Magandang umaga po. Ohayo gozaimasu. It is truly an honor for me to say a few words on this wonderful occasion today. Allow me to begin by congratulating all of you, the 8th batch of JPEPA nurse and careworker candidates for successfully passing the matching and selection process. By the way, you look so cool wearing white t-shirts. Perhaps “cool” in Japanese is “kakko ii”, so the first language you’ll remember. You may hear it quite often in Japan.
At the same time, I am personally very, very glad to attend this ceremony because before I was assigned as Ambassador to the Philippines, here, I was the Director-General for the Southeast and Southwest Asia in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dealing with diplomatic relations with Southeast Asian countries. This JPEPA is one of the areas I was responsible for, and I worked hard to improve this program when I was there. So I’m pretty happy to know that your group is the biggest batch since the beginning of this program under JPEPA. This simply shows the higher demand for Filipino nurses and careworkers in the growing aging society of Japan.
Learning proper Japanese language is one of the most important key factors in achieving success in this path that you have chosen. Your proficiency in the language is essential for your work and life in Japan as well as your passing the national examination. I know Japanese is one of the most difficult languages to study in the world, but the more you master it, the better the quality of your life will be.
I really appreciate your participation in such a challenging program. Your hospitality, which is a natural endowment of the Filipinos, will truly help the aging society in Japan. Rest assured that the Japanese Government, in cooperation with the Philippine Government, will continue to support all of you.
I am sure that all of you can achieve your goal and your effort will certainly contribute to the strong friendship between Japan and the Philippines.
To our candidates, I wish you all the best of luck.
Maraming salamat po. Arigato gozaimasu.
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