Japan may ease hiring rules for Filipino caregivers

The Japanese government is looking into the possibility of relaxing its restrictive hiring rules for Filipino health care workers who would attend to its greying population. Masato Ohtaka, deputy press secretary of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, confirmed that since his government opened the hiring of Filipino nurses and caregivers, the required number of health care workers had not been achieved. The hiring of Filipino workers, mainly nurses and caregivers is provided for under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) signed by both countries in 2006 in Finland. The agreement, a first for the Philippines, was ratified by the Senate years after. “They are looking into that (relaxing hiring rules) … it depends on how much interest there is from the Filipino people and it depends on how successful our scheme is,” Ohtaka said in a recent briefing with reporters in a Manila hotel. 6-month training Japan requires Filipino applicants to undergo...