DFA Successfully Convenes 2nd Inter-Agency Consultation Meeting on Strengthening Bilateral Labor Agreements for All Healthcare Workers
The DFA Office of Migration Affairs convened the second inter-agency consultation meeting on strengthening bilateral labor agreements (BLAs) for all healthcare workers to gather consensus on a national strategy for the deployment of Filipino healthcare professionals through Bilateral Labor Agreements negotiated with partner countries. (Photo by DFA-OPD Maria Vanessa Ubac)
PASAY 10 May 2024 – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), through the Office of the Undersecretary for Migration Affairs (OUMA), convened the second inter-agency consultation meeting on strengthening bilateral labor agreements (BLAs) for all healthcare workers on 08 May 2024 (the First Inter-Agency Meeting was held on 13 March 2024), with the Department of Health (DOH), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and DFA geographic Offices and DFA Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs. The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) attended the First Inter-Agency meeting.
The meeting was a continuation of the discussions during the first inter-agency meeting to finalize the outcome document of the ad hoc inter-agency body and to decide on ways forward. During the second inter-agency meeting, DFA-OUMA consulted and gathered the consensus of the concerned agencies on drafting a legal document, specifically a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC), to establish the inter-agency body work on strengthening bilateral labor agreements involving all healthcare workers. The ad hoc inter-agency body agreed on unifying the country’s priority considerations when establishing BLAs, and framing a standard strategic plan for domestic and foreign deployment of healthcare workers.
Furthermore, the meeting discussed elements of the draft report of the ad hoc interagency body to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. through the Office of the Executive Secretary. The outcome document and report shall serve as a backgrounder and compilation of recommendations from different government agencies on measures to strengthen the country’s bilateral labor agreements for all healthcare workers. This document shall serve as the basis for guiding the Philippine position when negotiating for the rights and welfare of Filipino healthcare workers and related agreements, including with federal states of some countries, for the health sector of the Philippines.
Finally, aligned with the whole-of-government approach, DFA-OUMA is committed to continue leading the inter-agency discussion on the proper and effective migration governance of the Philippines, especially for deploying migrant healthcare workers. DFA-OUMA promotes the prioritization of the development and sustainability of the Philippine health sector by leveraging the world-class labor quality of our migrant health workers leading to greater investments, enabling the country to be responsive to the world demand for PH healthcare professionals. END