KAKAMMPI News

ADMINISTRATION’S SUPPOSED NEW POLICY STILL LEGITIMIZES CONTRACTUALIZATION The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will likely promulgate next week a new department order amending the Department Order No. 18-A which implements Articles 106-109 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, as amended. During the series of technical working group meetings among tripartite partners, it is apparent that the government is bent on adopting the so-called “win-win” solution being espoused by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The workers’ groups expressed its disappointment upon learning the demands from island-wide consultations to prohibit the practice of contractual employment regime were completely set aside. The trade union movement, regardless of ideologies and persuasions, strongly opposes the “win-win” solution being espoused by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines and the Philippine Association of Local Service Contract...

KUWAIT CITY - A total of 152 undocumented overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Kuwait were repatriated to the Philippines Monday afternoon. Their return is part of the ongoing mass repatriation of overstaying Filipinos under the Assisted Voluntary Repatriation Program (AVRP) by the Kuwait government in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait. This is the biggest mass repatriation since the AVRP was implemented last year. The AVRP, a mutual agreement signed between the Kuwait government and the Philippine embassy in Kuwait, seeks to address the rising number of illegal expatriates in Kuwait. Of the 152 repatriates, 90 were facilitated by the Philippine embassy while the other 62 were from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA) shelter. “We would like to thank the Ministry of Interior, the Kuwait Immigration Department for this continuing program and for helping the embassy in implementing this Assisted Voluntary Rep...

MANILA - Shakey's Pizza Asia Venture Inc. is set to pursue its first overseas venture in Kuwait, its president and chief executive Vicente Gregorio said. The company signed on Thursday a franchise agreement with Kuwaiti partners to open 10 Shakeys stores in Kuwait over the next seven years, Gregorio said. The first store in Kuwait is expected to open next year, he added. Shakey's Pizza Asia Venture also owns perpetual rights to the Shakey's brand for the Middle East, Asia except Japan and Malaysia, China, Australia, and Oceania. "We will be opportunistic for each of the markets because we need to find the right partner. If don't find the right partner then we don't want to rush it," the company's chairman Christoper Po said. Shakey's  plans to raise  as much as P3.96 billion for its expansion plans from the sale of 351.9 million common shares at P11.26 per share.

Agence France-Presse Posted at  Dec 26 2016 07:59 PM A Kuwaiti court on Monday sentenced a Filipino woman to 10 years in jail after convicting her of joining the Islamic State jihadist group and plotting attacks. The ruling, which is not final, also calls for deporting the 32-year old after serving her term. The woman was arrested in August, two months after arriving in the oil-rich Gulf state to work as a domestic helper. At the time, the interior ministry said she had confessed to being a member of the Islamic State group and was plotting terrorist attacks in the emirate. The woman told interrogators that her husband was an active fighter with IS in Libya and he had asked her to come to Kuwait from the Philippines as a domestic helper, according to the ministry. An IS-affiliated group in the Philippines has conduced a string of bombings as well as kidnappings for ransom of foreign tourists and Christian missionaries in the country.  Kuwaiti cou...

MANILA - A coalition of several pro-OFW (overseas Filipino workers) groups have written an open letter to the organizers of this year's Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), urging them to ensure that the documentary "Sunday Beauty Queen," one of the eight entries, is shown in more cinemas. The letter warns that the film, about the private lives of OFWs living in Hong Kong, is in danger of "extinction" as theater owners opt to fill cinemas with the "usual star-studded, commercial movies." It also said that the Baby Ruth Villarama-directed feature, the first documentary to be chosen to be part of the so-called "Magic 8" of the annual film festival, is a "must-see" for families of OFWs as it is "replete with lessons that may also serve as a wake-up call to those aspiring to work abroad." The letter was written by ACTS OFW party-list, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, Migrant NGO Forum, Filipino Migrant Workers’ Group, OFW ...

