KAKAMMPI News

By Fr. Shay Cullen 12 November 2013 Besides the thousands that have been killed, injured, and made homeless by the most devastating typhoon known to humankind, the orphaned children are the most vulnerable. Their towns and villages and homes are no more and their parents are dead. They are threatened by malnutrition, kidnapping, and abduction. Horrible as this prospect is, it has been a deadly reality in times of natural disasters. These children need our special attention and direct intervention to save them from child traffickers and pedophiles. Under the pretext of saving the children, traffickers can abduct them and sell them as "brides" to pedophiles or earn hundreds of thousands of pounds or euros by providing these children for illegal adoption and even worse, sexual abuse and exploitation. The Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has called for urgent vigilance by aid workers to this form of child trafficking in the areas devastated by the mo...

MANILA, Philippines — Civil society organizations and lawmakers banded together on Wednesday, urging that the revised version of the controversial Reproductive Health Bill be put to a vote at the House of Representatives. In a press conference, CSOs Likhaan Center for Women’s Health Inc. and Midwife E Philippines joined female lawmakers from the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation Inc. in pushing for the recently introduced version of House Bill 4244 otherwise known as the RH Bill. Female legislators who have banded together as “Soul Sisters” at the lower chamber of the 15th Congress – Pangasinan Representative Kimi Cojuangco, Representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy, and Diwa Partylist Representative Emmeline Aglipay – urged fellow lawmakers to halt delays to the RH Bill’s developments and put it to a vote. “The problem is that we’ve never been able to enter the amendments period proper for the RH Bill,” said Cojuangco. “The House leadership has bent...

Transcript of ambush interview with Sen. Pia S. Cayetano Senate session hall Q: Mam reaction po doon sa sinabi ni Senate President Enrile na isasantabi o ‘second priority’ muna ang RH bill (to give way to Sin Tax and Budget bills)… SPSC: Bakit kaya ganun ano? Favorite bill na ‘isantabi’ ang RH bill ano? Tsaka honestly, we only need a few minutes because during the caucus before we went on break, ang alam kong mag-aamend si Senator Recto na lang at si Senator Senrile. Hindi naman mahaba yun eh. Yung pinakamabusisi na nga na amendment inabot lang kami ng mga 30 minutes, tapos isasantabi? Naku naman. Tapos sinabi kahapon, ang session namin hanggang 8:00 pm. Eh alas singko pa lang naman ngayon kaya nga ako nandito. Ready naman ako eh, although hindi naman naka-schedule yan (RH bill) today. But I had it scheduled for next week, nagpasabi na ako sa office ng Majority Floor Leader para ma-schedule na yan. Honestly, I’m a little bit disappointed with all the drama. Because bakit kailangan isan...

Twelve Filipinos were arrested in Malaysia following a crackdown on illegal workers in the Sungei Way area Wednesday night. The Filipinos were aged 27 to 40 and were detained following the four-hour operation, according to a report on Malaysia's The Star Online  on Thursday. One of the arrested Filipinos, who was married to a Sabah resident, had a fake ID card that he claimed was "borrowed" from one of his wife’s relatives, the report said. At least two others were caught for allegedly using fake ID cards to get jobs in Sabah. The report said one of them, Safwan Arasil, 19, went to Tawau in Sabah from Mindanao on a boat in 2011 to look for work. Safwan claimed a man approached him while in Tawau and offered him a MyKad for RM200. He said the man told him he would be able “to find a job that pays well.” Department director of Investigation and Enforcement Wan Zakaria Wan Awang said the operation is a joint one among National Registration Department (NRD), state Immigration...

Twelve Filipinos were arrested in Malaysia following a crackdown on illegal workers in the Sungei Way area Wednesday night. The Filipinos were aged 27 to 40 and were detained following the four-hour operation, according to a report on Malaysia's The Star Online  on Thursday. One of the arrested Filipinos, who was married to a Sabah resident, had a fake ID card that he claimed was "borrowed" from one of his wife’s relatives, the report said. At least two others were caught for allegedly using fake ID cards to get jobs in Sabah. The report said one of them, Safwan Arasil, 19, went to Tawau in Sabah from Mindanao on a boat in 2011 to look for work. Safwan claimed a man approached him while in Tawau and offered him a MyKad for RM200. He said the man told him he would be able “to find a job that pays well.” Department director of Investigation and Enforcement Wan Zakaria Wan Awang said the operation is a joint one among National Registration Department (NRD), state Immigration...

Two suspected human traffickers were arrested in Laguna province this week for sending 11 Filipinas into forced prostitution in Malaysia. Vice President Jejomar Binay said Angelita Restoles and Florenciano Ocampo were arrested Tuesday afternoon in Calamba, Laguna. “Mrs. Restoles allegedly recruited her victims by promising them jobs as waitresses in Singapore, but in reality they were sent to Malaysia to work in a bar owned by Restoles’ daughter and provide sexual services to clients,” Binay, the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers' concerns, said in  an article posted on the Office of the Vice President website  Friday. He said the arrest followed the rescue and repatriation last weekend of 11 Filipinas forced to work as prostitutes in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The two now face charges of qualified trafficking. In the meantime, Binay said the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) is now reviewing the Bureau of Immigration’s offloading guidelines “to stre...

Tags:  Super Typhoon Yolanda Hundreds of Filipinos based in the United Arab Emirates on Friday took part in a charity walk for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda. The wall was held in Safa Park, Dubai and was organized by the Philippines Business Council and UAE Red Crescent, UAE-based Gulf News reported. “The Philippines is worth the walk.  Such events are not only important for financial aid but also spreading the spirit of Bayanihan  — the collective heroism for a common cause – for the Haiyan victims,” said Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Grace Princesa, who also took part in the walk. “The Filipino expats saw how bad it is in the media and came despite the bad weather that the [UAE] has been experiencing in the last two days. It will take years worth of effort to rebuild so all the support that we get is needed,”said Philippine Consul General Frank Cimafranca . Filipino global runner Cesar Guarin, 57, also attended the walk to show his support for the victims. Guar...