BACOLOD City – The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) sees this capital city as a potential retirement destination, 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 PRA’s Client Relations Division.
Quiletorio was in the city on Thursday for the Tourism Enterprise Zone Investment Roadshow.
“The local government should make the city a retirement-friendly place, which means the community should be ready to welcome and accept foreign retirees,” said Quiletorio.
She stressed that Bacolod has an “ideal landscape” with its amenities, including entertainment venues, shopping malls and hospitals, which are near areas 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.
Majority of the retirees in the region are Europeans, who prefer the area for its natural attractions.
Chinese and Koreans, meanwhile, stay in the NCR, the PRA added.
In Negros Occidental, retirees are living in cities with entertainment establishments and shopping areas.
Retirees, who are in their 50s and 60s, come from developed countries, said Quiletorio, which is why they want the supermarket, hospital and other amenities more accessible.
The PRA promotes the Philippines as a retirement destination through the Special Resident Retirement Visa, a special nonimmigrant lifetime visa given to foreigners planning to retire in the country. (With PNA/PN)
