KAKAMMPI News

abs-cbnNEWS.com An alliance of Filipino migrant groups expressed concern that the repatriation of distressed overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia could have been put on hold to wait for the visit of President Arroyo. “But their repatriation will not happen any day from now until Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrives in Saudi Arabia reportedly on 21st September,” said John Leonard Monterona, regional coordinator of Migrante-Middle East chapter. Monterona said Migrante chapter in Jeddah informed them that the number of stranded workers in Jeddah seeking repatriation is now estimated at 300. “Just like her previous visit in the Kingdom, she will make sure that she has a trophy to present to the public –the 300 stranded OFWs; this is cheap publicity stunt at the expense of OFWs lives and well being,” Monterona said. He said the repatriation of distress OFWs usually increase during and after the Ramadan. He added that this has been a problem that the Philippine Consulate General fail...

abs-cbnNEWS.com MANILA - An advocacy group called for transparency after the appointment of a person allegedly in close association with President Arroyo to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Board of Trustees. “Our question on the lack of standard in handing out appointments has not been addressed,“ said Daphne Ceniza of the Center for Migrant Advocacy. Ceniza was referring to the appointment of Jose Jouelito Sapio to the OWWA Board of Trustees representing the Land-based sector. OWWA chief Carmelita Dimzon said Sapio was appointed by President Arroyo. A portion of Dimzon’s letter to CMA Executive Director Ellene Sana read: “We cannot question the authority and prerogative of Her Excellency in the appointment of Mr. Sapio. Having been appointed, he needs all your support and cooperation so that he can perform his duties and responsibilities as the trustee for the land-based sector. Let us give him a chance to represent you and be your voice in the Board.“ However, Cen...

by Hector Pascua, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau Filipinos in Austria have mixed feelings about the decision of Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to run for president in next year’s polls. "Noynoy doesn't seem to have solid credentials. Indeed, he is a good guy at isa pa anak ng mga sinasabing heroes ng Pilipinas. He is Okay but he has no charisma and so far no leadership or even management skill,” a United Nations employee in Vienna who declined to be named told ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau. Sen. Noynoy Aquino is the son of democracy icon President Corazon “Cory” Aquino and the late senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. who was assassinated in 1983. “The Aquino’s possesses a very clean record. Their record of decency will surely be Noynoy’s ‘political capital’ in winning widespread grassroots support from Filipinos. Di ba, kung malinis kang tao, marami kang ma-aatract din na malilinis at honest na tao? Decency coupled with dedication will surely help to make our country move ...

HARD WORK. Nearly 10 percent of the country's 90 million people work abroad — many as nurses, maids, engineers, construction workers and seamen. Charlie Magno file photoRemittances from Filipinos working abroad amounted to $1.5 billion in July, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier due to sustained demand for Filipino manpower and increased access to money transfer facilities, officials said Tuesday. Cental Bank Governor Amando Tetangco said Tuesday he expects remittances to remain stable for the rest of year because of the “sustained remittance flows at the onset of the second half of the year and continuing signs of improving global economic conditions." Remittances in January-July have totalled $10 billion, up 3.8 percent from a year earlier. The United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Japan, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Italy, and Germany have been the major sources of remittances this year. Nearly 10 percent of the country's 90 million people work abroad — many...

Almost 200 Filipino workers still remain at the Hajj terminal in Jeddah - a safe house temporarily provided by the Philippine Consulate for stranded workers who are awaiting repatriation. - Ronaldo Concha A total of 66 stranded Filipino workers have finally returned to the Philippines from Jeddah after they were repatriated by Saudi deportation authorities, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday. In a statement, the DFA said the group consisted of 24 adults and 42 children. They arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 6 a.m. Tuesday. According to Anthony Basil, administration staff of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), most of these workers were runaways from Riyadh and the Eastern Province. But instead of seeking help from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh or the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Alkhobar, many of the workers opted to travel to Jeddah in hopes of being sent home for free by Saudi authorities through a deportation process. S...

