First batch of Filipino “professional housekeepers” leave  for Japan today

March 8, 2017

Rosary Amila, 33, for the first time will set foot in Japan on Thursday. She is one of the 25 female Filipinos to be deployed to Japan as a "professional housekeeper."

She underwent language, skills and culture training for two-and-a-half months in Manila under the supervision of Magsaysay Global Services, Inc., a land-based manpower and human resources services firm, before she and the 24 other girls leave for Tokyo at 7am on Thursday.

"Even if I have a degree, (being) a housekeeper is a good job," said Amila, who earned a secondary education degree in Bohol, although she is not yet a licensed teacher.

According to Jay Fernando, vice president of the Masgsaysay Global Services, the local counterpart of Pasona Inc., a Japanese employment and staffing solutions, one of the qualifications in choosing candidates for housekeeper in Japan is their work experience in similar field.

Amila used to work as a household help in Lebanon for six years until 2015.

She only left her job in Lebanon because her employers migrated to the United States.

Amila said Japan's opening up job for housekeepers comes when she was really scouting for another job overseas, which "is not far away from the Philippines."

"I feel excited. I know it's interesting thing to go there (in Japan)," she said as she feels trilled to taste Japanese ramen, try tea ceremony, experience riding in a bullet train, and see "sakura," among others.

The Filipino housekeepers, ages 28 to 45, will be deployed to Kanagawa Prefecture.

During their last day of orientation on Wednesday prior to their departure, lecturers from the Masgsaysay Global underscored to the ladies the need to do their best because they are the "pioneers" in this undertaking, which was first conceptualized during the previous administration.

"You are not there to pull each other down. You're there to support each other...you are not there individually, you are there as a group," a Filipina lecturer said.

According to Fernando, the first batch of 25 housekeepers were selected initially from a list of about 200 who applied for the job. Out of 200, only 90 were subjected in the communication and psychological tests, until the number was further trimmed to 50, then 28, and finally 25.

He said Magsaysay Global bought equipment, machines and products which are usually seen and used in a Japanese house and which the housekeepers utilized for their training.

"It is important for us to do well (in the deployment of housekeepers)," he said, recalling what former Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Hans Cacdac told them that this arrangement with Japan "is something that they worked hard to secure."

The housekeepers are expected to work in Japan for up to three years. Upon their arrival in Japan, they will undergo a few weeks of orientation and training before they actually go to work by April.

Fernando said Magsaysay Global will conduct screening in March and April for the next batches of housekeepers to Japan

The Abe administration pushed in 2015 for the approval of the entry of foreign housekeepers to Japan, a move aimed to ease labor shortages in the housekeeping industry in the East Asian country. Celerina Monte/DMS