KAKAMMPI News

Philippine labor officials in Saudi Arabia have rescued two runaway Filipino workers who said they were recruited as maids but were forced to work as animal caretakers, a Saudi news site reported Friday. Citing information from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh,  Arab News  said the two workers had worked for seven months in Hail and had not eaten for five days when they were rescued. According to the two workers, they had been recruited as maids but were forced to care for animals. They added they only received SR800 instead of SR1,500 a month as specified in a labor pact signed between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. POLO had asked community leaders' help to aid the workers, who hid in a mountainous area. The two have been found and turned over to the POLO. When found, the two appeared to have not eaten for five days and had only bottles of water with them. Also, the two said they were recruited illegally as they flew from Manila to Iloilo, then to M...

Filipino dairy workers in New Zealand may have to leave the country in droves after their applications for residency visas were rejected by the country's immigration bureau. Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment spokeswoman Rachel Purdom said that 57 percent of applications for residency from Filipinos were declined in 2014,  according to a report on The Timaru Herald, as posted on Stuff.co.nz on Friday . Purdom said that some employees only made partial matches in the required duties of dairy cattle farmers, meaning they did not meet the threshold to have their residency visas approved by Immigration New Zealand. Maiden Saba, who chairs the Filipino Dairy Workers in New Zealand, said the affected Filipino workers, including herself, are considering leaving the country for Australia and Canada. Saba and Migrante Aotearoa national coordinator Dennis Maga speculate that employers downplayed the management roles of Filipino workers in order to prevent their appl...

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong mother of two who punched her maids, beat them with mops and threatened to kill their relatives was jailed for six years on Friday in a case that triggered outrage and exposed the plight of millions of domestic helpers across Asia. Former beautician Law Wan-tung, 44, looked stunned as the sentence was passed after being found guilty of 18 of 20 abuse charges. She was also ordered to pay a fine of HK$15,000 ($1,934). The charges included inflicting grievous bodily harm and criminal intimidation against Erwiana Sulistyaningsih and another maid, also from Indonesia. Law looked emotionless as she was led out of court. She had pleaded not guilty to the 20 charges but had admitted one of not buying insurance cover for her maid. Judge Amanda Woodcock read out her verdict saying "damning evidence" revealed "how little care and kindness the defendant showed" for Erwiana, who had told media she would forgive her former boss and her family. The ...

At a media briefing in Manila on Monday, 43 Filipino fishermen released from Indonesian jail demand compensation from a giant General Santos City-based fishing firm, which allegedly abandoned them during their six-month detention in Ternate Island, Indonesia. The 'abandonados' arrived in the country on Monday on board a Cebu Pacific flight from Jakarta.  Danny Pata

A suspected illegal recruiter was arrested in an entrapment operation inside a mall in San Nicolas town in Ilocos Norte Wednesday. Police targeted Almie Rose Calipco in their sting operation after receiving complaints from at least three victims, GMA Ilocos reported Thursday. An investigation showed Calipco is not registered with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. "Initially nagkaroon ng payment at nag-training pa sila. Habang tumatagal hindi naman nila alam kung paano sila makakaalis sa bansa," said Chief Inspector Larry Buansi, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for Ilocos Norte. Following the suspect's arrest, at least nine people went to the police precinct to claim she victimized them. "Marami siyang pinangako sa amin pero wala namang natupad," said one of the victims. Calipco faces charges of violating the Migrant Act of 1995.  —  Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration is looking into the reported death of an overseas Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia, even as it eyes charges against the OFW's recruitment firm for possible violation of regulations. POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac on Thursday night said, "Wala pong whitewash sa imbestigasyon sa pagkamatay ng kasambahay sa Saudi na si Rochelle Lechido Masubay noong 2014." In a post on his  Twitter account, Cacdac also said , "Tahasan po nating aalamin kung ano ang nangyari... at kung bakit hindi nagbigay ng report ang recruiter ni Rochelle patungkol dito, at kung bakit tila hindi nagpakatotoo ang recruiter sa mga kaanak [ng biktima]." "Inatasan ko na po ang POEA Adjudication Office na magsampa ng kaso laban sa Fors International at Asas for Recruitment, at magpataw ng preventive suspension alinsunod sa POEA Rules and Regulations," he added. He said the matter was brought to his attention by militant migrant workers...

