Entry-level nurses in public hospitals earn around 40,000 pesos (US$700) a month, while overseas positions can offer several times that figure – a temptation that many say is hard to ignore.
Today, about 300,000 to 350,000 Filipino nurses are working overseas, according to the Department of Health, but the country is short of about 160,000 nurses.
[Health Secretary] Herbosa attributes that demand to the Philippines’ decades-old nursing education system, taught in English and shaped by American healthcare standards – a combination that makes Filipino nurses readily deployable overseas.
In 2024, Filipinos abroad sent home a record US$38.34 billion in personal remittances, according to central bank data.
There is no official breakdown for healthcare workers, but groups such as Filipino Nurses United estimate that nurses contribute around US$8 billion annually.