Be proud, Pinoy nurses!
British host Piers Morgan yesterday thanked Filipino nurses for bravely working in the frontlines as the United Kingdom battles the COVID-19 epidemic.
‘It’s worth bearing in mind when we talk about immigrants in this country, these are the immigrants currently saving people’s lives. Coming here and actually enriching our country and doing an amazing job’ – @piersmorgan pic.twitter.com/dAYcH9t095
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) April 7, 2020
Speaking in an episode of the news television show Good Morning Britain, Morgan talked about a Filipina who works for him, then gives a shout out to her friends, all of whom are working for the National Health Service (NHS), the UK’s publicly funded healthcare system.
Read: Filipino nurse’s emotional birthday post describing immigrant life in Australia goes viral
“We forget about this extraordinary workforce that comes from all around the world to help the NHS,” he said. “Amazing number of Filipinos work in the NHS and unsung heroes like so many. I just want to give them a shoutout, helping everybody right now….just outstanding care.”
“It’s worth bearing in mind when we talk about immigrants in this country, these are the immigrants currently saving people’s lives. Coming here and actually enriching our country and doing an amazing job. So thank you to all the Filipinos who are here doing all this amazing work and to every other working in the NHS currently. I hope at the end of this, we’ll have a, perhaps a different sentiment, a different feeling about what immigration has done for this country,” he said.
Read: Baby on a plane: Dublin-based Filipino nurse helps fellow passenger give birth during flight
The Philippines’ ambassador to the UK Antonio Lagdameo said there are 21,000 Filipino healthcare professionals in Britain, working for both the NHS and in privately-owned hospitals, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports. The Philippines has a long history of sending nurses to work overseas, which started when the United States Army recruited them in the early 1900s. Until now, Filipino nurses often leave for overseas jobs because of the minuscule pay that they receive in their homeland.
