Only 28 provinces, 5 cities to be covered by universal health care in 2020
THE UNIVERSAL Health Care (UHC) Act, which automatically enrolls all Filipinos to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), will be rolled out only in 33 areas in 2020, the first year of implementation. “We will not have a nationwide roll out of the Universal Health Care,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said during the department’s budget hearing at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Mr. Duque cited funding and the Department of Health’s (DoH) capacity for the limited implementation. He said 40% of the DoH’s proposed P150 billion budget next year will be allocated to UHC coverage. The 33 areas is composed of 28 provinces out of 81 in the country, and five cities out of 145. The provinces are: Benguet, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Bataan, Tarlac, Batangas, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Masbate, Sorsogon, Aklan, Antique, Guimaras, Iloilo, Cebu, Biliran, Leyte, Samar, Zamboanga del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, and Maguindanao. The cities are: Valenzuela, Parañaque, Dagupan, Baguio, and Cagayan de Oro. In a statement released Wednesday, DoH said it will also focus on fast-tracking improvements in its anti-fraud system for PhilHealth in view of the UHC rollout. — Gillian M. Cortez
TESDA targets employment for 17,000 graduates
THE TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is targeting to have 17,000 technical-vocational (tech-voc) graduates employed through a series of job fairs from Aug. 20 to 29. “[We] target to link an estimated 17,000 tech-voc graduates to employment opportunities in a series of job fairs during its conduct of World Café of Opportunities (WCO) 2019,” TESDA said in a statement on Wednesday. The WCO is being held simultaneously in 54 sites across the country’s 17 regions. “TESDA’s World Café of Opportunities brings together our tech-voc graduates and those interested in taking tech-voc courses with industry partners and tech-voc providers,” TESDA Secretary Isidro S. Lapeña was quoted as saying. TESDA noted that through the WCO, tech-voc graduates can avail of skills upgrading interventions and pre-employment guidance services, in addition to exploring wage or self-employment opportunities. TESDA’s regional offices have also invited companies from the construction sector in addition to the participating firms and organizations from other industries. — Arjay L. Balinbin
POEA asks recruitment agencies to monitor HK workers’ condition amid rallies
THE PHILIPPINE Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has called on recruitment agencies to monitor the condition of their deployed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong amid the continuing unrest in the Special Administrative Region of China. In its Advisory No. 16 dated August 27, POEA advised all Philippine recruitment agencies (PRAs) “to monitor the status of their deployed workers in view of the ongoing strikes.” PRAs have been directed to submit an initial report as soon as possible to the POEA Welfare and Employment Office, and every Thursday thereafter. Filipino domestic workers make up 55% of Hong Kong’s total domestic workers, according to Hong Kong-based charity Enrich. — Gillian M. Cortez
