Posts

Showing posts from March, 2018

Undocumented OFWs in Kuwait should apply for repatriation — DFA

Helen Flores  (The Philippine Star) - March 24, 2018 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is urging the remaining undocumented Filipinos in Kuwait who want to go home to apply for the government’s repatriation program that will end on April 22. The DFA issued the deadline after the Philippine embassy reported a drop in the number of undocumented Filipino workers registering for repatriation after Kuwait announced a two-month extension of its amnesty program. “Our kababayans in Kuwait must realize that we cannot do things overnight and they should not wait until the last minute before they sign up for repatriation,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said.  Arriola said a total of 3,668 Filipinos have been flown home since Feb. 11 when the embassy started repatriating undocumented workers who availed themselves of Kuwait’s amnesty program. She said more than 6,000 undocumented workers sti

Kuwait gov’t urged to end modern-day slavery of OFWs

March 25, 2018 Written by Ryan Ponce Pacpaco Published in  Overseas Filipino Workers Read: 242 AN opposition party-list congressman yesterday called on the Kuwait government to end the modern-day slave trade of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) as he backed the Palace decision to keep the deployment ban. “This is the problem if the (Kuwaiti) employer effectively owns the visa of the worker. You can be handed over to another employer there, almost like merchandise.” said ACTS OFWs Rep. Aniceto “John” Bertiz III, a member of the House opposition bloc. Bertiz said Kuwait should take forceful steps to protect the rights and welfare of migrant laborers. “We are absolutely behind the President’s decision. We need a guarantee that what happened to Joanna Demafelis won’t happen again to another Filipino worker in Kuwait,” said Bertiz. “The ban should stay, considering that we still do not have the definitive assurances of the Kuwait government that o

House bill pushes for handbook on OFW rights and reintegration

By:  Pathricia Ann V. Roxas - Reporter /  @PathRoxasINQ INQUIRER.net  / 01:31 PM March 22, 2018 A substitute bill that aims to produce a handbook on the rights and responsibilities of migrant workers has been approved by the House committee on overseas workers affairs. Authored by Rep. Rogelio Pacquiao, the proposed “Handbook for OFWs Act of 2018,” aims to empower overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) by making them aware of the benefits and drawbacks of working overseas. The bill, which seeks to amend Republic Act No. 8042 or the “Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995,” also complements the worker education programs of various agencies. Also contained in the handbook are the necessary information needed by OFWs for their reintegration once they return to the Philippines. Approved at the committee level on Wednesday, the proposed measure specifically mandates the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to develop, publish, disseminate

Bello supports Senate reso on total deployment ban to countries that don’t respect OFWs

Published  March 27, 2018 6:49pm  Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has expressed his support to the Senate proposal to ban the deployment of Filipino domestic workers to countries that failed to assure their labor rights and good working conditions. "It should be. If there is no Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between our country and the accepting countries, then it is foolhardy to deploy our overseas workers because they will not be protected," said Bello on Tuesday. On Wednesday last week, the Senate adopted Resolution 676 expressing the sense of the chamber that the deployment of Filipino maids to countries that do not afford migrants the same rights and work conditions as their nationals be totally banned . It was sponsored on the floor by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III. Crossing party lines, all the senators present agreed to be co-authors. In his sponsorship speech, Pimentel cited the case of Irma Avila Edloy, an abused Filipino

DFA checking if Filipinos among victims in Kemerovo fire

Updated  March 26, 2018, 11:51 PM By Roy Mabasa The Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday it is is still checking if there were Filipinos among the victims of the fire in the town of Kemerovo, some 3,600 kilometers from Moscow. In a statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano extended sympathies to the Russian Federation after 56 people were reported to have died and many more reported missing in a fire at a shopping mall in Western Siberia on Sunday. “We extend our condolences to the government and people of the Russian Federation over the deaths resulting from the fire at the Winter Cherry Shopping Center in Kemerovo,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go the families of those who perished in this tragedy,” the Secretary said as he expressed hopes that the casualty rate would no longer rise. In his report to the Home Office in Manila, Ambassador to Moscow Carlos Sorreta said th

Kuwait gov’t urged to end modern-day slavery of OFWs

March 25, 2018 Written by Ryan Ponce Pacpaco Published in  Overseas Filipino Workers Read: 226 AN opposition party-list congressman yesterday called on the Kuwait government to end the modern-day slave trade of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) as he backed the Palace decision to keep the deployment ban. “This is the problem if the (Kuwaiti) employer effectively owns the visa of the worker. You can be handed over to another employer there, almost like merchandise.” said ACTS OFWs Rep. Aniceto “John” Bertiz III, a member of the House opposition bloc. Bertiz said Kuwait should take forceful steps to protect the rights and welfare of migrant laborers. “We are absolutely behind the President’s decision. We need a guarantee that what happened to Joanna Demafelis won’t happen again to another Filipino worker in Kuwait,” said Bertiz. “The ban should stay, considering that we still do not have the definitive assurances of the Kuwait government that o

