Palace: Gov’t can require health workers to stay | Inquirer News

Palace: Gov’t can require health workers to stay

/ 05:38 AM May 07, 2020

MANILA, Philippines — It would be “perfectly legal” for the government to require health workers to stay in the country amid the new coronavirus pandemic, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Wednesday.

Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte’s proposal to prevent health workers from going abroad was in keeping with the general welfare clause of the Constitution.

“It is an exercise of police power because the primary basis for the President’s concern is these people are going to the most dangerous places as far as COVID-19 is concerned,” Roque said over the ABS-CBN News Channel.

Article continues after this advertisement

He noted that some of the country’s health workers were bound for the United States, Italy and Spain, which have the highest number of COVID-19 cases.“If we are restricting travel to these places, why are we allowing them now to work in these places?” he said.

FEATURED STORIES

Duterte earlier asked the Department of Justice to look into whether it would be legal to keep the health workers in the country despite their work contracts abroad.

Roque said the issue of the country’s own need for medical workers was another matter.“We’re looking at that particular reasoning as a valid exercise of police powers,” he said.

Article continues after this advertisement

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration earlier suspended temporarily the deployment of Filipino health-care workers abroad to “prioritize human resource allocation for the national health-care system at the time of the national state of emergency.”

The move drew swift condemnation, resulting in the ban being lifted for nurses and other health-care workers with existing contracts. But those who were supposed to leave for new work contracts abroad were barred from flying out of the country.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

For more news about the novel coronavirus click here.
What you need to know about Coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.

The Inquirer Foundation supports our healthcare frontliners and is still accepting cash donations to be deposited at Banco de Oro (BDO) current account #007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using this link.

TAGS: coronavirus Philippines, COVID-19, Rodrigo Duterte

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.