Some 77 Filipinos repatriated from strife-torn Libya are to arrive home in two batches on Friday and Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said late Thursday.   The DFA said the first batch of 46 Filipinos will arrive at 4 p.m. aboard Emirates EK332, while a second batch of 31 will arrive 3:10 p.m. March 1 via flight QR926.   Representatives from the DFA and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will meet the OFWs at NAIA to brief and assist them.   "These repatriates departed from Tripoli to Tunis via the Ras Jedier border on February 25. The Philippine Embassy in Tripoli, led by Chargé d'affaires Adel Cruz, provided for their lodging and basic necessities, coordinated their flight details, and personally accompanied them out of the Libyan border into the Tunisian border,"  the DFA said.   An Embassy team based in Tunisia extended airport and consular assistance, and facilitated their smooth departure at the International Airport in Tunis...

Famed Filipino folk dance group Bayanihan won the Tempio d'Oro or the Gold Temple Award for the third time during the 60th International Folklore Festival at Agrigento, Italy, last February 22. The Philippine National Folk Dance Company's last win at the festival was in 2005, while it first triumphed at the event in 2002,  according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) . Bayanihan competed against groups from Bulgaria, Holland, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia in the festival, held as part of the 70th Sagra del Mandorlo in fiore. Executive Director Suzie Benitez received the award for the group with Dance Director and Choreographer Ferdinand Jose and Music Director Melito Vale Cruz. Originally founded as the Bayanihan Folk Dance Group of the Philippine Women's University, the Bayanihan Dance Company has mounted 14 major tours and over 100 short tours in six continents, 66 countries, and 700 cities worldwide, according to its  profile  on th...

An illegal recruiter victimizing would-be overseas Filipino workers was arrested following a police sting operation in Cagayan de Oro City on Wednesday night. Leila Mae Tolentino was arrested in the entrapment operation in Zone 1 in Barangay Kauswagan, GMA Northern Mindanao reported on Thursday. "Modus niya mag-recruit siya, hihingi ng advance payment na any amount. Matapos niyang matanggap ang pera, ipapaasa niyang makakalipad na sa ibang bansa sa loob ng isang lingo tapos hindi na siya mahanap ng biktima," said Senior Inspector Joepet Paglinawan, Carmen police station commander. But police said they will investigate Tolentino further, after receiving information she had used other names to fool her victims. Investigation showed most of her victims included residents of Barangay Bulua, Bonbon, Bayabas, and Kauswagan in Cagayan de Oro City. She also had victims in Opol town in Misamis Oriental province. However, Tolentino denied being an illegal recruiter, saying she came fro...

A Filipino store in San Jose, California, was raided Tuesday (US time) and several people were arrested over alleged illegal activities, a report on ABC 7 said. Citing San Jose Department Lt. Jason Dwyer, the  report  said the Merrieneth Filipino Store hosted an "on-going criminal enterprise" involving gambling, stolen vehicles, prostitution, and narcotics. Dwyer said a SWAT team was utilized as they believed that "the suspects that were involved in this case may have been armed." Officials confiscated at least 10 digital gaming machines that were found inside the store, which is located on Capitol Expressway, near Andrew Hill High School. Four people were arrested, including the store's owner, the report said without mentioning names and nationalities. Neighbors filed numerous noise complaints against the owner of the house, who allegedly held numerous noisy gatherings and let animals loose. Store owners said Merrieneth sold music, phone cards, and groceries.  ...

