28 August 2013 – Two qualified Filipino health care professionals have been employed in Germany under the Philippine-German labor agreement signed in Manila in March this year.  They are the first ever to be working in Germany under the agreement between the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Zentrale Auslands-und Fachvermittlung (ZAV), the government office in Bonn supervising the deployment of foreign workers to Germany.

Starting last July 22, the two Filipino nurses Christine C. Baluis and Ernestine Vivien L. Chiu have been employed as expert health care professionals at the Senioren-Residenz Haus Veronika in Reinsfeld, near the historic city of Trier in the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Ms. Baluis, who hails from Ilocos Norte, has been in Germany on a student visa to study the German language.  Ms. Chiu comes from Iligan City and first came to Germany on an au pair visa.  She extended her stay on a student visa to study the German language.  They both met each other in the German language school.

“Both of us share a single housing unit, which is good for us as we adjust ourselves to our new jobs,” Ms. Chiu said.   She called up the Philippine Embassy in Berlin to break the good news in her native Visayan language, “Mao na ni!” or “This is it!” to express her relief that at last she was employed.

Ms. Ester Mergens-Looschelders, Director of Haus Veronika, also called up the Philippine Embassy to express her thanks for giving its support for the application papers of Ms. Baluis and Ms. Chiu that needed the approval of the ZAV.  Ms. Mergens-Looschelders added, “We put them together in one housing unit within our compound during their adjustment phase, and they seem to be doing very well so far.”

Senioren-Residenz Haus Veronika was founded in 1985 as a private home for the elderly. It is a member of the German Federation of Private Social Service Providers, BPA.

BPA President Bernd Meurer welcomed these first results of the labor agreement and said, “The BPA fully supports its member facilities with regard to the recruitment of foreign skilled personnel since there is a huge shortage of currently 50,000 skilled workers.  And Germany is expected to face an even more severe shortage of nurses in the near future.”

In its press release, the BPA recognized the support and collaboration of the Embassy in facilitating ZAV’s approval of the application for employment of Ms. Baluis and Ms. Chiu.

The Philippine Embassy organized a meeting between Mr. Meurer and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert F. del Rosario in December 2011 in Berlin, and again with Vice President Jejomar Binay in June 2013 in Hamburg.

“I am happy that I am finally employed here in Germany, and that Vice President Binay is supporting the deployment of qualified Filipino health care professionals to Germany,” Ms. Chiu said.

Ms. Baluis and Ms. Chiu could be employed right away because they already have the B2 level German Language Certificate, as well as the German Nursing Profession Recognition Certificate that allows them to carry the title of a nurse.  They worked on these two certificates on their own while they were in Germany under a temporary visitor status.

Meanwhile, qualified Filipino health care professionals in the Philippines who wish to be employed in Germany under the bilateral labor agreement must apply with the POEA.  If qualified, they are required to undertake a six-month German language course in the Philippines before deployment to Germany.  The first batch is expected to arrive in Germany towards the end of this year.  END