KAKAMMPI News

A Filipino waiter is facing charges in a Dubai court for selling two bottles of liquor to a relative at Dubai airport’s business and first class lounge. The waiter, identified only as 26-year-old A.S., has pleaded guilty to misappropriating three bottles of whisky to a relative when arraigned on Saturday before the Dubai Court of First Instance, Gulf News reported Monday. He sought leniency from the court, arguing that he paid for the liquor. He said he saw his relative at the business lounge and offered to sell him the whisky at a price cheaper than the Duty Free rates. He sold two bottles for $40 and gave away an extra bottle as a gift. The whisky bottles were found inside a Duty Free bag the relative’s possession.The waiter’s Filipina boss said A.S. “does not have the right to sell, give away or possess the food and beverages that are catered at the lounge." “He did something wrong when his duty was to serve the passengers," she said. A.S. has been allowed to post bail. H...

Representatives of Australian and New Zealand companies are soon traveling to Manila to interview job applicants who have passed initial screening by a local recruitment agency. Cherry Cleary, president of Jerphi Overseas and Trading Corp, said in a statement that her company has successfully secured hundreds of job orders from reputable manpower staffing companies and trade organizations in Australia and New Zealand during a month-long marketing mission there. She said Filipino jobseekers stand to benefit from the booming construction industry particularly in the cities of Perth and Brisbane. Among the job opportunities available for qualified and English speaking Filipinos are in manufacturing and construction, particularly for positions like sheet metal fabricators, machinists, aluminum window fabricators, carpenters, welders, plumbers, painters, building electricians and experienced hotel chefs. Chevron – Australia, formerly known as Caltex, has placed an order with Jerphi for oil ...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Pirates have seized a Japanese chemical tanker and its 23 crew in the Gulf of Eden off the coast of Somalia - the second hijacking case in two weeks, a global maritime watchdog said Monday. Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, said the center immediately notified Western naval ships patrolling the area after picking up a distress signal from the tanker late Sunday, but it was too late.' 'The vessel and its 23 crew members comprising Koreans, Filipinos and Myanmar nationals have been confirmed hijacked by pirates. The vessel has entered Somali territorial waters,'' he told The Associated Press. No other details were immediately available, he said. This was the second hijacking since Oct. 17 after pirates opened fire and seized a general cargo ship flying under a Comoros Island flag and operated by a Dubai-based company, Choong said. In addition, there have been at least five attempt...

BACOLOD - A Japanese cooperative, Multi-Contractor Cooperative (MCC), is now training 140 Negrenses and 10 others from Cagayan de Oro for six months for a sure construction job in Japan. Multi-Contractor Cooperative is servicing 60 construction firms all over Japan and has already sent some 350 job trainees from Negros to Japan. This Japanese cooperative represented by Kunimori Saito has set up an office here in Bacolod whose corporate name is Philippine-Japan Technical Skills Development Association, Inc. (PJTSDA). Together with Saito are Japanese trainer Yoshitaka Kukuminato, Filipino trainer Henry Baltazar, and 14 other Japanese trainers for carpentry, masonry, and steel breaking. "We have accepted 150 now but only 50 will qualify for Japan as trainees. We don't call them contract workers because there are none in Japan. While being trained, all the 150 earn allowances," he said. "We have to raise our standards, however, because of the expectations of our client-m...

A kind-hearted Filipino has agreed to provide for the Dubai-Manila plane tickets and pocket money for the two Filipino seamen stranded since July in the port city of Umm Qasr, Iraq. The Filipino, who simply wanted to be identified as a “concerned Pinoy from Umm Qasr," also works at the port. He showed compassion for Rodolfo Limjap and Abril Ricablanca after learning of their plight from Renee Dominguiano. Dominguiano, assistant port manager of Inchcape Shipping Services that provides logistics support for the British forces in Iraq, has been looking after Limjap and Ricablanca particularly after their employer abandoned them without money and food two months ago. The benefactor hosted dinner on Sunday and gave $500 each to Limjap and Ricablanca for their plane ticket, which would each cost roughly $300, and the rest for their pocket money. Dominguiano brought the two seamen to their benefactor on Sunday afternoon. The two had been issued visa by the Philippine consulate in Dubai, ...

