Japan to employ more English-speaking Filipino teachers, says envoy

shutterstock

TOKYO — Japan will soon hire more English-speaking teachers and other professionals from the Philippines, Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel Lopez has said.

“We are starting to send more nurses and caregivers and soon, maybe even teachers, because Japan needs English-speaking teachers,” Ambassador Lopez said during an interview with Radio TV Malacañang (RTVM) at the Philippine embassy here Sunday.

“They like Filipino teachers. So, there might be a bigger demand for them here in Japan.”

He noted that a lot of Filipino professionals, particularly in the Information Technology industry, are working for multinationals in Japan.

Some of them, he said, do not need to speak fluent Japanese because their bosses are also expatriates.

Lopez further said that many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Japan are seafarers working for the Japanese maritime industry.

Filipino crewmen are manning some 75 percent of Japanese vessels, he added.

“They are very, very pleased with the quality of our seafarers,” he said.

There are also Filipino workers in Japan’s construction industry, he noted.

Lopez said Filipino nationals in Japan, among them 30 to 40 registered nurses, are excited to meet President Benigno S. Aquino III, who will arrive here Tuesday for a four-day state visit.

He said one of the highlights of the President’s meeting with the Filipino community here is the introduction of the nine Philippine Military Academy (PMA) cadets who are studying at Japan’s National Defense Academy under an exchange program.

An estimated 220,000 Filipinos are living in Japan, many of whom are permanent residents married to Japanese nationals, Lopez said.