Manila Times

Manila

 The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) yesterday urged the government to identify new labour markets for Filipino nurses.

TUCP president Ernesto Herrera said there is a need for job opportunity for these professionals as many of whom remain either totally idle, or have been driven to perform work that has nothing to do with their professional qualifications.

“We would prefer the aggressive overseas deployment of nurses over other semi-skilled and unskilled workers, such as domestic helpers,” he said in a statement.

The former senator added, “We have a large surplus of nurses anyway. Nurses are also less vulnerable to employer abuse because their skills are not easy to replace. In a way, Filipino nurses are naturally protected by their skills.”

He noted that domestic helpers are “extremely susceptible” to (employer) mistreatment not only because they live with the employer, but also because their skills are “easier to replace.”

Herrera also reported that the Philippines, one of the world’s largest producers of English-speaking nurses, is now deploying overseas an average of 12,000 every year, citing Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) statistics.

“There’s no question that the Philippines is now the globe’s single biggest supplier of foreign nurses. They are the leading group of professionals that we set out every year abroad, mainly to the Middle East,” he said.

Herrera said that of the 12,000 Filipino nurses “newly hired” by foreign employers every year, around 85% are female.