Filipinos and other foreigners born in Germany after January 1, 2000 can now retain their parents' citizenship and still opt for a German citizenship following Germany's the abolition of the exclusivity rule in its Nationality Act. Covered by this are children born in Germany to parents who, upon the child's birth, were either both foreigners or one has stayed in Germany legally for eight years, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in a statement. Children born after January 1, 2000 who grew up in Germany will also benefit from the amendment, the DFA said. “This means they have been in Germany for eight years or attended a school in Germany for six years, or graduated from school or occupational training in Germany,” the DFA said. The DFA said before the abolition of the exclusivity rule, children born to foreign parents in Germany had to choose only one citizenship upon reaching 21. “For those who were born of Filipino parents, this meant choosing German ci...

Starting March 9, authentication certificates issued in the Philippines can be verified online through the Department of Foreign Affairs' (DFA) website. This is one of the benefits of the DFA's expected improvement of authentication services, following the rollout of new information technology equipment this week. "Currently, one out of ten Filipinos are overseas as migrant workers and immigrants. At some point, they will need their documents to be used abroad to be legalized through our Department,” DFA Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Concerns Rafael Seguis said in a  statement . Seguis also said this will allow further decentralization of authentication services in the regions. “Consular service is not limited to the issuance of passports and visas but also includes authentication service. With the rollout of the two Authentication IT systems ... authentication service, more commonly known as 'red ribbon,' takes a big leap forward from the medie...

A Filipino engineer in Dubai, United Arab Emirates lost Dh7,737 (P92,676) in minutes, in what authorities suspect could be a case of bank fraud. Leo Mamaclay, 32, a systems engineer at a metal and mining company, said he learned of the incident last Thursday, Gulf News XPRESS reported. “I was at work when the texts from my bank came. The first SMS really confused me, but when my phone buzzed five times in a row I knew something was wrong. I got in touch with the bank immediately,”  he said . “They cleaned up my account in less than two minutes and cared to leave behind Dh61.40 (P731). The most intriguing thing for me however is the fact that the withdrawals, according to my bank, took place in Mexico. It’s literally another end of the world for me,” he added. He said the notifications indicated he may have made five successive ATM withdrawals within two minutes. Records showed the withdrawals were made in Mexico Feb. 19, including two transactions worth Dh2,985.09, two worth Dh752....

By  Bombo Vigan   VIGAN CITY - Tatlong araw nang umuulan ng grabeng yelo at umabot na rin sa -4 degrees celcius ang temperatura sa Toronto, Canada. Ayon kay Marc Pinol na tubo ng Vigan City at nakatira na ngayon sa Toronto, nahihirapan sila sa paglabas dahil sa sobrang kapal ng yelong nakatambak sa kanilang paligid na umabot na ng mahigit 20 pulgada ang taas. Aniya, dahil sa kapal ng yelo sa mga daan, naghulog na naman ang mga otoridad ng truckload na asin upang matunaw ito at hindi maging sagabal sa mga kalsada. Pati sila ay tatlong araw na ring obligadong magpala ng yelo sa paligid at harapan ng kani-kanilang mga tahanan dahil pati ang kanilang mga nakaparadang sasakyan ay natambakan na rin ng yelo. Idinagdag pa niya na mas lalong nahihirapan ang mga pumapasok ng eskuwelahan at sa trabaho dahil may mga daanan na madulas na sanhi ng mga aksidente maliban pa sa dinadanas na sobrang lamig. Sa ngayon ay wala pang forecast sa kanila kung kailan ti...

By  Bombo Laoag   LAOAG CITY – Inaresto ng mga kasapi ng Philippine National Police (PNP) sa Dingras, Ilocos Norte ang isang overseas Filipino worker (OFW) na kagagaling lamang mula sa Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Kinilala ni C/Insp Teddy Rosqueta, chief of police ng PNP Dingras ang suspek na si Joel Lorenzo, 26, isang OFW, at residente ng Brgy Foz sa nasabing bayan. Ayon kay Rosqueta, bago nagtungo sa Dubai si Lorenzo ay may dating live-in partner at meron silang dalawang anak. Ngunit nang nasa ibang bansa na ay hindi na niya binibigyan ng sustento ang kanyang mga anak at umano’y nag-asawa na ng iba na naging dahilan upang magsampa ng kaso ang kanyang dating ka-live-in. Sinabi ni Rosqueta na nang mabatid na dumating na ang naturang OFW ay isang warrant of arrest ang ipinalabas ni Judge Perla Querubin ng RTC Branch 11 sa lungsod ng Laoag at agad inaresto si Lorenzo upang panagutan ang kanyang pagpapabaya ng responsibilidad sa kanyang mga anak na...

