JPEPA stands for Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement. It was signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on September 9, 2006.
JPEPA is a bilateral "mega" trade treaty between the two countries that seeks to promote investments and the trade of goods and services.
While JPEPA is an "economic" agreement and one of the main purp0ses is to reduce barriers to products like bananas, it also aims to facilitate the movement of human beings, in particular, Filipino nurses and caregivers to the aging society.
Upon its ratification, 400 Filipino nurses and 600 caregivers would be allowed to undergo training in Japan for the next years under the JPEPA scheme.
Japan will grant a 3-year "specified" visa to the nurses, a 4-year visa to the caregivers. They are required to pass the national board exams in Japan before they work as nurses/caregivers,and if they fail the exams during their stay, they have to leave Japan immediately.
Some say JPEPA is good because, at least, it would provide employment opportunities to Filipino nurses and caregivers. However, a lot of concerns over the provisions have been raised by migrant groups, trade unions, NGOs and even the Philippine Nurses Association.
It is in part because during the negotiation of JPEPA, the Philippine government did not consult with those stakeholders,whereas the Japanese government fully took into consideration the opinion of the Japanese Nursing Association, which strongly opposed JPEPA at first.
As of February 2008, JPEPA is not in effect as the Philippine Senate has not yet ratified it. The Japanese Diet or Congress approved the treaty in December, 2006.
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