Cap on health workers' overseas deployment only for new hires —Bello

Published November 24, 2020 11:04am By JOVILAND RITA, GMA News The 5,000-limit on healthcare workers allowed to be deployed abroad only covers new hires, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Tuesday. In a television interview, Bello also noted that the cap on the overseas deployment for health workers is only temporary. “The cap does not cover, of course, the balik-manggagawa. It only covers the new hires, new applicants… The cap is not a permanent thing,” he said in an interview on ANC. Bello said the limit is being set to ensure that the country will have enough healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He also pointed out that the employers abroad usually seek healthcare workers who have experience and not neophytes. Asked about how the 5,000 slots will be shared by healthcare workers from different medical expertise and positions such as doctors and nurses, Bello said it will be on a first-come, first-served basis. While acknowledging the sentiments of some nurses that the 5,000-deployment cap is too small for the 16,000 healthcare workers that are actually being deployed per year, Bello reiterated the policy is really needed. On the meager salary given to healthcare workers in the country, Bello said the department is proposing an increase in the salary of nurses and medical workers in the private sector. Bello also lamented the poor compensation of healthcare workers in big hospitals with high income. "Kaya, sinasabihan ko ‘yung mga nurses: Go on strike. Let the people in the hospitals learn the value of your profession,” he said. After lifting the temporary suspension on the deployment of healthcare workers abroad in light of the pandemic, the government will implement the limit starting January 2021. --KBK, GMA News

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