SKorea deports 57 Pinoy performers over fake AIDS tests

Fifty-seven Filipino overseas performing artists (OPAs) have been deported by the South Korean government as of December last year over fake AIDS test certificates, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

In a release posted on its web site, DOLE said investigations are now ongoing on an unidentified international recruitment agency which issued the fake certificates and should be held responsible for the deportation of the OPAs.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the most recent deportations were 18 OPAs on Dec. 4 and 11 OPAs on Dec. 7, which followed an earlier batch of 28 OPAs from July 12 to 16 last year, all from Seoul.

DOLE also said that according to one of the deported OPAs, their recruitment agency in the Philippines prepared and submitted all the documents, including their AIDS test certificates.

The unnamed OPA added that they were not made to undergo the AIDS test here in the country, because the agency and the promoter advised them that the test would be conducted in Korea.

“To protect overseas Filipino workers in both the sending and host countries, a strict AIDS test should be made a crucial part of the medical examination required by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on overseas-bound workers," Roque said.

In this light, Roque has ordered a crackdown on recruitment agencies found to be issuing fake certificates, which will be sanctioned accordingly if found violating Republic Act No. 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995.

“We strongly urge the recruiters to adhere to the stringent requirement and ensure that the credentials and required certificates of OFWs … are in accordance with the international standards," Roque stated.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Seoul is now inviting the promoter in Korea to shed light on the incident, DOLE said.

Labor Attaché to Seoul Delmer F. Cruz also recommended that necessary reintegration assistance should be extended to the deported OPAs through DOLE’s National Reintegration Center for OFWs and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. – Jerrie M. Abella/JV, 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