Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III clarified on Thursday that the 5,000-worker limit on the deployment of health workers amid the lifting of deployment ban last week may be eased.
“Itong cap na ito hindi rin permanent. It will be subject to regular assessment …Pwede nating i-adjust ‘yung cap from 5,000 to 10,000 basta ang mahalaga hindi tayo mawawalan ng healthcare workers (The cap is not permanent. It will be subject to regular assessment… We can adjust the cap from 5,000 to 10,000 workers as long as we do not run out of health workers),” Bello explained.
Filipino Nurses United (FNU) asserted that the number of nurses should not pose a problem as there are still around 200,000 unemployed nurses in the Philippines.
The FNU explained that the first come, first served basis for the yearly 5,000-worker cap will be hard for nurses as acquiring overseas employment certificates from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has not been easy.
“It’s a welcome news. Although sa FNU, ang position namin dapat wala nang cap dahil ang deployment ban ‘di na kailangan at irrational. Una, dahil marami namang nurses na hinihintay lang ma-tap… (Our position is that there shouldn’t be a cap because a deployment ban is no longer needed and irrational. First, many nurses are just waiting to be tapped),” FNU Sec. Gen. Jocelyn Andamo explained.
The group also cited the problem of some workers on receiving benefits, particularly at the Philippine General Hospital. The DOH said the issue is set to be resolved and “they will receive benefits accorded to them.”
The PGH reasoned out that the hospital had trouble distributing benefits as it lacks savings and budget this year, considering the expenses for the pandemic. – Report from Naomi Tiburcio
