PH raises cap on healthcare workers sent abroad to 6,500

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — More newly hired healthcare workers could now leave the country for jobs abroad after the task force handling the pandemic response raised the ceiling on the number of those who could be deployed overseas.

From 5,000, the annual deployment cap for newly hired healthcare workers for mission critical skills was raised to 6,500 by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. announced on Friday.

Healthcare workers falling under mission critical skills with perfected contracts as of May 31, 2021, would form part of the adjusted ceiling, said Roque.

Exempted from the ceiling are healthcare workers under government-to-government labor agreements, he added.

The IATF’s decision to increase the limit comes amid calls for the government to allow more healthcare workers to be deployed overseas.

This was after the 5,000 cap was reached on June 1, which prompted the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to stop issuing overseas employment certificates for health workers who want to work abroad.

The government earlier imposed a ceiling on the deployment to make sure there would be sufficient healthcare personnel in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic. —LEILA B. SALAVERRIA INQ