Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III denied that the government is offering nurses to the United Kingdom and Germany in exchange for COVID-19 vaccines.
In an interview on DZMM Teleradyo, Bello explained that Filipino nurses and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) should receive vaccines before they leave for the UK.
“Ang daming nagsasalita hindi naman nila alam ang nangyari. Kung ide-deploy natin sila, tiyakin natin na ligtas sila, may vaccine na sila,” Bello said.
Bello was recently under fire after the country reportedly bargained Filipino nurses in exchange for vaccine shots.
“Wala kaming kinalaman dyan sa status ng vaccine. Ang amin lang, if they want our nurses, I want to be sure na pag pinadala natin eh safe sila,” Bello said.
Bello said that the Philippines has an oversupply of nurses. However, the government put a 5,000 cap on the deployment of healthcare workers abroad.
“Siguro kung 400,000 meron tayo nyan. Kaya lang may limitation para hindi tayo mawalan. Kasi kung pabayaan natin, i-open mo, eh marami talagang pupunta abroad dahil maganda ang kanilang hanapbuhay doon,” he said.
UK Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce said that there were “no plans” to agree to such a deal.
