BAGUIO CITY—The Philippine Retirement Authority assured thousands of foreign retirees in the country that it will upgrade its services to attract more foreigners and make the Philippines a major retirement and investment haven in the next two years.
PRA general manager Bienvenido Chy said the country is a potential retirement haven for foreigners because of the abundance of its beautiful beaches, world-class golf courses, top-caliber caregivers, and other amenities that would serve the needs of retirees.
Aside from strengthening 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 retirees’ health needs, while its legal staff will take care of retirees’ requirements under law 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.
Many foreign retirees prefer to spend their retirement in the country, he said, but the lengthy release of their SRRV “has been the major hindrance why they do not eventually retire in the country,” Chy admitted.
Baguio is one of the preferred retirement areas of foreigners in the country, the PRA chief said, because of the city’s cool weather. Reducing the SRRV issuance time will attract more retirees to the city, he added.
The foreign retirees’ investments and contributions to the country’s economy will contribute to improving the country’s social services, development projects and the delivery of basic services to the people, he added.
“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 can be a major driver of our economy,” Chy said.
Foreigners could only spare a week of vacation from their work to process their SRRVs, thus the need to speed up the special visa’s issuance, he said. The PRA would also screen SRRV applicants to make sure only those deserving will get the visa.