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Yearly cap on healthcare worker deployment reached

THE Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Saturday, June 5, 2021, announced the reimposition of the temporary deployment ban on healthcare workers (HCWs) as the 5,000 annual deployment cap has been reached.

Based on Advisory No. 71-2021, the POEA said newly hired nurses, nursing aides, and nurse assistants will not be allowed to leave for overseas jobs.

"The processing and issuance of overseas employment certificates and the deployment of new hires for healthcare workers are hereby suspended effective immediately," the advisory signed by POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia states.

However, Olalia said healthcare workers, who were already issued with their corresponding overseas employment certificates (OEC), will still be allowed to depart.

Olalia said the suspension is due to the 5,000 deployment cap set by the POEA already being met.

The POEA chief, though, said concerned government agencies are already evaluating the current situation on the deployment of healthcare workers.

"The Mission Critical Skills - Technical Working Group (MCS-TWG) continually studies and deliberates upon the issues to come up with policy recommendations for submission to the Covid-19 Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) for consideration or approval," said Olalia.

The POEA imposed a temporary suspension in the deployment of healthcare workers in April 2020 in a bid to ensure a steady supply of healthcare professionals in the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last November, President Duterte lifted the deployment ban but set an annual deployment ceiling of 5,000 newly hired nurses, nursing aides and nursing assistants.

In March, Olalia said they were meeting with other stakeholders regarding the possibility of increasing the deployment cap.

Olalia had then said that the annual deployment cap was likely to be reached in June. (HDT / SunStar Philippines)

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