KAKAMMPI News

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS on the Occasion of the First Integrity and Human Rights Conference Manila, Philippines, 27 January 2009 Keynote Speech delivered by LEILA M. DE LIMA Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines My co-workers in the public sector, our friends in the private sector, distinguished speakers, members of the diplomatic community, our partners in civil society, the academe and the media, ladies and gentlemen: Good morning! Today's event is truly a momentous occasion, a moment where we as one people undertake the critical shift of paradigms in the seemingly endless struggle on two fronts – the struggle to squelch rabid corruption and the struggle to vigilantly uphold and protect human rights. For many years, the problem of corruption had always been viewed as a bane to economic freedom, an impediment to free market capitalism and a black mark on the investment environment of the country. It had been viewed almost solely as hindrance to economic gro...

ANGELES CITY, Philippines - A country representative of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) contractor has announced that thousands of Filipino workers are needed to support NATO/United States Department of Defense (US-DOD) military installations in Afghanistan. Retired Lt. Col. Edgar LaBenne, country representative of a NATO contractor who is now in this city, said an initial 1,099 workers are immediately needed before the end of February, with an estimated 1,000 more needed by mid-year. "We are calling the attention of [Philippine government] to expedite the Afghanistan country assessment for probable issuance of an Area Specific Exemption and not a lifting of the countrywide ban," he said in a statement. He stressed that the exemption would only be for specific areas inside NATO military installations where Filipino workers will work and live exclusively "under the same level of security and protection as the NATO troops assigned to those bases." LaBenne ...

MARK JOSEPH UBALDE, GMANews.TV MANILA, Philippines - For most of the laid-off Filipino workers from Hannstar Display Corporation in Taiwan, the Year of the Ox is far from okay. Two weeks from now, Elwood Yambao would have to give his first payment to the lending company where he borrowed P55,000 to cover his expenses going to Taiwan. He returned home last November, along with 171 others, after the LCD company they were working for suffered a huge blow from the global economic crisis. Yambao said he doesn’t know where to get the money to pay his lenders. Both he and his wife are without jobs in Olongapo City and they still have two young kids in school. “How can we pay our debts if we don’t even have a source of income anymore?" Yambao told GMANews.TV in an interview on Tuesday. Although the Philippine government has helped retrenched and laid-off workers to get back on their feet through livelihood programs, skills retraining and overseas job matching, these casualties of the US-l...

JOHANNA CAMILLE SISANTE, GMANews.TV Philippines - Opposition lawmakers on Monday urged the Arroyo administration to use the government's P300-billion economic stimulus package to address unemployment amid the global financial crisis instead of spending it on "big-ticket" projects prone to corruption. In a press conference, deputy minority leader and Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel said the government should provide immediate relief to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who lost their jobs due to the crisis by giving a subsidy of P50,000 to each retrenched migrant worker. Hontiveros said the government should also make housing and other loans available for OFWs and local workers alike whose jobs were lost due to the crisis. According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, 3,567 Filipinos from seven countries including Macau have lost their jobs due to the economic crisis. More than 90 percent of the retrenched workers came from Taiwan alone. Hontiveros a...

Philippines - The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Monday announced that it has opened up a lending program for overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) displaced due to the global economic slump. Carmelita Dimzon, OWWA chief, said that her agency can lend up to P500,000 to a displaced OFW for him or her to start a livelihood project or business enterprise. The loan, Dimzon said in a statement, is available at a low five percent interest per annum with no collateral and is payable for over 24 months with an interest-free grace period of 80 days. The OWWA chief said the lending program, which Labor Secretary Marianito Roque approved, is part of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program. The Labor secretary has also issued an administrative order last week that provides guidelines for the availment of the Filipino Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund (FELSF). Dimzon said that their agency has already released the loans of the...

To receive a higher salary is one of the most common reasons why Filipino workers choose to work abroad. Filipinos are attracted to the huge compensation they will get as it will help them achieve their dreams of living a happy and decent life - more or less paved the way toward being financially independent. Not all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) though go home with a fat bank account. Many even find themselves in a much worse financial state than they are before leaving the country. To ensure that you will reap the rewards of the years you spent working in a foreign country, it is advisable that you take care of your finances even before leaving the Philippines. Here are some of the things to consider: Develop a financial goal for yourself Having a list of things that you wish to accomplish as a result of a two-year work contract in Dubai or Saudi Arabia would help. You may want to put into writing the amount of money you wish to save, or perhaps appliances or property you wish to ...

KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV MANILA, Philippines - The United States health care industry is an unlikely haven for aspiring overseas Filipino workers amid the global financial crisis, a recruitment consultant said on Monday. According to the assessment of recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani, at least 10 percent of OFWs are expected to return to the Philippines in 2009 due to the financial crunch, contrary to statements made by labor officials that the installment of US President Barack Obama will result in the entry of thousands of nurses to the US. “We should not be giving false hopes to our health care professionals that the US will allow them to enter the USA in huge numbers in the next two years," he said in a statement on Monday. “Health care staff are having overtime and benefits cuts and as in other occupations, migrants are finding the cost of living too high with some opting to return to their own country," he said. In addition, he said the deployment of nurs...

HAIDEE V. EUGENIO, GMANews.TV SUSUPE, Saipan – The body of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who had been reported missing in the US island of Saipan since July 29 was found on Saturday, Jan. 24, at a farm lot. The remains of Alex Matubis, along with his pair of boots and back pack, were discovered by two farmers at their farm lot in the northern village of Marpi past 11 a.m. that day. Police later found Matubis’s wallet and driver’s license in the deceased’s possession. The Department of Public Safety of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (DPS) told the media that detectives are further investigating the case. Police have yet to release information as to whether there’s foul play. The CNMI Crime Stoppers offered up to $1,000 to anyone who could provide information on the whereabouts of Matubis. The blue pickup truck that Matubis had been driving until the day of his disappearance was found 18 days later on August 16 but no trace of him was found. Matubis had been working...

MANILA, Philippines - A Kuwaiti youth and his Filipino girlfriend have been arrested for allegedly possessing 250 grams of heroin and consuming tools, an online report said on Thursday. The Arab Times reported that the two ignored the police when they were ordered to stop, prompting the authorities to chase and arrest them. – Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV

Philippines - Kuwaiti companies are hiring a total of 5,000 Filipino workers, the Philippine envoy to Kuwait has said. Ambassador Ricardo Endaya was quoted in a report of the English language newspaper Arab Times on Monday as saying the news jobs are to be made known at the Philippine Employment & Remittance Summit 2009 at the Tayba Tent of Movenpick Hotel in the Kuwait Free Trade Zone in Shuwaikh. “Most of these Kuwaiti companies need staff in the hotels, restaurants as well as semi- and skilled workers including workers in the health sector," Endaya said during the press conference Sunday to announce the summit. “Despite the prevailing global economic recession resulting in the rising number of unemployment and retrenchment, we are glad that the demand for Filipino workers in Kuwait has not been greatly affected by this economic downturn," he was quoted by the report as saying. Endaya said the two-day event aims to promote skilled Filipino workers through the exhibition...

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday warned families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) against syndicates using high-technology schemes to gyp them of their money. NBI Director Nestor M. Mantaring issued the warning as agents of the bureau arrested an alleged leader of a notorious “Dugo-Dugo" gang who has allegedly gypped over 100 families of seamen and overseas OFWs by concocting stories about their relative-OFWs. Bureau agents arrested Gilbert Tuliba, alias “Mark Anthony Siy," “Mario Pelare" and “Edison Dizon," 39, of Barangay Maguyam, Silang, Cavite and Pototan, Tigbauan, Iloilo City during an operation on Monday in Silang, Cavite. The complainants positively identified the suspects during a confrontation at the NBI office with media as witnesses. Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested a leader of a notorious “Dugo-Dugo" gang who duped over 100 families of seamen and overseas Filipino workers (O...

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 60,209 former Filipino citizens have reacquired their Philippine citizenship following the passage of the dual-citizenship law five years ago, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Tuesday. Of the number, 23,196 were approved at the bureau's main office in Manila while 37,013 were processed and approved at various Philippine consular offices abroad, Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said The bureau started processing applications for dual citizenship in 2004, a year after the passage of RA 9225 or the Citizenship and Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003. Under the law, former natural born Filipinos who have become naturalized citizens of other countries are deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship. Libanan, a former representative of Eastern Samar and one of the principal authors of the act, urged other former Filipinos to avail of the program so they can enjoy their rights and privileges as Filipinos. He said among these right...

