The Vice President of the Philippine Paramedical Technical School of Davao (PPTS), Dr. Ruben Robillo said that Netherlands might soon deploy more nurses from the Philippines. The Netherlands needs healthcare workers to work in their hospitals and nursing homes. Robillo said this after the success of the Explore Program that PPTS recently initiated with The Netherlands.

According to Robillo, “PPTS initiated the Explore Program. It is the first in the Philippines where five Dutch nurses were sent to my hospital (Isaac Robillo General Hospital in Calinan) and seven of my nurses were also sent to Netherlands for training for 10 weeks.”

The Dutch Ministry of Finance in the Netherlands financed the Explore program wherein seven nurses from Davao City were sent to The Netherlands. The seven nurses participated in a 10-week lecture and training sessions.

The Filipino nurses succeeded in impressing the government of Dutch with their performance, thus opening more employment opportunities for Filipino nurses in the said country. Two of the seven nurses have already signed a contract to work in a nursing home institution in the Netherlands.

Robillo informed, “The Dutch government has two basic requirements in hiring foreign nurses. First, the nurses should know how to speak their language, and second, they will only hire nurses from other countries if they run out of nurses.They protect their own workers kasi, but they claimed within two years kukulangin din sila ng nurses especially in nursing home institutions."

“Pa-isa-isa lang ang mga Filipino nurses sa Netherlands and they managed to become Dutch citizens because they marry Dutch nationals,” he added.

Robillo also said that early 2008, PPTS would send another group of nurses to train in the Netherlands.

About PPTS

Established four years ago, PPTS is the first nursing school accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda). It offers 15 months of licensed nursing and two years of associate degree for nursing.

The school, located at corner Rizal and Bonifacio Streets, this city, also offers surgical technical courses. The PPTS has branches in Iloilo City, Cebu, Pagadian, Las Piñas, Cagayan de Oro City, and will soon be opening another school in General Santos City and in Iligan City.