A MEASURE seeking to deploy at least one registered nurse in every barangay (village) nationwide has been filed in the Senate to address unemployment among Filipino nurses and strengthen frontline health services.
Sen. Camille Villar, on Feb. 5, filed Senate Bill (SB) 1764, or An Act Providing for the Employment of Nurses and Assigning at Least One Registered Nurse for Every Barangay, which seeks to mobilize thousands of licensed but unemployed or underemployed nurses across the country.
In the bill’s explanatory note, Villar cited a Department of Health report indicating that around 124,000 licensed and registered Filipino nurses are unemployed, underemployed or working in non-nursing jobs.
The senator noted that the Philippine economy saw a surge in growth in the early 2000s, fueled in part by strong global demand for Filipino nurses. Remittances from overseas Filipino workers, particularly health professionals, were a key driver of domestic consumption and economic stability.
However, Villar pointed out that international demand has waned in recent years, leaving many Filipino nurses without stable employment opportunities either abroad or at home.
Rather than viewing the situation as a setback, Villar described it as an opportunity for the government to strengthen its health care system by tapping into the country’s pool of skilled health professionals.
“The vast resources of competent Filipino nurses present a welcome opportunity for our government to improve the delivery of health services in the country, particularly in far-flung barangay,” she said.
Under SB 1764, the government would dispatch at least one registered nurse to every barangay, the smallest administrative unit in the Philippines. The measure aims to enhance access to basic health services, especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas where residents often rely on limited or irregular medical missions.
The deployed nurses would serve at the forefront of government health programs, complementing existing barangay health workers and rural health units. Their responsibilities would include providing basic medical care and first-line response; conducting health education campaigns on hygiene, sanitation, nutrition and wellness; promoting disease prevention and early detection; and assisting in immunization drives, maternal and child health services and public health monitoring.
Villar emphasized that prevention would be a core principle of the program, quoting Benjamin Franklin’s adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Unemployment,
public health gaps
Health advocates have long cited the uneven distribution of medical professionals as a major challenge in the country’s health care system. While urban centers may have access to hospitals and specialists, many remote barangay lack consistent medical personnel.
The measure seeks to address two pressing concerns — the underutilization of trained nurses and the perennial gap in primary health care delivery.
By institutionalizing the employment of nurses at the barangay level, the bill aims to create stable government positions for Filipino nurses while significantly boosting preventive and community-based health care services.
Villar called for the bill’s immediate enactment, saying it represents “a leap forward in improving health service delivery” and a concrete step toward ensuring that quality health care reaches even the most remote communities.
If enacted into law, SB 1764 would require coordination among national and local government units to fund, deploy and supervise the assigned nurses, potentially marking one of the most expansive grassroots health care initiatives in recent years.
