Commenting on Philippine nurses being treated like exports for decades and now pressured to stay home to fight to coronavirus, SMU Assistant Professor of Sociology Yasmin Ortiga said, “Filipino nurses have long been treated as products for export – produced and marketed to wealthier countries looking to buy cheaper labor for their own understaffed hospitals." She added, "The pandemic changes the dynamic in that now. ... But in the end, the nurses are still treated like commodities to use, and not as people who deserve proper compensation and support.”