KAKAMMPI News

MANILA, Philippines — A pilot project seeking to increase benefits of labor mobility in Asia received the backing of the International Organization of Migration (IOM). The project, launched in Manila by the governments of India, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was announced at the Global Forum on Migration and Development. "Its objectives include the development of more transparent recruitment processes, contracts that are fully understood by the workers, pre-departure orientation and an end to the charging of excessive or illegal recruitment fees," IOM said in an article on its website (www.iom.int). The IOM said it is backing the project, which will focus on introducing policies to improve the recruitment of temporary contractual workers, their working and living conditions in the UAE, and their economic and social reintegration when they return home. The initiative is a practical outcome of the Abu Dhabi Declaration signed by 20 Asian migrants sending a...

MANILA, Philippines - At least three Filipinos who were deported from Oman last Wednesday complained of being forced out of their hotel room even after they had paid the fine for overstaying. Online news site Khaleej Times reported Friday that the Filipinos claimed the hotel's general manager had collected Dh2,650 (P35,131.35) from each of them. The Filipinos were among those stranded in Oman. Six Filipinos, including the three who were deported, claimed they had paid for the overstay fines, but none of them was given an official receipt. Also, they said they did not get the chance to meet the Immigration officers because the hotel management was in possession of their passports since the day they checked in. But the hotel management said what they did was to simply facilitate the Filipinos' safe return to Manila. The general manager also claimed he had returned the money to the Filipinos. The general manager, whose identity the report withheld, added he merely helped them clea...

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has announced that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would be providing 1,500 jobs for Filipinos in three sectors. A pilot project providing jobs in the health care, hospitality and construction sectors was launched Thursday by the DoLE and the UAE Labor Ministry. The project will follow workers from recruitment to reintegration. The UAE government said that it was testing out policies for temporary contractual employment. If the project becomes a success, policies will be institutionalized. The project focuses on four cycles of employment: recruitment, residency, preparation for reintegration and reintegration. The UAE will take charge of cycle two and three. The project will benefit 3,000 workers from both India and the Philippines, officials said. "This is an advantage to both sending countries [like the Philippines and India] as well as destination countries like the UAE," said Labor Secretary Marianito D. R...

MANILA, Philippines – A suspected illegal recruiter was apprehended in Pasay City for allegedly duping 70 applicants whom she had promised employment in Macau. In his report in GMA News’ 24 Oras Thursday, reporter Ian Cruz said the suspect, Maritess Cabbab, has collected P60,000 to P100,000 from the victims as placement fee. The report added that Cabbab has issued unofficial receipt to the applicants, some of whom pawned their land title so that they can have cash for the placement fee. Most of the victims refused to be interviewed on camera because their relatives in their provinces thought they are already in Macau. Cabbab denied the allegation and said she is also a victim of the circumstances. Recently, Senate President Manuel Villar warned would-be Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) against illegal recruiters offering non-existent jobs in Macau, where the number of Filipinos that have fallen prey to large-scale illegal recruitment has reportedly increased. “I have received reports t...

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino nurses are keeping their eyes on greener pastures abroad as 15,079 graduates took the US licensure exams for the first time from January to September this year, a trade union leader said. Ernesto Herrera, former senator and now Trade Union Congress of the Philippines secretary-general, said in a statement on Thursday that the number of Filipino nurses showing interest to immigrate to the US for work remains almost unchanged as 15,083 took the same test during the same period in 2007. The National Council Licensure Examination administered by the US (National Council of) State Boards of Nursing Inc. is required for all nursing graduates who wish to work in American hospitals. For the whole period last year, a record total of 21,499 Filipinos took the NCLEX for the first time. This is a 42 percent rise compared to the 15,171 first-time NCLEX takers in 2006. Herrera’s statement came on the heels of reports that the global financial crisis would affect the de...

