Duterte lifts ban on deployment of nurses, nursing aides

MANILA---Malacañang confirmed Monday, No vember 23, 2020, that President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation to lift the ban on overseas deployment of nurses and nursing assistants/ aides.

Effective January 1, 2021, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said up to 5,000 nurses and nursing assistants/aides may be deployed overseas every year.

He said the recommendation to lift the ban was made by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases following a decline in coronavirus infections in the country.

“Pinag-aralan ito ng mabuti ng Presidente at ng IATF. Pinairal ang balancing of interest kung saan tiningnan ang pangangailangan sa bansa ng nurses, nursing assistants at nursing aides habang ikinonsidera ang pagkilala ng talento ng mga ito sa bang bansa at demand ng ating mga kababayan sa ibayong dagat,” he said.

(The President and the IATF studied this carefully and tried to achieve a balance between the country’s requirement for nurses, nursing assistants and nursing aides, and the demand for Filipino migrant workers overseas.)

New coronavirus infections in the Philippines have remained below 2,000 a day for 13 consecutive days, Department of Health (DOH) data showed.

Roque said the lifting of the ban is in line with the government’s policy to promote full employment, raise the standard of living and improve the quality of life of Filipinos.

The nurses and nursing assistants/ aides were among the healthcare workers covered by the temporary deployment ban imposed in April 2020 under the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Board resolution no. 9-2020.

The ban was imposed to ensure that there are enough healthcare workers in the country to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.

Healthcare workers who were not allowed to leave the country include doctors, microbiologists, molecular biologists, medical technologists, clinical analysts, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, X-ray/ radiologic technicians, medical equipment operators, health services and personal care supervisors, and repairmen of hospital/medical equipment .

(Marites VillamorIlano/ SunStar Philippines)