Japan to help boost hiring of caregivers

STANDING as a strong ally of the country and the biggest source of official development assistance (ODA) loans—53 percent of the total, on average for the last 10 years—the government of Japan has pledged to strengthen its ties through more assistance in the hiring of Filipino caregivers and nurses.

In a meeting with President Aquino, visiting Sen. Hirohiko Nakamura, the chairman of the Special Committee on Official Development Assistance and Related Matters in the House of Councilors of Japan, said he tackled the issues related to the acceptance of caregivers and nurses in Japan. Also present at the meeting was Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, whom Nakamura said he made aware of the factors pertaining to the “obstacles to acceptance” of caregivers in Japan.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror on Thursday, the senator conceded that the acceptance is “not yet that much.” Because of such scenario, Nakamura said he told President Aquino Japan can put up a center for caregivers, to teach the Japanese language and provide training in caregiving.

“The Japanese demand for caregivers is different from the demands of Canada, US, Europe or Saudi [Middle East region] or other countries. Japanese people who need caregivers require more professionals [because] there are more [patients with severe problems]. So those who attempt [to apply] must have knowledge of medicine, physical therapy and language,” he said.

The interview was conducted on the sidelines of a visit by the senator to the Makati offices of Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, chairman emeritus of the ALC Group of Companies, of which the BusinessMirror is a part.

Nakamura told the BusinessMirror that President Aquino mentioned the 10 priority projects under its flagship public-private partnerships (PPP) program for 2011.

“So senators try to discuss with the President what can be assisted through Japanese ODA funds for these 10 priority projects in the Philippines,” he added.

Details of a terrestrial digital broadcasting system for the Philippines were also discussed. According to Nakamura, in the previous administration the Japanese side decided to pitch the Japanese system called ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting) for adoption by the Philippine government, but they still need to do some final adjustments to actually implement the broadcasting system. The project, he said, would entail “technological and economic assistance.”

He believes the digital broadcasting technology has “a lot of things to do” that could boost the information technology (IT) industry in the Philippines. He had underscored to President Aquino how important it is to coordinate the digital broadcasting service among different companies in the local IT sector.

Explaining his “mission” in his Manila visit, Nakamura said he is in Manila to strengthen the relationship between the Philippines and Japan through ODA-funded programs.

According to the National Economic 2009 ODA Portfolio Review data, Japan remains the biggest source of ODA loans in 2009; and in the last 10 years.

The Government of Japan accounted for 36 percent of the ODA loans in 2009, or an aggregate amount of $3.465 billion.

In the past 10 years, Japan accounted for an average of 53 percent of ODA loans.

Before he leaves the country on Friday, he will visit some of the ODA projects that Japan has already implemented and one of those is the Philippine Coast Guard project.

For his two-and-a-half-day stay in the Philippines, Nakamura admitted that he learned a lot again about the Philippines.

“I’ll bring back what I have learned from the Philippine system and make use of that knowledge and information in my activity in ODA promotion,” he said. –Anjo C. Alimario, Businessmirror