KAKAMMPI News

Voluntary repatriation for OFWs willing to leave Egypt By Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News Posted at 02/01/2011 10:34 PM | Updated as of 02/01/2011 10:35 PM MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday that it has directed the Philippine embassy in Cairo to make immediate arrangements for the repatriation of Filipinos who wish to come home from Egypt in the light of protest actions there. DFA spokesman Atty. Eduardo Malaya said they are ready to move if a voluntary evacuation is requested by an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) on either relocation to safer grounds within Egypt or repatriation back to the Philippines. "Wala po kaming naririnig na request sa mga Pilipino sa Egypt na sila ay maipa-repatriate, ngunit kung ‘yon ang kagustuhan ng ilan, ‘yong voluntary repetriation, may arrangement na tayong na-identify diyan," said Malaya. The evacuation plan, according to Malaya, includes moving the OFWs by land from Cairo, Egypt to international airports i...

By Rhyse Furio, ABS–CBN Middle East News Bureau BEIRUT, Lebanon – The past three months have witnessed a wave of mass repatriations of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the Philippine embassy stated. According to embassy officials, this is due to closer collaboration between the embassy and the Lebanese General Security. “Mass repatriations normally occur twice a year—mid–year and in December,” said Salome Mendoza, assistant labor attaché of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office. “It’s only as we approached 2011 that they’ve happened successively.” The quick succession of mass repatriations resulted in the temporary emptying of the embassy’s Filipino Resource Center (FRC) on January 15, when the remaining 15 wards were sent home, followed by 8 from detention centers who were repatriated on January 17. Accompanying the January 15 batch were two General Security officials: Mjr. Nader Abi Nader and Lt. Fadi Malak. Since then, the 2 officials have been meeting with their coun...

abs-cbnNEWS.com MANILA, Philippines – An official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said that a mandatory evacuation of Filipinos in Egypt would not be necessary. “In as much as their lives, their safety were not in imminent danger, then at least, from the assessment of our embassy, there is no need for mandatory evacuation,” DFA spokesman Ed Malaya told ABS-CBN News Channel. Malaya clarified that although mandatory evacuation is not an immediate need, the DFA is still “honoring the requests of those who have indicated the wish to be repatriated”. Malaya said the situation in Egypt is “brightening up” and they are noticing some very good developments. Air, land evacuation Despite the positive developments, the Philippine government has still laid out plans for evacuation should the need arise. “We are looking at 2 scenarios. One is to bring those wishing to be repatriated, to bring them home by air. We may be having that in the next few days or until the weekend...

By Mayen Jaymalin, The Philippine Star MANILA, Philippines – Fewer Filipino workers are expected to get employed abroad this year, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported on Jan. 28. POEA chief Carlos Cao Jr. said the government foresee as much as a 6% drop in overseas deployment for 2011 with the strict implementation of a new law protecting migrant workers. “Based on initial estimate, we are looking at 5% to 6% reduction in deployment because of our current direction to give emphasis in protection although we are not abandoning effort to deploy workers abroad,” Cao disclosed. “As we give emphasis on protection it is natural for us to be selective and opt for better jobs,” Cao added. Cao noted that under the Aquino administration, the government would promote the deployment of highly skilled workers and discourage employment of household service workers (HSWs) who comprise the bulk of OFWs abroad, but are more vulnerable to abuses. Last year, Cao said the PO...

LONDON - Filipino nurse recruitment in Britain should remain stable amid cuts on immigration and public spending in the UK, said the Philippine embassy in London. Speaking from an event at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex, embassy officials welcomed newly recruited nurses and reassured other nurses from the Philippines that job opportunities in the UK should continue to become available. “So far, the UK is not shutting its doors to foreign workers,” said Atty. Jainal Rasul, Labor Attache at the Philippine embassy in London, in an interview with The Filipino Channel. He continued: “It has not declared any ban in the hiring of foreign workers, especially nurses. There will be reductions, of course, due to some changes, but in the long term, there will be more nurses coming in due to shortages of nurses right within the UK.” He added that recent changes in British immigration policies should not alarm Filipino migrants who are already in the UK. “As announced by the UK Border Agen...

By Jing Castañeda, ABS-CBN News MANILA, Philippines – An oversupply of nurses in the country is resulting in nurses becoming victims of illegal recruitment, healthcare groups said Tuesday. According to the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) and the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates, there are 80,000 nursing board passers each year, while there are just a handful of job openings. Hospitals also allegedly don't follow the international standard on nurse-to-patient ratio. Instead of the 1:12 ratio, hospitals currently have between a 1:30 to 1:45 ratio, the groups said. A lot of plantilla positions in hospitals are also not filled up. To decrease the oversupply of nurses, either non or low-performing nursing schools should be closed. There are more than 400 nursing schools in the country and around 112 were identified by the Commission on Higher Education as non-performing, which means the schools only have between 1% to 20% nursing board passing rate.

By Patrick Camara Ropeta, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau LONDON - Filipino nurse recruitment in Britain should remain stable amid cuts on immigration and public spending in the UK, said the Philippine embassy in London. Speaking from an event at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex, embassy officials welcomed newly recruited nurses and reassured other nurses from the Philippines that job opportunities in the UK should continue to become available. “So far, the UK is not shutting its doors to foreign workers,” said Atty. Jainal Rasul, Labor Attache at the Philippine embassy in London, in an interview with The Filipino Channel. He continued: “It has not declared any ban in the hiring of foreign workers, especially nurses. There will be reductions, of course, due to some changes, but in the long term, there will be more nurses coming in due to shortages of nurses right within the UK.” He added that recent changes in British immigration policies should not alarm Filipino migrants who are ...