China: Economic Crisis Increases Risks for Migrant Workers Government Should Change Discriminatory Laws and Practices (New York, January 23, 2009) – The Chinese government should ensure that the rights of China’s estimated 150 million migrant workers are not sacrificed as Beijing copes with the ongoing global economic crisis, Human Rights Watch said today. Migrant workers have helped to spur China’s dramatic economic growth rate over the past three decades. Yet recent research and studies by leading government-affiliated bodies and research organizations conclude that migrant workers are the earliest casualties of any economic downturn. “China’s massive migrant worker population is already socially, economically, and legally marginalized and is uniquely vulnerable to the global slowdown’s effects on China,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The economic crisis could well spark a ‘race to the bottom’ in rights protections and work conditions as employers exploit ...

CHALAN LAULAU, Saipan – An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) diagnosed with a serious medical condition in the US territory of Saipan is seeking the community’s help for her return to the Philippines along with her two sons. Geraldine Amor, 34, had been ill for weeks until she was admitted to the Commonwealth Health Center’s intensive care unit on Monday afternoon. She is now penniless after her work permit was not renewed when it expired on Dec. 10, 2008 because of her medical condition. She also has to pay for her medical bills and take care of her two boys – a three-year-old and a one-year-old. Amor has been working in Saipan for five years mostly as an administrative staffer at a now defunct restaurant before taking a job at an auto shop. The mother of two is appealing for monetary donations from members of the Filipino community in Saipan, as well as the Philippine government. Any money raised will be spent mostly on buying airplane tickets to Manila for her and her sons. Her aunt Re...

Democrats in the Philippines celebrate after Barack Obama was declared the winner in the US presidential elections. Benjie Castro (Updated 4:46 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines – More than two million tourists, including Filipinos, have flocked to Washington DC in the wake of preparations for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. With temperatures dipping between -3 to -5 degrees Celsius in the US capital, several tourists came to witness a historical event unfold even as only those with tickets are allowed to grace the event at the Capitol Hill. "Alam namin itong inauguration is very historic [We know that this inauguration is very historic] and Obama was born and raised in Hawaii where we live now," a Filipina tourist said in an interview with GMA News’ Raffy Tima over QTV Balitanghali on Tuesday. Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961, two years after Hawaii became a state. He lived in Indonesia for four years when he moved there with his mother...

Philippines - More overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Macau might just end up jobless if the localization of workers continues in Asia’s gaming capital, a non-profit organization said on Tuesday. "The Macau administration is looking at a possible 50 percent reduction in foreign workers in private security and cleaning agencies for 2009," said Susan Ople, president of the Blas F. Ople (BFO) Policy Center in a statement on Tuesday. Ople said that there is also some pressure for Macau – where around 13,000 Filipinos currently live and work – to prioritize hiring jobless locals for high-paying jobs like pit managers in casinos. According to the report, she met separately with Labor Attache Leopoldo de Jesus and Consul General Jet Ledda to discuss how the financial crunch is affecting Macau and its workforce. De Jesus told her that the tightening of Macau’s economy was also due to China’s policy limiting its citizens to visit the renowned gaming mecca only once every three months....

MANILA, Philippines - Despite recent layoffs, recruiters have expressed optimism that there will be an increase in the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to Taiwan in the second quarter of 2009. Pilipino Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan (PILMAT) president Jackson Gan in a statement on Tuesday said he is optimistic that there will be increased deployment to Taiwan as there will be additional job orders due to new hiring policies to be implemented by Taiwan’s Council of Labor Affairs. Taiwan recently had the largest number of companies affected by the economic crunch, laying off 3,321 Filipino workers due to the downsizing and bankruptcy of 60 companies in the electronic, metal works, and semi-conductor industry. But Gan was optimistic that Filipino workers will be able gain employment once again in the island nation because of massive infrastructure projects that it will implement this year. This includes the construction of roads, tunnels, additional train lines, and o...

MANILA, Philippines - Only 33 of the 37 Filipinos and Palestinians who were earlier reported to be moving out of the Gaza Strip have successfully crossed the border at Egypt as two Palestinian spouses opted to stay behind. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Bayani Mangibin told GMANews.TV on Tuesday that the foreign husbands only escorted their families to the designated safe zone in the Egypt-Gaza border of Rafah. The son of one of the Palestinians also stayed behind to attend his college graduation scheduled later this week, Mangibin said. “The Palestinians [spouses of Filipinas in Gaza] would be given temporary visas by the Philippine Embassy in Cairo before entering the Philippines," Mangibin said in an interview. Under Philippine immigration laws, the Palestinian nationals from Gaza should first secure a temporary visit visa with countries like Egypt, Jordan or Israel, as the Philippines has no direct diplomatic relations in the conflict-ridden area. Lawyer Gary Mendoza, chief of t...

