Australian Nursing Expo Opens Doors for Pinoy Nurses

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Over 200 nurses explored possibilities of nursing careers abroad as they joined the Australia Nursing Career Expo (ANCE) at Radisson Blu Hotel yesterday.

Organized by Enhance Visa to educate local nurses on how to pursue successful careers in the Australian healthcare industry, the expo was open to fresh graduates and registered nurses alike.

Nurses got to hear directly from Vikram Sharma, an Australian Registered Migration Agent, on how to qualify for employment and permanent residency in Australia through international education. Sharma also shared about the different skilled work professions in the healthcare industry that are currently in high demand in Australia.

“One of Australia’s problems in recent years is that it is losing most of its professionals to retirement and we need more healthcare workers to meet the demands of an aging population,” says Sharma.

There has been an increasing demand for personal care workers and other aged healthcare professionals which considered skilled work professions in Australia.

According to the Federal Employment Department, healthcare and social assistance jobs are projected to increase by almost 800,000 by the year 2025.

Jose Cuervo Wraps Up Month Long Party at Panagbenga!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

This past month, your compadres at Jose Cuervo celebrated Baguio City’s annual Panagbenga festival with three back-to-back weeks of events that kept the city warm through the cold season!

The Panagbenga Festival is among the summer capital’s most cherished traditions. Founded in 1990, the festival began as a means to raise the city from the ashes of the devastating earthquake that ravaged the city in 1990. The Panagbenga Festival celebrates the variety of flowers exclusive to the Cordilleras. Since then, the month-long festival has become a tradition that binds communities together through its elaborate parade.

Inspired by the tradition of the Panagbenga Festival, Jose Cuervo assembled three events over the course of three weeks. The first took place at The Ampersand, where together with DJ Callum David, set the tone for the events to come with amazing music and quality, Cuervo drinks.

“To come up here with Cuervo was an experience”, says DJ Callum David. “The city is beautiful, and the people are equally beautiful. I can’t wait to do this again.”

Senate Inquiry on the Killing of Volunteer Doctor

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday filed a Senate resolution calling for a legislative inquiry to look into the slay of volunteer doctor Dreyfuss Perlas.

Hontiveros said that the conduct of a Senate inquiry will help in formulating and enacting measures to ensure the safety and well-being of physicians and medical personnel in rural areas.

Perlas was part of the Doctor-to-the-Barrios (DTTB) program of DOH and was killed by unknown gunmen in Sapad, Lanao del Norte last March 1. The incident was widely condemned by different sectors.

Hontiveros, who personally met Perlas during his DTTB graduation in October 2014, said that the murder is a great tragedy not only to the poor municipality of Sapang, but also the health sector in general.

“The current state of health human resources in the Philippines is characterized by the maldistribution of health professionals particularly doctors which are concentrated in urban centers”, Hontiveros’ PSR No. 310 read. The situation leaves “a number of rural areas doctor-less which in turn leads to inadequate health care services and poor health outcomes in these areas”, it furthered.

Hontiveros remarked that the killing of Dr Perlas undermines the efforts of government to provide access to health care services in rural areas.

“I am one with the health sector community in seeking justice for Dr. Perlas”, Hontiveros noted. “The Senate as an institution should not back down on this attack against health and healthcare for our people”, she concluded