migrant workers’ group wants the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to focus on negotiations for bilateral labor agreements with countries hosting Filipino workers. Kanlungan Center, a group assisting distressed OFWs, is urging the POEA to do its responsibilities now that it has regained a broad mandate over the local migration industry under RA 9422, the law that strengthens its regulatory functions. “RA 9422 has strengthened POEA’s role in protecting the rights of OFWs. One way to lessen abuses against our workers is to send them to countries that have labor agreements with the Philippines," said Rosemary Trajano, executive director of Kanlungan Center. “The new law is a huge success for OFWs, and POEA must not fail them," Trajano said in an interview in a radio program hosted by Ma. Fe Nicodemus of Kakammpi, an organization of migrant workers and their families. According to Trajano, the Philippines has bilateral labor agreements with only 13 out of the 1...

About 500,000 of the 1.2 million members of the overseas workers program (OWP) of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation are inactive, an official of PhilHealth has said. “In my initial review of the OWP database, I discovered that about 500,000 (41.6 percent) of our members are inactive. But I still have to crosscheck the figures," said Greg Rulloda, PhilHealth’s vice president. “Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) tend to forget their monthly dues. The database system automatically reports as inactive expired membership," Rulloda told radio host Ma. Fe Nicodemus of Kakammpi, an organization of migrant workers and their families. “PhilHealth is asking members to update their membership to avoid problems over claims later," Rulloda added. He said that the OWP is doing everything to make registration and payment processes easy.He also noted that the program would adopt electronic-registration and electronic-payment system early in 2008 to help members do transactions wi...

Kadalasan, bumababa ang halaga ng piso kapag may nangyayaring kaguluhan gaya ng mga pagsabog o pambobomba: Glorietta explosion May 17, 2000 13 sugatan Bahagyang humina ang halaga ng piso sa mismong araw ng pagsabog at sa sumunod na araw SM Megamall bombing May 21, 2000 1 patay Linggo nangyari ang pambobomba; walang trading Bumaba ang halaga ng piso noong sumunod na araw, nang magbukas ang trading; mula 41-level, mabilis itong bumulusok ng 42- hanggang 43-level sa loob lamang ng ilang araw Nangyari ang pambobomba ilang araw lang matapos ang pagsabog sa Glorietta Rizal Day Bombings / LRT bombing December 30, 2000 22 ang patay at humigit-kumulang 100 ang sugatan sa magkakahiwalay na insidente ng pambobomba sa Kamaynilaan. Kabilang sa mga binomba ang LRT Bumaba ang halaga ng piso by almost one peso matapos ang pambobomba. Nasa 50-level lang ito nung Biyernes bago ang insidente; nang mag-resume ang trading after the weekend bombing, nag-51-level na ang halaga ng piso Hindi na nakabawi pa an...

The Philippines will be borrowing less from foreign sources next year and more from local creditors in order to tame the peso's rise against the US dollar, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said Wednesday. In an interview with reporters Teves said the government plans to trim foreign borrowings by P20 billion to P21 billion next year, which it will instead borrow from domestic sources. “That simply means that given our borrowing program next year, we will be adding P20 billion to P21 billion out of domestic borrowing and reducing the same amount from external borrowings," Teves said. This, Teves said, translates to a borrowing mix of 70 percent from domestic sources and 30 percent from foreign creditors versus the original program of 64 percent from domestic and 36 percent from foreign sources. The Finance Secretary said these changes take into consideration the proposal of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to source more funds domestically to help cushion the impact of the stro...

