Training of Pinoy health workers in Swiss hospitals being worked out

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine embassy in Switzerland is looking into the possibility of opening the door for Filipino healthcare workers to work in Swiss hospitals by starting as trainees.

Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland Leslie Baja said a working group of the Philippines and Switzerland have met under the auspices of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to discuss the procedures on how this agreement could move forward so that a bigger number of trainees could avail of the program.

Last year, the embassy successfully worked for the lifting of the ban on au pairs to Switzerland, the first such lifting of the ban for a European country.

The lifting further enhanced the strong people-to-people contact between the Philippines and Switzerland.

There are about 10,000 Filipinos in Switzerland, mostly working in international organizations in Geneva and in Swiss health institutions.

In a recent meeting in Zurich, Baja informed the Filipinos present that in talks with Swiss officials, Baja was told that the Filipinos in Switzerland are among the most respected and well-liked foreign nationals in the country.

Baja told them that given this distinction, they are the best ambassadors of goodwill the Philippines can ever have in Switzerland.

The Philippines and Switzerland have a long history of warm and close relations. Diplomatic relations were established 55 years ago on Aug. 30, 1956 but the first Swiss consular representation in Asia was established in Manila in 1862 or almost 150 years ago.

Meantime, the embassy said two Filipino trainees opened the possibility of employment in Switzerland.

The trainees of Swiss company APM Technica, Shera Cardinal and Rianne Cabiao, called on Baja at the Chancery in Berne.

APM Technica is a full-service adhesive and surface technology provider and has a facility in the Philippine Economic Zone in Cabuyao, Laguna.

For several years now, APM Technica headed by Stefan Mattle has brought at least two trainees from the Philippines every 18 months to work at their headquarters in Heerbrugg in eastern Switzerland.

This program is being undertaken under the Philippines-Switzerland Agreement on the Exchange of Professional and Technical Trainees.