MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government reiterated Thursday that health workers without live contracts abroad cannot leave the country.
According to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, only those healthcare workers with perfected and signed overseas employment contracts or OEC as of March 8, 2020, will be allowed to leave the country as agreed during the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases (IATF) meeting Thursday afternoon.
“Nadesisyunan po ng IATF ngayong hapon na yung mga health professionals na meron na pong mga papeles, ibig sabihin yung OEC na issued ng POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) at yung employment contract na verified as of March 8, 2020 ay pupwede pong lumabas ng bansa,” Roque said in an update aired over state-run PTV.
The POEA suspended in April the deployment of all health care workers abroad “to prioritize” human resource in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Pwede rin pong lumabas ng bansa ang mga Balik Manggagawa o yung mga nagbabakasyon lamang sa Pilipinas at matagal na pong nagtatrabaho sa abroad,” Roque said.
“Sakop pa rin po ang pagdedeploy abroad ng lahat ng health professionals kung wala po silang dokumento on or before March 8, 2020,” he added. [ac]