Over 700 OFWs jobless in New Zealand after company suddenly closes By GMA Integrated News

More than 700 overseas Filipino workers in Christchurch, New Zealand found themselves suddenly jobless over the Christmas holidays when the company when they were working for shuttered. According to a 24 Oras report by Raffy Tima on Thursday, the OFWs found themselves adrift when ELE, described by the New Zealand government as a "skilled labor hire agency in the construction and manufacturing sector," shut down unannounced just four days before Christmas. While ELE initially promised to pay their remaining salary, there was no news of when this would happen. Most of the OFWs had not even been in the country for more than a year. “Wala pong abiso. Papasok na po kami noong umaga, tsaka na po nagsabi sa amin na, huwag kayong pumasok, may Zoom meeting po tayo. Sabi nila, ganun lang po. Ang sinabi na ngayong araw na ito, na magsasara na yung ELE,” said carpenter Gabby Martin. With their visas reportedly valid for three years, the OFWs weren’t allowed to switch jobs and have been living without any income for the last two weeks. “Naghihintay kami ng variation ng visa namin kung kailan lalabas yung bagong visa namin. Kaya lang habang naghihintay, eto, ganito, tambay,” said OFW Felix Castro. The OFWs are currently living off of fishing and have also been receiving food donations, and are currently living in homes provided by another Filipino. “Yung nagpapa-upa rito, yung Pilipino rin [na] naawa sa amin. Sinabihan kami na sige, diyan muna kayo hanggat wala. Tapos halimbawa magkatrabaho kayo, sabihin niyo na lang sa akin tsaka natin pag-usapan kung maghuhulog na kayo,” Castro added. Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy in New Zealand has started to distribute USD$600 or up to P30,000 to the stranded OFWs since last week as assistance. — Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/BM, GMA Integrated News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more