JPEPA – Good for Philippine Economy But Disadvantageous To Filipino Nurses?
Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement or JPEPA has been ratified by the Senate last week in spite of the many opposition and disgusto about it since it started in the lower house plenary. JPEPA boasts to help the ailing economic relationship with Japan heal its wounds.
Senators approving the treaty believed JPEPA needs to be ratified, otherwise, Japanese foreign direct investment and earnings from Philippine exports to Japan may go to other Southeast Asian countries where Japan has economic partnership agreements.
But why is there a lot of opposition to this so-called economic treaty?
Concerned groups and oppositors have expressed their concerns on the treaty even before this came to the Senate for debate. The contention is that it is unconstitutional since it violates the protectionist provisions in the Constitution. And the group that will be affected are Filipino nurses who wants to work in Japan.
The detractors believed that this same treaty will also become a “template” for other developed countries to exploit our OFWs particularly Pinoy nurses in exchange for economic and trade exchanges. And you know that we reported earlier that even the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) supports the call to junk the JPEPA during the legislative deliberation.
The impact is debilitating for most of our ordinary countrymen seeking healthcare-related jobs in Japan. For nurses, they will first work and get paid as trainees while preparing for the nursing licensure exam in the Japanese language. If they fail to pass the exam within a three-year period, they will have to return to the Philippines.
The treaty compromises Filipino nurses’ labor standards, job security, migrant and labor rights, benefits and wages, and other protection for healthcare workers and caregivers. Many believe that the trade agreement’s provision on labor services would compromise Filipino health workers and put them in a very vulnerable position.
16 Philippine senators voted in favor of the Treaty which is described to be as “onerous trade agreement.” Only four senators voted against the JPEPA.
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Philippine Government Still Optimistic About More Job Opportunities for Pinoy Nurses
The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) revealed that Pinoy nurses will still be very much in demand in the near future in developed countries.
This comes after the government helped the hiring of Filipino nurses in the Middles East which remains consistently high while Australia needs 200T Filipino nurses. Other countries that are opening up for Filipino nurses are Japan, Spain and Canada while deployment of Filipino nurses for the United Kingdom has dwindled.
The United States government, on the other hand, is fast tracking the nursing education for training their local nurses which might affect the number of deployment of Filipino nurses wanting to migrate there. This is expected to be counteracted by two house bills pending in US Congress that will open the hiring of foreign nurses to address the shortage of healthcare professionals in the US.
US Labor Department estimates that they will need 500,000 nurses between 2016 until 2025 as there will be millions of elderly people within this period and training their local nurses will not be enough to attend to the needs of the growing aging population.
PIA has acknowledged news report that there are 400T Filipino nurses left without employment as deployment for nurses abroad has slowed.
This is why it is extremely important for the Philippines to uplift the quality of the nurses today especially in the communication skills as well as hands-on experience as these will be the edge of the Filipino nurses when they work overseas.
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Up to 30,000 Pinoy OFWs Needed in Alberta, Canada
Seems to be a good news to all Filipinos who are aspiring to work in Canada. DOLE announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the province of Alberta, Canada for at least 10,000 job opportunities in the province alone. DOLE is looking at 20,000 more jobs coming in from other provinces.
The shortage for skilled and technical workers in Canada has pushed the Canadian government to seek the help of the local labor department who is more than willing to support this endeavour. Consequently, thousands of Pinoy nurses are expected to apply for the posts required by hospitals and nursing institutions in Canada.
We are hoping this will end the oversupply issue of Filipino nurses in the country.
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Pinoy Nurses to Take NCLEX in Saipan Drops due to NCLEX Manila
Filipino nurses wanting to take the NCLEX had previously favored Saipan because of its close proximity to the Philippines and the less stringent visa requirement of the CNMI government compared with the U.S. immigration in Guam.
However, with the test now being offered in Manila came a proportionate drop in the number of Pinoy nurses coming to Saipan to take the test.
A total of 9,837 Filipinos took the National Council Licensure Examination from January to June 2008, a decrease of 107 from last year’s number of 9,944 during the same time, Ernesto Herrera, general secretary of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, said in a press statement.
The United States’ National Council of State Boards of Nursing board of directors chose Manila as an international NCLEX site in February 2007, following the Philippine government’s request to host the NCLEX.
The Marianas Visitor’s Authority tabulated that the number of Filipino tourists dropped from 516 in July 2007 to 171 in July of this year. MVA officials said the drop in numbers could be attributed to Manila now offering the test.
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