22 RP SEAFARERS STILL HELD HOSTAGE Win Far 161 - Hijacked April 6 with 17 Filipinos. MV Charelle- Hijacked June 13 with 3 Filipinos. Sichem Peace - Hijacked July 4 with 2 Filipinos.* * Except for the Sichem Peace, all the ships mentioned are in the hands of pirates in Somalia. - Data collected by GMANews.TV (Updated: 3:43 PM) After more than five months in captivity, 22 Filipino seafarers on board a Greek merchant ship were freed by their Somali captors, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. In a statement on Tuesday, the DFA said the local manning agency of MV Irene confirmed the safe release of the all-Filipino crew on Monday. "Negotiations for the release of the vessel and its crew had been successful and that it is now working on the repatriation of the Filipino seafarers," the DFA said. The St. Vincent-flagged merchant ship was hijacked off the Gulf of Aden last April 15. This latest development has brought down to 22 the total number of Filipino seafarers still ...

Consulate officials give medical attention to stranded Filipino workers who got sick while staying at a safe house in Jeddah before repatriation. - Ronaldo ConchaJEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - - Because of the hot weather and lack of supplies, many of the stranded Filipino workers staying at the Hajj terminal in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia have been falling sick. “We have lots of the stranded here in the safe house who (are) suffering from high blood pressure, others have flu. Some of the stranded females here are pregnant. We have also some children and they need milk and pampers and our problem is we do not have any more resources to support or daily expenses," said Conrado Soriano, one of the leaders of the stranded Filipinos. According to Anthony Basil, administration staff of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), most of the stranded OFWs are runaways from Riyadh and the Eastern Province. But instead of seeking help from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh or the Philippine Overs...

Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) should be wary of recruitment agencies that are still operating despite having their licenses suspended or canceled, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) warned Monday. "The (POEA) advises the public to be wary of recruitment agencies with canceled or suspended licenses that are still actively recruiting for overseas jobs," the agency said in an advisory. It has canceled the licenses of 451 recruitment agencies since the start of its operations and placed 44 others under preventive suspension. From 2008 until the first eight months of 2009 alone, the POEA had canceled 74 operating licenses and suspended or fined 22 agencies due to recruitment violations. To verify the status of a certain agency, you may log on here. Earlier, the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (Tfair) named the suspected illegal recruiters with the most number of pending warrants of arrest. Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, Tfair operations chief, s...

The Philippines has assured the United Nations (UN) that it will send a 336-strong peacekeeping battalion to the Golan Heights in Syria to help them keep peace in the conflict-ridden area, the Department of National Defense (DND) said Monday. "It is a great honor for the Philippines to be given the opportunity to participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Despite our own constraints and requirements, we can be expected to continue to fulfill our obligations as a responsible and reliable troop-contributing country," Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro assured UN Undersecretary for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy on Monday. Teodoro just arrived from a six-day official visit to the US. During the visit, he held talks with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Hilario G. Davide Jr. The DND chief assured Le Roy that the Philippines will strictly enforce “a zero-tolerance policy" against misconduct and select only t...

Despite an ongoing ban on illegal matchmaking agencies, a number of Filipino women were married to their South Korean partners as mail-order brides, according to a Philippine envoy. In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Luis Cruz said that as of April 2009, around 6,000 Filipino women met their South Korean spouses through matchmaking agencies. “Many were quick to accept the whirlwind marriage in order to seek employment abroad and have better opportunities in life," Cruz said. However, aside from receiving complaints about false information regarding their partner’s background, the envoy also said he has been getting reports about domestic violence against Filipina wives, noting that the abuses would often lead to abandonment, separation and divorce. Most of these troubled marriages there, he said, were those that had been arranged by illegal matchmaking agencies. While international marriage broker agencies are allowed in South Korea, these firms can not o...

