DOLE ‘willing to recommend’ raising deployment cap on healthcare workers

NURSES’ PLIGHT Nursing graduates take their oath as new professional nurses. Most nurtured hopes of high pay in the profession when they took up the course. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is “willing to recommend” the increase of deployment cap of healthcare workers overseas as urged by medical groups.

READ: Med tech group wants US deployment cap relaxed as demand soars

The temporary deployment cap of 5,000 was imposed last year to ensure that the country will not run out of medical workers.

“Actually, that subject has been a matter of discussion by a technical working group,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in an interview with CNN Philippines interview on Monday. “We formed this technical working group to find out if there is any possible means of increasing the deployment cap without depriving our country of healthcare workers.”

“Having said that, our technical working group is willing to recommend to the Interagency Taskforce the possible increase of the deployment cap,” he added.

The technical working group is composed of representatives from DOLE, the Department of Health, and the Professional Regulation Commission.

The deployment halt came at a time when the unemployment rate in the country reached 8.7 percent — or 4.14 million Filipino unemployed.

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