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By Nora O. Gamolo, OFW Times Editor
AMBASSADOR Luis T. Cruz lauds the unique
people-to-people relationship between South Korea and the
Philippines as he underscored the need to preserve and strengthen
the special ties between the two countries.
In an exclusive interview with The Seoul Times
dated May 2 on the occasion of a 17-person business and trade
mission from the Philippines, Cruz said that aside from business and
trade, bilateral relations is also best expressed in the people to
people exchange between the two countries.
Around 50,000 Filipinos currently live in South
Korea as students, professionals, spouses or workers.
Just the same, there are more Koreans in the
Philippines than there are Filipinos in Korea. Recent estimates show
that approximately 100,000 Koreans reside in the Philippines, either
as students, retirees, entrepreneurs, and diplomats, among others.
In 2007, approximately 100,000 Korean students
went to the Philippines, comprising almost 17 percent of total
arrivals, making South Korea the biggest sender of students to the
Philippines.
South Koreans also topped tourist arrivals in
the Philippines last year, with 654,000 visitors. Based on the
records of the Philippine Retirement Authority, some 47 percent of
foreign retirees who chose to stay in the Philippines, or around
2,620 program enrollees, were South Koreans.
Cruz underscored that overseas Filipino workers
in South Korea are among the best exports of the country.
“The Philippines is proud of its highly
educated and globalized workforce. Our overseas workers not only
help the economy of the Philippines through their remittances, but
also directly contribute to the development of the economies of
their respective host countries,” Cruz told the paper.
Around eight million Filipinos actually fuel the
economies of practically all nations by providing services as
teachers, engineers, computer programmers, nurses, caregivers,
factory workers, architects, household help, financial analysts and
corporate decision makers.
“The subject of exporting labor is definitely
multi-dimensional, but one thing I wish to bring up is the amazing
ability of Filipinos to adapt to local customs and quickly acquire
necessary skills. Filipinos are known for their wit, reliability and
ingenuity,” he said.
South Korea is unique to the Philippines since
it is the only country where the country has a government-to-government
labor-sending arrangement. Under the Employment Permit System,
Filipinos who wish to work in South Korea apply through the Philippine
government. South Korean employers also go through a similar process
with the Ministry of Labor, he said
“Both countries will re-negotiate the
agreement later this year once the current contract expires. We will
be making appropriate recommendations regarding ways to further
enhance this mutually beneficial arrangement at an appropriate time,
continuously bearing in mind the welfare of our workers,” Cruz
added.
In the Philippines, Korean companies are very
active in shipbuilding, energy, manufacturing and
infrastructure-building. Korean companies abound in investment zones
and are generally well accepted.
Koreans are known for their hard work, a trait
which is undoubtedly one of its keys towards rapid industrialization.
Companies like Samsung, KEPCO, Hanjin and POSCO are brand names that
reflect the strength of Korean industry.
“With the continued influx of Korean
investments to the Philippines, I will not be surprised if Korea
gains another “Number One” in the Philippines this year, number
one in terms of foreign direct investment flow,” he said.
In 2006, South Korea became the top investor in
the Philippines owing to investments by Hanjin. It is consistently
in the list of top 10 investors, a trend expected to continue with
Hanjin’s decision to construct another facility in Mindanao this
year, Cruz explained.
Apart from investments in shipbuilding, energy
and manufacturing, South Korea may consider expanding to sectors
such as electronics and industrial estate development;
infrastructure-building for tourism, medical tourism and retirement;
automotive parts and components-areas where the Philippines can be
a production hub; education; mining and metal; film and creative
arts; and pharmaceutical and biosciences.
Cruz believed, however, that “There is plenty
of space for [the Philippines] to explore and take advantage of our
competencies. One particular area that we promote is the entry of
Filipino English teachers to the Korean market. Korean law right now
allows only speakers from native English-speaking countries as
teachers of English.”
He pointed out that this thinking needs to
change and the qualifications of the potential English teacher
should be the foremost consideration, not his or her nationality.
“There are plenty of excellent English
teachers in the Philippines who can help South Korea educate its
people and instill a more global outlook. Filipinos have been hired
as English teachers in countries like the US and Canada. Why can’t
South Korea?,” he told The Seoul Times.
He then suggested that Korean students to go out
of their shell. While they can enroll in exclusive schools, many
opportunities for learning may be lost if the invaluable space for
interaction readily offered by studying abroad like in schools in
the Philippines becomes restricted.
“I would encourage students, whether they
study in exclusive schools or not, to explore the world outside the
confines of their classrooms. The enriching experience of knowing
other customs and mindsets, of expanding one’s horizons and
discarding biases, is already laid out for foreign students [and]
they only need to grab the opportunity,” he stressed.
“When picking a school, I would recommend that
students go through appropriate channels and select accredited
institutes to ensure the quality of their stay and education,”
he concluded.
The 17-person mission arrived in South Korea on
April 18 and visited the Korea IT International Cooperation Agency
and Korea Association of Information and Telecommunication to
get the first hand information about Korean IT industries. It also
observed the facilities of Seoul Data Center of Seoul Metropolitan
Government and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in
Taejon, some 130 km south of Seoul.
The Philippines was a staunch supporter of the
United States during the Cold War era, and was among the first to
send troops to the Korean peninsula to check the advance of the
communists from the northern part of the 17th Parallel.
The Philippines became the fifth country to
recognize South Korea when diplomatic ties were established on March
3, 1949. Cruz added that upon landing in Busan on September 19,
1950, the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea became the 10th
Battalion Combat Team and the third United Nations Command ground
combat unit to enter the Korean War after the United States and the
United Kingdom.
This bilateral relationship has since grown from
a purely military collaboration to a wide-ranging partnership that
covers political-security, development cooperation, economic and
socio-cultural matters.
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