The Filipino Nurses United (FNU) has condemned the implementation of 5,000 caps on the deployment of nurses abroad each year after reaching the number for 2021.
The FNU said it was not fair for other nurses who wanted a better income and were already in the process of arranging their documents, visas, and other requirements.
He said the cap should not be implemented because there are many and enough nurses in the Philippines. The nurses will not want to leave the country if their salaries and benefits are sufficient, according to Jocelyn Andamo, FNU secretary-general.
According to the FNU, more than 570,000 nurses passed the Nurses Licensure Examination from 2000-2019, based on data from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
Of that number, 200,000-250,000 leave the country to work.
It turns out that about 220,000 nurses are unemployed or underemployed in their own country, according to the group.
On June 1, Philippine Overseas and Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Bernard Olalia announced that 5,000 caps have been met, so it will temporarily not send nurses abroad.
Nurses oppose 5K deployment cap
Returning workers and those hired in POEA’s government-to-government hiring programs in Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are exempted from the deployment suspension.
Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello also announced that the United Kingdom’s request to exempt Filipino nurses from the deployment cap scheduled to work in that country had been approved. Still, POEA has not yet received any documents on this.
“Kinakailangan din natin na magkaroon ng resolution din ang IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) ‘no para i-grant ho ‘yong exemption na ‘yon so antayin lang ho natin,” said Bello.
For Bello, the UK exemption can now be implemented.
According to Bello, Germany is also asking for an exemption, which wants to hire 15,000 Filipino nurses.
That is why the increase in the deployment cap is being studied.
“Kapag nakita natin na mayroon tayong sapat na number of nurses, ang health care workers, it’s possible we can recommend… luluwagan ‘yong deployment cap, gagawin nating 10,000,” said Bello.
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