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Showing posts from July, 2015

ADB Delegates Visit Pag-IBIG Fund During Cross-Regional Forum on Remittance

 Pag-IBIG Fund was one of the three key institutions in the country recently visited by around 37 delegates of the international forum on Promoting Remittance for Development Finance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The event was the first cross-regional forum on remittance attended by delegates from development member countries (DMCs) of the ADB. The site visit, as indicated in the program, is on “remittance innovations in the Philippines.” “We are honored that ADB has chosen Pag-IBIG Fund as one of the three government institutions in the Philippines to be visited by the delegates of the cross-regional forum on remittance,” said Pag-IBIG Fund President and Chief Executive Officer Atty. Darlene Marie Berberabe during her presentation of Pag-IBIG Fund Benefits for Migrant Workers before the delegates at the Pag-IBIG office in Justine Bldg., Makati City. Atty. Berberabe presented to the ADB delegates Pag-IBIG’s programs for OFW members, including access to financial services like

PhilHealth XI Joins Serbisyong Tatak RMN

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As part of its external convergence affairs with local media partners, PhilHealth Regional Office XI recently joined DXDC Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) Davao in its barangayan activity dubbed Serbisyong Tatak RMN at Barangay Duterte, Agdao, Davao City. The one-day serbisyo caravan was the station’s jumpstart activity in celebration of its 55th founding anniversary bearing the theme “55 katuignapanag-uban, padayon na mangalapkamininyongtanan.” It was perceived as an effort to make public service genuinely felt at the grassroots level. In support to this initiative, PRO XI mounted an information desk which administered various services including membership concerns, benefits availment inquiries, and collection of premium contributions. A brief orientation on the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) was also carried out. The partnership between RMN Davao and PRO XI materialized in May 2012 with an on-air engagement every Sunday. Since then, the one-hour block time AM

LHIO Tuguegarao City Moves to New Location

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The Local Health Insurance Office of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation – Regional Office 2 in Tuguegarao City has transferred to its new location at the 3rd floor, Central Public Market (Mall of the Valley), Tuguegarao City. The grand opening started with a Thanksgiving Mass which was presided by Rev. Fr. Andres Gumangan. The event was further highlighted with a ribbon-cutting ceremony headed by Regional Vice President Oscar B. Abadu, Jr. who was assisted by Mark Angelo D. Adriano, Executive Assistant of the City Mayor. Also present were partners from some of the accredited health care providers and the media. The new office location has a better and more conducive space to enable PRO II staff members to efficiently cater to walk-in clients from various sectors.     The officers and staff members of LHIO Tuguegarao City, which caters to 25 municipalities and one (1) city are now fully set to provide continuous, effective, efficient and quality public servic

PhilHealth and the Press: Moving Towards Universal Coverage

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The participants are shown with the resource persons  (seated, 3rd from left) : Alberto Manduriao, OIC-Vice President, Member Management Group; Maria Sophia B. Varlez, Senior Manager, Corporate Communication Department; Johnny Y. Sychua, Regional Vice President for PRO – CARAGA; Dr. Shirley B. Domingo, OIC-Area Vice President, Area II; Orlando D. Iñigo Jr., Regional Vice President for PRO V; and Dr. Israel Francis A. Pargas, OIC-Vice President for Corporate Affairs Group. THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) recently conducted the Social Health Insurance Education Series (SHInES) with various print and broadcast media organizations from the provinces of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur at the Villa Caceres Hotel in Naga City, to better educate the media on how best to write about the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP). Dubbed  “National Health Insurance Act of 2013: Moving towards Universal Coverage,”  the SHInES aims to deepen the media members’ un

Back-to-back PhilHealth SHInES in Laguna Province

  THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation recently conducted back-to-back Social Health Insurance Education Series (SHInES) at the El Cielito Hotel in Sta. Rosa, Laguna for the benefit of the local media and Local Chief Executives (LCEs) of various municipalities in the province.   “It’s good to empower the media to make them PhilHealth advocates for our members to have correct and timely information regarding their program whenever possible,”  said Dr. Shirley B. Domingo,  PhilHealth’s Vice President  for Area II which covers Lucena, Laguna, Cavite and Quezon province.   At least 20 media practitioners and information officers from several media outfits and government offices in the provinces of Quezon and Laguna attended the activity.   The SHInES for Media was immediately followed by the SHInES for LCEs of the different municipalities of the province led by Mayor Ronald Sana of Mabitac and Mayor Remona Muramatsu of Famy. Also present were representatives from N

How foreigners have transformed Subaru’s hometown in Japan

OTA, Japan - Afghan children studying at a madrassa, Catholic mass in seven languages, workers from over sixty countries.   It's not New York, but Ota, a town north of Tokyo with an economy powered by Japanese automaker Subaru. It's here that Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, got its start building engines and the Hayate fighter plane for the Imperial Army in the 1940s. A recent influx of foreigners has transformed the Subaru hub, making it a rare example of multiculturalism in a country stubbornly resistant to immigration.   Drawn by the prospect of jobs in factories supplying Subaru's export-driven boom, Ota's foreigners —many of them asylum seekers and indebted trainees—work long hours for low pay. Some have established communities centered around mosques and churches. But others feel alienated by punishing work schedules and scant assistance with Japanese language from the town's authorities, they say in interviews.   Ota's

Kuwait authorities probe alleged rape, robbery of Pinay by 'detective'

Authorities in Kuwait are investigating the alleged rape-robbery of a Filipina in Ahmadi town, supposedly by a man claiming to be a detective, a Kuwait news site reported Tuesday.   The Filipina told authorities she was raped and mugged inside her apartment in a complex in Ahmadi, Kuwait Times reported.   Citing a security source, the report said initial investigation showed the woman was in her bedroom while her boyfriend was in the living room at the time of the assault.   According to the Kuwait Times report,  someone knocked hard on the door, claiming to be a detective. He kicked the boyfriend out, locked the apartment door, then supposedly pulled a knife. The suspect then ordered the Filipina to open a safe and took KD1,100 (P165,231), then raped her before escaping.   —  Joel Locsin /ELR, GMA News

Pinoys with immigrant visa told to register online before PDOS, PCP

Starting August 17, Filipinos with immigrant visas will have to register online for their Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) and the Peer Counseling Program (PCP) before they can leave the country, the Commission on Filipino Overseas announced Tuesday. The CFO said the Filipinos may schedule their appointments using the  CFO's Reservation and Registration (R&R) Online system through their website  or the  PDOS reservation site . According to the CFO, only those with a "confirmed reservation slot and who have accomplished the on-line registration form, with the corresponding barcode reference number" with the confirmed date and time of the PDOS or PCP will be allowed into the programs. The PDOS is a two-hour seminar required for Filipino emigrants aged 20 to 59, while those aged 13 to 19 are required to attend two PCP sessions. Each of the following PDOS sessions has 70 slots open every day: * USA - Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays at 10 a.m. to 12 noon; Tuesdays a

All-male Pinoy choir wins in Japan chamber chorus contest

An all-male Filipino choir became the first group from the Philippines to win the Takarazuka International Chamber Chorus Contest (TICCC) in Japan, besting 22 other groups last July 25. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)-backed Aleron choral ensemble earned gold prizes in the Folklore and Contemporary categories in the prestigious annual contest. First held in 1984, the  TICCC  was initiated "with the purpose of spreading the ‘Chamber Chorus’  widely to the local people, also with the hope of growing international friendship among choirs through the music." Winners of the TICCC are given the chance to perform at a special concert in Osaka known for the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female musical theater troupe established in the 1910s. Aleron previously won the grand prize distinction in the 10th Busan Choral Festival and Competition in October 2014 and placed first in the Vocal Ensemble of the inaugural Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival in M

PHL students win 2nd place in World Sudoku tilt, help set Guinness record

The Philippines bagged two second and one third places in the team contest of the recent 2015 World Junior Sudoku Championship (WJSC) held in Beijing, China. The Under 15 team, comprised of Jonathan Conrad Yu, Albriz Moore Bagsic and Kirsten Dominique Chan, and the Under 21 team of Kaye Janelle Yao, Natalie Beatrice Dy and Alvin Chan placed second behind host country China. Meanwhile, Under 18 team members Gerrick Spencer Limsiy, Bryan Russel Esperanza and Jan Vincent Simbol took third place behind India, with China taking the first place. "We fared better in the team rounds as compared to the individual rounds.. I think we work better together as a team compared to the other countries and that is what attributed to our second place finish,” Yao said. In the individual contest, Yu finished fourth, Bagsic seventh and Chan eight in the Under 15 category, and Limsiy got fifth, Esperanza eighth and Simbol tenth in Under 18. Yao got fourth place, Dy placed seventh and Chan wound up eig

Pinoys in Kuwait raise $26k blood money for kababayan jailed since 1990s

Filipino groups in Kuwait have raised some $26,000 (P1.183 million) in dia (blood money) for the release of a Filipino who accidentally killed a Bangladeshi co-worker nearly 20 years ago. The groups turned over the money to Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Pedro Villa and Consul General Raul Dado at the Philippine Embassy in Faiha, according to a  report on Kuwait Times  on Tuesday. Expected to benefit from the dia is  Joseph Urbiztondo , who a Kuwaiti court sentenced to life in jail for accidentally killing co-worker Azizur Rahman in 1996. Rahman's family in early 2011 had agreed on the amount of the blood money, but Urbiztondo’s family could not raise the amount at that time. But now that the amount is raised, the embassy is to deliver the money to Rahman’s family via the Philippine Embassy in Dhaka in Bangladesh. There, the formal turnover will be done, including the signing of a "tanazul" or letter of forgiveness. Villa said Urbiztondo may "have to stay in

