‘Huge’ demand for nurses abroad; PH must make it worth for them to stay —DMW

With the "huge" demand for Filipino nurses abroad, the Philippines should make local jobs attractive enough for them to stay, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said.

According to JP Soriano's report on "24 Oras" on Tuesday, many countries have also expressed their need for Filipino healthcare workers, including the US, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Singapore, Japan, and Germany.

"The demand is huge. 'Yung 'huge,' capital letters, bold, itals pa nga e," said DMW Secretary Susan "Toots" Ople.

"Kasi almost every ambassador and yung mga ministers nila would like to speak to us, but very conscious din sila that we also need nurses here."

She added that the cap for the deployment of Filipino nurses abroad has not yet been reached.

Ople said that that the government must have a serious discussion on how to make the local job market attractive to health workers.

"It's not enough na sabihin natin, 'Para sa bayan, dito kayo'," she said.

In a separate briefing, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said that Filipino nurses are in demand abroad because they are considered among the world's best. However, he pointed out that the country also needs their services.

"I don't want them to leave the Philippines. Because we need them for the programs that the Department of Health will deliver. if I want good health services, I will need all the nurses I get. That's why they are pirating our nurses. What does that mean? Our nurses are the best in the world. Kasi binabayaran talaga nila," Herboso said.

Herbosa, who was appointed to head the DOH earlier this month, has vowed to address health workers' long-overdue COVID-19 allowances and other benefits. — Sherylin Untalan/BM, GMA Integrated News