Lifting of 7,000 deployment cap on health workers urged
MANILA, Philippines — Anakalusugan Rep. Michael Defensor on Sunday called on the government to lift the 7,000 annual limit on the overseas deployment of health workers as the continued enforcement of the quota violated the Constitution.
“We maintain that Filipinos enjoy the right to live and work wherever they can achieve the best quality of life for their families,” he said in a statement.
“Our healthcare workers are entitled to sell their skills to the highest-paying employers around the world — whether in the United States or in the United Kingdom,” he added.
Defensor said that 9,788 Philippine-educated nurses took the US National Council Licensure Examination in 2021, 63 percent higher than the 6,004 nursing graduates who took the exams in 2020.
In 2020, the government set a 5,000 cap on overseas deployment of nurses to avoid shortage of medical workers in the country. This was raised to 7,000 in December 2021.
