KAKAMMPI News

Published  March 24, 2018 1:48pm  By TED CORDERO, GMA News There were no Filipino casualties in southern France's shooting spree incident on Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saturday. Ambassador to Paris Maria Teresa Lazaro said the Philippine Embassy has not received reports of any Filipino casualties in the shooting and hostage-taking incident in the southwestern town of Carcassonne. Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano extended the Philippines' sympathies to France after three people were killed and two others wounded in the shooting incident. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France today as they mourn those who lost their lives in the terrorist incident in Carcassonne," Cayetano said. "We stand with France and the rest of the world in condemning this incident," Secretary Cayetano added. Lazaro said the incident involved a 25-year-old French-Moroccan national who was...

Published  March 23, 2018 7:50pm  The three Filipinas who were duped into working as sex workers in Sabah, Malaysia, are finally home, three months after their ordeal was first reported. In an episode of Reporter's Notebook that aired on Thursday night, March 22, GMA News' Maki Pulido said the three — Chona, Loida and Gemma — arrived in the Philippines on March 2. "Masaya, kasi makakasama ko na 'yung pamilya ko, lalo na 'yung mga kapatid ko," one of them said. "Hindi ko po akalain na makakauwi po kami. Akala po namin habangbuhay na kami makukulong dun. Akala namin wala nang tutulong sa amin," another one said. The three, who were promised employment as waitresses in Sabah, were detained for being undocumented. With the help of Reporter's Notebook, the three were brought to their respective provinces upon their arrival in the Philippines to start their life anew. PHL government's presence in Sabah  Accor...

Published  March 23, 2018 3:51pm  Filipino workers affected by the total deployment ban in Kuwait will receive up to P5,000 worth of cash assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). In a statement on Friday, OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said the agency has approved Board Resolution No. 14-2018 to give cash assistance to first-time OFWs whose deployment to Kuwait was affected by the ban. According to the resolution, active OWWA members will receive P5,000 while non-members will get P2,500. "There will be cash assistance to those affected by the ban on OFW deployment to Kuwait as long as they are OWWA members and have Kuwait work visa as of February 12, 2018," the resolution read. Beneficiaries may visit the closest OWWA regional offices in their area to ask how they may avail of the monetary assistance. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) imposed a total deployment ban for OFWs bound for Kuwait last mont...

By:  Leila B. Salaverria - Reporter /  @LeilasINQ Philippine Daily Inquirer  / 07:08 AM March 23, 2018 CONDITIONS FOR LIFTING BAN President Duterte reiterates his conditions for lifting the ban on the deployment of Filipinoworkers to Kuwait during a speech at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City on Wednesday night. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO President Duterte will not lift the ban on deployment of workers to Kuwait until the Kuwaiti government accepts the conditions he has laid down involving humane treatment of Filipinos in the wealthy Gulf state. Speaking before a gathering of his supporters in Pasay City on Wednesday night, Mr. Duterte reiterated his conditions for the lifting of the ban and directed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to work for Kuwait’s adoption of his terms. “I said, ‘If this fails to be approved, Silvestre Bello, labor secretary, sorry. No lifting of the ban,” Mr. Duterte said. According to Mr. Duterte, the Filipino workers’ pass...

Published  March 23, 2018 12:09am  The signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Philippines and Kuwait next month may not immediately lead to the lifting of the total deployment ban of Filipino workers to the Gulf State, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Thursday. As reported by GMA News' JP Soriano on State of the Nation with Jessica Soho, Bello said they may lift the deployment ban on skilled workers first once the MOU is signed, tentatively on April 7 or 8. "If there will be a signing, this is one step towards the possible lifting [of the deployment ban], pero I also made a statement [na] if there will be a lifting, it will only be for a moment a lifting of the ban with respect with the skilled workers," he said. The deployment ban was imposed last month following the discovery of the body of Filipina domestic helper Joanna Demafelis inside a freezer in an apartment unit previously occupied by her employers. ...

By:  Christine O. Avendaño -  @inquirerdotnet Philippine Daily Inquirer  / 09:39 PM March 22, 2018 FILE PHOTO The Senate has adopted a resolution pushing for a total deployment ban to countries not granting Filipino household service workers rights and work conditions similar to their nationals. Adopted last Wednesday night was Senate resolution No. 676 “expressing the sense of the Senate that the deployment of overseas Filipino household service workers to countries that do not afford migrants the same rights and work conditions as their nationals and allow the withholding of Philippine passports be totally banned.” On the last session day last Wednesday, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III sponsored the resolution on the floor where he sought an end to the bad experiences of many Filipino household service works in the hands of their foreign employers after he cited some of their cases. “In these place it is often the practice that emplo...

By:  Pathricia Ann V. Roxas - Reporter /  @PathRoxasINQ INQUIRER.net  / 01:31 PM March 22, 2018 A substitute bill that aims to produce a handbook on the rights and responsibilities of migrant workers has been approved by the House committee on overseas workers affairs. Authored by Rep. Rogelio Pacquiao, the proposed “Handbook for OFWs Act of 2018,” aims to empower overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) by making them aware of the benefits and drawbacks of working overseas. The bill, which seeks to amend Republic Act No. 8042 or the “Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995,” also complements the worker education programs of various agencies. Also contained in the handbook are the necessary information needed by OFWs for their reintegration once they return to the Philippines. Approved at the committee level on Wednesday, the proposed measure specifically mandates the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to develop, publish...