Save OFWs from abusive employers -- Ejercito

March 23, 2018 Written by Marlon Purificacion Published in  Overseas Filipino Workers Read: 229 SENATOR JV Ejercito called on the government to heed the sentiment of the Senate against deploying household workers in countries where their rights are violated and their welfare ignored. Ejercito made the call after the Upper Chamber adopted Senate Resolution No. 676 which expressed the sense of the Senate that the deployment of overseas Filipino household service workers to countries that do not afford migrants the same rights and work conditions as their nationals and allow withholding of Philippine Passport totally banned. “It’s like feeding them (Filipino household workers) to the dogs once they leave our country and this kind of deployment must end today…Our women will never be fully protected for as long as they are viewed upon as ‘properties’ by their employers and treated as aliens without rights…,” he said in a manifestation of support for the resol

Saudi Arabia shoots down missiles from Yemen; 1 dead from debris

Reuters Posted at  Mar 26 2018 08:57 AM RIYADH - Saudi air defenses shot down seven ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi militia on Sunday, with debris killing a man in what was the first death in the capital during the Saudi-led coalition's three-year military campaign in Yemen. Saudi forces destroyed three missiles over northeastern Riyadh shortly before midnight, as well as others fired at the southern cities of Najran, Jizan and Khamis Mushait, the coalition said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA. Debris from the missiles fell on a home in Riyadh, killing an Egyptian resident and wounding two other Egyptians, said coalition spokesperson Colonel Turki al-Malki, according to SPA. Reuters reporters in Riyadh heard several booms and saw smoke in the air. Another witness said he saw a long stream of light followed by additional explosions. In al-Malqa neighborhood, emergency personnel gathered near a crater in the ground and inspected sh

Labor attaché ng Pilipinas sa Hong Kong, pinauwi

ABS-CBN News Posted at  Mar 27 2018 12:57 AM Watch also in  iWantv  or  TFC.tv Pinababalik ng Department of Labor and Employment sa Pilipinas ang labor attache ng Pilipinas sa Hong Kong. Pero umaapela ngayon ang ilang OFWs doon. I-Bandila mo, Bettina Magsaysay.  - Bandila sa DZMM, Lunes, 26 Marso, 2018

PHL recalls labor attaché in Hong Kong

Published  March 26, 2018 7:29pm  Updated  March 26, 2018 11:06pm The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has recalled the labor attaché in Hong Kong pending investigation on the complaint filed against him, GMA News TV's State of the Nation With Jessica Soho reported on Monday. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the recall was not a punishment but part of the due process afforded to Jalilo dela Torre, who is accused of favoring a certain party during an accreditation process. A report on the South China Morning Post said Dela Torre is known for his strong views against human traffickers and unscrupulous employment agencies. On Facebook, Dela Torre said a "human trafficker" in Turkey "has just taken credit for my recall." "Either this proves that they are involved somehow or they are taking advantage of the situation to advance their own predatory human trafficking operations," he said. "Cheap shot.&

Gov’t urged to have agreements with other countries frequented by OFWs

Published  March 26, 2018 1:13pm  By AMITA LEGASPI, GMA News Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday urged the government to enter into bilateral agreements with other countries frequented by OFWs and use the memorandum of understanding (MOU) negotiated with Kuwait as a blueprint. "The government should use this MOU as a blueprint for proactively negotiating similar agreements with other countries that attract high numbers of OFWs," Gatchalian said in a press statement. He said this is to protect the welfare of OFWs in countries where they are deployed. Based on the details initially reported by Labor Secretary Bello III, the Philippines-Kuwait soon-to-be-signed MOU "provides concrete safeguards to stop longstanding anti-labor practices that degrade the rights of OFWs." A preliminary agreement was signed by Filipino and Kuwait officials last March 16 following a series of meeting in Manila. Gatchalian said under the agreement, Kuwaiti