Published  December 28, 2016 8:58pm Updated  December 28, 2016 11:03pm TOKYO - An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 hit eastern Japan on Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, adding no tsunami warning was issued. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries but the quake, which occurred at around 09:38 p.m. (1238 GMT), shook buildings in the capital, Tokyo. Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc said there were no irregularities at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where one of the world's worst nuclear accidents unfolded after a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The 2011 quake of magnitude 9 was the strongest ever recorded in Japan, and it generated a tsunami that knocked out the cooling function at the Fukushima plant. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said no nuclear facilities in Japan were showing signs of abnormalities following Wednesday's quake and no power outages were reported.  —  Reuters

The Philippine population will continue to increase in 2017 and is projected to reach 105,758,850 by December 31, 2017, based on projections made by the Commission on Population (POPCOM) using data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Included in the projection are 27,293,422 women of reproductive age (aged 15- 49).  These women are usually the beneficiaries of Reproductive Health services under the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law. Adolescent girls 10-19 years old will also increase to 10,080,824 next year. Based on the most recent data from the PSA (2014), it is expected that over 200,000 adolescent girls will give birth in 2017. The figures for women of reproductive age and adolescent girls continue to be the highest numbers on record. This trend is expected to continue up to 2022 when the numbers of women of reproductive age are expected to peak at 29.1 million and adolescent girls at 11.3 million. “The continuing increase in population is due t...

Two overseas Filipino workers (OFW) were jailed in Saudi Arabia for the death of their female employer last November. Vice Consul Alex Estomo, head of the Assistant to National Section of the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, said one of the two jailed OFWs admitted killing their employer. The OFW, identified only as Rina, claimed that her employer attacked her with a knife and killed her on self defense. Estomo said that according to Saudi authorities, the female employer sustained 14 stab wounds in the body. He said that Rina admitted to Saudi prosecutors that she killed her employer, but insisted that her Filipina co-worker was innocent. Estomo said that with Rina's testimony, they are hoping the other Filipina will be released next week. “Nung iniimbestigahan ng prosekusyon si Rina ay inamin din naman niya doon na siya lang ang gumawa ng krimen at wala pong kinalaman ang kanyang kasama kaya inaasahan natin na sana sa mga susunod na araw o linggo ay ma-release na ang ...

Christmas spirit reached some 200 stranded OFWs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia over the weekend in the form a little get-together organized by Philippine officials there and food gifts from generous Saudi nationals. The OFWs and officials and staff of the Philippine Consulate General and Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA) shared a meal on Sunday, with food donated by several Saudi nationals. The OFWs were employees of Saudi Oger, one of the large Saudi companies affected by the drastic slump in oil prices. As much as 9,000 to 11,000 Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia alone lost their jobs as a result of the crisis. According to the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, there are only about 200 OFWs working in Saudi Oger who remained stranded in Saudi Arabia, and they are expected to be repatriated by January 2017. The Consulate said these OFWs are just waiting for their exit visas. Consul General Imelda Panolong said assistance to these ...

Various OFW groups, including a party-list organization, have endorsed "Sunday Beauty Queen," an indie documentary with Filipino domestic helpers as its main stars, and are calling for its prolonged screening in theaters nationwide. "Unfortunately, as of last count, only 45 theaters nationwide are showing 'Sunday Beauty Queen'. It is in danger of theater extinction as more theater owners in Metro Manila and in other provinces opt for the usual star-studded, commercial movies," noted ACTS OFW party-list Rep. Aniceto Bertiz in a statement Wednesday. The documentary, directed by Babyruth Villarama and one of the participants in this year's Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), follows a group of Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong as they prepare to take part in an annual beauty contest for a cause. From Monday to Saturday, these women work as domestic helpers. Then, on Sunday, they trade in their work clothes for colorful, bejewelled gowns and partici...

A P50,000 cash prize was not what some overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were expecting waiting for them upon their return to the Philippines for the holidays. But three OFWs lucked out in the raffle during the traditional OFW Salubong at NAIA Terminal 1 on Wednesday. During the event, dubbed New Year's OFW Salubong, over a thousand Filipino workers were given a surprise welcome and tokens of appreciation by the government upon their arrival at the airport. OFWs coming from Taipei, Qatar, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, and Kuwait were greeted with gift bags and prizes. Aside from the P50,000 cash prize, 32-inch television sets were claimed by another set of winners, while 40 other OFWs were given gift baskets. Rafael Dela Cruz Marasigan, who works as a cashier in Abu Dhabi, said he was surprised and grateful for the cash prize he received. "Napakasaya, hindi ko akalain... sa Abu Dhabi sabi nila ako ang napili pero hindi nila sinabi kung ano ang mangyayari dito," he ...

