KAKAMMPI News

MANILA, Philippines - After receiving reports that its foreign service staff were not responsive enough to the needs of overseas Filipino workers (OFW), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has decided to conduct sensitivity trainings among its personnel. Estrella Roman, special assistant to the DFA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA), said the department decided to have the training after it receive reports from its officials about the “insensitivity" of the agency’s employees to the concerns of OFWs. “For the information of everyone, we have had similar complaints of seemingly lack of sensitivity of some foreign service personnel," Roman said during a recent forum at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. “We want to avoid (situations wherein) OFWs (are) not being given proper information or not being provided with the maximum service available," she said. According to Roman, the agency now requires all foreign service staff...

MANILA, Philippines - No suspects have been found yet on the reported P1.5-million burglary at the Philippine Consulate in Dubai, according to an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). “It is still being investigated by the police and the DFA, but there are no conclusions yet," Dubai Consul General Renato Valeriano told GMANews.TV in an interview on Tuesday. According to reports, thieves broke into the consulate’s financial officer’s office last September 5 and took money and passport stored in a safe worth about Dh45, 000 or P1.5 million. The stolen money was reportedly part of the consulate’s official funds, including fees unpaid for consular services, such as renewal of passports, and money for running the office. Valeriano said that “as of the moment," the police had no specific leads to the crime. “Gusto ng pulis ituloy lang ang (The police just want to continue the) investigations." As to speculations that the crime was an inside job involving Filipin...

MANILA, Philippines - A 33-year-old Filipina was arrested Tuesday night at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport in China after authorities discovered heroin inside the five pairs of shoes in her carry-on luggage, Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Vicento "Tito" Sotto III said Wednesday. In a press conference after the House subcommittee hearing on the proposed 2009 budget for the DDB, Sotto said the woman, whom he refused to identify, flew to China from Manila aboard a Cebu Pacific 5J678 flight. She was carrying a tourist visa, Sotto said. Sotto said authorities are still determining the specific amount of heroin found in the shoes, which he described as high-heeled. On September 15, a 25-year-old Filipino was likewise arrested in the same airport after boarding another Cebu Pacific 5J678 flight from Manila. Sotto said they are studying the possibility that Philippine airport authorities are involved in the drug-trafficking incidents. "We still have to find out kung meron...

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today advised overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) seeking or returning to their jobs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to check on the validity of their passports to avoid delay, which could adversely affect their employment in the Emirates. Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said the UAE government has issued new rules concerning the validity of passports of expatriates and visitors in the Emirates. In line with the rules, Roque said the Philippine passport must be valid for not less than six months if the OFWs have no UAE residence permit. If the OFWs hold a UAE special entry permit or an employment visa, their Philippine passports must be valid for not less than three months. The DOLE Chief said that without valid passports, OFWs will not be granted a UAE entry permit or entry visa, which they need in order to enter the emirates and also return to the home country or any country, which issued their passports. An entry visa in...

Key non-government organizations (NGOs), overseas Filipino workers (OFWs),and civil society groups will highlight the Philippines' efforts to strengthen migrants' protection and address the social costs of migration as the country prepares to host a major global event, the United Nations' (UN) 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) with the conduct of a parallel event in October this year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said. Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said that the effort initiated by the groups in linkage with the government, is consistent with the initiative of the global forum to promote best practices in migration and strengthen the welfare and protection of the world's estimated 200 million migrants. Roque said the 2nd GFMD to be held in Manila in October this year will be participated in by top and senior labor officials from 180 different countries. He stressed that the selection of the Philippines as hos...

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has begun efforts for the implementation of the labor agreements with western Canadian provinces, that will provide Filipino workers greater access to employment opportunities in Canada. Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque issued Administrative Order No. 303, series of 2008, creating a composite team tasked to work out mechanisms for the implementation of the memoranda of understanding (MOU) which the DOLE entered into with the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Manitoba to strengthen areas of cooperation with the Philippines in the employment and deployment of Filipino workers to these parts of Canada. The DOLE forged the MOUs with the provincial governments of Saskatchewan in December 2007 and British Columbia and Manitoba early this year. It is scheduled to enter into a similar agreement with the Canadian province of Alberta this month. Roque said the DOLE team has been directed to address urgent conc...

MANILA, Philippines - As the number of abducted Filipino seamen climbed to 80 on Wednesday, a seafarers’ group proposed equipping maritime workers with high-powered guns to deter pirates from hijacking vessels “Ako payag ako na armasan ang mga seafarers kaysa i-ban sila sa mga dagat (I’m for the arming of all seafarers instead of banning them in certain waters)," Engineer Nelson Ramirez, president of the United Filipino Seafarers (UFS) told GMANews.TV on Thursday. Ramirez, who earlier opposed the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) proposed deployment ban to Somalia, said pirates would think twice in boarding ships with fully armed crew members. International law prohibits the carrying of guns in commercial vessels. Ship captains are trained to shoot pirates only with a fire hose. But according to Ramirez, the said law does not apply to everyone. “Bawal pero bakit ang mga American vessels inaarmasan nila mga crew nila (It’s prohibited but why are crew members of American vessels ...