Spa owners unite vs DOH requirement

A NEW organization of Wellness industry frontliners and owners in the country will try to make a common stand on the plan of the Department of Health (DOH) to require all massage therapists working in spas to enroll in DOH-accredited training institutions effective February next year.

“This is ridiculous, so that means all those who got trained by Tesda (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) are already illegal by February?” asked Tourism advocate Consul

Robert Lim Joseph, who also owns franchises of 19 Tonton spas in Cebu.
Joseph hopes to give a common voice to his and other spa players in the industry through his newly created organization the Wellness in Power.

He said that the massage therapist will have to pay P8,000 to P11,000 for the course and take two exams every year, which he said is very costly for the massage therapists.

“Where will they find money to afford that? We are talking about thousands of massage therapists in the country. What will happen if this will be done,” he said.

There are only 16 DOH-accredited training centers in the country now and only one in Cebu.

In the last two years, the training institutions were only able to produce 8,000 massage therapists which can barely supply the needed number.

“In Cebu alone, you have at least two massage spas in every corner. Cebu is known as a wellness destination and has been getting tourists availing of wellness packages, what will happen to this already developed packages if this materialize?”

Joseph said he will soon meet with players in Cebu including the Spa and Wellness Association of Cebu (SWAC) and the Cebu Wellness Council.

“The aim is to get all people in the wellness industry together and rally about this and all other concerns of the industry. This memorandum is simply ridiculous,” he said.