Last Wednesday, a ceremony was held to send-off the 17th batch of Filipino Candidates for Nurse and Certified Careworker under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) organized by the Department of Migrant Workers.

Minister Naobumi Yokota, Minister for Economic Affairs of the Embassy of Japan, joined the ceremony and conveyed his well wishes to the candidates along with Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, Assistant Secretary Levinson Alcantara, and Director Rosemarie Duquez, as well as Director Ben Suzuki of the Japan Foundation, Manila (JFM).

All candidates were hired through a government-to-government arrangement facilitated by the Department of Migrant Workers and the Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS).

This initiative is part of the implementation of the JPEPA, signed in 2006. Since the deployment of the first batch in 2009, over 4,000 Filipino Candidates for Nurse and Certified Careworker have participated in the program.

The 17th batch consists of 218 candidates (19 nurses and 199 careworkers), who are scheduled to leave for Japan in June 2025.

Prior to their deployment, the candidates completed six months of Preparatory Japanese Language Training in the Philippines, which concluded in May 2025.

Upon their arrival in Japan, they will undergo an additional six months of intensive Japanese language training prior to their assignments in Japanese hospitals and caregiving facilities.

These will be provided free of charge and will include daily living allowances throughout the training period. The candidates will then be deployed to their assigned facilities and will undergo further training geared towards obtaining Japanese national licenses in their respective fields. Japan Information and Culture Center