The biggest group of medical technologists in the US is seeking a review by Philippine officials of the cap on the deployment of healthcare workers to America, the labor department reported yesterday.
Labor Attache Angela Librado Trinidad of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Washington D.C. said the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists (PAMET) made the request in light of the many opportunities in the U.S.
Trinidad told a virtual forum that PAMET cited an estimated demand for 110,000 medical technologists in the U.S.
“We recently met with PAMET, which has chapters all over the U.S., to discuss their concern as their profession is included in the deployment cap. They want to know if the limit can be relaxed because they are interested in providing opportunities to their fellow medical technologists,” Trinidad said.
She said the government respects the right of workers to labor mobility, but at the same time explained that the deployment limit was imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to make sure that the Philippines does not run out of medical professionals amid the persisting COVID-19 pandemic.
The labor official said most of the job orders that the POLO receive are those in the healthcare industry. It is projected that in the next few years about 2.5 million nurses are needed due to a large number of retiring nurses in the U.S., she added.
In its jurisdiction, POLO Washington D.C. records 514,000 documented Filipino migrant workers in the eastern part of the U.S. and 12,000 workers in Caribbean islands, with most of them located in the Cayman Islands.
Most of the job orders that the POLO receives in the eastern region are for healthcare workers, while those in the Caribbean Islands are for service and tourism industry workers.
At the height of the pandemic, Trinidad said over 2,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have availed of the one-time P10,000 assistance under the Abot-Kamay ang Pagtulong program, and most of those who availed of this aid were the Filipino workers in the Caribbean.
In celebration of Philippine Independence Day and Migrant Workers Day, meanwhile, Labor Attaché Trinidad said the POLO has been conducting one-stop shop virtual consultations with OFWs on PagIbig, PhilHealth, and SSS benefits and concerns. The online sessions will be conducted on Saturdays and Sundays in the coming weeks. (DOLE) – jlo
