BACOLOD CITY -- The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) sees Bacolod as a potential retirement destination with the city’s infrastructure in place, especially for foreigners.
“We are looking at Bacolod and other cities like Dumaguete and Iloilo to develop as retirement destinations outside the National Capital Region (NCR),” said Ketslynn Quiletorio, information officer III of the PRA’s Client Relations Division, who was in the city on Thursday for the Tourism Enterprise Zone (TEZ) Investment Roadshow.
She said Bacolod has an ideal landscape with its amenities, including entertainment venues, shopping malls and hospitals, near the sites with natural attractions.
Figures from the PRA showed that Western Visayas hosts only one percent, or about 500, of the 53,000 foreign retiree-holders of Special Resident Retirement Visa (SRRV).
Majority of the retirees in Region 6 are Europeans, who prefer the region’s natural attractions, while Chinese and Koreans are mostly staying in the NCR.
In Negros Occidental alone, retirees are living within the city, which is near the entertainment establishments and shopping areas.
Quiletorio said that since these retirees, who are mostly in their 50s and 60s, came from developed countries, they want the supermarket, hospital, and other amenities more accessible to them.
“The local government should make the city a retirement-friendly place, which means the community should be ready to welcome and accept foreign retirees,” she added.
The PRA has only one accredited retirement facility in Negros Occidental - the Japanese-developed Sanko Mambukal Life Care Home in Murcia town.
The PRA positions the Philippines as a retirement destination through the SRRV, which is a special non-immigrant lifetime visa given to foreign nationals planning to retire and rest in the country. (PNA)
