30 stranded OFWs get air tickets from senator

MANILA, Philippines - At least 30 runaway overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in the United Arab Emirates will get a free ride home following a visit from Sen. Jose "Jinggoy" Ejercito Estrada.

Online news site Gulf News (www.gulf-news.com) reported Saturday that Estrada gave 30airplane tickets to the 30 OFWs sheltered at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

"I will personally follow up reports regarding a number of distressed overseas workers in the UAE, some of whom are reportedly maltreated and not paid by their employers," said Estrada, son of pardoned former President Joseph Estrada.

He said he is aware that there are at least 150 "runaways" in the UAE who need air tickets to return home.

The Gulf News report quoted the POLO as saying the cases of the maids had been resolved and they will now be reunited with their families.

Estrada, who chairs the Senate labor committee, earlier initiated a fund to collect money with which to help Filipino workers in the UAE who become victims of abuse and maltreatment.

The report said one of the domestic helpers, a namesake of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, burst into tears when her name was called by Estrada as one of the recipients of a free plane ticket.

On Thursday, SEstrada met with UAE Labor Minister Saqr Gobash Saeed Gobash to discuss ways to improve the working conditions of domestic helpers.

He also gave a free screening of his movie Katas ng Saudi to a group of Filipino community leaders and family members at a school in Al Twar in Dubai. - 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

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

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