Duterte allows more health professionals to leave Philippines for overseas work

President Rodrigo Duterte has eased travel restrictions to allow the deployment of more healthcare professionals abroad, Malacañang said Monday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque said those who had contracts abroad as of August 31 would be allowed to leave the Philippines. He added the new policy will benefit more than 1,500 nurses and other health workers.

Previously, only healthcare employees who have government-issued overseas employment certificates (OEC) and verified work contracts as of March 8, 2020 were exempted from the temporary deployment ban on medical and allied health workers.

Also exempted from the ban are vacationing health workers who have existing job contracts abroad.

Malacañang earlier said Duterte imposed the deployment ban to ensure the safety of Filipino healthcare workers and beef up the Philippines’ medical manpower amid the pandemic, which has killed nearly 960,000 people worldwide, including 4,984 individuals in the Philippines.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III had asked the government to relax the travel ban.—KBK, GMA News