RABAT, MOROCCO — Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Marrakech said that two clinics in the Moroccan capital city seek to hire 100 Filipino nurses.

Polo has sent two memos to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, according to labor attaché Dominador Salanga, demanding the allocation of seats for the North African state.

“Our nurses have the skills, especially those with prior experience in the Middle East. Our nationals are also known to be neat, caring, and professional nurses,” he told the Philippine News Agency when asked if there was a particular reason why Moroccan health facilities seek Filipino nurses.

According to Resolution 153 of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Philippines has an annual deployment limit of 7,000 health care workers (HCWs).

“Out of the 7,000 slots, we have to request for 100. Remember, POEA has a special quota for Germany, a special project for nurses under JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) so we deploy nurses, caregivers to Japan. These 6,500 to 7,000 is actually spread out and Saudi Arabia takes the pie on top of their usual recruitment office for nurses,” Salanga said.

POLO Rabat established a minimum qualification criteria for nurses working in Morocco, where French and Arabic are widely spoken languages.

The nurses must have a Level B French language competency and two to three years of experience, according to the authority.

“The doctor can speak English but the nurse would be handling a patient so if you have a patient who only speak French or Arabic and you have a Filipina nurse who is a skilled nurse but unable to speak or understand the language, you are handling lives so it can be the cause of injury,” he said.

An estimated 4,600 Filipinos are employed in Morocco, with the majority working in beauty salons or in private residences. – WhatALife!

Source: (pna.gov.ph)

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