In a significant migration trend, 28,258 Filipino nursing graduates took the U.S. licensure exam for the first time in 2024, driven by the allure of better compensation and improved living standards abroad. Quezon City Representative Marvin Rillo highlighted this exodus, attributing it to the inadequate salaries offered to nurses within the Philippines. Rillo, who serves as the vice chairperson of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, pointed out that the pursuit of higher wages in the U.S. continues to attract a large number of Filipino nurses.
Rillo shared that approximately 54% of these Filipino graduates pass the U.S. licensure exam on their first try, while 36% of those retaking the exam succeed. He also noted that nurses from other countries, including 5,869 from India, 3,740 from Kenya, 2,662 from Nepal, and 2,636 from South Korea, also attempted the U.S. licensure exam for the first time in 2024.
In response to the ongoing brain drain, Rillo has proposed House Bill No. 5276, aiming to increase the basic monthly salary of entry-level government nurses by 74%, raising it to PHP70,013 (Salary Grade 21) from the current PHP40,208 (Salary Grade 15). Similarly, Senator Raffy Tulfo is pushing for Senate Bill 2694, which would elevate the starting salary of public nurses by 40% to PHP56,390 (Salary Grade 19). Both legislative efforts seek to amend the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 to address the salary gap.
Rillo emphasized that increasing salaries is crucial for retaining nurses in the local health sector. The Philippines is currently grappling with a shortage of 127,000 nurses, a figure projected to rise to 250,000 by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.