Health professionals with an overseas employment certificate (OEC) from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and verified employment contracts as of March 8 are now allowed to leave the country.
“The IATF just approved iyong (the) exemption from the coverage of the temporary suspension of deployment of health workers, those who have perfected their contracts as early as March 8, 2020 or those on vacation. Mga balik-manggagawa pwede na po sila bumalik agad-agad (returning workers may go back immediately),” Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestro Bello III declared on Thursday afternoon.
“Pwede rin pong lumabas ng bansa ang mga Balik Manggagawa o yung mga nagbabakasyon lamang sa Pilipinas at matagal na pong nagtatrabaho sa abroad (Returning workers or those having a vacation in the country but have long been working abroad may also leave the country),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque added.
The POEA initially announced last April some exemptions from the deployment ban under IATF Resolution No. 23 which aims to retain health professionals and other workers in the country to boost the response against the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the IATF through Resolution No. 64 ordered last Monday the temporary suspension of deployment of medical workers without any exemption as the public health emergency in the Philippines continues. The official document of the IATF on the matter is yet to be released.
Some health workers have already responded to the emergency hiring of the Department of Health (DOH). Data show that 7,295 human resources for health (HRH) have been hired and 9,998 have been approved as of August 18, 2020.
However, Filipino Nurses United said the DOH is no longer accepting healthcare workers.
“May nag-apply sa kanila mula sa group ng PrisoNurse, pero tinanggihan na sila. Ang sagot ng DOH, tapos na raw ang emergency hiring, closed na (Some applicants from PrisoNurse were declined. The DOH answered that the emergency hiring is over),” Filipino Nurses United Secretary General Jocelyn S. Andamo said.
– Report from Naomi Tiburcio and Mela Lesmoras