Philippine authorities in Bahrain warned Filipinos against bringing methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) there, lest they face stiffer penalties in that Middle East country. In a statement posted on the Department of Foreign Affairs website , Philippine Ambassador to Manama Eduardo Pablo Maglaya said the Kingdom had announced tougher penalties on users and dealers of shabu. Maglaya said the Bahrain government amended last Aug. 16 its list of high category dangerous drugs to include shabu. "Anyone caught with the illegal drug could face prohibitive fines and sentences of up to life in prison," he said. He noted Southeast Asians were identified as those who smuggled the illegal drug into Bahrain some five years ago. Over the past few years, several Filipinos were caught for shabu trafficking, he said, adding that only recently, a Filipino national was arrested for selling shabu in a sting operation. "Filipinos entering Bahrain are advised to be wary of packages that are s...

The Labor Department has scheduled a multi-sectoral meeting to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by the strengthening of the peso in recent weeks. In a statement posted on the Labor Department website , Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said the meeting will be held early November. Brion said they hope to come up with a package of assistance to OFWs adversely affected by the strong peso. He said this is in line with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's directive to concerned agencies to draw up measures that the government could adopt to assist OFWs and their families. Brion said the salaries of OFWs onsite remain the same but their equivalent earnings in peso are affected particularly if their earnings overseas are directly in US dollars. "From more than P52 to the dollar at the start of 2007, the exchange rate is down to the P44 level to the dollar. While the peso's appreciation benefits the economy by enabling the country to pay off its debts at lower cost, it re...

For more than a week now, overseas Filipino workers have been spreading through electronic mail a call to stop sending remittances to the Philippines on Nov. 1 and 2 to dramatize their appeal to the government to address their concerns over the adverse effect of the strong peso on the value of their remittances. “Gawin natin itong sakripisyo para na rin sa ating kapakanan," said Dick Orense from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The call said that if they cannot avoid sending money home on these two days, they could do so through door-to-door remittance services. The OFWs believe that avoiding to use the banking channels to remit part of their earnings to their families in the Philippines would substantially affect the dollar inflow into the country’s reserves and hopefully put pressure on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to promptly address their concerns over the strength of the peso against foreign currencies. “Why are prices of commodities rising when salaries are not? Whose lif...

The Philippines ranked as fourth top recipient of overseas remittances in Asia, receiving $14.65 billion in 2006, a United Nations report showed. The report, released in time for the Oct 19 opening of the International Forum on Remittances in Washington DC, said the $14.65 billion remittances sent to the Philippines was based on "a conservative estimate." The amount includes the $12.8 billion remittances coursed through the banks, as reported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, plus OFW earnings sent through informal channels such as door-to-door delivery. The report titled, "Sending money home: Worldwide remittances to developing countries" by the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) listed India on top of the list, receiving $24.5 billion, followed by Mexico with $24.2 billion and China with $21 billion. Russia, with $13.7 billion, ranked next to the Philippines. Lower remittance chargesThe report prompted Sen. Loren Legarda, ...

"Renewing NBI clearance," from OFW HELPLINE with a Q and A format. Q: I am a seaman who spends eight months abroad and four months with my family in Mindoro. Every year, before meeting my ship in Yokohama, Japan, I have to renew my NBI clearance and this takes much time because I have one namesake with an estafa case and another who has a criminal record. Each time, before I can get my NBI clearance, I must secure from the NBI-Carriedo office a certification that I am not either of the two namesakes with derogatory records. Is there a way that I don't have to do this every year? A: The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) now offers a smart card that works like a bank ATM card. Next time, you go to the NBI-Carriedo office (for our readers, the complete address is Carriedo Plaza, Carriedo corner Estero Segado St., Sta. Cruz, Manila), ask for the smart card, which will have your photo and your thumb print plus NBI data showing that you are not your namesake with an estafa...

The Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday called anew on overseas Filipino workers in Nigeria to avail of the government's repatriation program to avoid kidnapping incident similar to a Filipino chief electrician in the west African country. "The DFA has voluntary repatriation program wherein we allot standby fund for those OFWs from Nigeria who would like to be repatriated to the Philippines. We would repatriate them at government's expense and that is ongoing until now," said Crescente Relacion, executive director of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs. He stressed that the government just wants to protect the safety of the Filipino workers as the abduction cases are reportedly growing in Nigeria, and that the latest kidnapping is the ninth incident involving a Filipino worker since last year. Relacion also said that Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has directed Philippine Ambassador to Abuja, Nigeria Masaranga Umpa to sprea...

Senator Mar Roxas warned jobseekers against accepting job offers to Nigeria in light of a series of abductions of foreign workers by different rebel groups in the said country. Roxas issued the warning as he welcomed the safe return of OFW Albert Bacani Sr. who arrived in Manila today after being released by his Nigerian abductors. Bacani and his Columbian co-worker were recovered by Nigerian authorities on a bridge in Port Harcourt around 5 a.m. Manila time (10 p.m., 9 October in Nigeria). The two were abducted on 27 September from their workplace at SAIPEM's petrochemical complex in Port Harcourt, River State, Nigeria. Roxas said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has suspended the processing of job contracts for Nigeria until the peace and order situation in the said African country improves. The senator also underscored the need for workers' vigilance against bogus online recruitment scams that continue to proliferate in the Internet. He noted that as ...

With the number of highly skilled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployed continue to grow, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is projecting their remittances to reach to nearly US$ 15 billion or US$ 14.7 billion by end of December. This, after remittances course through banks culled by the BSP showed an increase of 15.3 percent level or reaching US$ 9.3 billion in the first eight months of 2007. In a statement, the BSP said that for the month of August alone, remittances already reached US$ 1.2 billion. "This marked the sixteenth straight month that inflows were above US$ 1 billion.The cumulative remittance level grew by 15.3 percent compared to the level posted in the comparable period a year ago," the BSP statement said. BSP attributed the growth in the remittances of OFWs to the "demographic trends in advanced economies, geographical and skill diversification of Filipinos abroad, and the efforts of banks and remittance agents to provide OFWs, including their beneficia...

Two displaced Filipino guest workers Queensland, Australia sued their former employers over alleged discrimination over race and union membership. Sydney Morning Herald reported in its online issue on Monday that Roy Yabut and Jun Ramirez lodged the case before the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. Yabut and Ramirez claimed they and another colleague were terminated in October last year by Dartbridge Welding based in Brisbane after they joined a workers’ union and complained about work conditions. They said Dartbridge offered 40 Filipinos individual contracts that provided hourly pay below the market rate and left them without access to overtime pay, penalties and holiday pay. But Dartbridge manager Wayne Harrison, representing himself in the tribunal, questioned Yabut about salary rates and conditions. Under questioning, Yabut admitted the workers were paid $21.26 an hour , or well above the award rate of $15.72. He also accepted that the $175 a week rental charge included tra...

Despite the travel ban, Filipinos have kept arriving in Lebanon in groups, sneaking in from various entry points, an officer of the Afro-Asian Migrant Center (AAMC) in Lebanon said Sunday. Sister Amelia Torres of the Daughters of Charity, administrator for the AAMC, who is in the Philippines for a family visit, said that at least a dozen Filipinos come to Lebanon almost everyday. In a radio interview with Kakammpi, an organization serving overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families, Sr. Torres appealed to the Philippine government to enforce the travel ban to war-torn Lebanon because thousands of Filipinos, especially domestic helpers, need protection from abuses. She said there are around 25,000 Filipinos in Lebanon and 95 percent of them are women because most of the employers there hire only household workers. “Lebanese employers normally lock up household helpers in the house. They confiscate the cell phones and prohibit helpers from talking to friends and to anyone in the ...