by RUBEN JEFFREY ASUNCION www.ofwjournalism.net QUEZON CITY–A STUDY that concluded female migrate to the United States out of filial ties resonates as the nonprofit ethnic media organization behind the study focused on immigrants to celebrate Labor Day. The New America Media group posted on its website a commentary by Manuel Pastor, Professor of Geography and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, which emphasized the importance of immigrants. So much so that he advises taking a new method at viewing this phenomenon as a tool to solve the US ’s pending demographic problems. Pastor’s commentary, which dedicated September 6 to immigrants, compels a review of the results of NAM’s survey titled “Women Immigrants: Stewards of the 21st Century.” The study released last May bared that women immigrants move to the US to help their families start a new life in the country once touted as a nation founded by migrants. According to United States Census data cited...

by T. CHRISTIAN MILLER (Pro-Publica), contributor www.ofwjournalism.net MANILA—REY Torres dreamed of a better life for his wife and five children when he left a neighborhood of wooden shacks and burning trash piles to drive a bus on a U.S. military base near Baghdad. He hoped to send his children to college and build a new home with the $16,000 a year he earned in Iraq — four times what he could make in the Philippines. Then, in April 2005, Torres, 31, was killed in an ambush by Iraqi insurgents. His widow and children were supposed to be protected by a war zone insurance system overseen by the U.S. government. They were eligible for about $300,000 in compensation. But Gorgonia Torres knew nothing about the death benefit and did not apply. When she did learn about the insurance, two years later, it was from a reporter. She has since turned down an insurance company's $22,000 settlement offer. Her only hope of receiving full compensation is a legal fight that could drag on for years...

by JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANO www.ofwjournalism.net MANILA—LABORERS and unskilled workers, mostly women, have been the country’s top remitters in the last two years. Results from the 2008 Survey on Overseas Filipinos (SOF), done by the National Statistics Office (NSO), show that laborers and unskilled workers sent home P19.491 billion ($397.8 million at US$1=P49) last year compared to the P17.574 billion ($358.7 million) sent in 2007. In both years, laborers and unskilled workers were the top remitters in terms of remittance volumes. The SOF, a rider to the fourth quarter round of the NSO’s Labor Force Survey, captures overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were in the country from April to September. The survey culls demographic information and basic details about their remittances (including amounts and transmission channels). The biggest gainers from the year-on-year remittance volumes are trades and related workers (mostly men). From P13.220 billion in 2007, Filipinos abroad who are in th...

by JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANO www.ofwjournalism.net MANILA — GROWTH rates of remittances are due to sustained sending from two types of overseas Filipinos, University of Santo Tomas economics professor Alvin Ang said. These are residency permit holders and naturalized citizens in Japan, Germany, Norway, Greece, the Netherlands and Canada. They are also in countries whose demand for Filipino workers is next to nil. Ang describes these Filipinos as “non-traditional” remittance senders. But they have helped the Philippines weather the storm of possible remittance declines as a result of the global economic crisis, according to him. “You wonder why they are sending more money at this time. Or first of all, why them?” Ang told the OFW Journalism Consortium. Permanent migrants are sending more money now regardless of what jobs they have overseas. They include Filipinos holding residency permits doing domestic work for foreign households and who have their families with them, Ang says. Data on the...

By abs-cbnNEWS.com MANILA - Globe Telecom Inc. is now offering prepaid credit for international direct dialling (IDD) services to help keep Filipinos connected to their loved ones overseas. In a statement, the second-largest telecommunications firm said it has launched its IDD Suki promo, which allows Globe prepaid subscribers to purchase IDD credit in sari-sari stores, groceries, and other load outlets. "Since it is readily available in all your suking tindahan, there is no need to go far to avail of this IDD promo," Globe Segment Business Head for Overseas Filipino Communities Alan Supnet said. Globe offers 2 IDD Suki packages, depending on the country where one wishes to call. IDD Suki 20 allows a user to make an IDD call to the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Singapore for 5 minutes for P20, while IDD Suki 30 provides a 3-minute call to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, or Kuwait for P30. Aside from being readily accessible, Supnet said Globe's promo is...