MANILA, Philippines - While the Jordanian government is all set to include the protection of migrant workers’ rights in its labor laws, the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment is adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude before relaxing a ban on deployment of Filipino workers to the Mideastern kingdom. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque told GMANews.TV on Thursday that the Philippine government would have to wait for the implementation of protection measures before allowing Filipino domestic workers to be deployed in Jordan. Earlier, Salah Jaber, a lawyer of the Ta’amneh law firm in Jordan, told GMANews.TV on Wednesday that the Jordanian government wants to include migrant workers, particularly domestic helpers, in its labor law and secure their protection from various forms of exploitation and abuse. Once implemented, Filipino domestic workers will be entitled to a minimum wage pay of 150 Jordanian dinar, equivalent to P10,580. Aside from this, workers will be entitled to a maximum of...

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has committed to keep military personnel and equipment on standby for any peacekeeping operations of the United Nations. The commitment was formalized in a Memorandum of Agreement on Contributions to the UN Standby Arrangement System, which UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo signed Wednesday night. The pact was signed in Malacaňang before a gala dinner tendered by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in honor of Ban, who was in Manila to address the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development GFMD). Under the agreement, the Philippines committed to "make available specified resources that could be made available for UN Peacekeeping Operations within the agreed response time." The resources agreed upon shall remain on standby in the Philippines where necessary operations, including UN-guided trainings, are conducted, the MOU stated. It added that resources will be used exclusively for pe...

MANILA, Philippines - Although many government and non-government officials have tagged the recently concluded the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) to be a successful meeting of 163 countries and 1,100 delegates overall, its results remain a blur. The forum's chair, Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr., on Thursday said that the four-day forum was productive. "This is not a forum about making speeches, but a forum about taking action," he told reporters during a press conference after the closing session of the conference at the Philippine International Cultural Center in Manila. Vice President Noli De Castro specifically said during his closing address of the event on Thursday that he was impressed with the discussions over the past four days of the global forum. Earlier on Wednesday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a speech before delegates to the forum, called on governments to strengthen laws to protect migrant workers...

by MARIA ALETA O. NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS.com A migrants' rights advocate on Wednesday raised her concerns over several issues confronting Asian foreign workers. “Almost a third of the world’s migrants are Asian migrants,” said Ellene Sana, executive director of the Center for Migrant Advocacy, a group that promotes the rights of land- or sea-based Filipino migrant workers and immigrants, including their families. These migrants, Sana said, leave their children, their families and country behind to work under a temporary-entry migration program where they are expected to return home when labors are no longer needed. Speaking before representatives of 163 United Nations member state during the report of the civil society meeting on the opening session of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), Sana stressed that this is a great concern because states have committed to provide decent work, decent wages, social protection, including the right to mobility and right to stay...

by MARIA ALETA O. NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS.com A migrants' rights advocate on Wednesday raised her concerns over several issues confronting Asian foreign workers. “Almost a third of the world’s migrants are Asian migrants,” said Ellene Sana, executive director of the Center for Migrant Advocacy, a group that promotes the rights of land- or sea-based Filipino migrant workers and immigrants, including their families. These migrants, Sana said, leave their children, their families and country behind to work under a temporary-entry migration program where they are expected to return home when labors are no longer needed. Speaking before representatives of 163 United Nations member state during the report of the civil society meeting on the opening session of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), Sana stressed that this is a great concern because states have committed to provide decent work, decent wages, social protection, including the right to mobility and right to stay...

by CARMELA FONBUENA, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak Even as President Arroyo said that the Philippines “stands ready to champion the cause of migrant workers,” she told world leaders participating in a global migration forum in Manila that she “longs for the day when going abroad for a job is a career option, not the only choice, for a Filipino worker.” “That is why we remain so stubbornly focused on the economy. We need to create and spread the wealth and keep the people working here at home,” she told participants at the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development on Wednesday. The forum was also attended by United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-Moon. President Arroyo said the government is trying to attract more investments that will make available high-income jobs like business process outsourcing (BPO). She said the BPO sector alone provided around 400,000 jobs since she assumed the presidency in 2001. President Arroyo said her administration has created almost seven million jobs...