A migrant workers’ group raised fears on Friday that sexually transmitted infection (STI) and reproductive track infection (RTI) could be a growing health concern among overseas Filipino domestic helpers due to lack of knowledge about these diseases. Ma. Fe Nicodemus, executive director of Kakammpi (Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak ng mga Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc.) said that 23 (7.3 percent) of the 302 overseas domestic helpers surveyed in 2005 had no idea about STI and RTI. The group has been observing increasing cases of the ailments among its members. In simple terms, it means two out of 10 domestic workers did not have sufficient knowledge about diseases affecting their reproductive health. “Among our members, we have recorded STI cases resulting from induced abortion. The problem alarms us especially that same survey shows that 23 of the respondents indicated pregnancy while working abroad as one of their problems," she said. “We assisted a domestic helper who got ser...

SEOUL, South Korea - South Koreans are increasingly turning to the Internet and mobile phones to buy sex following a tougher anti-prostitution law in 2004 targeting brothels. Major red-light districts throughout South Korea dropped 42 percent since 2004 to 992 this year, according to National Police Agency records released by a legislative office. But the number of alternative locations where sex can be bought — karaoke bars, barber shops and massage parlors — increased 26 percent to 139,273 during that period, the records showed. In a news release, the office of Ahn Myoung-ock, a member of the National Assembly's health and welfare committee, said the Internet and mobile phones are emerging as key conduits for prostitution. The office cited data by the state-run Korea Internet Safety Commission showing it received reports that 11,724 Web sites and mobile phone content operators were arranging prostitution as of this past June, more than quadruple the 2,680 in 2005 (The commission ...

Migrante International, an alliance of overseas Filipinos and their families, vowed on Wednesday to help obtain justice for 28-year-old Jocelyn Dulnuan, a Filipina housekeeper slain in Ontario, Canada. Maita Santiago, secretary general of Migrante International, said its member organizations in Canada, Hong Kong and Baguio City have been working together to ensure that Dulnuan’s death won’t be meaningless. "Jocelyn's case highlights yet again how the Arroyo administration exacerbates the injustices suffered by overseas Filipino workers. It is incumbent upon the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cover the costs of repatriating Jocelyn's remains. Further, it must also ensure that Jocelyn's killer(s) are brought to justice" Santiago said. Soon after learning of Dulnuan's murder, Migrante International's member organizations Migrante-Ontario, Migrante-Metro Baguio and groups under the UNIFIL-MIGRANTE-HK have been in close contact with the victim's fam...

Recruiters charging excessive placement fees, beware!Rosalinda Baldoz, chief of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, said the agency has shut down 15 recruitment agencies collecting exorbitant placement fees on job applicants in the first nine months of the year. "About 78 per cent of cases pending before the POEA involve collection of excessive placement fees," she said, without giving the actual number of cases brought before the agency. "We have canceled the licenses of 15 agencies either for charging placement more than the amount allowed by Philippine laws or collecting fees for countries which prohibits such an act," Baldoz said. Citing the Migrant Workers Act and the POEA rules, Baldoz said recruitment companies are only allowed to collect an equivalent of one month salary of the OFW. This means that if the worker is given a salary of $500 per month, the agency can only collect or charge this amount one time and should not exceed that amount oth...

A Filipino is trying to make waves in the high-adrenaline water sport of jet ski as he competes in the International Jet Sports Boating Association (IJSBA) World Finals. Carlo Baltao is among the 140 participants in the IJSBA Finals in Lake Havasu City , Arizona from October 6 to 14. In an interview that appeared in Asian Journal on Tuesday, Carlo said that he is aiming to make a splash on the record books as the very first Filipino to become a world champion in the said water sport. “I am focusing all my energies on the World Finals this week. I will try my very best to be the first Filipino to be a world champion in jet ski," Carlo said adding that he really needs the prayers and support of the Filipino community. The 26-year-old jet ski rider has received numerous awards in the sport back in the Philippines prior to his entry into the much-anticipated international competition. For more than a decade, Carlo raced through the waters and quickly carved a name for himself in the ...

