BAGUIO CITY – The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) assured thousands of foreign retirees in the country that it will work out the upgrading of its services to attract more foreign retirees to make the Philippines a major retirement and investment haven in the next two years.
Lawyer Bienvenido Chy, PRA general manager, said the country is a potential retirement haven for foreigners because of the abundance of beautify beaches, world-class golf courses, top-calibre caregivers, among others to serve the needs of the retirees.
Aside from strengthening of its satellite offices in Subic, Clark, Cebu, Davao and Baguio, Chy said PRA will include medical and dental workers in their offices to cater to the health needs of the retirees while the legal workers will take care of the legal requirements of the retirees when they are in the country.
“We want to reduce the period by which the special resident retirees visa will be released from the previous one month to at least three to seven days,” Chy stressed.
He admitted many foreign retirees prefer to spend their retirement in the country but the length of time involved in the release of their special resident retirees visa (SRRV) which is almost one month is the major hindrance why they do not eventually retire in the country, thus, the urgent need to significantly reduce the period in granting the SRRV to the interested foreign retirees.
Chy said the money to be infused by the foreign retirees to the country’s economy will significantly contribute to improving the economy which could be used by government agencies for more development projects and the improvement in the delivery of basic services to the people.
The PRA official underscored Baguio is one of the preferred retirement areas of the foreign retirees because of the city’s cool weather suitable to the health needs of the retirees and reducing the SRRV issuance time will attract more retirees to the city.
Chy informed that one week is the maximum period that retirees could avail of a vacation from their work for them to process their SRRV.
Chy claimed foreign retirees will be one of the country’s major economic drivers because the huge amount of money that will be infused and spent by the retirees once they and their families settle in the country for a longer period.
He added there is also a need for PRA to screen potential foreign retirees planning to avail of the SRRV so that those who deserve to avail of the program will be the ones that will be given the SRRV.
By HENT
