Proposal to exempt more medical workers in overseas deployment ban awaits Duterte OK, says DOLE

The proposal to exempt more nurses and health workers from the government’s temporary overseas deployment ban is just awaiting signature of President Rodrigo Duterte, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Wednesday.

“Originally, exemption covered those who completed their papers and deployment requirements as of March 8,” Bello said in a virtual press briefing.

“After a strong clamor from medical workers, the POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) recommended the exemption will cover up to August 31, which I favorably supported and submitted to IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force),” he said.

The Labor chief said the IATF-approved recommendation to include nurses and health workers, who completed their papers as of August 31, in the overseas deployment ban exemption is already submitted to Duterte for his final approval.

“Kung i-approve ng ating Pangulo ‘yon, hindi naman substantial ang number of workers na maipapadala natin at most 1,200 [workers],” Bello said.

Currently, only returning workers with Overseas Employment Contracts (OECs) exemption certificates, new hires with contracts signed before March 8 and with OECs, and seafarers who were previously hired as doctors and nurses and will be deployed by the same licensed manning agency are allowed to leave for their overseas employment.

“‘Yung una na March 8, we are expecting 900 to be deployed...pero lumabas a little over 600 ang nakaalis,” the Labor chief said.

“We were expecting 1,200, but I doubt very much kung mapapa-deploy natin ang ganyang dami ng health workers,” Bello added.

The Cabinet official also thumbed down any possibility that the overseas deployment ban of health workers will be totally lifted given the rising COVID-19 cases in the country.

“We have to take care of our country and countrymen,” Bello said.

“I would not consider recommending to the IATF and eventually to the President the total lifting of deployment suspension,” he added.

As of Wednesday, September 16, Philippines’ coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tally soared to 272,934 after the Department of Health (DOH) announced 3,550 new infections.—AOL, GMA News