MANILA, Philippines — Around five to 10 percent of health workers have filed their resignation to work overseas, Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. President Dr. Jose Rene De Grano said on Tuesday as he cautioned that continuous resignation may strain the country in the next six months.
“For the past siguro mga two or three weeks, nakita natin na medyo mga around five percent or more ng ating mga nurses — lalo na po ang ating mga nurses — ay nag-fa-file ng mga kanilang resignations dahil gusto po nilang mag-work sa ibang bansa,” De Grano said during the Laging Handa briefing.
(For the past maybe two or three weeks, we saw that around five percent or more of our nurses — especially our nurses — file resignations to work in other countries.)
“Siguro mga at least five to 10 percent po ‘yan na mga nag-a-abroad lang,” he added.
(Maybe at least five to 10 percent want to work overseas.)
De Grano said that while health workers who resign do not hastily leave their duties and notify their employers of working abroad, he said that without immediate replacement, the country’s health system will be strained.
“‘Yun po ang kinakatakot natin kasi ‘pag masyado tayo lumuwag sa pagpapalabas ng ating mga healthcare workers at wala naman tayong maipalit kaagad sa kanila ay baka tayo po maubusan ng mga healthcare workers,” De Grano lamented.
(We fear that if more healthcare workers will be allowed to leave and we cannot find a replacement immediately, we may run out of healthcare workers.)
“So, ‘yun po ang ating nakikita na siguro kung hindi po natin medyo mapipigilan itong pag-alis na ‘to, baka po in another six months, baka po maubusan na tayo ng mga nurses at mapipilay po talaga ang ating mga health facilities at healthcare system,” he said.
(We observe that if they cannot be prevented from leaving, maybe in another six months, we will lose our nurses and our health facilities, and the healthcare system will be paralyzed.)
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