Recruitment firms encourage retired OFWs to go into rice production

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment should redirect its reintegration program for returning Overseas Filipino Workers to rice production to ease the impact of the impending supply shortage.

This was the suggestion made by the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (FAME) in the wake of a looming shortage of the country's staple food.

"Encouraging returning OFWs who opt to settle in the provinces to go into rice production is better than helping them set up sari-sari stores, " FAME vice president Jackson Gan said.

Gan noted that the DoLE’s National Reintegration Center for OFWs could tap the help of the Agriculture department in setting up rice farming seminars for retired OFWs.

The NRCO is currently involved in providing returning migrants technical assistance for self-employment or entrepreneurship, access to credit/microfinance, counseling on business or savings mobilization schemes, and psychosocial counseling.

According to Gan, also the president of the Philippine Coconut Exporters Association, acting Labor Secretary Marianito Roque could request the Agriculture department to tap into the P1.5 billion fund released by Malacañang to help OFWs who wish to venture to rice production.

President Arroyo has recently approved an additional P1.5 billion fund for the Department of Agriculture to mitigate the shortage in rice supply that has reached a critical stage in the face of price increases in Vietnam and Thailand.

The DA earlier admitted that the country’s rice reserve is expected to last for less than two months as world prices increase to 25 percent more compared to last month. - GMANews.TV

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more