DOLE studies viability of sending nurses, caregivers to San Marino

FILE: The team is also expected to come up with appropriate measures to address the identified gaps in the Philippine nursing and caregiving training, certification, or accreditation to make them competitive and viable. (Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs Republic of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — A team of labor officials is set to draft recommendations and a strategic plan on the viable supply of nursing and caregiving services from the Philippines to the Republic of San Marino, a European country.

The team, which was created by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) through an administrative order, is chaired by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and composed of member institutions Professional Regulation Commission, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and International Labor Affairs Bureau.

The assessment team will be in the host country, a serene microstate in northeast Italy, to study the San Marino nursing and caregiving professional regulatory framework and look into the possibility of enabling the Filipino professionals to work in the said country.

The team is also expected to come up with appropriate measures to address the identified gaps in the Philippine nursing and caregiving training, certification, or accreditation to make them competitive and viable.

Likewise, they will look into how opportunities can be maximized under a proposed Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Home Services between San Marino and the Philippines.

The team will also identify all possible deployment modalities, such as POEA deployment and Movement of Natural Persons (MNP) under the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS).

As provided under the POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 2 series of 2011, the Republic of San Marino is a certified compliant country, or where the rights of Filipino migrant workers are protected.

Data show that from 2015 to present, there are only 22 overseas Filipino workers in San Marino, composed of two new hires, while the rest are rehires.

San Marino is a mountainous microstate located in north-central Italy. (PNA)