Partial deployment ban up in Thailand

A temporary ban has been imposed on the deployment of newly hired overseas Filipino workers to Thailand due to the worsening political situation there.

In a resolution, the POEA Governing Board said it is imposing a "temporary suspension on the processing and deployment of newly-hired OFWs to Thailand."

"(Under) Alert Level 2, only the processing and deployment of returning OFWs with existing employment contracts shall be allowed, and the processing and deployment of newly-hired OFWs shall be suspended," the POEA said in Governing Board Resolution 6 dated May 21.

Last Jan. 24, the POEA Governing Board issued a resolution imposing a similar temporary suspension on the processing and deployment of newly hired OFWs to Thailand, but this was limited to four areas.

At the time, it said the Department of Foreign Affairs raised the crisis alert level in Thailand to "2" in Bangkok, Nonthaburi province, Lad LunKaew district (Pathumthani province) and Bang Phli district (Samutprakan province) due to a 60-day state of emergency stemming from civil unrest there.

The DFA then lowered the crisis alert level in the four areas to "1" (precautionary phase).

But last May 20, the DFA raised the alert level in the Kingdom to "2" following the Thai Army's declaration of martial law due to the escalating civil and political unrest.

Thai Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the military had stepped in to restore order and build investor confidence, and warned that troops would take action against anyone who used weapons and harmed civilians.

Twenty-eight people have been killed and 700 injured since the anti-government protests in Thailand began in November last year. The crisis is the latest chapter in a near-decade-long power struggle between former telecoms tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra and the royalist establishment that has brought the country to the brink of recession and even raised fears of civil war.

Signing the POEA resolution were acting Labor Secretary and acting POEA Governing Board chairperson Rebecca Chato; POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac; and governing board members Felix Oca, Estrelita Hizon, Alexander Asuncion and Milagros Isabel Cristobal.

Philippine officials have advised Filipinos in Thailand to remain vigilant. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday
Read more

Russia captures town after 2 years of Ukrainian resistance --- Reuters

Russian forces now control 98.5% of Luhansk, 60% of Donetsk MOSCOW: Russian troops on Wednesday took charge of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a bastion that had resisted intense attacks since Russia launched its full-scale assault in 2022. The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it. Ukraine's eastern military command said it had ordered a pullback from the hilltop coal mining town to avoid encirclement by Russian troops and "preserve personnel and military equipment". The Russian defense ministry did not mention Vuhledar in its daily battlefield report. Russian Telegram channels, however, published video of troops waving the Russian tricolor flag over shattered buildings. The town, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, has been devastated, with Soviet-era
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more