Roque: Barring health workers' overseas deployment 'perfectly legal'

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque stated on Wednesday that it is legally permissible for the government to prevent the overseas deployment of Filipino medical professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roque made this statement following President Rodrigo Duterte's request on Monday for the Department of Justice to study the legality of barring healthcare workers from going abroad to reduce infection risks.

He cited the United States, Italy, and Spain as the top three countries with the most number of infections, emphasizing that preventing health worker migration is an exercise of police power under the general welfare clause of the Constitution.