The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) is targeting to register some three thousand eight hundred fifty foreign retirees this year to help increase their presence in the country that will be beneficial in uplifting the economy.
PRA general manager and chief executive officer Robert Zozaobrado said that the attached agency of the tourism department is likely to meet the said target because since the start of the year, one third of the targeted foreign retirees were already registered and have secured their special retirement visa in the country.
However, he admitted that the PRA did achieve its targeted foreign retirees that will be registered because of the serious negative impact that was inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic to the global economy and many countries were still recovering from the economic slump.
At present, the PRA is catering to the needs of more than 77,000 foreign retirees who are living in the different regions of the country.
Among the top foreign retirees in the country include Chinese, South Koreans, Indians, Americans, Taiwanese, Japanese, British, Australians, Canadians, Germans and Swiss nationals.
Zozobrado claimed that most of the retirees are based in urban centers of the country, particularly in the National Capital Region (NCR), Visayas, Southern Luzon, Central Luzon, Mindanao and Northern Luzon.
PRA is a government-owned and controlled corporation created by virtue of Executive Order (EO) 1037 signed by the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. on July 4, 1985. It is mandated to develop and promote the Philippines as a retirement hub that will be a means of accelerating the social and economic development of the country, strengthening its foreign exchange position at the same time providing further best quality of life to the targeted retirees in a most attractive package.
The PRA official pointed out that the Philippines remains to be one of the preferred retirement hub of foreign retirees because of the heart of the Filipinos to care for them, thus, the need for the people to sustain such identity and practice to entice more foreign retirees to make the country their retirement haven and contribute in the generation of jobs and providing of increased economic activities and sources of livelihood in the communities where they opt to spend their retirement.
Under the PRA’s program, foreign retirees are mandated to deposit $20,000 in a bank of their choice that will earn interest for the duration of their stay in the country. For those who have a monthly pension of $800 to $1,200, the said deposit will be reduced to $10,000.
On the other hand, officials and employees of international organizations like the United Nations (UN) World Health Organization (WHO) among others who opt to spend their retirement in the country are required to deposit $1,500 in a bank of their choice in respect to their unwavering services to the international community when they were still in active duty.
Zozobrado said that the PRA remains aggressive in promoting the country as a retirement haven for foreign retirees to lure more foreign retirees to make the Philippines their home for them to contribute in uplifting the economy by generating jobs and providing increased economic activities. By Dexter A. See