Pandemic task force allows more healthcare workers to go abroad
MANILA, Philippines — The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has raised the annual deployment ceiling for healthcare workers to 7,000, Malacañang announced Friday.
"Nurses whose visas shall expire by December 31, 2021 shall be given preference," reads a resolution of the task force presented by acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles at a briefing.
This is a 500-slot increase from the previous 6,500 deployment cap announced in June.
Malacañang has previously said that healthcare workers under government-to-government labor agreements are exempted from this ceiling.
Lawmakers, recruiters, and other nations in need of nurses have all urged the government to lift the ceiling entirely but the latter has held firm, adjusting the cap incrementally since it was first enforced last year.
In August, under the previous deployment cap, there were less than 900 slots for healthcare workers looking to work abroad by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration's count.
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