A 33-year-old Filipino storekeeper in Brunei has been sentenced to 37 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to theft last Saturday before the Bandar Magistrate’s Court. Rolly Pineda confessed to stealing jewelry and other belongings from guests of the Empire Hotel and Country Club where he worked, according to a report in Borneo Bulletin. Among the items he allegedly stole were a while gold diamond ring, a gold ring, a white gold diamond bracelet and a gold brooch sometime between Sept. 4 and 7. On Sept. 11, he again admitted to stealing 600 euro, two Sony PlayStation 2, two pieces of iPod, a Motorola mobile phone and a Blackberry mobile phone.Reports said Pineda used the hotel’s master key to enter the guest rooms. - GMANews.TV

A Filipino emerged as the “Soldier of the Year" after he slugged it out in a grueling five-day competition to prove who’s the toughest, smartest and most skilled in the US Army. Spc. Heyz T. Seeker , of the 75th Ranger Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia, was hailed as this year’s top soldier in the Army’s Best Warrior Competition. Seeker participated in the 13 two-man team competition in Fort Lee, Virginia and endured a series of rigorous activities that tested the skills, qualities and abilities of the soldiers in the ranks of private through sergeant first class who have attained best warrior status at 13 major Army commands or regions over the past year . The 35-year-old soldier owes much of his motivation to his victory to his five-year-old daughter. "My daughter was born in 2002, and I felt I had to protect her and I joined the fight against terrorism," Seeker said in an interview that appeared in Richmond Times-Dispatch . According to the report, Seeker ha...

A Filipino charged with robbery for storming a jewelry shop in Kingfisher in Malaysia pleaded "not guilty" before a Sabah court Tuesday. Online news site New Sabah Times (www.newsabahtimes.com.my) reported Wednesday night that Charlie Ajid Jandilon (a.k.a. Kibok, Hussin), 38, allegedly used a kitchen knife to rob Wong Kui Fatt, 45, and his two daughters. Jandilon was accused of being in cahoots with one Jaubin Abdullah (a.k.a. Olan), 22, last February 11 at about 5 a.m. in a house on Lorong Palas 7A, Taman Jindo, Luyang. He faces a jail term of up to 14 years if found guilty.Jaubin had earlier been sentenced to 15 months in prison by the Magistrate’s Court last Aug. 16. On the other hand, Jandiulon was also accused of raping a 15-year-old girl on the same day and at the same time and place. If found guilty, he faces a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping. Prosecuting officer Sabrina Jinius told the court she could call 22 witnesses to testify, and objected to bail being g...

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo on Friday ordered the Philippine Consulate in Toronto to exhaust all efforts and cooperation with the host country's law enforcers in tracking down the suspected killer of 27-year-old Filipina overseas worker, who was found dead last October 1. The victim, identified as Jocelyn Dulnuan, from Ifugao was reportedly found dead around 5 a.m. at the basement of her employer's residence in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. "Sec. Romulo has instructed Philippine Consul General in Toronto to provide full cooperation for bringing anyone responsible for the crime to justice as well as full assistance to victim's next of kin especially in repatriation of remains to Philippines," DFA spokesman Asst. Sec. Claro Cristobal said in a text message. He said the mother of the victim who is an OFW in Hong Kong has been informed of the incident and that the police investigation on suspected murder case is ongoing.(PNA)

Labor group sees US$ 1 to P40 by year's end, renews call for OFWs to shun US currency & stash savings in pesos. The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has repeated its call for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to dump their US dollars and hoard their savings in pesos, warning that the greenback would likely fall to as low as P40 by year's end, should US interest rates drop some more. "We are strongly urging our OFWs and their families here to protect the value of their savings by investing in pesos and avoiding the dollar, in view of the increased probability that lower US interest rates will soon trigger a bigger flight out of the (US) currency," TUCP spokesperson Alex Aguilar said. The US Federal Reserve cut its key rate by half a percentage point last month from 5.25 percent to 4.75 percent, in order to ease liquidity amid a worsening credit crunch that threatens to plunge the US economy into a recession. The rate cut spurred a sell off in the US cu...