Malaysia arrests Pinoy, six others with ISIS links over attacks plot

Published  March 24, 2018 10:20pm  KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police have arrested a Filipino and six other men with links to the Islamic State militant group who were planning attacks on non-Muslim places of worship and other targets, authorities said on Saturday. The Muslim-majority country has been on high alert since gunmen allied with Islamic State (IS) carried out a series of attacks in Jakarta, the capital of neighboring Indonesia, in January 2016. Six Malaysians were arrested in Johor state, north of Singapore, while the seventh, a Filipino member of the IS-linked Abu Sayyaf group, was detained in the eastern state of Sabah, in multiple operations between Feb. 27 and Mar. 15, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement. He said the six detained in Johor were members of an IS cell and included a 37-year-old technician who recruited new militants and was believed to be the mastermind of planned attacks on non-Muslim places of wor

3 Pinays who were forced into prostitution in Sabah finally home

Image
Published  March 23, 2018 7:50pm  The three Filipinas who were duped into working as sex workers in Sabah, Malaysia, are finally home, three months after their ordeal was first reported. In an episode of Reporter's Notebook that aired on Thursday night, March 22, GMA News' Maki Pulido said the three — Chona, Loida and Gemma — arrived in the Philippines on March 2. "Masaya, kasi makakasama ko na 'yung pamilya ko, lalo na 'yung mga kapatid ko," one of them said. "Hindi ko po akalain na makakauwi po kami. Akala po namin habangbuhay na kami makukulong dun. Akala namin wala nang tutulong sa amin," another one said. The three, who were promised employment as waitresses in Sabah, were detained for being undocumented. With the help of Reporter's Notebook, the three were brought to their respective provinces upon their arrival in the Philippines to start their life anew. PHL government's presence in Sabah  Accor
PH Navy gets 3 trainer aircraft from Japan By:  Frances Mangosing - Reporter /  @FMangosingINQ INQUIRER.net  / 10:07 AM March 26, 2018 The transfer was held at the naval base in Sangley Point, Cavite, led by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda. The first two of the five planes arrived in March last year. Both the Philippines and Japan share a rival claimant in China over the South China Sea and East China Sea. The transfer marks the first time that Japan transferred excess defense equipment to another country after an amendment in Japanese law that allowed the donation. The first TC-90 was commissioned into service last November, while the other was commissioned last week. /cbb
CHR: Welfare of OFWs remains a priority, along with drug killings By:  Faye Orellana -  @FMOrellanaINQ INQUIRER.net  / 05:37 PM March 24, 2018 The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) made an assurance on Saturday that protecting the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remained one of its priorities, along with its monitoring of killings linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. In statement, the CHR assured the public that it had not forgotten OFWs, saying: “Even in the background, this sector remains to be one of our priorities, while working on more prominent issues, such as alleged human rights violations linked to the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.” The CHR stressed this point in response to the criticism made last Wednesday by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III that it was “more concerned with political crimes” – particularly the drug war killings – instead of looking after the welfare of OFWs. Bello made the remark during a

Cebu Pacific cancels Taipei-Manila flight due to ‘technical’ problem

Image
By:  Faye Orellana -  @FMOrellanaINQ INQUIRER.net  / 03:39 PM March 24, 2018 Cebu Pacific airplane (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO) Cebu Pacific has apologized to its passengers after one of its aircrafts experienced a “technical issue,” thus, canceling the Manila-bound flight from Taipei, Taiwan. In a travel advisory released on Saturday, the airline company apologized to over 180 passengers as well as expressed regret over the cancelation of its flight bound to Manila from Taipei, Taiwan. “The flight was supposed to depart Taipei at 4 a.m. today. However, a technical issue was detected in the A330 aircraft, assigned aircraft, prior to departure. We had to prioritize addressing this issue for the safety of all our passengers,” the airline company said in a statement. The management said that Cebu Pacific deployed an A320 aircraft and catered its 180 passengers back to Manila at 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday. The other affected passengers were given hotel accommodation

Saudi Arabia shoots down missiles from Yemen; 1 dead from debris

Reuters Posted at  Mar 26 2018 08:57 AM RIYADH - Saudi air defenses shot down seven ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi militia on Sunday, with debris killing a man in what was the first death in the capital during the Saudi-led coalition's three-year military campaign in Yemen. Saudi forces destroyed three missiles over northeastern Riyadh shortly before midnight, as well as others fired at the southern cities of Najran, Jizan and Khamis Mushait, the coalition said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA. Debris from the missiles fell on a home in Riyadh, killing an Egyptian resident and wounding two other Egyptians, said coalition spokesperson Colonel Turki al-Malki, according to SPA. Reuters reporters in Riyadh heard several booms and saw smoke in the air. Another witness said he saw a long stream of light followed by additional explosions. In al-Malqa neighborhood, emergency personnel gathered near a crater in the ground and inspected sh