HCW deployment cap raised to 7,000

MANILA, Philippines — The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has increased the annual deployment limit of new hire health workers abroad from 6,500 to 7,000, Malacañang announced yesterday.

Acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles also said that under IATF Resolution 153, nurses whose visas will expire on Dec. 31 would be prioritized in the increased cap for deployment.

“(The government) raised the 2021 annual deployment ceiling of newly hired health care workers to 7,000 for jobs identified by the Department of Labor and Employment as mission critical skills,” Nograles said at a media briefing.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration ordered the temporary suspension on the processing and issuance of overseas employment certificates of new medical workers overseas in late October after the 6,500 annual cap was reached.

The government said the deployment cap was merely temporary to ensure that the country has a sufficient number of health care workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health care workers under government-to-government labor agreement, however, are exempted from the deployment limit, Malacañang said.