5,000 cap on healthcare workers deployment only temporary, says Bello

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the 5,000 cap on the deployment of healthcare workers is temporary.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Bello said the cap can still be expanded as it is subject to regular assessment.

"If we can still afford to send more we can always expand the cap," added Bello.

"Instead of 5,000 probably we can raise it to 7 or 8,000 depending on the situation," he said.

On Saturday, Bello said President Duterte has already approved the proposal to lift the temporary suspension of deployment of healthcare workers.

 However, the government will only allow 5,000 healthcare workers to leave every year to ensure that there are enough HCWs in the country during health emergencies. 

It was in April when the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) imposed a temporary suspension in the deployment for selected types of health workers, citing the dwindling human resources in local hospitals and medical facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the list are medical doctor/physician, nurse, microbiologist molecular biologist, medical technologist, clinical analyst, respiratory therapist, pharmacist, laboratory technician, X-ray/radiologic technician, nursing assistant/nursing aide, operator of medical equipment, supervisor of health services and personal care, and repairman of medical-hospital equipment.

The Inter Agency Task Force later ordered the exemption of healthcare workers with perfected and signed contract as of March 8 from the temporary suspension imposed by the POEA. 

Malacañang later announced that healthcare workers with complete documents, as of August 31, are also allowed to be deployed.

Bello, last month, also revealed that President Duterte has already approved the request of medical workers to further extend the cut-off date from the deadline of August 31.