Prioritize OFWs, Japan urged

Overseas performing artists (OPAs) and health workers challenged the Japanese government to prioritize the deployment of Filipino workers as a way to truly recognize the 50th year of Philippines-Japan bilateral relations.

President Arroyo has declared 2006 as "RP-Japan Friendship Year," with a kick-off program slated at the Cultural Center of the Philippines tomorrow.

In a statement, the Philippine Overseas Entertainment Industry (POEI) Foundation and the Federation of Entertainment Talents/Managers of the Philippines (FETMOP) dared the governments of both countries to be credible to their respective people and "go beyond putting up an act in their supposed healthy bilateral relations."

One remaining thorn for both countries is the near virtual displacement of OPAs in Japan after it imposed stricter immigration rules on foreign entertainers in March last year, according to Willie Espiritu, president of POEI Foundation and FETMOP.

Espiritu said OPA deployment has dwindled from a record high of 85,000 in 2004 to a record low of 35,000 or even less last year.

He added the deployment of Filipino nurses to Japan also hangs in the balance.

The groups revealed that the two countries are rushing the enactment of the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement or JPEPA, touted to be RP’s first bilateral trade agreement with Japan, and Japan’s third with the Philippines. — Nestor Etolle