Japan to accept RP nurses but...

Japan wants to hire Filipino nurses and care-givers, but Filipino domestic helpers are losing out to Indonesians in Hong Kong.

In a rare opening of its labor market to foreigners, Japan plans to accept up to 200 Filipino nurses and caregivers for the elderly if they pass national qualifying examinations in Tokyo.

A draft plan of the Japanese health and labor ministries envisages giving selected Filipino nurses and caregivers training in Japanese language and culture in their home country for up to one year, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said.

Mainichi said the Filipinos would be then invited to Japan for on-the-job training and study for Japan’s national examinations to obtain formal licenses.

They would be sent home if they fail the exams, the newspaper added.

If would be the first time that Japan has accepted foreign workers as part of a free trade agreement (FTA).

But Mainichi said it would not be easy to get consent on the plan as the Philippines is bound to oppose the idea of setting a quota for the acceptance number.

Japan and the Philippines are to hold a fourth round of FTA talks in Tokyo for three days from Monday.

In Hong Kong, Philippine consulate labor attaché Bernardino Julve said the number of Filipino maids sent to Hong Kong fell from 155,470 in 2001 to 123,189 in 2003.

This was partly due to the economic slowdown in Hong Kong and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in 2003, he added.

However, Julve said domestic workers from Indonesia were becoming more attractive to Hong Kong employers.

Many Indonesian workers receive good training before being sent abroad, he added.

Julve said the assertiveness of Filipinos has been a factor in the decision of Hong Kong employers to hire more Indonesians, he added.

"It’s a cultural clash because Filipinos are born, raised and educated in a democratic society, while the Chinese with their Confucian values value discipline, order and hierarchy," he said.

Indonesian placement firms also collect a fee of P128,000 per worker compared to Filipino firms which only get about P 28,000, he added.

The majority of Hong Kong’s foreign domestic helpers are from the Philippines, with Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal and Sri Lanka contributing significant numbers.

Meanwhile, labor officials said more Filipinos are expected to be hired abroad as the government eases rules on the entry of foreign employers.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said foreign principals who will visit the country to hold job interviews will no longer have to secure a special work permit.

POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz said local agencies are required to notify them two days before a foreign employer is scheduled to interview job applicants.

"In case the foreign employer or duly authorized representatives will conduct recruitment or job interviews inside the local agency’s registered office, the agency shall inform the POEA," she said.

In the past, all foreign employers are required to secure special work permits from the POEA before they could conduct job interviews here.

Local recruitment agencies expressed support for the POEA move, claiming such exemption is a victory for the recruitment industry because it would encourage foreign employers to come here.

Foreign employers have complained of the inconvenience of securing special work permits before they could conduct job interviews.

"Foreign employers were discouraged because they are required to secure special work permits even if they will stay in the country for only two days to conduct job interviews," a local recruiter said.

Despite the exemption, Baldoz said the Bureau of Immigration will continue to monitor the entry and compliance of foreign employers with immigration laws.

Baldoz said Japanese employers are restricted from holding job interviews in hotel lobbies or outside specific venues stated in their letter of acknowledgment from the POEA.

"Non-compliant local agencies will be penalized and erring employers will be subjected to disciplinary action like watchlisting or suspension from engaging in overseas employment," she said. — AFP, Mayen Jaymalin