KAKAMMPI News

New rules have made it tougher for Filipinos and other foreign expatriates wanting to bring their families there on residence visas, a UAE news site reported Thursday. Gulf News cited a UAE federal government source who said new rules no longer allow dependents such as parents and children over 18 to get visas automatically. The  Gulf News report quoted  the government source as saying the tightened measures stemmed from "violations and abuse" of the previous visa system. "Henceforth, such visas will be issued on humanitarian grounds or emergent reasons, said the source who did not want to be named," it said. But the Gulf News report added the rules for expatriates sponsoring wives and children under 18 remain unchanged. It added expats earning a minimum of Dh5,000 (P59,455) a month with suitable housing allowance can bring spouses and children under 18 to the UAE on residence visas. In recent days, several expats applying for permanent visas for their parents - inc...

New rules have made it tougher for Filipinos and other foreign expatriates wanting to bring their families there on residence visas, a UAE news site reported Thursday. Gulf News cited a UAE federal government source who said new rules no longer allow dependents such as parents and children over 18 to get visas automatically. The  Gulf News report quoted  the government source as saying the tightened measures stemmed from "violations and abuse" of the previous visa system. "Henceforth, such visas will be issued on humanitarian grounds or emergent reasons, said the source who did not want to be named," it said. But the Gulf News report added the rules for expatriates sponsoring wives and children under 18 remain unchanged. It added expats earning a minimum of Dh5,000 (P59,455) a month with suitable housing allowance can bring spouses and children under 18 to the UAE on residence visas. In recent days, several expats applying for permanent visas for their parents - inc...

Tags:  Super Typhoon Yolanda  ,  yolanda survivors Two labor recruitment agencies will help at least 500 victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) find work abroad free of charge, the Department of Labor and Employment on Thursday said. Philippine Overseas Employment Administration head Hans Leo Cacdac said International Skills Development (ISD) can recruit more than 300 workers in Samar and Leyte. A  DOLE news release quoted Cacdac  as saying ISD "pledged to hire over 300 workers for ABV Rock Group, one of its principal clients in the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia]." He added ISD President Levi de Mesa wrote to inform him that ISD recruitment personnel "will be in Cebu City to coordinate worker recruitment from Samar and Leyte." "We will need more than 300 workers," the DOLE quoted De Mesa as saying in his letter. De Mesa said ABV Rock Group's manpower requirements include a worker for each of the following positions: electrical supervisor tiling forem...

Around 31 overseas Filipino workers returned from civil war-torn Syria Tuesday afternoon, after availing of the Philippine government's repatriation program. The OFWs arrived at 5:05 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 , aboard an Emirates Airways flight, state-run Philippines News Agency reported. The OFWs encountered problems while working in Syria and had to spend time at a Philippine embassy-provided shelter while their exit papers were being processed. Philippine foreign affairs and labor officials continue to urge OFWs to avail of repatriation, and asked their relatives to update government of the OFWs' whereabouts. The government has also offered assistance packages to the OFWs, which includes livelihood training, or new work abroad.  — DVM, GMA News

Two Filipinos on Monday pleaded innocent before a United Arab Emirates court on charges that they were trying to sell 0.26 gram of amphetamine. Both Filipinos, aged 33 and 29, were accused by prosecutors of trying to sell the drug for Dh800, UAE news site Gulf News reported late Tuesday . However, the two Filipinos, who were not identified in the report, admitted before the Dubai Court of First Instance that they were taking amphetamine and methamphetamine. Presiding Judge Wajdi Al Menyawi adjourned the case to hear prosecution witnesses on December 19. Prosecutors charged the two with possessing a banned substance for trading purposes and taking amphetamine and methamphetamine. They asked the court to implement a life sentence of 25 years and a maximum fine of Dh200,000. During the court proceeding, an Emirati anti-narcotics police major testified an informant had tipped them off to the two Filipinos. He claimed the two were looking for someone to buy amphetamine for Dh800, prompting ...

Tags:  typhoon yolanda 'Cash-for-Work' program attracts work force in Tacloban . Residents of typhoon-devastated municipalities hitch a ride on a jeepney bound for Tacloban City on Tuesday, November 26, to find work in the government's Cash-for-Work Program for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda.  Carlo Mateo (Updated 6 p.m.)  A government task force against human trafficking will be created in typhoon-hit Eastern Visayas to prevent the recruitment of residents whose desperation for jobs and livelihood has made them fair game for illegal recruiters. Lawyer Jonathan Lledo, chief of the National Inter-Agency Taskforce Against Trafficking (NIATFAT), on Wednesday said the region needs its own task force to conduct an investigation similar to the one undertaken in Davao Oriental after Typhoon Pablo devastated the region in 2012. “Any typhoon or calamity-stricken areas is a fair game for the recruitment of people, who will take advantage of their vulnerabilities,” Lledo tol...

