Philippines, Singapore ink MOU on recruitment of Filipino healthcare workers
MANILA, 15 August 2024 – The Philippines and Singapore inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) of the Republic of the Philippines and the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Republic of Singapore on the recruitment of Filipino healthcare workers.
The MOU was signed by Secretary for Migrant Workers Hans Leo Cacdac and Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam witnessed the exchange of the signed MOU, which demonstrates the desire of both countries to provide a formal mechanism to govern and regulate the deployment of Filipino healthcare workers to Singapore, as well as provide support for their eventual reintegration to the Philippine economy and society.
The MOU negotiations took almost two years after the signing of a Joint Communique by the late Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople and Health Minister Ong Ye Kung during the State Visit of President Marcos Jr. to Singapore on 6-7 September 2022. In 2022, the Philippines and Singapore agreed to hold exploratory talks on the hiring and deployment of nurses, medical professionals and other Filipino health care workers under a government-to-government arrangement.
During the joint press conference, President Marcos Jr. highlighted that both sides worked hard to draft an MOU that strikes a balance between the needs of the healthcare sector of both countries and takes into account the personal development and growth of Filipino healthcare workers.
President Marcos also expressed confidence that the Singapore government will protect the rights, welfare and well-being of Filipino overseas workers as they pursue their careers in Singapore.
President Tharman recognized the invaluable contributions of Filipinos working in Singapore, especially the healthcare workers who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Singaporeans during the fight against COVID-19.
