Manila Bulletin
DOLE clarifies: Nurses aren't commodities; we don't trade humans for vaccines
The Filipino Nurses United (FNU) strongly disapproved of a proposal attributed to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that suggested trading Filipino nurses for COVID-19 vaccines.
FNU Secretary General Jocelyn Andamo stated that nurses and health workers should not be treated as commodities.
Andamo emphasized that nurses' pursuit of better employment opportunities abroad is their right due to inadequate salaries in the Philippines.
She asserted that the government should prioritize securing vaccines for the country's needs independently.
DOLE Information and Publication Service (IPS) director Rolly Francia clarified that it is not the department's intention to treat nurses as a commodity or to trade them for vaccines.
Francia explained that the discussion originated from the UK government's request to be exempted from the cap imposed by the Philippine government on the deployment of nurses and healthcare workers.
News reports indicated that Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III had requested the UK and Germany to provide 600,000 COVID vaccines in exchange for deploying nurses and healthcare workers, a figure matching the number of repatriated OFWs.
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News Sources
See how different news organizations are covering this story. Below are the original articles from various Philippine news sources that contributed to this summary.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon criticized the Department of Labor and Employment's (DOLE) proposal to exchange Filipino nurses and healthcare workers for COVID-19 vaccines with the UK and Germany.
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Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III proposed that the UK provide COVID-19 vaccines in exchange for an exemption from the 5,000 deployment cap for Filipino healthcare workers.
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The United Kingdom government has stated it will not link the deployment of Filipino nurses to the UK with the provision of COVID-19 vaccines.
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Vice President Leni Robredo expressed sadness over Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III's proposal to trade Filipino nurses for COVID-19 vaccines from the United Kingdom.
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