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270 nurses, caregivers off to Japan

A total of 270 candidate nurses and caregivers hired under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) are leaving Sunday for Japan to work in various institutions, the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) has announced.
The first batch to have been employed under the controversial pact, the 92 candidate nurses and 188 caregivers, received their visa, contract and plane ticket Thursday in ceremonies attended by labor and foreign affairs and Japanese officials led by Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Makato Katsura at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Quezon City.
"This will be the turning point in your career as well as the welfare of your families and children," said POEA deputy administrator Hans Cacdac.
Katsura said the departure of the first batch "symbolizes the beginning of a new era of partnership between the two countries."
"The relationship is being raised to a higher level," Katsura added.

JPEPA, which entered into force early December 2008, opens Japan―the world's second largest economy―to 1,000 Filipino caregivers and nurses in two years.
But Labor Assistance Secretary Reydeluz Conferido said that "unfortunately, some of the hospitals backed out because of the global financial crisis."
The health workers applied through the Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS), the counterpart body of POEA.

Under the JPEPA, they would be enrolled in training courses, which include language training for six months, before being deployed in their respective health institutions.
The health workers would be classified as candidate nurses and caregivers until they pass the licensure examination that would elevate them to the status of being full-fledged nurses and caregivers.
The first licensure examination for nurses is scheduled on February 2010 and would be held every year. Candidate caregivers, meanwhile, need at least three-years of work experience before they can take the national certification examination.
Under their contract, the health workers are eligible to work in Japan for three years and may work there continuously if they pass the examination.
The nurses and caregivers will receive an average salary of P75,000 per month.

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Toshiba to end cellphone production in Japan

Japanese electronics group Toshiba Corp. plans to end production of mobile phones in Japan around October to cut costs as demand slumps, the Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday.
Toshiba, Japan's No. 6 cellphone maker with a 7.0 percent market share, will continue to make smartphones in China and outsource production of its other phones, the Nikkei said without citing sources.
The paper added that the company would announce the plan later on Wednesday.

A Toshiba spokesman declined to comment.

Cellphone sales in Japan tumbled about 30 percent last financial year, as a new business model that hiked handset prices prompted consumers to keep their phones longer, while the economic downturn also weakened demand.
Toshiba incurred an operating loss of about 10 billion yen from the cellphone business in the year ended March, the Nikkei said.

Toshiba has forecast it will return to an operating profit this financial year as it pushes ahead with a $3 billion cost-cutting plan. It logged massive losses last year after sharp price falls and sluggish demand battered its main chip business.
Toshiba shares were down 3 percent at 351 yen, little changed after the report. The benchmark Nikkei average rose 0.5 percent.

Grammy winners here for PIJazzfest

THE GRAMMY-WINNING GROUP Yellowjackets, acid jazz band Brand New Heavies, US-based Filipina singer Charmaine Clamor and the young London-based FilAm crooner Mishka Adams lead the overseas contingent of performers at the 5th Philippine International Jazz and Arts Festival (PIJazzfest), which opened Friday and runs till Feb. 28 at various venues.
Some 200 musicians, including local artists Romy Posadas, Johnny Alegre, Aya Yuson, Isha, Skarlet, Sinosikat, Brass Munkeys, Art Manuntag, AMP Big Band with Prof. Mel Villena, Guarana, Mike's Apartment, Jazz Volunteers, Nyoy Volante, Sitti and a slew of acts from Israel, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States are participating in the 17-day fest which consists of bar tours, mall tours, workshops and main performances at Sofitel Philippine Plaza.
The annual event, which debuted in 2005 and which has featured such acts as Flora Purim, Diane Schuur, Lee Ritenour and Spyro Gyra, is said to operate on a tight budget but is consistently successful in presenting world-class performances.
This year's headliners offer a variety of jazz-based music. The American band Yellowjackets, whose core members started out playing with an R&B edge, have been recording albums that always earn nominations at the Grammys. In 1988 the band's "Politics" album won the Grammy for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.
The British act Brand New Heavies, whose forays into funk and hip hop enhanced their popularity as an acid jazz band, are known for the hits "Dream On Dreamer," "Sometimes," and sprightly covers of "Midnight at the Oasis" and "You've Got a Friend."
Charmaine Clamor has gained notice in LA for her efforts in playing jazz with a Filipino twist, which she calls "jazzipino." She's the only Pinoy artist (along with Cyndi Lauper, Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, etc.) handpicked for an all-star CD based on David Byrne's musical on Imelda Marcos.
Mishka Adams, daughter of Filipina sculptor Agnes Arellano, takes time off from working and teaching music in London to take part in PIJazzfest. Candid Records, where she's a contract artist, is sponsoring her homecoming gigs.
"I'm singing two new songs that I wrote while learning new skills, like arranging," said Adams.