Good news for overseas Filipino workers who are from Tacloban City, one of the areas hit hardest by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)—the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has reopened its office there. POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac on Wednesday said the POEA office in Tacloban managed to process four OFWs on Tuesday, the first time since Yolanda devastated the city last Nov. 8. Good morning! Yesterday, POEA Tacloban processed 4 OFW Balik Manggagawa, first time since that fateful November 8th ...  #bangonpilipinas — hans leo j. cacdac (@HansLeoCacdac)  November 27, 2013 POEA's Tacloban City office was forced to stop operations since Nov. 8, when Yolanda battered the Eastern Visayas and Southern Luzon, leaving over 5,500 people dead and thousands more displaced. While the POEA office in Tacloban City was closed, OFWs in Eastern Visayas were asked to have their documents processed in at least seven of the agency's other offices, including in Legazpi, Cebu, or ...

MANILA, Philippines - The 38,939 undocumented Filipino workers who returned home from Saudi Arabia because of the kingdom’s crackdown on illegal migrants can now seek reemployment in the Middle East country. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said these undocumented Filipino workers “who left during the seven-month correction period can return to the kingdom if they wish to do so.” Among the workers who left during the correction period were those who ended their employment contracts. Those with derogatory records, however, can no longer return to Saudi Arabia even if they left during the correction period, Baldoz said. Currently, 157,494 undocumented Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia have regularized their status and can continue working there. According to Baldoz, undocumented workers who were unable to regularize their status during the grace period may still do so but they have to pay fines and other penalties. She also said that the Philippine government will provide leg...

ABS-CBNnews.com MANILA, Philippines - One of the largest healthcare providers in the United Arab Emirates is keen on hiring hundreds of Filipino nurses, according to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. In a statement, Baldoz said she recently met with representatives of NMC Healthcare, who assured her they will hire highly-qualified nurses in the last quarter of the year. Paolo Martel, Managing Director of Ikon Solutions in Manila, has accompanied NMC Healthcare Vice President for Human Resources Raveendra Rai to my office where in my presence the NMC Healthcare official was presented a certificate of appreciation by Ikon Solutions for the company's dedication and commitment in hiring Filipino nurses and other hospital staff," said Baldoz. Martel told Baldoz the company has conducted a three-day recuitment campaign in Ikon Solutions’ Cebu and Manila offices where over 160 candidates were selected. He added the company is investing $200 million to expand in the Middl...

Tags:  typhoon yolanda TACLOBAN, Leyte — The Philippines' giant band of overseas workers, already regarded as national heroes for toiling in foreign lands, are coming to the rescue again as they dig deep to send more cash back to their typhoon-hit homeland. With relief workers overwhelmed by the magnitude of this month's disaster and unable to provide adequate support to the millions of survivors living in flattened towns, Filipinos abroad are proving a crucial, direct lifeline. In the ruined city of Tacloban, farmer Teudolfo Barmisa queued up at a money transfer outlet on Tuesday and withdrew the equivalent of $600 sent by his daughter who works as a maid in Hong Kong. “The money will go to buying food first, then other supplies to help us rebuild our home, like plywood and cement,” Barmisa told AFP. Barmisa was among hundreds of people withdrawing cash from financial outlets in Tacloban, many of which had just re-opened more than a fortnight after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) ...

Around 31 overseas Filipino workers returned from civil war-torn Syria Tuesday afternoon, after availing of the Philippine government's repatriation program. The OFWs arrived at 5:05 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 , aboard an Emirates Airways flight, state-run Philippines News Agency reported. The OFWs encountered problems while working in Syria and had to spend time at a Philippine embassy-provided shelter while their exit papers were being processed. Philippine foreign affairs and labor officials continue to urge OFWs to avail of repatriation, and asked their relatives to update government of the OFWs' whereabouts. The government has also offered assistance packages to the OFWs, which includes livelihood training, or new work abroad.  — DVM, GMA News

ABS-CBNnews.com Posted at 11/25/2013 10:26 AM | Updated as of 11/26/2013 9:34 AM MANILA, Philippines - One of the largest healthcare providers in the United Arab Emirates is keen on hiring hundreds of Filipino nurses, according to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. In a statement, Baldoz said she recently met with representatives of NMC Healthcare, who assured her they will hire highly-qualified nurses in the last quarter of the year. Paolo Martel, Managing Director of Ikon Solutions in Manila, has accompanied NMC Healthcare Vice President for Human Resources Raveendra Rai to my office where in my presence the NMC Healthcare official was presented a certificate of appreciation by Ikon Solutions for the company's dedication and commitment in hiring Filipino nurses and other hospital staff," said Baldoz. Martel told Baldoz the company has conducted a three-day recuitment campaign in Ikon Solutions’ Cebu and Manila offices where over 160 candidates were selected. He a...

By Mayen Jaymalin, The Philippine Star MANILA, Philippines - The 38,939 undocumented Filipino workers who returned home from Saudi Arabia because of the kingdom’s crackdown on illegal migrants can now seek reemployment in the Middle East country. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said these undocumented Filipino workers “who left during the seven-month correction period can return to the kingdom if they wish to do so.” Among the workers who left during the correction period were those who ended their employment contracts. Those with derogatory records, however, can no longer return to Saudi Arabia even if they left during the correction period, Baldoz said. Currently, 157,494 undocumented Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia have regularized their status and can continue working there. According to Baldoz, undocumented workers who were unable to regularize their status during the grace period may still do so but they have to pay fines and other penalties. She also said that ...