Pinoy 9/11 survivor comes home, creates jobs through ice cream business

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September 11, 2001 would be a turning point in the life of businessman-banker Frank Cruz, 67. Frank narrowly escaped his workplace at One World Trade Center. Eight minutes after he got out, the World Trade Center came crashing down. “My co-workers and I were going down the stairs of the World Trade Center while the firemen were going up,” he recalled. “I remember their faces, young and old, I even gave them drinks from the vending machines as they were carrying their hoses and heavy equipment. All these firemen died while trying to save us and others.”   He made it possible for dirty ice cream to get inside the gleaming malls of Batangas.  Photo by Troi Santos/ The FilAm Ten years later and upon his retirement as vice president at Mizuho Corporate Bank, he returned to the Philippines. His wife, Vivian, had been asked to stay another year at her job at the UN. She remains active in the Filipino community through numerous organizations. Their sons, Francis and Matthew, find the ti

Bangladeshi gets 3-year jail term for groping Pinay in UAE

A Bangladeshi grocery delivery man was sentenced to three years in jail for groping a Filipina in the United Arab Emirates last May, a United Arab Emirates news site reported Monday.   The Bangladeshi, 23, was accused of groping the Filipina when he delivered items to her flat,  Khaleej Times reported .   He was also ordered deported by the Fujairah Criminal Court once he serves his prison term.   The report said the Bangladeshi admitted to groping the Filipina.   Court records showed the Filipina, 28, told police that the Bangladeshi groped her while she was paying for the grocery items.  — Joel Locsin /ALG, GMA News

Human trafficking still persists in PHL —US report

Human trafficking remains pervasive in the Philippines under the watch of President Benigno Aquino III although a number of convictions sparked hope that reforms are in progress, the US State Department said in an annual report released on Monday.   While the 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report cited increased law enforcement efforts to address the problem, it noted several instances that allowed human smuggling conditions to persist.   “The Philippines is a source country and, to a much lesser extent, a destination and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor,” the US Embassy said in a statement issued in Manila with the report, which is an assessment of how 188 states tackled modern-day slavery, sex trade and other forms of abusive labor.   “The Government of the Philippines does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” it said, an indication that Aquino, with barely a year in office a

5 YEARS OF PRES. AQUINO’S ADMINISTRATION: Deepening and Broadening the Culture of Impunity; Unchecked Networks of Command Conspiracy

The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) acknowledge and appreciate the passage of human rights laws in the civil and political arenas, among others, the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Anti-Torture Law, the law on Compensation of Human Rights Victims during Martial Law, the law on Anti-Enforced Disappearance, law on the International Humanitarian Law, since Benigno Simeon Aquino III’s became Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief as steps in the right direction to break through impunity and well within his pronouncement that human rights would be central to his governance. But such initial steps did not make any significant dent into the prevailing culture of impunity, much less to sufficiently limit its influence in the different branches of government.  In fact, the consequent and concomitant actions not only stymied the gain obtained in making some of its human rights obligations into laws but even deepened as well as broadened the environme

20 Pinoy seafarers repatriated from stranded bulk carrier in Greece

After several months, 20 of the 24 Filipino crew members of a stranded Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier in Greece are finally going home. The crew members of MV Golden Arrow III have been stranded in Aleveri Port since April 5 after the ship was arrested due to unpaid wages and other financial obligations to the crew members and creditors, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). "They will disembark from Aliaga Port in Turkey, where the crew change is expected to happen in the next few days," the DFA said. According to the Philippine Embassy in Athens, the seafarers have finally received their unpaid salaries and other benefits from the ship management before the vessel departed from Greece with the help of a lawyer. The four remaining Filipinos have opted to continue serving with Golden Arrow III, the DFA said. Prior to their arrival in Aleveri Port in Greece last April 5, the vessel was also stranded in Benghazi, Libya, for three months. "The crew members

2014 unemployment rate is PHL’s lowest in a decade –PNoy

The Philippines had its lowest unemployment rate in the past decade at 6.8 percent last year, President Benigno Aquino III said Monday in his sixth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA). Aquino said his administration has generated jobs for Filipinos locally, resulting in a decrease of overseas workers from 9.51 million in 2011 to 9.07 million last year. "Permanenteng trabaho ang nalikha natin, hindi nag-hire ng mga magwawalis sa kalsada tuwing survey period," he said. Aquino also said OFWs can now stay in the country and find opportunities in the Philippines instead of searching for greener pastures abroad. "Noon, makikita sa mga signage 'No Vacancy,' ngayon, 'For Immediate Hiring' na," he said. He also praised the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the minimal labor strikes in his five years in office. A total of 15 strikes were held from 2010 to 2015, compared to the 199 strikes during the Arroyo administration, Aquino said. In ad