States must take responsibility for labor export social costs on children left behind October 30, 2008, Manila – Children left behind by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) expressed their plight, dreams and hopes through art, music and poetry in a Children’s Caravan held October 30 here. The Caravan is an initiative within the People's Global Action on Migration, Development, and Human Rights, a civil society-led event timed to coincide with the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) 2008 in Manila from 27-30 October. It is part of larger initiatives by civil society groups to challenge governments and States to consider in their discussion the impact of migration on children left behind by migrant workers. While there are efforts to address the problems of migrants themselves, few actions are made to support the increasing number of children left behind to cope, remain safe, and have a healthy childhood even as they grow up in this “new” type of family setting where one or...

A call to for governments and civil society to uphold the human rights of children affected by migration across the globe On October 29-30 governments from at least 167 migrant sending and destination countries are expected to attend the2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila. The Asia ACTS, ILO TICW, Save the Children UK and the UNICEF joined by other local and international organisations are making this call for the governments, trade unions, migrant networks, and many other civil society organizations to recognise that migration for labour has direct impact on children left behind by their parents and that there are children among the migrants and their rights and special needs deserve to included in any discussion on migration and development alongside other pressing concerns of women and gender, labour and human rights, the climate and ecology. The lack of recognition of children in the migration and development policies and programs is keeping hundreds and ...

MANILA, Philippines — A migrant advocacy group on Thursday urged President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to first get her officials to do their jobs properly in helping distressed overseas Filipino workers before telling others to help ensure the protection of migrant workers. Migrante – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pointed to the case of Aida Gutierrez, a 41-year-old dressmaker from San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, who is confined at a hospital in Jeddah and whose health is allegedly deteriorating due to the inability of the Philippine mission there to extend any real assistance. “Arroyo should call for better migrant protection in front of a mirror," said Migrante KSA chairperson A. M. Ociones in response to the President's keynote speech before a gathering of world representatives on Wednesday on the third day of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Manila. Mrs. Arroyo said she wanted “to gather (the) collective will, joint resources, and common efforts" of “intern...

MANILA, Philippines - Some 25, 000 Filipino workers in Jordan will be assured of being paid their proper wages and would not be forced to work beyond eight hours should amendments to the Arab country’s labor law push through next year, a migrant workers’ lawyer said Wednesday. Salah Jaber, a lawyer of the Ta’amneh law firm in Jordan, told GMANews.TV that the Jordanian government seeks to include migrant workers, particularly domestic helpers, in its labor law and secure their protection from various forms of exploitation and abuse. Jaber said the amendment was in line with Jordan’s signing of several agreements on human and workers’ rights drafted by the United Nations and the International Labor Organization. Once implemented, Filipino domestic workers will be entitled to a minimum wage pay of 150 Jordanian dinar, equivalent to P10,580. Aside from this, workers will be entitled to a maximum of eight hours per day working schedule and a day a week day off. The Philippine government imp...

MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino scientist currently studying in the United States has found a new source of coherent light, like lasers, which only potentially needs lower power to operate, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said on Wednesday. In a press statement, the DOST's Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) said Ryan Balili, together with his adviser David Snoke of University of Pittsburgh, were able to demonstrate that the transition of particles into waves could be done at higher temperature which would require lesser power to generate. The phenomenon is called Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC), named after Indian physicist Satyendranath Bose who worked on the statistics of monoatomic ideal gases and Albert Einstein who speculated this macroscopic coherent state. “Einstein proposed that at very low temperatures a certain type of identical particles, now called bosons, would’collapse,’ or condense, into a single quantum mechanical wave. “However, in Balili’s wo...

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JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia – Filipino Muslim organizations in western Saudi Arabia have added their voices to a call for government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to return to the peace table. In an appeal addressed to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the United Bangsaranao Council (UBC), a Jeddah-based umbrella organization of 32 Maranao community organizations, expressed concern over the effects of continuing hostilities between government and MILF combatants on civilians. “Fighting punishes the innocent, particularly the young, old, and the infirm," a UBC statement said during a gathering at the Tropicana Restaurant in Jeddah over the weekend. They noted that more than half-a-million people, Muslims and Christians alike, were forced to flee their homes at the height of fighting between government forces and fighters of the MILF led by Ameril Umbra Kato and Abdulrahman Macapaar, a.k.a. Commander Bravo in Central Mindanao over the past weeks. Over 80 people have been re...

