A ceremony was held to send off the 16th Batch of Filipino Candidates for Nurse and Certified Careworker under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) at the Department of Migrant Workers in Mandaluyong City. First Secretary and Labor Attache Kanno Chihiro from the Embassy of Japan joined the ceremony and shared his well wishes to the new batch of JPEPA candidates.

The 16th batch is comprised of 223 candidates (composed of 13 nurses and 210 care workers). 222 candidates are scheduled to travel to Tokyo on June 11 and 12, while one care worker candidate who is exempted from the Japanese language trainings will travel at a later date.

The candidates underwent a six-month Preparatory Japanese Language Training in the Philippines, which concluded in May.

Another six months of intensive Japanese language training will be conducted upon their arrival in Japan, prior to their assignments in Japanese hospitals and caregiving facilities. Both language training sessions are free of charge, in addition to the daily living allowances provided for the whole training duration.

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

This commitment forms part of the JPEPA signed in 2006. Since the 1st batch in 2009, more than 3,800 Filipino nurse and certified careworker candidates were deployed under the JPEPA program.

Recruitment details for future batches will be posted on the DMW website once the hiring period begins. Embassy of Japan in the Philippines