MANILA – The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has agreed to allow health workers who were able to secure employment contracts as of March 8 to leave the country.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that health workers to be allowed to leave the country must have overseas employment certificate (OEC) issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and verified employment contracts.
“‘Yung health professionals na meron na silang mga OEC issued po ng POEA at meron na pong verified employment contract as of March 8, 2020 ay pupwede pong lumabas ng bansa,” Roque said in announcement aired on PTV-4.
“Pwede rin pong lumabas ng bansa ang mga balik manggagawa o ‘yung mga nagbabakasyon lamang sa Pilipinas at matagal na pong nagtatrabaho sa abroad,” he added.
Roque’s announcement came after he said on Thursday that the IATF-EID would take into consideration the nurses’ appeals to grant exemptions to medical professionals with existing employment contracts.
The IATF-EID’s Resolution 64 on Monday temporarily suspended the overseas deployment of health workers during the pandemic “considering the continuing state of public health emergency.”
The task force, based on the resolution, also urges the Department of Health and government hospitals to hire healthcare workers to augment the workforce as the coronavirus disease 2019 cases in the country continue to soar./PN
