Secretary Bello Discusses Healthcare Employment Cooperation With Stakeholders, Inspects New Labor Office in Berlin

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III (second from left) with Labor Attaché Delmer Cruz (leftmost) and Ambassador  to Germany Theresa Dizon-De Vega (third from left), and Consul General Lilibeth Pono (rightmost) engages stakeholders in a candid exchange on mutually beneficial healthcare employment cooperation (Berlin PE photo)

BERLIN 27 June 2019 — Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III visited Berlin after participating in the 108th Session of the International Labor Conference in Geneva, and engaged with stakeholders of Philippine-German healthcare employment cooperation at a roundtable discussion organized by the Philippine Embassy in Berlin on 19 June 2019.

With more than 30 representatives from placement agencies, employers, and the ranks of Filipino nurses, the roundtable meeting was an opportunity to discuss opportunities, as well as challenges, in the bilateral healthcare cooperation program, and to share ideas on how to move the program forward for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

Secretary Bello also checked on the preparations for the opening of a Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) at the Embassy. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was conducted, where the Secretary was joined by incoming Labor Attaché Delmer R. Cruz, who will be transferring to Berlin from his current station in Geneva. As of now, POLO-Geneva administers services for Germany, such as employment contract verification and overseas employment certificate (OEC) issuance. POLO-Berlin is expected to be fully operational by August 2019.

After the ribbon-cutting, Secretary Bello joined Ambassador Dizon-De Vega at the diplomatic reception hosted by the Embassy in celebration of the 121st Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence at Maritim Hotel. He also delivered remarks at the occasion, which was also attended by several healthcare industry stakeholders. END

Participants in the roundtable included employers, placement agencies, and Filipino nurses. (Berlin PE photo)

The Secretary took the opportunity to inspect the future office of incoming Labor Attaché Delmer Cruz. (Berlin PE photo)

For more information, visit  https://www.berlinpe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippine-embassy.de or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGermany.