KAKAMMPI News

Some members of a migrant worker group have set up camps outside the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to protest what they call the Philippine government’s inability to bring home hundreds of illegal Filipino workers currently stranded in Saudi Arabia. More than a dozen protesters from Migrante group have set up camps Monday morning outside the main gate of the DFA, blocking the exit and entry of employees and guests. Migrante chairman Garry Martinez, who said they will hold the “solidarity campout” until Tuesday afternoon, demanded the “free, immediate and mass repatriation” of the workers, of which more than 1,000 are camping outside the premises of the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah. Fearing arrests by Saudi authorities due to lack of legal documents, the Filipinos – most of whom have ran away from their employers or whose permits to stay have long expired – have set up camps outside the consulate. They were offered shelters by the DFA but majority refused to move in to the facil...

Philippine Consul General to Vancouver Jose Ampeso has returned to Manila to face an investigation panel that will look into the allegation that he mistreated a Filipino passport applicant there earlier this month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday. Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the DFA fact-finding team would require Ampeso to explain his side before they determine if there is probable cause to file a case against him. “The decision will have to be sent to the Secretary (of Foreign Affairs), and then if there is a probable cause then there will be a hearing of the case,” Hernandez told a press briefing. At the same time, Hernandez said Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has instructed Philippine Ambassador to Canada Leslie Gatan to go to Vancouver to find out about the case and get the side of the complainant. Ampeso was ordered by the DFA to return to the Home Office after a video of him allegedly berating a passport applicant circulated over popul...

SINGAPORE - With its gay bars and same-sex couples publicly displaying affection, the Tanjong Pagar district offers a glimpse of a Singapore whose outlook contrasts with its more conservative image.   Located in the city's central business area, it is also home to offices and government buildings. Its bars come to life at night, part of a gay scene that continues to evolve.   But while gay and lesbian couples openly live together and are gaining social acceptance, a law whose origins go back to the 19th century when Singapore was a British colony is still seen as a threat by the community.   A provision in the penal code known as Section 377A makes it a crime for men to have sex with each other. Even though it is not enforced actively by Singapore authorities, campaigners are demanding its repeal.   Gary Lim, 44, and his 37-year-old partner Kenneth Chee, both graphic designers, say they decided to challenge the law's constitutionality because they d...

Relatives of Filipinos stranded in Saudi Arabia on Monday camped out in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City to show solidarity with their loved ones.   The campers asked the Philippine government to facilitate the repatriation of their loved ones soonest, radio dzBB's Mao dela Cruz reported.   DFA security personnel closed the gates to keep the protesters from entering the premises, and wrapped the DFA seal to prevent the protesters from defacing it.   Organizers of the solidarity action set up tents in front of the DFA and said they plan to hold the campout until May 1, Labor Day.   Several Filipinos in Saudi Arabia had camped out in front of the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah to seek help in getting home soonest.   Last week, Philippine Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay said some of the Filipinos camped outside the Philippine consulate are getting sick but are  getting assistance .    Earlier, Gar...

by Rose Eclarinal, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau LONDON - A few hundred "return to sender" electoral mails were received by the Philippine embassy in London two weeks after the start of Overseas Absentee Voting. As of April 25, a total of 934 were returned to the embassy because the voter might have moved to a new address or has unwittingly registered an incorrect address. The UK, with 11, 911 registered voters, adopts postal voting where electoral mails are sent directly to voters. Ireland which has 1,109 registered voters is now under the UK Embassy. "We are concerned that the registered voters have moved or relocated and unless they take the effort to check with the embassy, they might not be able to cast their ballots in time. This will be such a waste of government resources, a waste of the opportunity to exercise their right, especially since this is already a protracted period (one month) of elections of the overseas voters," said Deputy Chief of Miss...

By Charles Tabbu, ABS-CBN Middle East Bureau JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Jesus Yabes arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Thursday to look into the situation of stranded OFWs camping beside the Philippine consulate. Yabes accompanied by DFA Assistant Secretary for Middle East and African Affairs Petronila P. Garcia met with Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin Tago, Consul General Norman Uriel Garibay and other consulate staff to discuss issues concerning the stranded OFWs. In an exclusive interview with the ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau right after the closed-door meeting, Yabes assured that the stranded OFWs will all be going home. “But one thing is for sure is that, all of them will go home. All of them will go home. May mga iba nga lang may mauuna, may mga mahuhuli. Hindi naman sila puwedeng sabay-sabay. But rest assured that they will all go home,” he said. There are about 2,000 OFWs camped beside the ...

ABS-CBNnews.com MANILA – Relatives of overseas Filipino workers who remain stranded at the Philippine consulate in Jeddah trooped to the Deparment of Foreign Affairs (DFA) office in Pasay City on Monday to call for the speedy repatriation of their loved ones. The relatives held a campout outside the DFA office, in an expression of their sympathy to the plight of the stranded OFWs who were forced to stay in makeshift tents outside the consulate following a crackdown by the Saudi government against illegal workers. The group was calling for the speedy and government-shouldered repatriation for the stranded Filipinos. Progressive party-list group Anakpawis, in a statement, scored the Aquino government for its supposed inaction on the situation of the stranded OFWs. "While the president is busy campaigning for his LP bets, he is oblivious to the fate of OFWs stuck in Saudi Arabia," Anakpawis Vice-chair Fernando Hicap said. "Despite the alarming situation of OFWs...

ABS-CBNnews.com MANILA - The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia released an advisory to all Filipinos, legal or undocumented, who want to return home to the Philippines. The advisory, written in Filipino, explains the process and necessary documents that must be obtained by the worker. The three-page advisory answers seven questions from documents to problems that may arise from absconding or even those who have children who are not documented. The advisory was posted on the website of the embassy last April 20, 2013. == Q1: What are the three things that a Filipino worker must have in order for him/her to return home? 1) A Philippine Passport (still valid for six months before its expiration date) or Travel Document in the absence of a passport. 2) An airplane ticket 3) Exit Visa from the Saudi Ministry of Interior (MOI) Exit Visas are given once the worker obtains a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from his sponsor and all the fees have been paid. However, Filipin...

Relatives of Filipinos stranded in Saudi Arabia on Monday camped out in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City to show solidarity with their loved ones.   The campers asked the Philippine government to facilitate the repatriation of their loved ones soonest, radio dzBB's Mao dela Cruz reported.   DFA security personnel closed the gates to keep the protesters from entering the premises, and wrapped the DFA seal to prevent the protesters from defacing it.   Organizers of the solidarity action set up tents in front of the DFA and said they plan to hold the campout until May 1, Labor Day.   Several Filipinos in Saudi Arabia had camped out in front of the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah to seek help in getting home soonest.   Last week, Philippine Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay said some of the Filipinos camped outside the Philippine consulate are getting sick but are  getting assistance .    Earl...

by Fr. Shay Cullen The unwelcome truth that civilized people don’t want to hear is that the human race is not so civilized after all. Hundreds of thousands of wealthy males travel from rich to poor countries every year to sexually exploit and abuse children and women in a global phenomenon known as sex-tourism. Sexual violence is common and tragically and sinfully ignored. Hundreds of thousands of women and children are trafficked and in Europe, 27,600 are victims of forced labor. The dominant financial power of these perverts and sex starved men combined with the crooked complicity of local politicians, police and prosecutors in poor countries makes for a lethal cocktail of corruption. It sets the scene where sex slavery can thrive and children as young as 9 to 16 years old are trapped like innocent butterflies in the spider’s web of abuse and lost childhood. What makes this so perverse is the sickly silence of the elites, government authorities, some Church leaders, charities and...

BINATIKOS ng Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) media group ang planong pagreretiro ni Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chairman Sixto Brillantes para makamit ang inaasam na puwesto bilang ambassador sa Europa. Napabalitang taimtim na pinagnanasahan ni Brillantes na makamit sa kanyang pagreretiro ang ambassadorial post sa silangang Europa bilang bonus sa sinasabi niyang ‘job well done’ bilang pinuno ng COMELEC. Kasunod ito sa pagbawi niya sa bantang magbitiw sa COMELEC sanhi ng kaliwa’t kanang batikos mula sa iba-ibang grupo ukol sa patuloy na katiwalian sa nasabing ahensya. Sinabi ni Brillantes aa isang panayam na hihilingin niya mismo kay Pangulong Noynoy Aquino na italaga siya bilang ambassador sa Eastern Europe sa sandaling umalis na siya sa COMELEC. “I will wait to see the President so that I can ask him . . . My plan was to ask him, ‘Could you give me an ambassadorship instead so that I can rest. It’s so tiring in the Comelec,’” wika nito sa panayam. Binaggit niya ...

PhilHealth Regional Office (PRO) IVA recently launched its bus advertisement campaign starting with the Del Monte Land Transport Bus Company (DLTBCo) that has 250 bus units plying the Southern Tagalog and Visayas routes. Mr. James Olayvar, General Manager of DLTBCo, has approved the partnership with PRO IVA Regional Vice President Alberto C. Manduriao to allow PhilHealth audio-visual materials to be featured/included initially with their 96 bus units plying the Manila to Lucena, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte. The AV materials will be shown once along the bus route. The partnership is expected to increase the awareness and knowledge of commuting public about the importance of financial protection against prohibitive hospitalization through PhilHealth. PRO IVA is also set to conduct orientation seminars with DLTB drivers and conductors about their PhilHealth coverage. (END)

by Fr. Shay Cullen The unwelcome truth that civilized people don’t want to hear is that the human race is not so civilized after all. Hundreds of thousands of wealthy males travel from rich to poor countries every year to sexually exploit and abuse children and women in a global phenomenon known as sex-tourism. Sexual violence is common and tragically and sinfully ignored. Hundreds of thousands of women and children are trafficked and in Europe, 27,600 are victims of forced labor. The dominant financial power of these perverts and sex starved men combined with the crooked complicity of local politicians, police and prosecutors in poor countries makes for a lethal cocktail of corruption. It sets the scene where sex slavery can thrive and children as young as 9 to 16 years old are trapped like innocent butterflies in the spider’s web of abuse and lost childhood. What makes this so perverse is the sickly silence of the elites, government authorities, some Church leaders, charities and...

By Fr. Shay Cullen Readers frequently share their comments and opinions, their problems and troubles about many things including the challenge to their faith. Before the resignation of Pope Benedict and the election of Pope Francis I received the letter below. Dear Fr. Shay, I would really appreciate your help. At the moment I feel very confused. For a while I have been disheartened by Rome. I can’t believe the way they handled the cases of child abuse, it seems to go against everything I believe and their reaction was hard to grasp and still is. I understand the heart of our faith is to love one another, to forgive and be non-judgmental, so I try, but it’s their attitude to the victims that seems so wrong.  Recently a priest (name omitted) has voiced opinions on subjects like priests been able to marry, women priests and birth control, things we all discuss and have views on and now the (former) Pope is trying to silence him and others with such views, but I agree with some of his...