PHL Consulate in Macau mulls Sunday operations

The Philippine Consulate in Macau is planning to open its doors for services even on Sundays following demands from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) there, particularly domestic helpers.
However, it's request for a three-month trial of the new schedule has yet to be approved by the Department of Affairs, according to a report on Macau Times, citing Consul General Lilybeth Deapera.
"We asked for authorization from Manila but we have not received that yet, so it’s just plans," Macau Times quoted Deapera as saying.
Migrante-Macau, a group of OFWs in the city, meanwhile, welcomed the Philippine Consulate General's plan.
Emerlina de Lina, the group's chairperson, considers the news as "victory," noting that they've been campaigning for it since early this year.
"The Consulate has been sitting on this demand since January when we first broached it in a dialogue as admitted by ConGen Deapera herself," De Lina said in a statement.
"This need has been validated by a survey we conducted last month."
De Lina said it is important for the  Consulate to make available crucial services on Sundays as this is the day when most of Filipino domestic helpers have their dayoff.
She, however, questioned the decision of the Consulate to make such an arrangement only on a trial basis for three months.
"Why only a trial and why only for three months? This is too arbitrary and goes against the reality that Filipinos, especially domestic workers, will find it easier to do their business with the Consulate on Sundays unlike on weekdays when they are more pressured because they still have to go back to work," she said.
De Lina also said that the Consulate’s fear that not too many will avail of Sunday services will not hold if the new operation is in place regularly and information of the arrangement is sufficiently transmitted to the Filipino community.
She added that many non-domestic workers in Macau also have their day-off on a Sunday.
The Macau Times report said the Consulate has opened its doors on Sundays a few years ago, but only a few local Filipino workers requested for services. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more