Democrats in the Philippines celebrate after Barack Obama was declared the winner in the US presidential elections. Benjie Castro (Updated 4:46 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines – More than two million tourists, including Filipinos, have flocked to Washington DC in the wake of preparations for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. With temperatures dipping between -3 to -5 degrees Celsius in the US capital, several tourists came to witness a historical event unfold even as only those with tickets are allowed to grace the event at the Capitol Hill. "Alam namin itong inauguration is very historic [We know that this inauguration is very historic] and Obama was born and raised in Hawaii where we live now," a Filipina tourist said in an interview with GMA News’ Raffy Tima over QTV Balitanghali on Tuesday. Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961, two years after Hawaii became a state. He lived in Indonesia for four years when he moved there with his mother...

OWWA Administrator Carmelita S. Dimzon, led the turnover of the financial assistance amounting to Three Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-Five Canadian Dollars (C$3,455.00) last January 16,2009 to the families of Filipino migrant workers who were killed in a vehicular accident in Edmonton. The four (4) Filipino migrants, three (3) of which were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) Renato Huelgas, April Buenaflor Yvette Nones and Ralph Adriano met their untimely demise when the truck they were traveling in slammed into a semi-trailer in Highway 63, near Wandering River. The respective families received the peso equivalent of One Hundred Thirty Six Thousand Four Hundred Seventy-Two Pesos and Fifty Centavos (P136,472.50). The OWWA Chief was assisted by the representative of the First Filipino Alliance Group of Canada Engineer Ron Gallardo, a Filipino community association in Canada. Dimzon said that the family of deceased OFW Buenaflor, an active OWWA member, received the life insurance and buri...

The year 2008 will be remembered for the remarkable rise in the price of petroleum products in the global market as well as the financial meltdown that stemmed from the US in the third quarter of the year which continues to impact on major markets around the world at present. Despite the exigencies brought about by these adverse events, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was quick to respond to lessen the brunt on the workers. The DOLE didn't have to prepare or formulate new programs to respond to the extraordinary needs of the times as most of the contingency plans were regular fare of the Department aimed at alleviating workers' plight. If at all, only critical adjustments have to be made to make the policies and programs more responsive and appropriate to DOLE clients. Wage increase and non-wage benefits On Labor Day, Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque instructed all the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) to fasttrack sectora...

Starting this year, Japan would recruit Filipino nurses and caregivers for training and employment in that country under the Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and the Philippines (JPEPA), Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque announced Monday. Roque said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS) entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) providing for the recruitment of Filipino nurses as candidate-kangoshi and caregivers as candidate-kaigofukushishi to Japan under the Framework for the Movement of Natural Persons of JPEPA, which came into force on Dec. 11, 2008. POEA Administrator Jennifer Jardin-Manalili and signed for the Philippine side, while Japan was represented by Takashi Tsunoda, managing director of JICWELS. The signing of the MOU at the Blas F. Ople Development Center in Intramuros, Manila and witnessed by Secretary Roque. Roque said the MOU provides for the role...

“Gusto po ata ng government binubugbog kami ng mga amo namin. Gusto ata nila nakakulong kami bago pa kami pansinin. Paano naman kami na naghirap din?” Bernadette Corcas, was was among the 105 OFWs laid off in Taiwan who returned to the country last December 3. She and her cousin, Christina de Borja, 30, signed a two-year contract with the same company as semi-conductor factory workers in Taiwan. They did not finish their contract and worked in Taiwan for only eight months. The two were also among the Filipino workers shown on television receiving cash gifts and gift certificates from President Arroyo during their trip to Malacañang a few days upon their arrival. “Actually maraming promises. Tulad ng livelihood. Isang ka-batch namin nag-try mag avail ng livelihood. Ngayon ang sabi ng OWWA nakahold daw po ang fund para doon. Yung sinasabing P50,000 wala naman. Hinahabol na kami ng mga taong pinagkakautangan namin, yung mga lending company,” de Borja told abs-cbnNEWS.com. They said that t...

abs-cbnNEWS.com ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) office in the region confirmed Monday that about 30,000 Filipinos are expected to be deported from Sabah, Malaysia this year. Last Sunday, 351 Pinoy deportees arrived in Zamboanga City via a commercial vessel. DSWD Social Welfare Officer-4, Elizabeth Lim-Dy said all deportees were in good health. Out of the 351 deportees, DSWD only served 346. Dy said five of the deportees have gone missing. She explained that some do actually escape. Meawhile, DSWD is looking forward a commercial fast craft that would carry Pinoy deportees from Malaysia. Dy said that with the fast craft, this will lessen the work of their social workers since it will pass through three disembarkation point in Sulu, Tawi-tawi and Zamboanga City. She said the DSWD processing center can accommodate at least 500 people and the department has no problem with their budget. However, Dy admitted that they lack personnel to look after the...