A human resource deployment agency has temporarily stopped sending Filipino nurses abroad despite a strong demand for them to prevent the shortage of healthcare professionals in the country from worsening. Randy Rively, Manpower Philippines sales and marketing manager, said Philippine hospitals will run out of nurses in 10 years if more nurses leave the country. There are about eight million Filipinos working overseas and many of them belong to the healthcare profession. During the 44th Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) conference, Rively said Filipinos are globally competitive because they are educated and hardworking. He said Manpower's clients prefer to hire Filipinos because they are well trained and their skills are "amazing." He said the competence of Filipino professionals is the result of good training and education provided by vocational, public or private schools in the country. Rively said the company is doing well because of the high d...

Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan on Monday filed a proposed measure seeking to provide better benefits for overseas Filipino workers as he urged the government to map out long-term programs that would lure the migrant workers to invest and stay in the Philippines. "Given a choice, I don't think anyone would want to be separated from his/her loved ones. We are therefore pushing for incentives and benefits for our overseas Filipinos, to make it more viable for them to invest and engage in business here in the Philippines and make their savings work for them and their loved ones," he said. In filing Senate Bill No. 1254 or the Overseas Filipino Investment Bill, Pangilinan intends to encourage the OFWs to save, invest and engage in business here in the country. Pangilinan also predicted that his bill, if becomes law, would help strengthen the Philippine economy. "With an estimated $ 8 billion worth of remittances every year from OFWs, there's a market that c...

Thousands of job opportunities for Filipinos continue to pour in from Australia and New Zealand. Cherry Cleary, president of Jerphi Overseas and Trading Corp., a private recruitment agency, signed up with a well-known manpower supply company, Winner Executive Recruitment Services of Victoria, Australia. Cleary said a construction boom has fueled the demand of thousands of job positions like the following: sheet metal fabricators, floor finishers (carpet & vinyl), machinists (fitter/turner), aluminum window fabricators or blazers, boiler makers, welders, carpenters, plumbers, painters, building electricians and all sorts of construction workers. Meanwhile, ICON a renowned recruitment company in New Zealand, also signed a manpower agreement with Jerpi for the supply of professionals and highly-skilled personnel for current oil exploration and production projects for Caltex in New Zealand. The job order calls for the recruitment of highly-skilled personnel in oil and exploration such ...

The Filipino overseas worker seized last month was safely released by the Nigerian abductors, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported Wednesday. DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal said Albert Bacani Sr. and his Columbian co-worker were found by the Nigerian authorities on a bridge in Port Harcourt around 5 a.m. Wednesday, Manila time (10 pm, October 9 in Nigeria). "They are in good condition and now in the custody of their Saipem employers and undergoing full medical evaluation. The two were abducted last September 27," Cristobal said in a text message. He said DFA Sec. Alberto Romulo has already instructed Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria Masaranga Umpa to facilitate the repatriation of Bacani and immediately relayed the positive development to the victim's family. Bacani works as an electrician for Saipem, an Italian petrochemical firm. During the September 27 attack, one Colombian was killed. -ofw.balita.ph

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Migrant Care, a non-governmental organization (NGO) for migrant workers, will report the Malaysian government to the United Nations Human Rights Board. The report was related to the rape suffered by an Indonesian worker, EW, by a group of the Malaysian People's Volunteeer Union (Rela) members. "We will report this to the UN Human Rights Council as soon as possible. So far there isn't any action from the Indonesian government," the Migrant Care policy's analyst, Wahyu Susilo told Tempo yesterday (1/10). In addition, said Wahyu, the Rela members will be reported to the UN special envoy for migrants' human rights. A similar measure can be made directly by EW. "The party that should file the lawsuit is the Indonesian government. This is because the rape perpetrators are members of Rela, which was officially established by Malaysian government." According to the National Police HQ Senior Liaison Officer at the Indonesian Embass...

