Trinidad and Tobago eyeing more Pinoy health workers


Filipino health workers are in demand in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. said over the weekend.

In an article posted on its website Sunday, the embassy said Trinidad and Tobago President Thomas Aquinas Carmona has high regard for doctors and nurses serving there.

“We would like to express our gratitude to the Philippines for sharing with Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the world its greatest resource—the Filipino people,” the Embassy quoted Carmona as telling Philippine Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr., who recently visited Port of Spain.

“The Philippines has saved millions of lives across the globe by sending doctors, nurses and other health workers to other countries," the Trinidad and Tobago president added.

Carmona formally accepted Cuisia as Manila’s nonresident envoy to Trinidad and Tobago last Tuesday, the embassy said.

More health workers

The Philippine Embassy said the Trinidad and Tobago government now places health as its top priority.

It said Health Minister Fuad Khan told Cuisia the Ministry of Health has been authorized to hire more workers and that it is looking at the Philippines to fill its requirements.

“[Khan] said they prefer Filipinos not only because of their English language skills but also because of their positive experience with the initial batch of doctors, nurses and pharmacists that were brought into the country,” the embassy said.

Also, Khan said Trinidad and Tobago has an “urgent need” for Filipinos in the ancillary services such as radiologists, ultrasound and other technicians, medical technologists and pharmacists.

It also needs some more nurses and doctors, the embassy added.

Pinoys lauded

The embassy quoted Cuisia as saying Carmona lauded the dedication and hard work as well as genuine kindness and loving care provided by Filipino doctors and nurses who attended to him and members of his family.

Affirming Carmona's high opinion of Filipino medical workers were Foreign Minister Winston Dookeran, Health Minister Khan and Labor Minister Errol Mcleod, Cuisia said.

These officials also cited the Filipino community's important contribution to Trinidad and Tobago society.

Philippine Honorary Consul General Dr. Marie Francisca Magno-Advani said there are close to 1,000 Filipino workers and long-time residents as well as former citizens in Trinidad and Tobago.

Most of them work as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, engineers and hotel employees, Advani said.

For his part, Cuisia conveyed Manila’s desire to strengthen relations with Trinidad and Tobago through technical and economic exchanges.

He also relayed the Philippine government's gratitude for the $100,000 that Trinidad and Tobago donated through the United Nations for rehabilitation efforts in areas hit by super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). — KBK, GMA News

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