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MANILA, Phlippines – Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat directed the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), an agency under the Department of Tourism (DOT), to remove its current policy of allowing foreigners up to 35 years of age to “jubilen” in the Philippines.
“I have directed General Manager (Welcome) Chy of the PRA to review and change this long-standing policy. We will act for its immediate repeal, ”Puyat said in a text message to reporters on Wednesday.
No guarantees
Puyat issued the order after senators voiced alarm that the PRA allowed in nearly 28,000 Chinese tourists as retirees, saying this poses a threat to the security of the Philippines.
Chy said during the Senate hearing on the DOT budget that it has been the permanent policy of the PRA that foreigners not under the age of 35 can avail themselves of the privileges offered by the agency if retirees have at least $ 50,000 (approximately P2 .5 million) in cash on hand. .
Even in China, the state-run China Daily reported on its website that the average retirement age was 57 and the government was looking into raising the retirement age because China is one of the fastest aging societies in the world. the world.
During the Senate hearing, Senator Richard Gordon was enraged after learning of the PRA’s retirement age requirement and scolded Chy for failing to assure senators that the Chinese who were granted PRA privileges were actually retired and were not working in the country.
“It bothers me that anyone can come here, that 35-year-olds are allowed to ‘retire’ here,” Gordon told Chy and other PRA officials.
No tracking?
Chy explained that the PRA set the age at 35 because Korean soldiers could require at that age and were the goals of the policy.
“This has been the practice when I came in, this has been passed to the Board of Trustees, and it is just an ongoing program,” he added.
But Sen. Nancy Binay was also concerned that the PRA wasn’t even monitoring those with retirement privileges.
“I don’t know if he is monitoring them; Are you sure they are not working here in the Philippines and they are all retired? ” she asked.
Main foreign retirees
According to PRA data, the main foreign retirees staying in the Philippines are mainland Chinese, with 27,678 followed by Koreans with 14,144.
Senator Joel Villanueva, chairman of the Senate labor committee, also noted that in 2019, the Department of Labor and Employment detained 6,678 illegal workers who initially came to the Philippines on tourist visas “and then have been working illegally.”
Villanueva previously held several hearings in the Senate on the influx of illegal foreign workers into the Philippines.
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