KAKAMMPI News

The Department of Foreign Affairs has issued the following tips to facilitate applications for passports: 1. Applicants should contact the DFA for the latest passport information. They could visit the DFA website (www.dfa.gov.ph) or call 834-4000. 2. They should apply for passports way ahead of their scheduled trip. Applicants should check the validity of their passports and update their documents accordingly. A passport is valid for five years, but airlines and countries require passports with validity of six months prior to the expiry date. 3. Applicants should prepare their requirements before their appointment date. These include the completely filled-out application form, the old passport and photocopies of its pages for renewals, the National Statistics Office-certified birth certificate, and IDs and their photocopies for new applicants. They do not need to bring ID photos, as their photographs and thumbprints will be taken on the site. 4. Non-OFW and Metro Manila-based applicant...

Passport applicants can now know the status of their applications with the Department of Foreign Affairs Officer of Consular Affairs' Passport Tracking Service (PTS). The DFA said the PTS is an initiative of its consular affairs' office to enable applicants to check on the status of their passport applications, notably the schedule of release. In a news release on its website, the DFA said applicants may visit www.dfa.gov.ph and click the PTS icon found there. Clicking the icon will lead to an online form that requires the following basic information: • Full name (First, Middle, Last) • Date of birth • Cellular phone number and e-mail address • Date of filing • Date of release • Amount paid • For pick-up or courier service (name of courier) "After typing and encoding the information required, applicants will receive a response to their PTS queries through text message or SMS (short messaging system), or an e-mail within two working days upon receipt of such online request,...

United Kingdom (UK) Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie praised Filipinos in the UK for their significant contributions to their host country. Lillie told a recent roundtable discussion in London that Filipinos have had "a varied and diverse contribution to British society and the British way of life." "(The Filipino community has been) an important part of the bilateral relations, which has been strong and very good," he said, according to a news release on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) website. There are some 250,000 Filipinos living and working in the United Kingdom, with a great majority located in the Greater London Area. Most Filipinos are employed in the health sector, with around 30,000 working as nurses in public and private hospitals and clinics. Meanwhile, some 10,000 Britons live in the Philippines, mostly as expatriates, spouses and retirees. Emerging power Lillie said the new British government recognizes the potential of the Philipp...

At least 54 overseas Filipino workers said to be "overstaying" at the Hajj Terminal in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia arrived home shortly after midnight on Thursday. The 54 OFWs, including four children, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport aboard a Brunei Airways flight 689 at 12:20 a.m., radio dzBB reported. Before their arrival, at least 110 Filipinos staying at the Hajj Terminal had been brought home. Vice President Jejomar Binay helped facilitate the repatriation of the overstaying OFWs. During his visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this year, Binay asked King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud to repatriate 4,500 Filipinos, including 1,084 who are staying at the Hajj Terminal. However, Binay learned that the Philippine government would need at least P143 million to pay for the plane fare of all the overstaying OFWs. The Philippine Embassy had been paying SR 15 (P172) daily for every OFW housed at the terminal, creating a “serious drain" on the limited resources of the ...

A Filipino woman was acquitted of drug charges in Italy, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday. The woman, who was not identified by the DFA, was placed under house arrest during her seven-month trial, the DFA said, citing a report from the Philippine Embassy in Rome. The DFA said the Tribunale di Civitavecchia judge ruled in her favor, saying her statements made in courts were consistent. The Filipino woman was arrested on October 4 last year upon her arrival at the Fiumicino Airport in Italy. She was allegedly found to be carrying 49.50 grams of shabu hidden inside a portable DVD player. She alleged that her fellow overseas Filipino worker (OFW) asked her to carry the appliance with her. The DFA said the Filipino woman jailed at the Civitavecchia prison from the day of her arrest until her trial on October 18, 2010. She was later granted house arrest for medical reasons. The DFA said that when the Philippine Embassy in Rome learned of the woman’s case, it immediat...

JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANO, OFW Journalism Consortium 05/18/2011 | 06:07 PM Domestic workers may need to work harder to secure a $400-minimum salary as a Filipino community leader in Kuala Lumpur cites the Philippine government’s impotence in enforcing such wage policy. Make Kuala Lumpur a test case, says Pilar Sangaran, adviser of the Samahang Impok Bayan (SIB) in Malaysia, reacting to a clamor for government to review the Philippines’ household service workers (HSWs) reform package. The suggestion to review the package comes from the Scalabrini Migration Center (SMC) and the government’s Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS). Both research institutes think the HSW reform package’s minimum pay policy “is not working" after five years since the Philippine government unilaterally imposed it on labor-hosting countries in 2006. The SMC and PIDS found that 47 percent of 224 departing domestic workers the groups surveyed expected to earn less than $400. Nearly half of the r...

Applicants scheduled for a passport appointment on June 20 will be accommodated from June 13 to 17, the Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of Consular Affairs said Saturday. The DFA said this is in compliance with Proclamation 154 declaring June 20 as a special non-working holiday. It was referring to President Benigno Aquino III’s declaration that June 20 is a non-working day to mark the 150th birth anniversary of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal. Rizal’s birth anniversary this year, June 19, falls on a Sunday. The DFA said those with questions can contact (632) 556-0000, (632) 737-1000 or e-mail epassport@dfa.gov.ph or passport.oca@yahoo.com. — JE, GMA News