KAKAMMPI News

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, September 26 - Free Text and IM Services Now Available in Major Markets Such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia EQO Communications today announced the launch of its free mobile messaging software worldwide. For the first time, EQO is offering free text and IM services in every country in the world including: India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia. EQO (pronounced "echo") is a free, easy to use application for everyday mobile phones that lets users send free text messages to other EQO users, and chat for free on MSN, AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, ICQ and Jabber. EQO users can quickly build a network of friends who also use EQO so that they can text more people for free. The application automatically populates their EQO phonebook with all of their contacts from their mobile phone's address book. Users can then invite friends to get EQO with a single click. EQO users can also send international text messages to people who do not us...

Aside from their remittances of millions of pesos annually, Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are spending much for "pasalubong" during the Holiday season. Lui Ferrer, Duty Free Philippines (DFP) marketing head, said returning Filipino workers from October to December were spending an average of US$ 300 to US$ 4,500 to buy gifts for their household and kins. Majority of the balikbayans are from the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Middle East and Europe. Ferrer said the big spenders were nurses, seafarers and professional workers who sometimes spent over US$ 5,000."Majority of our customers really are OFWs and they love to spend for their families for their gifts," Ferrer said in an interview. A Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) data showed that 900,000 to one million OFWs and Balikbayans were returning home during the Christmas season. For an average US$ 300 [which an OFW spends], DFP earned an income of US$ 270 million or roughly around P...

More Filipino seafarers are expected to be employed by a Japanese shipping line as the company expands its operation in the country in the next four years. According to Shuichiro Maeda, president of K-Line Ship Management Co. Ltd., the company is acquiring 300 new vessels from 2008 to 2011. They will be needing some 7,000 Filipino seafarers as part of the company's fleet expansion. Of the number, 3,330 would be officers and 3,600 would be ratings. He said 10 container ships to be built by the company and expected to be completed in 2010 would be manned only by Filipino crews and officers. The official said that they prefer Filipinos because they've been working with them for the longest time and having a pure Filipino crew onboard a vessel is much easier to manage. "Filipinos are hardworking and easy learner, not to mention they have good communication skills," he added. Early next year, K-Line is set to open a training school in the country to train and upgrade the m...

RP protests racial slur against Philippine health professionals on US TV The Philippines government has expressed its displeasure over an episode in a highly-rated American television series wherein Philippine nurses were apparently despised. In the TV series, "Desperate Housewives," the character of Susan Mayer Delfino was monitored by US-based Filipino health professionals as mouthing off what is perceived as a racial slur. "Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Because I would just like to make sure that they're not from some med schools in the Philippines," said he character, played by actress Teri Hatcher. The well-known TV series also airs in the Philippines, although it cannot be confirmed if the questioned episode has already played in the Philippines. According to Assistant Secretary Claro Cristobal of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the protest was made through Philippine consul-general Mary Jo Aragon in Los Angeles. The ...

The Philippine Embassy in Malaysia has assisted a pregnant Filipina, who asked to be repatriated due to her condition, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported Wednesday. Philippine Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Victoriano M. Lecaros reported that the Filipina worker, who gave birth to a baby boy last September 24 at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, had been under the embassy's custody for the past 18 days. "The OFW came to Malaysia as a tourist in October 2005. She told the Embassy that she worked as a singer at various clubs in Johor Bahru, which borders Singapore, until May 7, 2007 when her pregnancy started to become obvious. She initially stayed at a house of a friend until August 2007, when she approached the Johor Overseas Filipino Association (JOFA), a Filipino community organization in Johor Bahru," Lecaros said in the report. He said that the group brought her to the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. The OFW claimed that her passport was taken by her agent, w...

Ayon kay Raul V. Hernandez, honorary consul to Melbourne Ang job market sa Australia para Filipino nurses at skilled workers ay mabilis na lumalaki ang demand. Mag-ingat sa ! Fake certificates of employment na nabibili sa mga sindikato sa Saudi Arabia, laluna sa mga runaway and overstaying OFWs,

Ayon kay Senate Minority Leader Aquilino I –ra-ratify na ng Senate ang controversial na Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) kung ang Tokyo ay committed not to export toxic wastes and it would respect the Philippine laws on environment, Hindi na dapat pang patagalin ang issue sa JPEPA, kung susundin lahat ng Japan ang mga kasunduan, laluna kung totoong na hindi na nga i-export ang mga toxic waste ng japan sa pilipinas.