Friday, April 20, 2012

Filipino Caregiver in Japan

President Benigno S. Aquino III cited four Filipinos for their compassion and dedication to their work as caregivers for choosing to remain and take care of their patients at the height of the nuclear disaster scare following the 9.1 magnitude earthquake that devastated Japan in March 2011.

In his speech at the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue held at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Pasay City on Thursday, the President hailed the caregivers for showing to the world that "wherever Filipinos have work, they have been a force for good."

"They (Filipinos) have had a positive effect on their host countries, contributing their caring and nurturing characteristics to their new environments," the President said.

"One of the examples I can think of is during the height of the tragedy in Fukushima, several brave, compassionate Filipino caregivers and nurses refused to abandon their patients at the height of the crisis," he added.

The four Filipino caregivers, who have been called the "Fukushima Heroes," are Gemma Juanay, Juliet Tobay, Sandra Otacan and Mercedes Joie Aquino.

They were working in the institution for the elderly located in Fukushima Prefecture, some distance away from a no-go zone declared by the Japanese government as an aftermath of the East Japan earthquake and the devastation wrought by the tsunami of March 11, 2011.

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