Tangerang (ANTARA News) - The government of Indonesia through its foreign ministry has reportedly urged legal enforcers in Saudi Arabia to mete out heavy punishment against employers proven by the court for their involvement in torturing two Indonesian female domestic helpers to death. "We have sent this message through our consul in Riyard to Saudi Arabian law enforcers to heed our call for the enforcement of justice against the quilty," Director of the Indonesian Workers Protection at the Foreign Ministry Teguh Wardoyo told Antara here on Saturday. According to him, the torture which ended with the death of the female house helpers was never justified by the law as it was against the principles of human rights and also religious tenets. He made the statement at a waiting gallary of the Soehartno Hatta`s Terminal II on the sideline of a return of two dead bodies - Siti Tarwiyah and Susmiyati- from Riyard by a Saudi Air passenger plane. Siti Tarwiyah had worked at the house o...

Members of the Socialist International active in the SI Committee on Migrations, together with representatives from a broad range of international, regional and non-governmental organisations working on migration, discussed key issues at the centre of the global debate on this subject at a meeting of the Committee on 21-22 September. The meeting was specially convened in Manila, the capital of a country with one of the largest number of migrant workers abroad. Continuing the Committee's discussions on migration from different regional perspectives, in preparation for a report to be presented to the next SI Congress, participants examined from the view of the Asia-Pacific region an agenda which focused on Migration and Development, The Impact of Female Migration, Irregular Labour Migration in a Globalised Economy, and Migration Issues on the International Agenda. Chaired by Amalia Garcia, Governor of the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, (PRD), and Chair of the Committee, the meeting was ...

Relatives of two migrant workers killed in Saudi Arabia and of two others seriously injured have demanded justice for the Saudi family allegedly involved in the torture and killings. While waiting for the arrival of the bodies of Susmiyati binti Mat, 26, and Siti Tarwiyah, 31, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Saturday, the women's families said they would not pardon the alleged killers. No pardon for the killers. For the sake \n of justice, the Saudi Arabian court should punish them as harshly as possible," Siti's husband, Hamid said as he wiped tears from his eyes. Under Saudi law, convicted killers sentenced to death can escape execution if they are pardoned by the family of the victim. Susmiyati's younger brother, Supomo, said \n the family had received an official pardon request from the killers, "but we have decided not to give it. Justice must be upheld in the case". The two bodies arrived in Indonesia Saturday afternoon aboard a Saudi Arabian...

Processing of temporary work permit applications of Filipinos jobseekers in Canada will be done on a first come, first served basis to ensure fairness, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has said in an advisory. Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz said that the POEA issued the guidelines to facilitate the processing of applications and to ensure that both workers and employers comply with Canada’s immigration regulations. She noted that efforts to shorten processing time have been done because the growing number of applicants has resulted in backlogs. The Canadian Embassy in Manila is currently processing applications that were submitted 18 weeks ago, she said. To facilitate processing of applications, the Canadian Embassy has encouraged applicants to prepare all the requirements, the advisory said. Visa applicants must provide as much information as possible on the mode of their recruitment – whether the worker was recruited through a recruitment agency or through rel...

The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has set aside P4 billion for projects that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can avail themselves of should they opt to stay in the country for good. Corazon Conde, DBP’s senior vice-president for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) said an agreement had been signed with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) under the “One Town, One Product" program that would provide loan access to returning OFWs interested in putting up livelihood or small businesses. “We have just launched this project- the One Town, One Product program -- and [this] will cover returning OFWs, migrants and their families to avail of the financing," Conde told newsmen. She said P2 billion has been allotted to OTOP and the other P2 billion will be for Roll-on Roll-off truckers and logistics providers 2GO with whom the bank forged a partnership agreement on Friday. Under the DTI partnership, Conde said OFWs wanting to avail themselves of the program would have...