By Maria Aleta Nieva-Nishimori, abs-cbnNEWS.com Around 60 overseas Filipino workers in the Maldives had dreamt of providing a better future for their families in the Philippines. But, they are now the source of worry of their relatives in the country. “Agahan lugaw? Magbubuhat ka ng semento ang kakainin mo lugaw? Napakahirap po ang kalagayan nila doon,” said Myrna Grimaldo, the wife of Randy Grimaldo. Mrs. Grimaldo told media during a press conference organized by Migrante International that aside from the deplorable conditions endured by her husband and other Filipinos working in a construction site in the Maldives, their employer have yet to give them their five-month salary. “Pumirma po sila ng kontrata nila doon na for 15 months at may sahod silang US$300 a month. Ngunit ngayon po, limang buwan na po ang asawa ko. Umalis po siya ng March 15 dito. Simula po ng umalis siya hanggang ngayon hindi pa din sila pinapasahod. Napakarami na po nilang utang doon. Hindi na po sila pinap...

By Reuters RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has become a popular time for many non-Muslims, especially Filipino migrant workers, to convert to Islam. Everyday in Saudi Arabia, Islamic centres across the country open their arms to non-Muslim migrant workers who decide to join the world's fastest growing religion. During Ramadan, a period of fasting, Muslim organizations set up camps attended by migrants who want to break their daily fast. One religious center, The Cooperative Office for Call and Guidance at Al-Bat'ha (COCG Al-Bat'ha) in the capital Riyadh, sees around 200 would-be-converts from different nationalities flock through their doors every month. "Thanks to Allah, the number of those who convert to Islam monthly is somewhere between 180-200 people, from different nationalities," says the COCG's Director Sheikh Nouh al-Qarain. "Most of them give the reason for converting to Islam as the one-ness of God, they want to worship ...

By Raquel Bernal-Crisostomo, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau Filipinos in Belgium are encouraged to save or invest their hard earned money for the future to ensure a comfortable life for those who will be retiring. In a seminar organized by Samahan ng Manggagawang Pinoy sa Belgium, a micro-financing group pointed out the importance of OFWs’ earnings not only to their families but to the country as well. “Kung kaya nating pag-igihan at magagamit ng husto ang remittances, mas mapapaigi natin ang ating buhay, matutulungan natin ang ating pamilya, pati na ang sambayanang Pilipino,” said Edwin Salonga of Ateneo de Manila Microfinance Capacity Building Program (SEDPI). The group also stressed that relatives and families of OFWs should also be informed of how hard it is to earn Euros and to orient them how to be sensible in spending the money they receive. “I think the most important advise na maibibigay ko sa mga OFW in Europe is magsabi sa kanilang kamag-anak sa Pilipinas kung gaano kahir...

Former president Fidel V. Ramos urged Filipinos overseas to choose and vote for candidates who can best resolve their many problems. “They must be aware of the issues in the Philippines. Unang tutukan nila iyong mga issues, what are the problems that are important to them that must be resolved as quickly as possible,” Ramos told Atty. Mike Templo during a special episode of Crossing Borders on ANC. Ramos said OFWs must carefully examine each candidate at the national level “who are best qualified to resolve their problems”. “Those candidates themselves must also be more caring, sharing and daring than our common Filipinos including the overseas workers,” he said. “Third, beyond just focusing on issues, in selecting the candidates who can best resolve the issues that are of highest priority to them, they must themselves be as self reliant, as self supporting as can be.” Ramos is not new to the many challenges and issues faced by millions of Filipinos who seek greener pasture abroad. “Th...

An alliance of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on Tuesday warned that some of the amendments to the Migrant Workers Act of 1995 that lawmakers are proposing could only lead to the continued abuse and neglect of Filipino migrants all over the globe. Migrante – Middle East assailed the consolidated bills in the Senate (SB 3286) and House of Representatives (HB 5649) for being anti-OFW by continuing to promote labor as a “cheap" export while institutionalizing government-imposed fees and recruitment charges. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In reality it only promotes exportation of cheap human labor and institutionalizes exactions of government-imposed fees – John Leonard Monterona, Migrante -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- According to Migrante-ME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona, contrary to the obligations and responsibilities of the government set out in the Migrant Worker...

