No recruitment yet of nurses, caregivers for Japan -- POEA

By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 07:06pm (Mla time) 09/12/2006

THE Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) may have already been signed but the recruitment of nurses and caregivers for Japan will not begin immediately, so Filipino jobseekers should be wary of illegal recruiters who may take advantage of them.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz's aired this warning Tuesday, explaining that recruitment would begin only after finalization of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Philippines and Japan that will define the system of recruitment for caregivers destined for the East Asian country.

Baldoz said she was confident the MOA will be "finished very soon" since almost all issues relating to the selection and deployment of overseas Filipino workers, as well as the selection and qualification of Japanese employers, “have been resolved already."

President Macapagal-Arroyo and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signed the trade agreement in Helsinki, Finland. The free trade pact, among others, provides for the admission of 1,000 nurses and caregivers to Japan.

Under the agreement, candidates for jobs will be selected by the Philippine government through the POEA. They have to study the Japanese language for six months in Japan before they receive on-the-job training.

Within the three years of on-the-job training for nurses and four years for caregivers, the POEA chief said, they should pass the stringent Japanese qualification exams to allow them to work in Japan for a longer term; otherwise they will be sent home.

Baldoz disclosed that under the draft MOA, the recruitment and deployment of the health workers will be implemented by the POEA through its government-to-government hiring system and without the intervention of any private person or entity, including licensed agencies.

"We tried to negotiate for the participation of the private sector, but Japan stood firm on its position considering that this is the first time [a deployment of Filipino health personnel would be allowed in Japan] and they want to make sure that there will be no problem in its implementation," she said.

The Administrator said the terms of the proposed MOU will be "very cost-friendly" to the accepted workers -- there is no placement fee and includes free airfare and six months’ language training in Japan.

POEA will soon announce the start of the recruitment process, she added.