President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met Charito Leonardo-Romano, the Filipina nurse residing in the United Kingdom who was awarded the British Empire Medal for her work during the COVID-19 pandemic, on Tuesday at Malacañang.

In 2021, the late Queen Elizabeth II awarded Romano and fellow Filipino nurse Xyza Aura Macutay-Malloch the British Empire Medal.

Marcos thanked Romano for her effort and emphasized his support for healthcare workers in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, May Parsons, a Filipina nurse in the United Kingdom, was the first person in the world to deliver a peer-reviewed COVID vaccine.