POEA to issue OECs to health workers with contracts as of March 8

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will issue overseas employment certificates (OECs) to healthcare workers whose contracts were “perfected” on or before March 8 this year, the agency’s chief said Wednesday.

The POEA has been permitted by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases to issue OECs to qualified health workers, according to GMA News’ JP Soriano. 

JUST IN: The POEA, as per IATF agreement, will be issuing OEC's for Health Care Workers (HCW) with "perfected" employment contract on or before March 8, 2020 and will be allowed deployment. @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking

— JP Soriano (@jpsoriano) June 10, 2020

“The IATF resolution on temporary suspension of health worker deployment stays the same. What POEA did was to implement the guidelines on resumption of normal operations at our frontline services to include processing of OEC for health workers deployed by agencies,” POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia told GMA News. 

“The IATF says that so long as the employment contract was perfected on or before March 8, 2020, the health worker should be deployed. This is what POEA now implements with the resumption of normal operations,” he added.

“The IATF Resolution on temporary suspension of HCW deployment stays the same. What poea did was to implement the Guidelines on resumption of normal operations at our frontline services to include processing of Oec for HCWs deployed by agencies.”- POEA Usec. Olalia @gmanews https://t.co/adc7lobw6I

— JP Soriano (@jpsoriano) June 10, 2020

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. also said Olalia has informed Philippine posts in Europe that Filipino health workers will now be allowed to leave for their jobs abroad. 

In April, POEA temporarily suspended the deployment of healthcare workers abroad in an effort to beef up the country’s medical workforce amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Following backlash, the IATF clarified that health workers with existing contracts as of March 8 would be allowed to leave the country. — Julia Mari Ornedo/BM, GMA News