Her performances, which started Saturday night, resume today at 2 p.m. (in a workshop with pianist David Starck at the Philippine Normal University); Feb. 20, 6 p.m. (with the Jazz Volunteers and Sinosikat? at L Fisher in Bacolod); Feb. 25, 6 p.m. (with Clamor and various international artists at Ayala Museum); and Feb. 27, 6 p.m. (with Sinosikat? and the Brand New Heavies at Sofitel Philippine Plaza's Harbor Garden).
The promoters are upbeat, despite jazz still being confined to a niche audience. "Young people are now aware and appreciate what we do, as shown by the hits in our website," said Zenaida Celdran, a former executive at San Miguel Corporation who, with guitarist Edgar Avenir, singer Sandra Viray and her husband, drummer Jun Viray, comprise the core group that mounts PIJazzfest. "These new generation of music fans are the ones asking, 'when is the next jazz fest?' which is unheard of five years ago."

Log on to pijazzfest.com LINK http://pijazzfest.com/ for a complete list of performers, concert dates and venues.

Tokyo to receive 2 pandas from China next year

Japanese panda fans will be able to see the endangered animals in Tokyo next year for the first time since 2008, after the city reached an agreement to pay nearly $1 million a year to borrow a pair from China, officials said Friday.
Tokyo's Ueno Zoo has been without a giant panda for the first time since 1972, when a pair arrived to mark the signing of a peace treaty between Japan and China. Ling Ling, a panda who came to Tokyo in 1992, died in April 2008 at the age of 22, which in human terms is equivalent to about 70.
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara told reporters Friday that two pandas are expected to arrive in Tokyo early next year and would cost $950,000 a year.
"It's quite a costly deal," Ishihara said, adding that Tokyo officials bargained to get $50,000 off the original $1 million price tag. The payments will help rebuild a panda sanctuary in China's Sichuan province and fund joint breeding projects between Japan and China, he said.
The sanctuary was nearly destroyed by a devastating earthquake in Sichuan in May 2008. Nearly 70,000 people were killed.

Zoos often pay about $1 million a year to borrow pairs of pandas from China. Any cubs produced by the pandas are the property of China.
"Pandas are endangered and everyone loves them," Ishihara said. "We've received strong requests from people in Tokyo and around Japan who want to see them in Tokyo again."
When Ling Ling died two years ago, people sent condolence messages from around the country and his portrait was displayed inside his cage, along with bouquets and offerings of his favorite bamboo shoots.
Chinese President Hu Jintao offered to loan a pair of pandas to Japan during a visit a month later.

There are about 1,600 pandas in the wild, mostly in Sichuan.

Uemura falls short of medal again

-No matter how brave a face she put on, the tears refused to stop welling up in Aiko Uemura's bright eyes.

"I wanted to thank the people who supported me with a medal, but I couldn't," Uemura said after missing out on a medal at the Vancouver Olympics when she finished in fourth place in the women's freestyle skiing moguls on Saturday.
American Hannah Kearney won the gold medal, while Turin champion Jennifer Heil of host nation Canada had to settle for the silver and American Shannon Bahrke took the bronze.
By finishing with 24.68 points, 0.75 behind Bahrke, Uemura continued an eerie progression of Olympic finishes for the star-crossed skier--in four Olympics starting with the 1998 Nagano Games, she has now placed seventh, sixth, fifth and fourth.
"I don't know why I keep going up just one rank each time," she said as a cold rain beat down on her helmet sporting the Japanese flag.
While it may be of little consolation, Uemura has shown steady improvement.

Particularly in the past four years under coach Janne Lahtela of Finland, a former Olympic gold medalist who is said to have the world's best turning technique, Uemura raised the level of her turns.
That paid off with the overall World Cup title in 2008 and a pair of gold medals at the 2009 world championships.
The technique, referred to as a carving turn--using the ski edges instead of sliding--became Uemura's forte.
Ironically, though, it was a little too early to establish the technique.

"Other teams that practiced with us at the same time were taping Uemura's skiing all the time," said Yasushi Takano, head coach for the Japan moguls team.
Heil, the current World Cup leader, said Uemura raised the level of the sport.

On the big stage of Vancouver, she showed her determination. "A medal means so much in my life as a skier to the point that I might have retired if I had won one [before]," she said.
But it was not enough to overcome rivals who she had dominated just a year ago. She had raised the bar and they stepped up and got over it.
It was in Vancouver at age 14, traveling by herself, that Uemura first encountered the moguls. She dreamed of winning a medal there, but it did not come true.
"I'm not yet thinking about [four years from now]. I'll take some time and really give it a good think," she said.