KAKAMMPI News

Philippine diplomatic and labor officials will hold an outreach program in two areas in the United Arab Emirates this weekend to cut down the large number of applicants for travel documents. An 18-member team from the Philippine Consulate General and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Dubai will hold the program in Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah on Saturday. “The outreach program will help reduce this number as applicants from RAK and Fujairah will not have to queue up at the Consulate," Consul General Benito Valeriano said in an article posted on UAE news site Khaleej Times Friday. He said the mission will cater to Filipino applicants queuing up at the consulate for affidavits and e-passports. Valeriano said the outreach program will serve the Filipino Community in Ras Al Khaimah in the morning and in Fujairah in the afternoon. Applicants for notarized affidavits and e-passport had gone up to an average of 300 and 200 daily, he noted. “Many of the staff have had a hectic...

Philippine diplomatic and labor officials will hold an outreach program in two areas in the United Arab Emirates this weekend to cut down the large number of applicants for travel documents. An 18-member team from the Philippine Consulate General and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Dubai will hold the program in Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah on Saturday. “The outreach program will help reduce this number as applicants from RAK and Fujairah will not have to queue up at the Consulate," Consul General Benito Valeriano said in an article posted on UAE news site Khaleej Times Friday. He said the mission will cater to Filipino applicants queuing up at the consulate for affidavits and e-passports. Valeriano said the outreach program will serve the Filipino Community in Ras Al Khaimah in the morning and in Fujairah in the afternoon. Applicants for notarized affidavits and e-passport had gone up to an average of 300 and 200 daily, he noted. “Many of the staff have had a hectic...

A Filipina hairdresser faced a court in Dubai last Thursday for allegedly forcing two women into prostitution after luring them to the United Arab Emirates. The 33-year-old Filipina was accused of human trafficking before the Court of First Instance, news site Khaleej Times reported Friday. One of the victims, a 25-year-old Filipina, told prosecutors the woman offered her a job as a saleslady in a supermarket in Dubai and demanded Dh6,000 (P71,132) as visa fee, flight ticket charge and housing cost. When the complainant could not pay the amount, the defendant allegedly agreed to shoulder the cost but on the condition that the complainant would pay it back. Last April 23, the defendant and a Filipino man met the complainant at the Dubai International Airport and took her to the defendant’s apartment in Muraqqabat. “There, she told me that I should pay her Dh20,000 (P237,108) as flight ticket charge, visa fee and rent for staying with her," the complainant said. When she told the de...

One of two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who escaped from their employers in Jordan is due to return home this Sunday. Melith Ante, 27, is due to arrive with other OFWs on Sunday, her mother Berlita said in an article on news site Visayan Daily Star Friday. But Melith's sister Lenen, 25, is reportedly still en route to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Amman, Jordan, Mrs. Ante said. She said Lenen was rescued on Oct. 4 and was admitted to a hospital for a checkup. The elder Ante called anew for justice and settlement for the moral and financial damages her daughters incurred during their ordeal. Melith escaped from her employer after an attempted rape, and sought help at the Mactav Recruiting Manpower Domestic Worker. She stayed there for two days without food and was taken into custody by the Philippine Embassy. Mrs. Ante said her daughters were recruited for janitorial jobs by a friend who worked in a city government. Berlita said she was asked to pay P11,000 but receive...

Two of the 12 overseas Filipino workers arrested for taking part in a religious activity in Saudi Arabia criticized the Philippine embassy for refusing to sign the "kafala" or written guarantee for their release. One of the OFWs, an engineer, said the embassy promised to sign the written guarantee for them but never did. "We had to depend on our respective employers for our release. By 3 a.m. on Saturday, the police gave us back our iqamas," the OFW, who is also a local community leader, said in an article posted on Arab News Friday. “There were assurances that the Philippine Embassy would sign a kafala for us, but it never came," he added. Another OFW said that while they are thankful for the embassy's show of concern, they were "helpless" as far as the kafala was concerned. “We are thankful to the two officials because they showed concern for us, except that they were helpless as far as the issuance of a kafala was concerned," said the seco...