Philippines, New Zealand pact strengthens education cooperation

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and New Zealand have signed an agreement that is expected to enhance the Filipinos’ access to quality education in Wellington.

The memorandum of cooperation between the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Philippine Commission on Higher Education on the comparative analysis of the two countries’ bachelor’s degrees was signed during the bilateral meeting of President Duterte and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last Tuesday.

“This is one good development. Education…It’s in good hands and of course, we can have access to the quality of education in New Zealand. It would be happy,” Duterte said.

Commission on Higher Education chairperson Patricia Licuanan and New Zealand Ambassador David Strachan signed the agreement in the presence of Duterte and Ardern.

During the bilateral meeting, Duterte noted that New Zealand is host to more than 50,000 Filipinos, whom he described as the “good ones.”

“Everybody that goes out of this country to work, they are really the good ones. The bad ones are here selling shabu (methamphetamine) somewhere,” Duterte said.

Ardern said the Filipino community in New Zealand is “strong,” “buoyant” and “well-loved.” She also mentioned Romeo Udanga, the first Filipino in her party to seek a seat in New Zealand’s parliament.

“He (Udanga) did a phenomenal job. He was fantastic,” Ardern said. 

Ardern cited the need to further strengthen the trading relations between Manila and Wellington.

“I’m also looking at the two-way trade that we have, a billion dollars. It’s impressive but always more opportunity. But I think we have a strong foundation economically,” she said.

The New Zealand leader also welcomed the announcement that Philippine Airlines would be flying direct to New Zealand starting in December, calling it “a fantastic opportunity.”

Duterte told Ardern that he had been to New Zealand twice and called its citizens “great people.”

“(The country is) small but was really governed well and protected well ahead of the time. And that is good. And you can see how it is now. It has flourished and about the only thing that’s lacking, I said, is you do not have the atom bombs there. You don’t have nuclear bases there,” Duterte said.

Ardern replied that New Zealand is a “very peaceful nation” that supports the principles advocated during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.