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Emmanuel de Castro has been given a new job. On Wednesday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo named him chair of the Presidential Anti-Illegal Recruitment Task Force or Pairtf. Mrs Arroyo formalized this by issuing Executive Order No. 759 dated October 23. Under her directive, Arroyo also named the Immigration chief as vice chairman and designated as members of the body the secretaries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Labor and Employment. Also named as members were the head of the police' Criminal Investigation and detection Group-Anti Transnational Division (CIDG-ATD), the National Bureau of Investigation director, the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency administrator and general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority. Initial funding for the Task Force would be sourced from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission. However, other agencies involved in the campaign against illegal recruitment are authorized to allocate t...

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has created a new inter-agency task force that will intensify the drive against illegal recruitment. "There is a need to create a new task force against illegal recruitment... in order to ensure a more focused, coordinated and effective program of action to curb illegal recruitment," read Executive Order (EO) 759 signed by Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita on Oct. 23. In a chance interview, Mr. Ermita said the task force will provide "more teeth" to measures that seek to address illegal recruitment. The Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (TFAIR) will be headed by Vice-President Manuel "Noli" L. de Castro, who is also Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers. It shall consist of the Bureau of Immigration commissioner, who will serve as vice-chairman; and as members the secretaries of the departments of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Labor and Employment; heads of the Philippine National...

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will be a key participant of the Global Forum on Migration & Development during the relevant activity to be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Metro Manila. According to CHR Chairperson Leila M. De Lima, the Forum on Migration & Development is an appropriate venue to provide more effective mechanisms in laying down better rules and regulations with regards to safeguarding the welfare and wellbeing of thousands of migrant workers all over the world, including the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). “As the world continues to be impressed with the reliability, competence and skillfulness of the Filipinos as contract workers, the government must double its effort to realize what they (the government) refer them to be -- as the country’s economic heroes.” The CHR Chief said that as a `sending nation’ of an estimated eight (8) million OFWs to over one hundred `host or receivin...

MANILA, Philippines - Pope Benedict XVI urged the Philippine government to address the needs of emigrant citizens and overseas Filipino workers, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said Wednesday. An article on the CBCP website said the Pope relayed his message to new Philippine envoy to the Vatican Cristina Ponce Enrile. "Governments must work for proper integration of immigrants ... governments must work for proper integration of immigrants," he said in hits first meeting with the new envoy last Oct. 27. The CBCP article said the Pope also made references to the attention of the Filipino government toward its own emigrant citizens. In this regard, Benedict spoke of immigration as a "resource for development." "Government leaders face numerous challenges as they strive to ensure that immigrants are integrated into society in a way that acknowledges their human dignity and affords them the opportunity to earn a decent living, with adequate time f...

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is seeking bilateral agreements with countries employing migrant workers not only to secure more jobs for Filipinos but also to ensure their protection and welfare. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Carmelita Dimzon said the agreements would be patterned after those being negotiated with France and Italy. "The draft (for France) is almost finished while Italy (has only) groundwork pa lang," she said in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) at the Philippine International Cultural Center in Manila on Wednesday. Templates for other European and Middle East countries are also in the works, she said. "’Pag nag-start sunud-sunod na ‘yan, like with Canada (Once its starts, everyone will follow, just like with Canada)," said Dimzon, a long-time deputy administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) prior to her appointment as OWW...

In 2005, there were an estimated 191 million migrants worldwide, up from 176 million in 2000. • Roughly 30 to 40 million are considered unauthorized migrants, comprising around 15 to 20 percent of the world's immigrant stock. • Women accounted for 49.6 per cent of global migrants in 2005. • United States has the biggest migrant population at 38.35 million. It was followed by Russia at 12,08 million; Germany, 10.14 million; Ukraine, 6.83 million; France, 6.47 million; Saudi Arabia, 6.36 million; Canada, 6.1 million; India, 5.7 million; United Kingdom, 5.4 million; and Spain, 4.79 million. For a complete list, click this link. • 75 per cent of all international migrants are in 12 per cent of all countries. • Migrants remitted some in US$337 billion, of which US$251 billion went to developing countries. • In 2007, the global number of refugees reached an estimated 11.4 million. • Although the number of Asian migrants has increased from 28.1 million in 1970 to 43.8 million in 2000, Asi...