Christmas spirit reached some 200 stranded OFWs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia over the weekend in the form a little get-together organized by Philippine officials there and food gifts from generous Saudi nationals. The OFWs and officials and staff of the Philippine Consulate General and Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA) shared a meal on Sunday, with food donated by several Saudi nationals. The OFWs were employees of Saudi Oger, one of the large Saudi companies affected by the drastic slump in oil prices. As much as 9,000 to 11,000 Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia alone lost their jobs as a result of the crisis. According to the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, there are only about 200 OFWs working in Saudi Oger who remained stranded in Saudi Arabia, and they are expected to be repatriated by January 2017. The Consulate said these OFWs are just waiting for their exit visas. Consul General Imelda Panolong said assistance to...

Published  December 28, 2016 3:26pm Various OFW groups, including a party-list organization, have endorsed "Sunday Beauty Queen," an indie documentary with Filipino domestic helpers as its main stars, and are calling for its prolonged screening in theaters nationwide. "Unfortunately, as of last count, only 45 theaters nationwide are showing 'Sunday Beauty Queen'. It is in danger of theater extinction as more theater owners in Metro Manila and in other provinces opt for the usual star-studded, commercial movies," noted ACTS OFW party-list Rep. Aniceto Bertiz in a statement Wednesday. The documentary, directed by Babyruth Villarama and one of the participants in this year's Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), follows a group of Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong as they prepare to take part in an annual beauty contest for a cause. From Monday to Saturday, these women work as domestic helpers. Then, on Sunday, they trade in their work cl...

Over 500 Filipino students are currently in Israel to undergo 11 months of academic learning and practical work, according to a statement from the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv. The 540 students arrived in Israel on December 19 and immediately underwent a post-arrival orientation seminar at the three different academic centers where they were separately enrolled. Apart from a cultural overview of Israel, students were oriented on its history, society, security situation, and the state of its bilateral relations with the Philippines. The students were also educated on their rights as student-trainees, as they will work at Israeli farms to experience the latest agro-based technology and techniques in the classroom and apply concepts they will learn in the classroom. They were also invited to participate in the Embassy's Filipino events such as the Community Christmas events, Flores de Mayo and Independence Day celebrations. This year's batch is the 12th batch of Filip...

Filipino-Americans in Atlanta are turning to Facebook to find leads for the disappearance of Cecilia Bustamante, a Filipina who has been missing for months already before authorities were informed about it last week. Willy Blanco of the Filipino-American Association of Atlanta told  WSB-TV 2  on Monday that they have asked the Atlanta Pinoy Facebook page's thousands of followers to share any information that would lead to Bustamante, who went missing on October 28. "Just reach out to all of your friends out there. People in social media groups, anybody who may know anything about her. They don’t have to be Filipino, it can be people from work, from Willy’s Mexican restaurant. She may have confided in them," Blanco said. In a  report on December 21 , WSB-TV 2 said friends called 911 around December 2 after Bustamante, 42, failed to show up for Thanksgiving. Bustamante's husband, who was not identified in the report, refused to speak to the press and the poli...

A Filipino woman convicted by a Kuwaiti court for joining the Islamic State jihadist group will get legal assistance from the Philippine government, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday. Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said the DFA is still verifying the report of the Filipino’s conviction, but assured that she will still be provided assistance since she is a Filipino citizen. “Our embassy is prepared to extend legal and consular assistance to the overseas Filipino worker and make sure that she gets due process and her rights are not violated,” Jose said in a text message to GMA News Online. The court ruling on the Filipino, who was found guilty on Monday for joining the IS and of plotting attacks in the Gulf state, is not yet final and may still be appealed. Reports said the Filipino woman, who identity was not disclosed to the media, was arrested in August, two months after arriving in the oil-rich Gulf state to work as a domestic helper. Kuwait o...