year-old former nightclub entertainer in Japan, is thrilled as she waited for her flight back to that country, this time as a caregiver. “I feel promoted. As a caregiver, I expect more respect. They need us there, right?” she said, trying to get an assurance in an interview with ABS-CBN News before she left for Japan on Sunday. Although she would earn only half as much as she used to from her previous job, she counts on the common practice among Japanese to reward their employees with bonuses. Jhoan joined the first batch of 270 nurses and caregivers hired by the country known for its cherry blossoms under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). Unlike the rest in the batch who worry about the new culture, Joan has an advantage. She didn't want her name mentioned because her family doesn't know about the nature of her previous job. She went to Japan in 1999 and was in and out of the country until 2005 when the Japanese government enforced strict rules for the entry of entertainers. As an entertainer, she sang in various clubs for which she earned P35,000 a month. Her big keeps came from tips from her male customers that ran up to P100,000 a month. “I stopped (trying to go back to Japan) and decided to go to a caregiving school. I was told I can go to Canada,” she said. She took a caregiving course at the St. Augustine School of Nursing in 2006. In 2007, she got married and started to raise her own family leaving a sordid past behind. She has a two-year-old child with her husband. It breaks her heart to leave the family behind, but hard times in the Philippines dictates that she and her family have to make some sacrifices. Before taking her flight on Sunday, she started looking forward to a homecoming during her vacation next year. Although she can speak Nipponggo, the Japanese language, she intends to undergo a formal language course for six months which is a requirement before they start working in Japan. “It's different when you just learn it by yourself. The grammar is different,” she said. Jhoan left on Sunday with 92 nurses and 188 caregivers, the first batch of Filipino health workers to be hired by Japan under an accord it signed with the Philippines in January. - ABS
