KAKAMMPI News

A little boy got the chance to be reunited with his overseas working father who was among the 30 Filipinos repatriated from China amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. According to Vonne Aquino's report on Unang Balita on Monday, the OFW's family was elated to see him safe after completing the 14-day mandatory quarantine procedure in New Clark City. "Pa, sana huwag ka nang bumalik sa China kasi mahal na mahal ka po namin," the OFW's son said. Their home was decorated with balloons, and cake was also prepared for the hardworking father. The sweet reunion was filled with warm hugs. "Masaya po, as in, talagang sobrang saya. Parang maluwag na po 'yung pakiramdam namin," the repatriate's partner said. The OFW's employer in China, on the other hand, has expressed willingness to hire him again once the health situation there stabilizes. The 30 Filipinos from China's Wuhan City—the center of the outbreak—along with 1...

A Filipino tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South Korea, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday. "Mayroon pong ibinibigay sa aming impormasyon kahapon na mayroon ho tayong nag-positive na case sa South Korea. Pero 'yung buong detalye po ay hindi pa natin nakukuha," Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an interview on GMA News' Unang Balita. But in a press conference in Malacañang later in the day, Vergeire clarified that  there is still no confirmed case  of a Filipino with COVID-19 in South Korea. "No, we don't have any Filipino yet positive for COVID-19. We have one in Singapore, we have two in UAE, and we have one in Hong Kong," Vergeire said when asked for confirmation. Consul General Christian De Jesus, in a separate interview on GMA News TV's Balitanghali said that the Philippine Embassy in South Korea has not received any reports on Filipinos infected by the virus. ...

The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong reported on Sunday that there were only three Filipinos who remained quarantined over the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Special Chinese Administrative Region. According to Consul General Raly Tejada, all the quarantined Filipinos were healthy, asymptomatic, and would likely be released within a week. "Three other Filipinos have been released since February 15 after completing their 14-day mandatory quarantine," added Tejada. Hong Kong’s lone Filipino COVID-19 patient, meanwhile, informed the consulate that all her recent tests were now negative for COVID-19.  She, too, was healthy and was also expected to be released within a week. The South China Morning Post earlier reported that the Filipina was the  61st confirmed case of COVID-19  in Hong Kong.  — DVM, GMA News

A Filipina migrant worker in Saudi Arabia managed to escape from her employers, whose repeated physical abuse has resulted in several wounds and bruises across her body. According to a Sunday report on 24 Oras Weekend by Katrina Son, the woman had only been with her employers, a married couple in Abha, for three months when they began physically abusing her. “‘Yung kaunting pagkakamali lang po na hindi ko sinasadya, halimbawa may mabasag ako na baso, tapos ‘yung utos nila na hindi ko masunod, nakakalimutan ko, tapos ‘yung mga anak niya, nagsusumbong po kasi,” she recalled. The physical abuse caused her hair to fall out. She also ended up needing stitches for an injury to her ear.  She began seeking help from her fellow Filipino workers in the area in September 2019. The other Filipinos in Abha sent photos of her maltreated body to her husband, who was in the Philippines. The victim’s husband said he sought assistance from his wife’s recruitment agency but to no av...

A Filipino musician in the United Arab Emirates has set up a community library in his hometown Matnog in Sorsogon in the Bicol region. In putting up the library, he believes he is doing the right thing for the children in his hometown. "I'm just doing what is right. The basic things and straightforward. I hope and pray our kids will become  good persons," said Ronald Galvez, 42, a graphic communications manager of the Al-Futtaim Group LLC, in an online interview last Friday. Photo by Ronald Galvez "It is also tribute to my father," he added, referring to his dad Sanny Galvez, who had been the president of the National Press Club of the Philippines, and a journalist for 50 years. The younger Galvez admitted that as a child he did not read books as much as his father expected him to. "Hindi ako mahilig magbasa  pero mahilig ako makinig sa mga real-life experiences niya," the  Dubai-based OFW who had led 17 community projects  in the Mu...

A Filipino in Singapore has tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a Foreign Affairs official announced Sunday. Quoting the Philippine Embassy in Singapore, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay  tweeted that the Filipino is currently isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.  “This is [the] first confirmed case involving a Filipino in Singapore,” Dulay said. The undersecretary also said that the Philippine Embassy in Singapore is in close contact with Singaporean health officials to monitor the condition of the confirmed Filipino case. A total of 89 people in Singapore have tested positive for the virus as of Saturday, according to The Straits Times. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.  earlier opposed a travel ban on Singapore amid the COVID-19 outbreak.    — Julia Mari Ornedo/BM, GMA News

Publish By JOVILAND RITA, GMA News Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Sunday said the Filipinos on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan will be repatriated on Tuesday. “So far 25 Feb is repatriation day,” he  posted  on Twitter. This was despite a report from Agence France-Presse saying Japan revealed that  23 passengers mistakenly left the ship before testing .  A Japanese woman who disembarked from the cruise ship on Wednesday later tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to her home in Tochigi Prefecture. According to the AFP report on Sunday, a 14-day quarantine is expected to start for the more than 1,000 crew still onboard the cruise ship. Japan Health Minister Katsunobu Kato apologized for the "operational mistake." "We deeply regret that our operational mistake caused the situation," Kato said, adding that the passengers would be tested again. Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokes...