OFW health workers with existing contracts still allowed to leave PH

Filipino health workers with existing employment contracts abroad will still be allowed to leave the country, despite the government reaching its 5,000 deployment cap for healthcare professionals.

This 5,000 cap, which took effect on June 1, only applies to new Overseas Employment Certificates (OECs).

Health workers with existing contracts, those set for deployment in the United Kingdom, and those hired under government-to-government schemes are exempted from this deployment limit.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is recommending to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to increase the deployment cap and expand exemptions.

Germany has also requested an exemption, but the government has yet to act on it.

The POEA is working with various agencies like the Department of Labor and Employment, Professional Regulation Commission, Department of Health, and Commission on Higher Education to gather data for these recommendations.