BI: 7 nurses ‘good to go’ after being barred from leaving for UK

The seven Filipino nurses who were reportedly barred from flying out to the United Kingdom are now "good to go," the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Monday.

Acting bureau spokesperson Melvin Mabulac said five of the nurses will be leaving the country on Monday, while the other two will board another airline's next available flight.

They were cleared for departure after immigration authorities consulted the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) over an "ambiguity" in its advisory on exemptions to a deployment ban of overseas healthcare workers, Mabulac said.

The seven nurses had reportedly been prevented from leaving the country because their visas were issued after March 8, though their contracts were signed before that date.

According to POEA's Advisory No. 47-A, issued June 2, the following healthcare workers are allowed to leave for their overseas employment: returning workers with OEC 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.

Mabulac said the POEA clarified that what should be considered is the date of the contract, not the overseas employment certificate (OEC), which he said may be valid even if it was issued after March 8.

"'Yun ang na-clarify namin pertaining sa issuance din ng OEC at saka 'yung visa, because this is a very isolated [case], first time 'to nangyari na nagkaroon ng confusion pertaining sa timeline in terms sa OEC at saka sa visa," he said.

Moving forward, Mabulac said they will allow departures of healthcare workers whose contracts were signed on or before March 8, even if their OEC was issued beyond that date.

"Basta ang kanyang kontrata ay napirmahan on or before March 8, pwede, regardless kung ang kanyang OEC o kanyang visa ay na-issue later na," he said. — DVM, GMA News