Tags:  typhoon yolanda AL AIN, United Arab Emirates—Together with the group Filipino Community, Al Ain (FilCom, Al Ain), overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) here did their share in helping the countless victims of Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines.   Boxes of donations were gathered in the UAE from OFWs following a two-day concert for Yolanda victims.  Photo by Lucky Mae Quilao The OFWs were encouraged to donate clothes, blankets, slippers, towels, beddings, canned food, noodles, toiletries, and medicines to those affected by the super typhoon, which lashed most of the Visayas and several areas in Southern Luzon on November 8. In exchange, a two-day concert entitled “We Sing for Philippines: Charity-for-a-Cause” was held last week, with performances by the FilCom Band, FilCom Dance Group, Workshop Camp Glee Club, Nayla’s Crib, Marita Taylor, Jojo Broqueza, Romina Natividad, Rommel Perico, Van Wendell, and Julius Regis. “Sa ngayon, meron na akong naiipon na mga 30 ...

KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait's supreme court upheld Monday a death sentence against a woman for murdering her Filipina maid after torturing her, and confirmed a 10-year sentence on her disabled husband. The ruling is final and cannot be challenged but could be commuted to a life term by the ruler of the Gulf emirate. Executions in Kuwait are carried out by hanging. The Kuwaiti woman was convicted of premeditated murder based on evidence that she had regularly tortured her maid before driving over her in a remote desert area. The husband was handed the jail term for "assisting her," according to a copy of the ruling. The couple were both sentenced to death by the lower court in February last year. Three months later, the appeals court upheld the death penalty against the woman but commuted the sentence against her husband to 10 years in jail. According to the ruling, the woman beat her maid for several days until her health deteriorated. The couple then took the maid "unconsc...

SAN FRANCISCO - A speech by President Barack Obama aimed at putting pressure on the Congress to pass immigration reform was interrupted on Monday by a heckler unhappy with the deportation of undocumented people in the United States.   As Obama neared the end of the speech on immigration reform at the Betty Ong Chinese Recreation Center, a young man standing on the riser behind the president began to shout over him.   "Mr. President, please use your executive order to halt deportations for all 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in this country right now," the man said, as people next to him turned to look.   Obama tried to continue, but the man kept going.   "You have the power to stop deportation for all of them," he yelled.   "Actually, no, I don't," the president said, turning to address him, as several others joined in, chanting, "Stop deportation now."   While the president is sometimes heckled by audience membe...

BY FR. SHAY CULLEN I flew into Cebu City, an hours flight from Manila and drove with two Preda staff starting  3 am  to visit the northern towns of Cebu Island on Tuesday, 19 November. The goal was to reach Daanbantayan, Bogo,and Bantayan Island  to assess the storm damage, visit their communities and understand the situation so as to know what the needs are and to deliver aid donations directly  to the people in need. The other equally important goal is to spread awareness about the need to protect orphaned children from would-be abductors and traffickers posing as relatives. After two hours driving, we entered the disaster zone and the glimmer of lights in the houses disappeared and we drove in total darkness brought on by the typhoon Haiyan. It is a total blackout and power lines are down everywhere.  The moon gave an eerie sense of isolation. The remains of houses stood silhouetted and gave the appearance of a war-torn, bombed-out battle field. These were on...

If the Asia-Pacific region wants to achieve zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths by 2015, parliamentarians need to be fully involved as stakeholders in all efforts.   That’s the view of leading parliamentarian advocacy group, the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, as 5000 delegates arrive in Bangkok to work to eliminate HIV/AIDS deaths and prejudice while promoting prevention. “In this region, there are an estimated 4.9 million people living with HIV, but no-one should be dying from AIDS anymore – zero deaths by 2015 is achievable,”  said AFPPD Deputy Director John Hyde.   “We have the medicine and we have the skill to enable all people in our region to live healthy lives, with or without HIV/AIDS. “What we lack is equity of access to resources to keep people living healthy lives. “Parliamentarians need to be engaged in eliminating the discrimination that keeps at-risk people from accessing available HIV/A...

Bali, Indonesia, 6 November 2012 We, 21 Asian civil society organizations who attended the Civil Society Conference on “Advancing Substantive Democracy in Asia: The Roles of Civil Society and Democratic Governance”, held on 5-6 November 2012, parallel to the Bali Democracy Forum V, Appreciating the initiative and continued commitment of the Indonesian government in organizing the Bali Democracy Forum ;  Acknowledging the importance of the Bali Democracy Forum in promoting the development of democracy in the region ;  Welcoming the invitation extended to Asian civil society representatives to the Opening Session of the Bali Democracy Forum for the first time this year ;  Reaffirming our commitment to democratization in Asia based on people’s participation, pluralism, rule of law, international human rights law and standards , Call on governments at the Bali Democracy Forum V to take into serious consideration with the aim of acting substantively on the follo...