Newly-appointed Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said Thursday he is planning on allowing nursing graduates without licenses to work for the government, provided that they pass the board exam in five years.

In an interview with ANC, Herbosa said he talked to Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) Commissioner Jose Cueto about hiring “board eligibles” in the Department of Health (DOH).

“We have several nurses that don’t pass the board examinations and don’t have a license. In government, you cannot work without a license. But I’m willing to take them if they have a diploma. I have 4,500 unfilled nursing positions,” said Herbosa, a former health undersecretary during the time of the late President Benigno Aquino III.

“If you have a diploma from an accredited school that is recognized, I’ll give you a period of time to pass it. This is the same as the US. And then you make them work for five years. I’ll give you five years to pass the board exam. I’ll even mentor them, put out money to teach them so they can pass their exam. So when they pass the exam, I’ll give you the full item of a licensed nurse,” he added.

Herbosa said he is also prioritizing the digitalization of the DOH to prevent corruption and to make it more accessible to the marginalized sectors.

“One of the things I am looking at is digitizing and making this organization very efficient. It’s a huge corporation. And running a huge organization with regional offices all over, supervising the healthcare of 113 million people. I need to digitize the healthcare, the way we deliver, the way the budget is spent and to be able to monitor quickly,” Herbosa said.

“I want to digitize the financing, the disbursement, and the spending and procurement of these billions of pesos of people’s tax money. I want them all to go to healthcare…I will use digital efficiency to make sure that COA (Commission on Audit) doesn’t come in anymore,” he said.

Herbosa said he is also in talks with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to pay the backlogs in the COVID-19 allowance of healthworkers.

He said he appointed former Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire as head of the undersecretaries and Undersecretary Eric Tayag as the agency's chief information officer.

Herbosa previously served as an adviser of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 during the pandemic. Jaspearl Tan/DMS