The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles will be closed from Feb. 27 to March 1 to move to its new location. In a post on its website, the consulate general said it will reopen March 2 at its new location at 3435 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 550, Los Angeles, CA 90010. "The change of location, that is four blocks from its present address, is part of a wider effort of the Consulate to deliver better client experience and to enhance the image and representation of the Philippines in Southern California,"  it said . Also, it said parking with validation is available at the Equitable Bank Building.  —  Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News

Noted Filipino-American chef Dale Talde has expanded his pop restaurant business to New Jersey on February and will bring his Filipino creations to Florida later this year. An  article on the New York Eater  said the Park Slope, Jersey City branch of Talde will serve the chef's signature items such as pretzel pork and chive dumplings as well as Korean fried chicken with spicy kimchi yogurt sauce. Dim sum items such as the McBao, a roasted pork bun with sweet pickles, and robatayaki samples like charred lobster tails will make their debut in the branch, along with over 100 types of wine and unique cocktails, the report added. The Jersey branch opened next to Carrino Provisions, an Italian market opened by Talde and partners Anthony Carrino and John Colenari in January. It also allows diners who couldn't get a table at the popular restaurant to have their wontons delivered at their homes. Culinary site The Daily Meal, meanwhile, reported  that the Talde branch that will be ...

Filipinos who move to Canada are more prone to having breast cancer at a younger age than women from other parts of East Asia or Caucasians, according to a recent study. They are also more likely to be diagnosed with a more aggressive form of cancer and are more likely to undergo a mastectomy, according to the paper titled  “Breast Cancer Amongst Filipino Migrants: A Review of the Literature and Ten-Year Institutional Analysis.” Of the 782 patients studied at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, which has a sizeable Filipino patient population, Filipino newcomers to Canada were diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger age (53), compared to other East Asians (55) and Caucasians (58), the study showed. “The Canadian Filipino community is a growing community and this new research raises the question of whether our current Canadian guidelines calling for mammograms starting at age 50 are meeting specific cultural needs of different ethnicities when it is known that it takes years for a ...

The United States government will extend the eligibility for employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B non-immigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident status. The extension will be effective starting May 26, 2015, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director León Rodríguez. He said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) amended the regulations to allow H-4 dependent spouses to gain employment in the US. An H-4 visa is a visa issued by the USCIS to immediate family members of the H-1B visa holders. An H-1B, meanwhile, is a non-immigrant visa in the US Under the rule, H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B visa holders must file an Application for Employment Authorization or Form I-765 with supporting evidence and pay $380 in order to receive an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) or Form I-766. H-4 dependent spouses must be the principal beneficiaries of an approved Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker o...

Fishing company Citra Mina on Wednesday denied that the 43 Filipino fishermen who were supposedly abandoned in Indonesia for six months were its employees “To set the record straight: the 43 fishermen hereto alleged are not fishermen workers nor employees of Citra Mina,” the firm's spokesman Fred Lumba said in an email to GMA News Online. He added that the fishermen, who were arrested off Ternate, North Maluku, in August last year for alleged illegal fishing, were employed by one Felisa Abe, owner of the fishing boat Love Merben. At the time of their arrest, the fishermen, who arrived home last Monday after six months in detention, did not possess any travel documents. Liaison work Lumba also denied that the company did nothing to repatriate the fishermen, saying they served as liaison between Abe and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). “We assisted her (Abe) by doing liaison work with the DFA since September last year,” he said. Workers' groups Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at...