To Whom This May Concern,
I do not know if this website is an avenue for a person like Sen. Angara to actually read, nonetheless, there is no harm in trying.
I very much think that this program is a big BULL. It's the same with the NARS program of DOLE before. Nothing much had really became of the nurses who participated in that program. Needless to say, they're all jobless still. I know because I am one of them.
So what do I think is the solution for this problem? With very limited money that the government could give to us poor nurses and with the us very oversupplied, there seemed to have no solution at all.
Here is what I think. We need to sacrifice. And there are certain laws that should be rescinded.
For nurses to actually qualify to work abroad, one must have that very precious hospital experience. Telehealth nurses? It's not going to help a nurse's credential when he/she will wish to go abroad. NURSES NEED HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE for crying out loud. Please do not waste your money into this program as the nurses who will be participating in this program will still find themselves at the end jobless after the contract. Us NURSES, much as we don't want to say it, dream of a better life because of the temptation of a better pay abroad.
So what should the government do?
Hire these nurse to WORK IN THE HOSPITAL but limit the contract for only a span of two years since this is the minimum requirement if one wants to go abroad, right? Demand these nurses, with the help of POEA, to secure job offers abroad. Now here's the catch, deduct a small but generous amount from their salaries. The money that will be collected will be used to fund future participants of the program for their salaries.
I know that this might not sound very favorable to some but, we need to keep the program running. Let's admit it. We can't expect the government to prioritize, with all the problems of the government, the national budget to this. We need to be realistic. We all howl to ask for alms but there's really too little to expect.
With the 15million budget, let us also study if instead of giving the minimum wage, of 8k, we could bring it down to 2.5k or 3k, only enough for some personal expenses. I guess with the very limited budget we have, we could stretch the money so that it can be allocated to more nurse participants.
It's just my personal say. Though, this I belive, has a very high percentage of being the BEST solution for this problem. And I apologize because it's too long. Hell, i just need to let this out.