MANILA, Philippines — Migrants rights advocates from 29 countries on Tuesday refused to send remittances home in a symbolic protest against the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) being held in Manila. Around 5,000 migrants, migrant advocates and supporting sectors also held a protest march in Manila to coincide with the start of the government-level discussions of the GFMD at the Philippine International Convention Center. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo addressed the various government representatives from 162 countries on Wednesday as it opened at around 9 a.m. Protesters carried thought balloons where the calls "No to GFMD," "End labor export," "End poverty," and "Create jobs at home," written in different languages. Eni Lestari, International Migrants Alliance (IMA) chairperson, said among those who joined the remittance boycott were migrants from the Philippines, Bangladesh, In...

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino household workers who are forced to live with their employers may soon have the choice not to do so if a visa for domestic helpers would be issued soon. Rex Varona, Asian Migrant Center executive director, told GMANews.TV that different foreign domestic helper unions are seeking to professionalize household service as a decent profession by pushing for their very own visa. With a visa, Filipino domestic helpers may no longer be bound to their employers' homes and would therefore lessen the chance of various domestic abuses, Varona said. Live-in domestic helpers in Hong Kong often endure working for more than the prescribed eight hours because they are always on-call inside their employer's residence. Employers also often seize their passports or lock them up inside the house so they would not escape. "The live-in condition makes the domestic helper hostage to the employer," Varona said. He said more than 120,000 Filipino domestic helpers...

MANILA, Philippines - The government has allotted P250 million for livelihood and training assistance for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are likely to be displaced by the global economic crunch. At the 34th Business Conference and Exposition, Arroyo said the government has allocated the fund even if there is no threat of displacement. The Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund the government has created aims to provide reserve money for returning Filipinos. This is only one among a set of contingency plans to assist OFWs affected by the global crisis. Aside from the fund assistance, which the returning OFWs could use for livelihood and business formation program, the government is setting up a reintegration center providing business counseling. The President said part of the contingency is to conduct a "24/7 heightened monitoring of overseas labor market displacements" including the monitoring of job orders for possible decrease in overseas labor demand. "We will regis...

MANILA, Philippines – The ordeal of 23 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were detained in Trinidad and Tobago finally ended on Wednesday as they returned to the Philippines. The workers, all from Cebu in the central Philippines, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 3:20 p.m. on board a Qatar Airways flight from London and Doha in Qatar, where they stopped over in their long flight from the Caribbean. From Manila, they were flown to Cebu at 7:30 p.m. Previous reports by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the workers left their employer in Tobago due to breach of contract and tried to transfer to another employer in Trinidad, but upon arrival they were detained by immigration authorities for allegedly holding fake documents based on a report by their first employer. Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean and lies northeast of the Venezuela and south of Grenada. Pinoys' help Engineer Jacqueline Fortuna told GMANews.TV that t...

MANILA, Philippines - When Jennifer, a 38-year-old nurse from the Philippines, decided to marry a virtual stranger from Busan City in South Korea, she never expected that the union could lead to isolation. It wasn’t that Busan is 328 kilometers from Seoul or that Korea’s capital is 2,613 kilometers from Manila. The isolation that Jennifer felt was not about distance but more about culture. She did not take delight in eating pungent kimchi. She never really knew how to speak Korean. So it was hard to love her husband without verbal intimacy. Worse, she did not feel that her in-laws loved her well enough, much less did she feel accepted by the community. Jennifer’s struggle is also experienced by other Filipinas and Asian women from developing countries who marry Korean men, according to migrant advocacy group Kanlungan Center Foundation Inc. And yet the number of foreign wives in Korea is increasing. Koreans who used to be proud of keeping their bloodlines pure by not marrying foreigner...