Stay and serve Filipinos as pandemic will ‘come to pass,’ President urges health workers

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday appealed to health workers who were not exempted from the overseas deployment ban just focus on serving Filipinos, saying the COVID-19 pandemic would “come to pass.”

Duterte had already allowed health workers with sealed contracts as of Aug. 31 to leave the Philippines.

Previously, only health workers with complete documents as of March 8 were exempted from the overseas deployment ban.

“This is not really to offend those health workers of ours, doctors, nurses who want to go abroad to earn good money. I don’t have anything against you,” Duterte said in a taped speech, delivered partly in Filipino.

“I hope the others will have the spirit and the fervor to serve the Filipino people because we also need help and we have a crisis also to deal with. I’m not belittling you. I have respect for all of you,” he added.

“To those who want to go out, it’s already allowed. But those left behind, I hope you stay longer. After all this COVID-19 will pass, it will come to pass. I’m sure of it. As I told you before, COVID vaccine,” he went on.

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