More than 7,500 healthcare workers (HCWs) may be allowed to work abroad this year.
This after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said it would recommend increasing the deployment cap for HCWs to the Mission Critical Skills Technical Working Group (MCS-TWG) and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
In a televised interview last Thursday, POEA Administrator Olalia said another deployment cap adjustment may now be possible as local health facilities now need fewer additional HCWs as the government starts easing health protocols.
Likewise, he also said the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) was able to administer board exams for HCWs, particularly nurses, which helped increase the country’s pool of the said professional workers.
This was echoed by Labor Assistant Secretary and MCS-TWG member Dominique R. Tutay, who said the country currently has a small surplus of nurses.
“Using 2021 data on board exams for nursing, there is an opportunity to increase the cap but not that much…we will also assess the current status of deployment,” Tutay said.
Olalia proposed the adjustment since he expects all of the 7,500 slots for the deployment of HCWs will be exhausted before the end of the year.
“Right now, we have already deployed 2,000 [HCWs],” Olalia said.
He said he will be submitting his recommendation when the 7,500 deployment cap is about to be diminished.
POEA imposed the deployment cap last year, which only started with 5,000 slots, to ensure the country will have a sufficient number of HCWs for its pandemic response.
It was increased several times last year until it reached 7,500 upon the request of HCW, particularly, nurses.