Picturesque Cities

[bulakenyo]

My Belgian colleague is planning to retire here in the Philippines. And that's whether we have the infrastructure/facilities or not. I asked her why and she told it's the people.

[cheersmate]

one big concern is healthcare..
senior citizens have free healthcare in their own country,including medicines.
am sure they'll have enough to pay for private care in pinas,
but outside manila,good facilities are not just there.
let alone med staff to look after them.
maybe some fil dr retirees,nurses,med techs,physios & other in med field will build own hospitals..would be fun to be still doing something for the community..
keep the oldies young lol..

[DoggMann]

Originally Posted by cheersmate

one big concern is healthcare..
senior citizens have free healthcare in their own country,including medicines.
am sure they'll have enough to pay for private care in pinas,
but outside manila,good facilities are not just there.
let alone med staff to look after them.
maybe some fil dr retirees,nurses,med techs,physios & other in med field will build own hospitals..would be fun to be still doing something for the community..
keep the oldies young lol..

I think the retirees from US (I do not know about other countries) will still get the benefit of their healthcare. It is part of the petition initiated by the Coalition of Filipino Doctors and medical practitioners in the US for the Philippine government to negotiate retirement and healthcare trade.

I think they are already gearing up with the idea for years now... so healthcare is a on their priority list...

What I am more worried about is the govt. crime prevention program...
I am hoping for their success...

Pagnagkataon napaka swerte naman ng mga pinoy na galing US ... hehehe siguradong makapagreretire sila sa pinas ng walang problema...
sino sino ba nasa US dito?
----------------------------------------------

http://www.aboutappa.org/HCI.htm

Health Care Coalition Institute
May 5, 2005

Dear Colleagues

I am excited to inform you that our hard work in the Healthcare Coalition Institute (HCI) for the past 4 years have gained the attention of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs through its Filipino American Economic Development Council (FAEDC) initiative. FAEDC is a multi-sectoral work groups that has been meeting regularly since Nov. 2004, in response to the appeal by Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alberto Romulo and Ambassador Cesar Bautista, to Filipinos in America to assist actively in the economic Development of the country.

One of the workgroups, - the FAEDC Healthcare and Wellness Group (FAEDC-HWG) - has tasked the Healthcare Coalition Institute (HCI), of which I am the Medical Director, to articulate and present an action plan to respond to this �Call to Arms�. The result is the attached Petition for �International Retirement and Healthcare Zones� (IRHZ), which I urge you to seriously consider and sign to assure the Philippine Government that the Philippine Physicians in America is now being presented as a National Block. of Influence.

As part of this initiative, on July 11 through July 15, 2005 and arranged through the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles, the FAEDC-HWG/HCI core participants will present to the E.O. 372: A Public-Private Sector Task Force for the Development of Globally Competitive Philippine Service Industries and various Philippine government agencies an action plan to develop and administer �International Retirement and Healthcare Zones�. The objectives of the action plan are:

Equip the Philippines with an initial, globally competitive and sustainable model for an "International Retirement and Healthcare Program" in specifically designated and carved-out zones. This includes but not limited to equipping the President (or her trade representative) with a concrete model to negotiate retirement and healthcare trade projects with the U.S. and OECD countries.
Equip the Philippines with an initial set of figures that could be utilized for any combination of the following: estimate the size of the target market and provisioning of retirement, healthcare and ancillary services; justify the level of priority and resources assigned to develop and administer this program; apply for loans to international financing institutions; etc.

What are inside the International Retirement and Healthcare Zones?

1) Business incentives, including tax holidays and loans. Foreign entities could own 100% of facilities. Alternatively, foreign entities could participate in build, lease and turn-over programs. This will be in exchange for hiring local practitioners meeting IRHZ and employer accreditation standards.

2) Operate based on U.S. based performance standards and business practices or better.

3) Collaborative ventures with academia, industry, etc. � domestic and international.

4) Facilities: retirement, healthcare, health tourism, research, academia, financial, IT, retail, transportation, retail, manufacturing and others.

5) Rehabilitation and retiree facilities and programs: courses, hiking, internet access, teach, etc.).

6) Others

Portions of the plan were presented at the Joint Meeting of the House of Delegates and Executive Council and Auxiliary at their Spring Meeting in Louisville, KY on April 30, 2005.

Your participation in this Petition Campaign is crucial to this endeavor. Please review, sign and mail the petition to the Mrs. Yolanda S. Sison, MS, Vice Chair of the FAEDC-HWG, Los Angeles. It is imperative that you provide as much information as possible in the petition because we expect a certain level dynamic interaction with the signatories as we go through various phases of the project. Please note that the Petition is also being circulated among nurses, dentists, medical technologists and other healthcare practitioners.

Sincerely,


Manuel A. Sison, MD
Medical Director, HealthCare Coalition Institute
Chairperson and President, appaEducation Research Foundation

--------------------------------------
The Petition Letter

PETITION TO THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT

I, the undersigned, support Healthcare Coalition Institute’s initiative to develop and administer International Retirement and Healthcare Zones (IRHZ) at specifically designated and carved out zones in the Philippines. These IRHZs will include, but not limited to the following:

1) Business incentives, including tax holidays, loans and 100% foreign ownership. Foreign entities could also participate in build, lease and turn-over programs. This will be in exchange for hiring local practitioners and service providers meeting IRHZ and employer accreditation standards.
2) Operate based on U.S. performance standards and business practices or better.
3) Collaborative ventures with academia, industry, etc. – domestic and international.
4) Facilities: retirement, healthcare, health tourism, research, academia, financial, IT, retail, transportation, retail, manufacturing and others.
5) Rehabilitation, retiree and ancillary programs: courses, hiking, support programs, internet access, etc.
6) Others.

Sincerely,

Signature:
Date:
Name:
Profession(s):

Mailing Address:

Phone Number:
FAX Number:
Email Address:
Organizational Affiliation(s):

Enumerate States where you practice:
Medical Specialty: _______________________
License Number (Optional): ________________________________________________
Referrals (Optional):


Please send completed petition to:

Yolanda Sison
P.O. Box 452164
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Phone: (310) 889-7131; Email: ustmafyss@aol.com
FAX: (310) 889-7131, or (626) 917-4825
http://www.aboutappa.org

[lewdsaint]

The Philippines as a retirement haven


THE Philippines, through the initiative of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has taken a bold step that promises to make the country a haven for retirees. The President has declared the retirement industry a flagship project and appointed former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, retired Director General Edgardo B. Aglipay, as the head of the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA).


Industry sources say that a fully developed Philippine retirement industry could create four million jobs and generate income of billion for the country by 2015. The newly appointed PRA head has noted that the retirement industry has been growing by leaps and bounds in the past few years due to changes in global demographics, specifically aging populations in post-industrialized countries. The PRA estimates that the Philippines can support one million to three million retirees.

There is a need to develop a retirement package that would include health care and retirement villages. The PRA is optimistic that with the support of the private sector, particularly real estate developers, hospitals, and leisure area owners, plans to set up retirement villages in Baguio City, Tagaytay City, Subic, Clark, Cebu, Iloilo, Boracay, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro will push through and start to draw the projected retirees into the country.

We congratulate the Philippine Retirement Authority headed by former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, retired Director General Edgardo B. Aglipay and Personnel, and wish them success in all their endeavors.


Source : http://www.mb.com.ph/archive_pages.p...060966331.html

[sandrin]

I will definitely retire in the Philippines. I will build an empire that will create jobs and uplift the lives of our kababayan. All the knowledge that I'd gain here will be siphoned back to the Philippines.

[sugarboy]

2015 PROJECTION
Retirement villages to earn $40B, generate 4M jobs

First posted 00:40am (Mla time) May 27, 2006
By Tessa Salazar
Inquirer



Editor's Note: Published on page B2-1 of the May 27, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

A DRAMATIC shift in selected countries’ demographics in the near future could bring in at least 859,000 foreign retiree arrivals to the Philippines. That number represents less than one percent of the 869.1 million projected retirees the developed world will produce between 2006 and 2015.

Foreseeing nearly a billion retirees looking for a place to spend the rest of their lives, the local retirement industry, especially property developers, are being urged to prepare for at least nearly a million retirees from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, the United States, Canada and other European countries and even former Filipinos or “balikbayans” with dual citizenships looking forward to spend the twilight of their lives back to their homeland.

Housing demand

The main participant, which is the real estate industry, is projected to have 859,000 housing demand either lease or purchase for the next 10 years.

The retirement industry is projected to hit the target foreign exchange receipts at a cumulative $40 billion, with 4 million jobs generated by 2015, making the Philippines a major retirement haven in Southeast Asia for foreigners.

“We don’t have a retirement industry right now. SHDA (Subdivision and Housing Developers Association) is spearheading the creation of the industry. If we’ll not work as a team, we cannot compete with Thailand and Malaysia -- two of the main destinations of retirees,” said Noel Gonzales, summit chair and director of the Philippine Retirement Industry. PRI is a private sector organization composed of real estate, health care and lifestyle group.

Industry blueprint

He added that the summit for the retirement industry culminating on July 3 in Shangri-La Makati will create a blueprint for the retirement industry.

Government agency Philippine Retirement Authority and private entity PRI revealed that the other infrastructure necessary for the influx of the retiree market are health and insurance facilities (24-hour clinics, hospitals, airlift ambulance services); 24-hour security arrangements; and recreational, cultural and educational and travel/transportation services.

All these infrastructure and services, the two agencies said, could be integrated into a so-called “retirement village” so that members would have easier access to such services and facilities.

Gen. Edgardo Aglipay, chair of the PRA and Gonzales are scheduled to present plans for the retirement industry to President Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday.

Big 5 developers

Ernesto Ordoñez, incoming president of the PRI, revealed that initially his group has already united the “Big 5” property developers -- Gotianun, Gokongwei, Sy, Ayala and Tan -- to be part of the group.

Aglipay stressed that the first wave of retirees coming to the Philippines is crucial for the country’s subsequent success in the retirement industry. Thus, he said, it would be necessary to get the support of big names that have the reputation, experience and capability to produce what are needed for the retirement communities.

“They have the condominiums, hospitals, banks, almost everything that a retirement industry needs. It’s just integrating what they have to be able to provide the total retirement services,” he said.

Retirement ‘hotspots’

Prospective retirement “hotspots” have been identified in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. These include Metro Clark, Metro Subic, Baguio, Tagaytay, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Cebu, Bohol, Bacolod, Palawan, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

Gonzales revealed that the reasons for the demographic shift favoring the Philippines include pension payment increases in developed countries amounting $1,000 to $1,500 per individual would be insufficient to live on in such countries; family support systems for older people are eroding because of smaller families and a highly mobile population; and the inevitability of mass migration.

Another objective that the groups hope to achieve is the reverse migration of Filipino caregivers.

By 2025, the number of people aged 60 and over will be highest in Japan, Italy and Germany.

120-ha. retirement village

Meanwhile, a retirement village in Bantay, Ilocos Sur, is in the drawing boards as revealed recently by Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Chavit Singson to the Inquirer.

Over 120 hectares of rolling hills in Bantay, a town near Vigan, have already been surveyed.

“It will be retirement homes for different nationalities like Koreans, Germans and Taiwanese. And then right at the center of the community would be mall facilities -- movie houses and supermarkets,” Singson said.

[3cr]

Hope this happens. It will really be great if FilAms and those US citizens planning to retire in the Philippines can eventually use their US MediCare privileges in the Philippines.

Originally Posted by DoggMann

I think the retirees from US (I do not know about other countries) will still get the benefit of their healthcare. It is part of the petition initiated by the Coalition of Filipino Doctors and medical practitioners in the US for the Philippine government to negotiate retirement and healthcare trade.

Pagnagkataon napaka swerte naman ng mga pinoy na galing US ... hehehe siguradong makapagreretire sila sa pinas ng walang problema...
sino sino ba nasa US dito?
----------------------------------------------

http://www.aboutappa.org/HCI.htm

Health Care Coalition Institute
May 5, 2005

Dear Colleagues

I am excited to inform you that our hard work in the Healthcare Coalition Institute (HCI) for the past 4 years have gained the attention of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs through its Filipino American Economic Development Council (FAEDC) initiative. FAEDC is a multi-sectoral work groups that has been meeting regularly since Nov. 2004, in response to the appeal by Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alberto Romulo and Ambassador Cesar Bautista, to Filipinos in America to assist actively in the economic Development of the country.

One of the workgroups, - the FAEDC Healthcare and Wellness Group (FAEDC-HWG) - has tasked the Healthcare Coalition Institute (HCI), of which I am the Medical Director, to articulate and present an action plan to respond to this �Call to Arms�. The result is the attached Petition for �International Retirement and Healthcare Zones� (IRHZ), which I urge you to seriously consider and sign to assure the Philippine Government that the Philippine Physicians in America is now being presented as a National Block. of Influence.

As part of this initiative, on July 11 through July 15, 2005 and arranged through the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles, the FAEDC-HWG/HCI core participants will present to the E.O. 372: A Public-Private Sector Task Force for the Development of Globally Competitive Philippine Service Industries and various Philippine government agencies an action plan to develop and administer �International Retirement and Healthcare Zones�. The objectives of the action plan are:

Equip the Philippines with an initial, globally competitive and sustainable model for an "International Retirement and Healthcare Program" in specifically designated and carved-out zones. This includes but not limited to equipping the President (or her trade representative) with a concrete model to negotiate retirement and healthcare trade projects with the U.S. and OECD countries.
Equip the Philippines with an initial set of figures that could be utilized for any combination of the following: estimate the size of the target market and provisioning of retirement, healthcare and ancillary services; justify the level of priority and resources assigned to develop and administer this program; apply for loans to international financing institutions; etc.

What are inside the International Retirement and Healthcare Zones?

1) Business incentives, including tax holidays and loans. Foreign entities could own 100% of facilities. Alternatively, foreign entities could participate in build, lease and turn-over programs. This will be in exchange for hiring local practitioners meeting IRHZ and employer accreditation standards.

2) Operate based on U.S. based performance standards and business practices or better.

3) Collaborative ventures with academia, industry, etc. � domestic and international.

4) Facilities: retirement, healthcare, health tourism, research, academia, financial, IT, retail, transportation, retail, manufacturing and others.

5) Rehabilitation and retiree facilities and programs: courses, hiking, internet access, teach, etc.).

6) Others

Portions of the plan were presented at the Joint Meeting of the House of Delegates and Executive Council and Auxiliary at their Spring Meeting in Louisville, KY on April 30, 2005.

Your participation in this Petition Campaign is crucial to this endeavor. Please review, sign and mail the petition to the Mrs. Yolanda S. Sison, MS, Vice Chair of the FAEDC-HWG, Los Angeles. It is imperative that you provide as much information as possible in the petition because we expect a certain level dynamic interaction with the signatories as we go through various phases of the project. Please note that the Petition is also being circulated among nurses, dentists, medical technologists and other healthcare practitioners.

Sincerely,


Manuel A. Sison, MD
Medical Director, HealthCare Coalition Institute
Chairperson and President, appaEducation Research Foundation

--------------------------------------
The Petition Letter

PETITION TO THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT

I, the undersigned, support Healthcare Coalition Institute’s initiative to develop and administer International Retirement and Healthcare Zones (IRHZ) at specifically designated and carved out zones in the Philippines. These IRHZs will include, but not limited to the following:

1) Business incentives, including tax holidays, loans and 100% foreign ownership. Foreign entities could also participate in build, lease and turn-over programs. This will be in exchange for hiring local practitioners and service providers meeting IRHZ and employer accreditation standards.
2) Operate based on U.S. performance standards and business practices or better.
3) Collaborative ventures with academia, industry, etc. – domestic and international.
4) Facilities: retirement, healthcare, health tourism, research, academia, financial, IT, retail, transportation, retail, manufacturing and others.
5) Rehabilitation, retiree and ancillary programs: courses, hiking, support programs, internet access, etc.
6) Others.

Sincerely,

Signature:
Date:
Name:
Profession(s):

Mailing Address:

Phone Number:
FAX Number:
Email Address:
Organizational Affiliation(s):

Enumerate States where you practice:
Medical Specialty: _______________________
License Number (Optional): ________________________________________________
Referrals (Optional):


Please send completed petition to:

Yolanda Sison
P.O. Box 452164
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Phone: (310) 889-7131; Email: ustmafyss@aol.com
FAX: (310) 889-7131, or (626) 917-4825
http://www.aboutappa.org

[sugarboy]

oops napost na pala ito. sorry po

[3cr]

Sugarboy,
Sorry OT but do you still want/need Rachelle's info? Let me know since I have her current contact info already. I tried sending it to you via PM but could not because your mailbox is full na daw. I'd be happy to PM it to you again when you have cleared space in your mailbox.
Cheers,
3cr/Boe

[sugarboy]

Hi 3cr. I didn't know that my mailbox was full. Anyway, please resend Rachelle's contact info. Salamat!

[3cr]

No problem Sugarboy consider it done. I'll PM you the info today. Hope it helps.

[la pinay]

I found this article on the web(link to page included) when i was researching expat life in the Philippines and I thought it is interesting and relevant to share in this thread...Expats living in the Philippines have a lot of positive things to say about our country and our people...perhaps we should take some time out and consider what it is that they see that some Filipinos can't seem to appreciate....Please note the title "Insight", and read it as so...

"Insight


Filipinos and Foreigners
Filipinos on the whole are very friendly and open toward foreigners. Actually, there is no country in Southeast Asia where foreigners are so well accepted as in the Philippines. In everyday life, the Filipinos tend to rate foreigners over themselves. Therefore it is very easy for foreigners to receive special treatment which is not the case in the neighboring countries of Japan, China or Thailand.

The Filipinos call their attitude "hospitality". Surely, the people of Thailand, Japan or China are also hospitable. Yet, there is a difference, since the hospitality of the Thais, the Japanese, or the Chinese is more formal.They treat a foreigner with extra politeness, but remain distant. A foreigner is always a foreigner.



Philippine hospitality is uncomplicated. At times, Filipino hospitality may lack the refinements of a long cultural tradition. But definitely, hospitality is a primary and mandatory custom. Their smile is not politely distant, but spontaneous and from the heart.

This attitude makes the Philippines the most preferred destination for foreigners who love the East. Especially for those who want to settle in Asia, the Philippines is often the first choice, not for its business possibilities, but because of what it adds to the quality of life.

But there are two sides to every coin. The other side of the Filipino's openness toward foreigners is a certain lack of indigenous cultural identity. Although the Philippines is located in Southeast Asia, the Filipinos feel much less Asian than the Thais or the Indonesians. The Philippines was long governed from America, as a Spanish colony not from Spain directly but via Mexico, and later by the United States. Indeed, many sociological features of the Philippines resemble a South American rather than a Southeast Asian country.

Filipinos give preference to the West in taking guidelines for their identity. Through some 400 years of colonialism the Filipino Asian identity has been partially destroyed. As a result some claim the people have no other model for their own development now than that of the society, culture and fads of their former colonial masters.

In their attitude to the West, there are two distinct groups in Filipinos: those who admit that they are copying Western identity, and those who rebel against it. Those who openly admit that they want to adapt Western lifestyle have suffered long as being second class in Western society. This suffering has a long tradition. To a certain extent, even the national hero of the Philippines, Jose Rizal was an example. For a long time, he fought less for the independence of the Philippines than to make it a full-fledged Spanish province. Even now it is the desire of many Filipinos to be integrated in the Western world, and even to have the Philippines become the 51st state of the U.S.

The second group, those who rebel against copying Western identity, find themselves in a difficult, ambivalent situation. If the person belongs to the educated, intellectual strata of the Philippine society, then he definitely owes his intellectual background to Western education. He was educated in English and uses English to express himself. The chance is high that he even studied at a university in the U.S.



As a student there, he got his intellectual orientation according to American standards, which he cannot deny anymore. So, even when rebelling against Western standards and identity, he still does it along the same Western pattern which he rejects. As a blatant example one may find polemic articles on the relative unimportance that is given to the national Philippine language and yet, those articles are written in English.

Naturalness and Naivety
The fact that the Philippines did not have a chance to develop their nation for centuries has two consequences: a lack of independent identity, described in the previous paragraphs, and a remaining naturalness.

The colonial Spaniards had no interest in developing the Philippines into a complex society such as those existing in Japan, China, or even Thailand. Instead, they wanted to keep the Philippines a primitive country, in order to have easier control and to exploit its natural resources and cheap manpower.

Even now, many Filipinos show a colonial attitude. For example, there is often a rather fatalistic undisciplined attitude toward work. This is not surprising since Filipinos were suppressed for centuries in their productivity as they had no decision over their means of production. They also had plenty of time during those centuries, to learn that they are the producers, who could not benefit from their products.

Some have claimed, that the lack of national identity has its positive side, too. These people say that the Filipinos did not develop the same self-repressive attitude as did for example the Chinese and the Japanese. In these two highly developed civilizations, the people were taught much more discipline in their job and social attitude (punctuality, sense of responsibility, suppression of emotions, respect for social values etc).

Whereas this kind of social conditioning results in efficiency, it should not be overlooked that it was invented by the powers founding and extending the state, less to serve the individual than to suit the state. Social conditioning does not guarantee more joy for the individual, but to the contrary often increases the pressure.

It is a strange ambivalence that colonial oppression can be less harmful to the oppressed than oppression that is generated by a complex statehood evolving from a native society e.g. in China.


The Filipinos see themselves as a fun loving people, and they have reason to do so. They have not been soured by "discipline programs". They have been only so slightly affected by self-repressive mechanisms that to Westerners, they often not only seem fun loving but even child-like.

In order to become familiar with this beautiful country and its people, these characteristics should be kept in mind. The fun loving naturalness and some child-like naivety in many of the simple folk contribute a lot to the undoubted charm of the Philippines.



This page: http://www.cockatoo.com/english/philippines/philippines_insight.htm"

[OtAkAw]

Nagpromote na nga di pa marunong mangombinse.

[xDieselJockx]

That article can be positive and negative. Sad in the sense that it points out the lack of filipino self-identity and colonial mentality. It is good somehow time because of an advantage a foreigner would get out of a filipino culture because it always favors them so this can be good and bad either .

I don't know, I don't have a strong feeling about this type of promotion using this author's insight alone. I feel he was saying that a foreigner will feel at home in the Philippines because of warmthness of the people but at the same time the people are gullible that he can take advantage of the people and the situation.

Maybe I'm reading through lines there too much. This is just my opinion, I'll see what others have to say about these...

[caloy]

totoo naman lahat ca article na yan, actually its just a fraction of the whole story about the philippines.

its up to them how they would accept it. reality bites ika nga. but then hey, which country has no downside? we are filipinos, that makes us filipinos. different yet similar.

[marites4]

It's a double edged sword. Happy go lucky pero parateng happy go lucky kaya butal ang bulsa at gutom ang bansa.

[macky]

Retiring in the Philippines is all promising a life of comfort,quality, and where your mighty dollars will go a long long way ,etc,etc.. Okay, that's a very practical and excellent options for some US-pinoys retiring there. But, here are some of my questions though since i've been away for a long time now and not so sure how exactly i would fit there. I don't know exactly our legal system there whether it's being implemented properly or adhered to in its true sense. I appreciated here in the States because you can very easily achieved have a real quite life without anyone bothering you, as long you do things the right way, like you work and pay your taxes and being a good law abiding citizen. Now in the Philippines, we're not ignorant of corruptions with the goverment officials and mobs running monkey business like extortions, kidnapping,etc,etc. What are the chances of running into or having trouble with this type of hooligans there. I wanted to stay away from trouble,but if i see some thing stinkingly corrupt and wrong should i just look the other way and walk on? And if you get involved, what are the chances of being snafu. Please forgive my ignorance but i needed to know because i wanted to live my life where justice and civility are still being upheld.

[amigo32]

Better stay where you are. Don't risk your life here.

[macky]

That bad ha...that's sad because some retiring pinoys i spoke to would like to volunteer their time to do and help in someway their needy kababayan there. Basic needs like medical, education,clean water, sustenance,etc,etc. I know the goverment may welcome all this, but what concerns me deep down is if you dig around what the root of the problems are you might open a whole can of worms at magkakalabasan ng baho na.

[Lili]

Originally Posted by DoggMann

I think the retirees from US (I do not know about other countries) will still get the benefit of their healthcare. It is part of the petition initiated by the Coalition of Filipino Doctors and medical practitioners in the US for the Philippine government to negotiate retirement and healthcare trade.

I think they are already gearing up with the idea for years now... so healthcare is a on their priority list...

What I am more worried about is the govt. crime prevention program...
I am hoping for their success...

Pagnagkataon napaka swerte naman ng mga pinoy na galing US ... hehehe siguradong makapagreretire sila sa pinas ng walang problema...
sino sino ba nasa US dito?
----------------------------------------------

http://www.aboutappa.org/HCI.htm

Health Care Coalition Institute
... As part of this initiative, on July 11 through July 15, 2005 and arranged through the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles, the FAEDC-HWG/HCI core participants will present to the E.O. 372: A Public-Private Sector Task Force for the Development of Globally Competitive Philippine Service Industries and various Philippine government agencies an action plan to develop and administer �International Retirement and Healthcare Zones�. The objectives of the action plan are:

Equip the Philippines with an initial, globally competitive and sustainable model for an "International Retirement and Healthcare Program" in specifically designated and carved-out zones. This includes but not limited to equipping the President (or her trade representative) with a concrete model to negotiate retirement and healthcare trade projects with the U.S. and OECD countries.
Equip the Philippines with an initial set of figures that could be utilized for any combination of the following: estimate the size of the target market and provisioning of retirement, healthcare and ancillary services; justify the level of priority and resources assigned to develop and administer this program; apply for loans to international financing institutions; etc.

http://www.aboutappa.org

I think this is a great initiative! I just hope that it does not drive the cost of health care also in the Philippines 'coz god knows how they pad those health and medical insurance claims here in the US!

As to that lack of Filipino self-identity article posted above, I still don't buy that shit. Tell that to the marines.