DONKEY WORK. Despite the name, a drug mule is actually a person who smuggles something with him or her across a national border in exchange for money. AP photoAlarmed over the spate of jailed Filipino workers in China, an advocacy group urged the Philippine government to form a special task force to crack down on international drug rings luring mostly women migrants. The Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a non-government organization involved in helping distressed overseas workers, said the task force should include the immigration, airport and drug enforcement agencies. According to Susan Ople, the group’s president, Nigerian syndicates often escape persecution after persuading female aspiring overseas Filipino workers to transport luggage in exchange for cash. "In the end, it is our own citizens that are put in jail while the ringleaders of these syndicates remain scot-free," Susan Ople, the group’s leader, said. Last week, Philippine Consul General in Guangzhou Joselito Jimeno s...

Foreign domestic workers on Sunday protested the wage freeze imposed by the Hong Kong Executive Council. - AMCBFilipino domestic workers, along with more than a hundred other foreign workers, trooped to the Central Government Office in Hong Kong on Sunday after the HK Executive Council (ExeCo) decided to freeze their wage at the current level. Under the decision, foreign domestic workers (FDW) are to receive a Minimum Allowable Wage (MAW) of only HK$3,850 or almost P23,000 monthly. “Wage freeze is an insensitive and inconsiderate response of the HK government in the face of the economic hardships facing workers right now," said Emmanuel Villanueva, spokesperson of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB), in a statement. “Contrary to previous statements of the government, the MAW does not work. In fact, what it does is to keep our wage depressed and maintain the treatment of FDWs as no more than slaves and social welfare benefits of the government to employers," said Villa...

At least 22 household workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who fled from their workers were repatriated over the weekend, a UAE news site reported Sunday. The Khaleej Times reported the batch of 22 is the biggest group sent back so far this year by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). “Fifty percent of the employers, whose maids ran away, have refused to release their passports unless the expenses incurred on bringing them to UAE were refunded," Welfare Officer Mary Cimangan said. Cimangan said there were no negotiations or refunds for cases involving physical assault, as in the case of OFW Marilyn Vinluan. In such cases, she said employers normally declare them "absconding" and surrender their passports to the immigration authorities to cancel their employment permits. She noted employers who demand a refund of expenses involve runaway helpers who have worked for just a few months, some even for a few days only. Records at the Philippine Overseas Lab...

Two men and two women are facing illegal recruitment charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly luring four Filipinos to work in Afghanistan despite a Philippine government deployment ban to the war-ravaged country. Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, operations chief of the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (Tfair), said in a radio interview Saturday that illegal recruitment complaints were filed against Domingo Cruz, Rolly Cruz, Winnie Cruz and Maria Lourdes Cabigting for collecting placement fees from four Filipinos and failing to deploy them in Afghanistan. Sosa said the suspects lured the four aspiring overseas Filipino workers, one of whom he identified as Juan Soliman Pelayo Jr., to high-paying jobs in Afghanistan, only to find out that there were no jobs waiting for them there. He added that the alleged illegal recruiters escorted the victims to the destination country, but abandoned them in Afghanistan after making them wait for employment for months. Th...

HOW DRUGS ARE HIDDEN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drug syndicates have found ingenious ways of smuggling thousands of dollars worth of prohibited substances. One of the most common ways of smuggling drugs through human “mules" is by making them swallow plastic capsules containing several kilograms of the illegal narcotics. Others have died using this method. Some of the modus operandi of these drug gangs involve “conveniently" sewing drugs inside the Filipino mules’ “abdominal cavity" and placing the substance inside a condom and tucking it inside a woman's genitals. Read more The Philippines leads all Southeast Asian countries in the number of nationals arrested for drug smuggling charges in China, a Philippine diplomat said Friday. “Ang pag-akyat sa talaan ng bilang ng mga Filipino ay sobrang nakababahala sa gobyerno(This rise in numb...