Marcos sees more Pinoys studying in Germany

BERLIN – More Filipinos are coming to Germany to study, President Marcos has said, noting that people-to-people exchanges have helped deepen the country’s tieswith the European nation that span seven decades this year.

Speaking before the Filipino community here on Tuesday, the President also cited the country’s national hero, Jose Rizal, whom he said spent a significant period of his life in Germany.

“Like Rizal, I am told that students and scholars from the Philippines continue to come to Germany through the German Academic Exchange Program,” Marcos told Filipinos gathered at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

“His (Rizal) time in this country is a reminder of the enduring bonds between the Philippines and Germany,” the President said.

“These people-to-people exchanges strengthen the fabric of our bilateral relations and contribute to greater understanding between the people of this country and the over 35,000 people now living here in Germany,” he added.

Germany is home to an estimated 35,930 Filipinos, some of whom are scholars, trainees and volunteers, according to Philippine Ambassador Irene Susan Natividad.

In 2023, remittances from OFWs reached $33.5 billion, Marcos said, citing data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“This (OFW remittances) made a huge contribution to our economy,” he said. “This surge in remittances was bolstered by the strength of the Philippine peso, which magnified the value of these financial lifelines.”

Marcos assured them that his administration would make sure that those contributions “are matched by reforms and programs that each and every member of your family back home will benefit from.”

The Philippine economy grew by 5.6 percent last year.

The Philippines entered into an agreement with Germany on Tuesday night (Manila time) that seeks to further intensify Manila’s technical vocational education and training (TVET) programs and upskill Filipino workers.

The Cooperation Program – which will capacitate Filipino workers in the fields of digitalization and the green economy – was signed by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training during the second