(Eagle News)–Doctors, nurses and other medical workers who have signed overseas employment contracts as of March 8 can leave the country.
This is according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, who announced on Tuesday, April 14, the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases which met the day before.
The issue on whether the country’s medical workers would be allowed to leave amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic was discussed during the IATF meeting after a Philippine Overseas Employment Administration decision to temporarily prevent them from doing so drew criticisms from several sectors.
“It was a balancing act. We all pitched in and aired our reasons, and that was our consensus,” Nograles said
.
“Papayagan na po silang umalis. Those with existing contracts as of March 8, 2020,” he said.
Nograles noted that there were health care workers who were already contracted to work abroad and were just awaiting flights to the country where they have applied.
“Pero yung wala pang perfected contract. They are covered by the temporary deployment ban,” he said.
Nograles said that the IATF had a thorough discussion on this.
“We need the health care workers here. We need as much manpower as we can. On the other hand, there are already health care workers with existing contracts. They are just waiting to fly, their employers abroard are expecting them. We had to balance both,” he explained.
But he said that the Department of Budget Management and the Department of Health are now working on the estimates as to how much is needed for the emergency hiring of health care workers.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. had said the earlier POEA move was a violation of the rights to travel and non-impairment of contracts.
According to Nograles, the health workers, however, would have to sign a declaration of their knowledge and understanding of the risks involved when leaving.
He said the DOH has also been ordered to help in the local hiring of additional medical workers who will help amid the pandemic.
The Philippines has so far recorded 4,932 COVID-19 cases.
(Eagle News Service)
