For thousands of Filipino nurses, leaving home is never an easy choice.
It’s a sacrifice — driven not by desire, but by necessity.
And according to nursing leaders, that reality must change.
“Give Them a Better Life Here”
Speaking at the Filipino Nurses Global Summit VI and the 15th International Nursing Conference in Pasay City, Philippine Nursing Association president-elect Alicia Tullo laid it out plainly.
Filipino nurses leave the country because they are chasing something simple — a better life for their families.
“If the reason they leave their loved ones is to have a better life,” Tullo said,
“then give it to them here. There’s no reason to leave.”
Her message was clear:
Improve life in the Philippines, and nurses will stay.
Pay, Dignity, and Survival
Tullo stressed that the country’s healthcare gaps could be addressed more easily if more nurses stayed in local communities.
But right now, staying comes at a cost.
Low pay.
Limited opportunities.
Rising living expenses.
“Mahirap ang buhay,” she said.
“Most Filipinos want to help their families. So they go where there are better opportunities and better pay.”
For many nurses, migration is not a dream — it’s a lifeline.
Tullo said the solution doesn’t need to be complicated.
Better compensation alone would go a long way.
It would turn migration into a choice, not a requirement to survive.
A Step in the Right Direction
Tullo also welcomed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s move to allocate the largest healthcare budget yet under the proposed 2026 General Appropriations Act.
She called it long overdue, and necessary.
“If you want a country to prosper, you need a healthy workforce,” she said.
“An unhealthy person cannot work.”
For her, the budget increase is just the beginning — but a meaningful one.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is the first step. Finally, it’s happening.”
Migration Should Be a Choice
The government agrees.
Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) Chairperson Dante Francis Ang II said the goal is to ensure that nurses leave the country only if they want to — not because they have no other option.
The CFO is focusing on diaspora engagement, creating programs that reconnect overseas Filipinos to the Philippines — politically, economically, and culturally.
“We don’t encourage people to go abroad,” Ang said.
“We create programs that link them back to the Philippines.”
Many overseas nurses, he noted, already want to help — they just don’t know how.
“They don’t need encouragement. They need information,” Ang explained.
“Who can they trust? Where do they start? That’s where we come in.”
Partners in Nation-Building
Ang emphasized that Filipinos overseas are not just workers abroad — they are strategic partners in national development.
Given the right opportunities, the right support, and the right reforms, many would gladly come home.
For now, the message from nurses is simple and heartfelt:
Let us serve our own people — and still live with dignity.