abs-cbnNEWS.com An investigation is now being pushed in the House of Representatives to determine where the P250 million Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) fund allotted for Filipino migrant workers displaced by the global economic crisis went. “The Arroyo government’s so-called ‘assistance program’ for Filipino workers displaced by the global financial meltdown could be a ruse to divert millions of OFW money to the pockets of corrupt government officials,” said Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan. In a statement, Ilagan said the call to probe the fund was pushed by the alleged “duping” incident in Malacañang last December. Around 100 OFWs laid off from their works in Taiwan were invited to Malacañang supposedly to accept checks amounting to around P50,000 and several gift packages from concerned government agencies. However, the OFWs alleged that they were asked to return the checks after the press photo opportunity. The congresswoman demands that Labor and Employment Secretary Mari...

Philippines - The number of Filipino visa changers stranded on the border of the United Arab Emirates and Oman has dwindled, but the agony of the expatriates there has not subsided. Online news site Khaleej Times reported that large number of people sharing rented rooms makes the life of Filipino women there "even more agonizing." Still, many of those who want to change their visas prefer Kish to Oman. Janice Parco, who was stranded in Al Buraimi in October and had returned to the UAE on one-month tourist visa, said she went to Kish instead of the Omani border to change her visa scheduled to expire this month. "At least, the Iranian government allows us to extend our stay in Kish if we are stranded for months. In Oman, we could extend the visa for a week after which we had to pay Dh100 daily for overstaying. The last time I was there, I had to pay over Dh3,000 for overstaying before I finally got my new UAE tourist visa," she said. She added hotels in Kish cost less...

MIGRANT WATCH/ BULATLAT.COM Philippines - Seven of the 168 retrenched workers of Walton Advanced Engineering Inc. in Taiwan were able to clinch some of their demands after asserting their rights. This was relayed by the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) and the Migrante chapter in Taiwan. The seven workers, who were not named by APMM, received the following: 1) payment for breach of contract amounting to NT$17,280 for every month remaining in their contract; 2) cost of plane ticket from Taiwan to the Philippines; 3) separation fee; 4) refund of a one-month broker fee amounting to NT$1,800; and, 5) refund for the 20 percent income tax deducted from them by the Taiwan government. The seven workers were assisted by the Labor Rights Association (LRA) and later by Migrante Taiwan. The rest of the 168 workers, said APMM, were intimidated by their broker, the Century Pacific Corporation. They were made to sign a quit-claim agreement with the threat that if they did not sign, they risk...

MANILA, Philippines - A boat carrying 12 Filipinos trying to sneak into Sabah capsized on January 13, leaving at least four dead and three missing. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Bayani Mangibin told GMANews.TV on Monday that only five passengers of the ill-fated boat survived. But since the Filipinos were undocumented, Mangibin said the immediate identification of the survivors and the casualties is difficult. The New Straits Times earlier reported that the bodies of four Filipinos – three children and a woman – had been recovered off a beach in Kampung Tinosa, Malaysia. The victims were identified as Madeline Ahamal, 19; three-year-olds Bibi Lain Mokhtar and Nagd Faikal Bastri; and Nagd's two-month-old brother Rajimal Bastri. According to the report, authorities have sent the recovered bodies to the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan, Malaysia and will continue to look for the three who are still missing. Citing reports from Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency, Mangibin said t...

Philippines - Four Filipino nurses died in a car crash in Taif, Saudi Arabia last Friday (January 16). The female nurses were identified as Nancy Brion, Gemma Teodora, Cecille Detorio and Rosely Laceda. The four were working in a private dental clinic in Al Baha city in south west Saudi Arabia, said Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesperson Bayani Mangibin on Monday. The Philippine consulate in Saudi Arabia had already ordered the victims’ employer to secure the police report of the Filipino casualties and find out if someone is liable in the incident. Mangibin said the relatives of the nurses have already been informed. "We are coordinating with authorities to facilitate the return of their remains to the country," he added. Aside from the repatriation of the remains, Mangibin said the Department of Foreign Affairs would assist in checking the documents of the victims to find out if they are eligible for the burial fund of the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration. - GMANew...