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| The policy will benefit 1,500 nurses, who have pleaded about the policy of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. (File photo by=Jansen Romero/Manila Bulletin) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] President Rodrigo Duterte has allowed health workers with complete employment documents as of August 31 to leave and work abroad, his spokesman Harry Roque said Monday.
The Presidential spokesman said Duterte is now letting healthcare professionals work overseas, provided that they have perfected contracts and a visa as of end-August.The policy will benefit 1,500 nurses, who have pleaded about the policy of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.Duterte's decision is a reversal of the IATF's rule that only allowed healthcare professionals to leave if they have completed requirements to work abroad as of March 8, hoping to keep them in the country to boost the local fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There's no decision yet on the total lifting of the deployment ban. We just gave an opportunity for those who have already shelled out money to complete their documents. Now, no one can complain that they spent a lot but were not allowed to work abroad," Roque said during a press briefing held in Cagayan de Oro City. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin, Jr. has also worked to allow more healthcare workers to get jobs overseas again, saying it was unconstitutional to keep them from traveling and earning a living abroad. Nurses also aired their own appeal to lift the measure.(CNN PH)
