Sen. Mar Roxas on Friday denied claims by the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) that the recently ratified Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) would be a disadvantage to Filipino nurses.
Roxas added that Filipino nurses are only being given another overseas employment opportunity and clarified that JPEPA doesn’t forces nurses to seek employment in Japan.
“If they (Filipino nurses) don’t want to work in Japan, they can go to Canada, Australia or America. No one’s forcing them to go to Japan,” Roxas told ABS-CBN’s morning show, “Umagang Kay Ganda.”
The senator denied claims by the PNA that Filipino nurses would be receiving lower salaries in Japan compared to America and other countries.
Dr. Leah Primitiva Samaco-Paquiz, PNA national president, said a Filipino nurse would only receive at least $1,000 a month in Japan. She said the amount is much lower compared to salaries being offered in America that amounts from $2,500 to $2,800 a month.
The group also said that Japanese nurses are protesting the anticipated arrival of Filipino nurses into their country. It said Japanese nurses have been urging their government to constitute reforms first before bringing in the Filipinos.
Roxas, however, clarified that the $1,000 is the monthly allowance to be provided by the Japan government to Filipinos who will be allowed to learn Nihonggo in six months.
“The only problem is we can’t understand their language (Nihonggo),” the senator said. He said a Filipino nurse who wants to work in Japan would have to learn in six months how to speak and write the language.
After learning the language, he said a Filipino nurse becomes a nursing assistant with a salary of $2,800. A Filipino nurse who will be able to pass the Japanese nurses’ licensure examination will have the chance to receive a monthly salary of $3,500, the senator said.
Paquiz, meanwhile, told the senator that Filipino nurses should be treated as professionals in Japan not as assistants or trainees.
The PNA also urges the government to allow Filipino nurses to take the Japanese licensure examination in the Philippines.
The group feels the Filipino nurses “pride, dignity and professionalism” are being questioned by the Japan government’s requirements.
“Our nurses feel strongly that the bilateral agreement shortchanges the professional qualifications of Filipino nurses and exposes to potential abuse and discrimination those who may be unwittingly enticed to seek Japanese employment under its bilateral channel,” Paquiz said in a recent statement against JPEPA.
Paquiz also said that the treaty is “unfairly stacked against” Filipino nurses.
“It could be said that with the JPEPA Japan has opened the gate to the yard, but double-bolted the door to the house,” she added.
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