Nurses group slams Sen. Roxas for endorsing JPEPA

The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) on Thursday slammed the decision of opposition Senator Mar Roxas to support the ratification of the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). PNA president Leah Samaco-Paquiz said that the agreement will lead to the exploitation of Filipino nurses in Japan, adding that her group was surprised and disappointed with the sudden turnaround of Roxas. "Roxas was asking so many tough questions during the Senate hearing, most of them left unanswered by the government panel defending the JPEPA, that we thought the senator would call for the junking of the treaty," said Paquiz. She also accused the senator of disregarding nurses’ concerns. "Roxas was very concerned with the nurses during the Senate hearings, even at times piqued by the failure of the government to negotiate a fair deal with Japan for us nurses. We are at a loss with the turnaround," she said. She said that under the proposed JPEPA, “a qualified Filipino nurse will not be accorded the status of a full-fledged Japanese nurse practicing in Japan. A qualified nurse with three solid years of work experience will go to Japan to become a trainee for up to three years." Filipino nurses are likely to get an allowance for a trainee, having no employment rights because they are neither employees nor workers under Japan's Immigration Control Act. “The Philippine government should turn down the treaty. If Japan truly needs nurses and is not just dangling the possibility of Japanese employment as a sweetener to JPEPA, it should equal the offer we get from other countries, where we are accorded equal status as the local professionals," Paquiz said. Bad deal In a previous interview, Ellen Sana, executive director of Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA), urged the senators to junk the JPEPA after a Japanese women’s group aired concerns over safety and security of health workers in Japan, particularly the caregivers. Sana cited a statement of the Women’s Association for the Better Aging (Wabas) asking Japanese authorities to raise the wages of caregivers. “The statement of Wabas simply reaffirmed the concerns we raised at the Senate hearing on JPEPA. Patunay ito na hindi namin iniimbento ang mga concerns namin about our health workers dahil mismong NGOs sa Japan alam nila ang tunay na sitwasyon," Sana explained. The Senate joint committee on foreign affairs, trade and industry, health, and environment, is expected to deliver its recommendation regarding the outcome of several public hearings on the proposed treaty. Sana noted that only 60 percent of about 545,000 Japanese caregivers practice their profession because the job is “stressful and very tiring," and that the salary is very low. “There is no shortage of caregivers in Japan. Japanese caregivers opted not to practice their profession because of the risk, work load and low pay. A caregiver has to do night shifts four times a month at an average of 15 hours per shift," she said. She added that aside from low salary, the likelihood of a caregiver getting infected by he patient’s diseases is high. Sana said 16.2 percent of caregivers in Japan got infected with patients’ diseases in the last two to three years. The CMA head stressed that JPEPA is a bad deal for Filipino health workers. To become a caregiver in Japan, the Filipino applicant must be a degree holder, but this is not the case with locals where even elementary school graduates can become caregivers. “JPEPA requirements are unrealistic and are quite difficult to comply with. Aside from a diploma in a four-year course in college, the applicant must have a formal (Japanese) language course for six months and training for three years," Sana explained. Japan is said to be in need of foreign caregivers in the near future because of its fast aging population. Based on a study by Nomura Capital Management Inc., Japan's population is aging faster than that of any other country and soon it would have only two able-bodied workers for every retiree. - Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV