CEBU, Philippines - At least 480 slots await Filipino caregivers and nurses in Japan, said new Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Toshinao Urabe in a press conference in Cebu yesterday.
He said the hiring of caregivers and nurses is part of Japan’s recovery efforts following the successive earthquakes and tsunamis that hit the nation last March. At least 10,000 lives were lost and many others were displaced at that time.
Urabe said the Japanese continue to work hard to bring their country and lives back to normal. He said recovery efforts are expected to be completed by year’s end.
Urabe expressed his gratitude to the “warm sympathies” and support the Philippines extended to Japan during the catastrophe.
He pointed out the good relationship the Philippines shares with Japan, as well as the principles of democracy and free market that the two countries both espouse. He said this relationship and commonality are among the things he hopes to foster as ambassador. He said it is his mission “to develop the strategic partnership between Philippines and Japan.”
In fact, Urabe said, the importing of fresh fruits and processed fruits from the Philippines still continued.
“Twenty percent to 30 percent range of the importation of the mango fruits here in the Philippines going to Japan… there is no indicator that it was moving since the population in Japan is decreasing,” Urabe explained.
Urabe, who used to stay in the Philippines and studied at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School in Manila for kindergarten in 1954, said he has always seen Filipinos as hardworking and generous.
Urabe’s father was also a former Japan Ambassador to the Philippines from 1969 to 1974. —(FREEMAN)