage. - The provision of the Act shall apply to all government physicians.
‘As used in this Act, government physicians refer to Doctors of Medicine duly certified by the
Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) who are in the active practice of medicine,
employed by the national government or a local government unit, as the case may be, either in
public health institutions or in any national government or local government unit, agency or
instrumentality.

SEC. 3. Salary Grade Adjustment. - The minimum base pay of physicians working in
government shall not be lower than Salary Grade 24 pursuant to Department of Budget and
Management (DBM) and Department of Health (DOH) Joint Circular NO. 2013-1 dated
September 23, 2013 entitled Revised Standards on Organizational Structure and Staffing Pattern
of Government Hospitals.

SEC. 4. Loyalty Service Pay. - An annual loyalty pay equivalent to seventy-five percent
(75%) of the prevailing (1) month basic salary/base pay of government physicians shall be given
to government physicians who have rendered at least three (3) years of government service. This
will take effect immediately after the approval of this Act.

SEC. 5. Transportation, Representation, Food, and Medical Allowances. - All
government physicians assigned to geographically isolated and depressed areas and conflict
areas shall be entitled to the following monthly allowances:

Area of Assignment Amount of TA & RA | Amount of FA | Amount of MA
‘Geographically Isolated Areas (GIDA) P 15,000.00 P 10,000.00 P 8,000.00
Conflict Areas P18, 000.00 P 12,000.00 P10, 000.00

SEC. 6. Educational Grant and Return to Service Program. - All government
physicians who have rendered at least five (5) years of continuous service in government shall be
entitled to an educational grant not to exceed Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php 200,000.00)
for any medical course or training which may be availed of here or abroad. Provided, that those
who have availed of such grant shall render and participate into a Return of Service Program at


any public hospital or institution for such period which shall be determined as far as practicable
by DOH and /or institution from which such grant was received.

SEC. 7. Implementing Guidelines. ~ The DOH, in consultation with the DBM and the
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), shall issue such implementing guidelines
as may be appropriate for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this Act within ninety
(90) days from the approval thereof.

SEC. 8. Appropriation. - The Government shall appropriate such amounts as may be
necessary to fund the salary increase, allowances and other benefits provided in this Act. The
initial funds required for the implementation of this Act shall be sourced from the savings of the
Executive Department as well as other possible sources as may be determined by the Office of
the President. The funds necessary for the implementation of the Act in subsequent years shall be
included in the General Appropriations Act to be proposed by the DBM annually.

SEC. 9. Repealing Clause. - All laws, rules, regulations, orders, circulars, and
memoranda inconsistent with any provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.

SEC. 10. Separability Clause. - Should any provision of this Act be declared invalid or
unconstitutional, no other provisions hereof shall be thereby affected.

SEC. 11. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after the

completion of its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general
circulation.

Approved,