DOLE urged to clarify travel ban on health workers

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) should clarify the exemptions to the deployment ban on health workers after the Bureau of Immigration (BI) wrongly interpreted the rules and prevented the departure of seven Filipino nurses bound for the United Kingdom, according to Sen. Joel Villanueva.

Villanueva, chair of the labor committee, said the government allowed health workers with contracts perfected as of March 8 to leave the country.

But, Villanueva said, the BI agents offloaded the seven nurses with contracts approved before March 8 on the ground that their visas were issued after March 8.

According to him, the government policy only mentions the cutoff date for the contracts and did not mention any date for the visas.

“It is clear that the current policy allows health-care workers with contracts perfected as of March 8. The date when the visa was issued is not part of the discussion,” he said in a statement.

—Leila B. Salaverria

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