PHL Embassy: Pinoys may break into Swiss health industry as trainees

Philippine officials in Switzerland are studying how Filipinos can break into the Swiss health care industry by starting out as trainees. “The embassy is looking into the possibility of opening the door for Filipino healthcare workers to work in Swiss hospitals by starting as trainees," the Philippine Embassy in Switzerland said. In a news release of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the embassy cited two Filipino trainees of Swiss company APM Technica — Shera Cardinal and Rianne Cabiao — who called on Ambassador Leslie Baja at the Embassy in Berne on September 9. The DFA said APM Technica is an adhesive and surface technology provider and has a facility in the Philippine Economic Zone in Cabuyao, Laguna. For several years now, APM Technica has been bringing at least two trainees from the Philippines every 18 months to work at their headquarters in Heerbrugg in eastern Switzerland. This program is being undertaken under the Philippines-Switzerland Agreement on the Exchange of Professional and Technical Trainees. Last month, a bilateral working group met in Manila, together with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to discuss how a bigger number of trainees could avail of the program. According to the Embassy, there are about 10,000 Filipinos in Switzerland, mostly working in international organizations in Geneva and in Swiss health institutions. Au pairs Last year, the Philippine Embassy worked for the lifting of the ban on au pairs to Switzerland - the first such lifting of the ban for a European country. An "au pair" is a foreign domestic assistant working for, and living with a host family who receives a small monetary allowance. The lifting further enhances the strong people-to-people contact between the Philippines and Switzerland, the DFA said. “Au pair" is a French phrase that means “on par" or “equal to." Under the au pair program, Filipinos “live on an equal basis in a reciprocal, caring relationship" with their host families, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The aim of the program is for the au pair, a foreigner, to be at par or equal to locals by being treated as a member of the family instead of a domestic servant. In general, au pairs perform house work and child care. While they do not have formal salaries, they receive monetary allowance from their host families. Well-liked foreign nationals In a recent meeting with Filipinos in Zurich, Baja said Swiss officials told him Filipinos in Switzerland are among the most respected and well-liked foreign nationals in the country. “He told them that given this distinction, they are the best ambassadors of goodwill the Philippines can ever have in Switzerland," the DFA said. Diplomatic relations were established 55 years ago on August 30, 1956 but the first Swiss consular representation in Asia was established in Manila in 1862. - VVP, GMA News