KAKAMMPI News

Writer/Researcher: Keina Rae Sabay As a seafarer, you will encounter so many application processes and documentary requirements in your whole career. Submitting requirements can be a chore, especially if you live in the province. YES, MARINA is already implementing the Seafarer Certification System (SCS) which allows submission of documents online. This means you don’t have to brave long lines every time you need to submit documents to MARINA. What is the Marina Seafarers Certification System (SCS)? MARINA STCW Office developed the Seafarers Certification System (SCS) to provide an online system for the processing of seafaring papers. This is a centralized system that can be accessed by seafarers, METIs (Maritime Education and Training Institutes), medical clinics, manning agencies, and instructors/assessors. Having an online system makes it easier for everyone in the industry to monitor and process applications of seafarers. Registration is free, and can easily be done...

Excited doesn’t even begin to describe it. Filipinos across the United Arab Emirates are wildly-anticipating President Duterte’s planned visit. While Malacanang keeps mum about the planned visit, Mr. George Requerme, President of the OFW Global Movement for Empowerment – Dubai Chapter (OFW-GME) had announced that the official visit may take place on January 25, 26, or 27, 2017. The venue where the meet would be held is supposed to be capable of accommodating 50,000 people. According to OFW-GME, about 60 Filipino organizations had met with their Dubai chapter to polish the details of the President’s visit. In addition to this, the organization is working towards setting an exclusive meeting with President Duterte through a letter to the Malacanang to tackle pertinent issues such as illegal recruitment and concerns regarding distressed OFWs. On the May 2016 election, President Duterte garnered a number of 51,879 votes in the UAE, a whopping 83.5% of the the total 62,103 actua...

The minimum wage in Korea is set to increase in 2017. From 2016’s rate of 6030KRW/Hr (250.46Php/Hr), next year’s minimum wage would be 6470 KRW/Hr (268.73Php/Hr) as declared by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) The new rates would amount to: * 51,760KRW/day (2,149.87Php/day) for a total of 8 working hours. * 258,800KRW (10,749.34Php) for 5 working days * or 1,352,230 (56,162.28Php) a month The worker’s employment status would not matter. Korea’s Labor Standards Act is clear in saying that even regardless of nationality, the Minimum Wage includes all employees, may he or she be just temporary, daily or part-time. But of course, there are exceptions. Not included here are the following: Businesses employing only family members or relatives within the same residence Domestic service users Seamen governed by the Seamen Act Ship owners who employ those seamen Those benefiting from the 7.3% increase are Pinoys under the Employment Permit System (EPS). To da...

Agence France Presse   | This 2013 file photo shows domestic workers queueing at a Ministry of Labor office in Riyadh to avail of labor protection measures. In Qatar, the Cabinet is expected to approve a draft law that would provide legal protection for tens of thousands of female domestic workers for the first time, according to state media. (AN file photo) DOHA, Qatar: Qatar has approved a draft law which would provide legal protection for tens of thousands of female domestic workers for the first time, according to state media. The law is expected to specify how many hours staff such as nannies, drivers and gardeners should work per week, how many days holiday they receive annually and how they are paid, reported the Qatar News Agency (QNA). Legislation has been agreed by the cabinet, said QNA in a statement posted on Wednesday. “The law applies to sponsors and domestic helpers, specifies their rights and duties and regulates the relationship between...

DOHA, Qatar: Qatar has approved a draft law which would provide legal protection for tens of thousands of female domestic workers for the first time, according to state media. The law is expected to specify how many hours staff such as nannies, drivers and gardeners should work per week, how many days holiday they receive annually and how they are paid, reported the Qatar News Agency (QNA). Legislation has been agreed by the cabinet, said QNA in a statement posted on Wednesday. “The law applies to sponsors and domestic helpers, specifies their rights and duties and regulates the relationship between them,” it added. In a 2014 report, Amnesty International claimed there were some 84,000 women migrant domestic workers in Qatar, mostly from south and southeast Asia. It alleged that many “face severe exploitation, including forced labor and physical and sexual violence.” While the World Cup 2022 host — battered by international criticism of its human rights’ record — has anno...

Nine days after Filipino nurse Glenser Soliman was reported missing by his family and friends, a man walking his dog found his body near a walking trail in the woods of Houston, Texas. A  report on Houston Chronicle  said Soliman's body was found under debris in a Spring neighborhood on Monday (US time). Soliman, 44, was identified by the Harris County medical examiner's office. His cause of death has not been determined yet but police are investigating it as a possible murder. Kevin Quinn of ABC13 tweeted a picture of where the body was found with the caption: "Body of missing nurse found, per @HCSOTexas . ID'd -Glenser Soliman . Person walking dog made discovery Sat., 8 mi. from Soliman home #abc13"

A criminal court in Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates has deferred the execution of a Filipina househelper who was convicted for killing her male employer in 2015, reports said. A  report on Khaleej Times  said Al Ain's Criminal Court of First Instance deferred the execution of Jennifer Dalquez, 28, pending the decision of the victim's children whether they would make the decision final or opt for blood money. The report said Dalquez may escape the death sentence altogether if the victim's two children refuse to swear in court and ask for blood money instead. In order to uphold the court's decision to execute the Filipina, the victim's children must swear before the court 50 times, "in the name of Allah," that Dalquez is the sole killer of their father. If the children refuse to swear in court, the blood money shall apply, the report said, citing an unnamed official. Dalquez will then be given the opportunity to pay blood money of Dh200,000...

By:   Joel Franco   -   @inquirerdotnet Inquirer Visayas  / 09:56 AM February 28, 2017 ILOILO CITY — Four foreigners are facing charges for allegedly duping a businessman from Guimaras of P42 million in an alleged online scam. The complaint for large-scale estafa was filed  on Monday  against Malaysian women Siti Faridah Binti Abdul Hamid and Ishama Binti Sheck Dawood, and Nigerians Chukwudi Ugwu and Francis Onyebuchi Amadi. They were detained at the National Bureau of Investigation — Western Visayas stockade after their arrest in a hotel in Iloilo City on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT Their Filipina accomplice was arrested earlier in Cavite. John Catipunan, NBI-6 special agent, said the arrest stemmed from the complaint of a businessman from Buenavista town in Guimaras. Catipunan said that the promised investment failed to materialize after giving the suspects a total of P42 million from 2015 to 2017. “Our complainant was lured thro...

INQUIRER.net   Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III stresses the positive EU contribution to the living and working conditions of overseas Filipino workers during a dinner he has hosted for the EU and EU MS Ambassadors last 17 February 2017. RELEASED PHOTO Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has stressed the positive feedback he had received from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) regarding the conditions of the more than 800,000 Filipinos who are working and living in European Union countries.  The labor chief shared this during a dinner meeting he hosted recently for EU ambassadors, who were pleased to hear about the positive feedback from Filipinos who live in Europe. Filipinos in Europe contribute to the EU and the Philippine economies and are usually well received and treated in accordance with the EU’s standards on labor and social conditions, according to Bello. ADVERTISEMENT Bello and the EU ambassadors discussed about...

Philippine Daily Inquirer  / 05:40 AM February 24, 2017 BAGUIO CITY—Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) in the Philippines have asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to intercede on behalf of Filipinos who face arrest or deportation in Russia for belonging to their faith. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of the Philippines, the legal and corporate arm of JW, made the appeal when it met DFA officials this week on behalf of more than 8,000 Filipino Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia are affected by a warning issued by the Russian prosecutor general about what it described as the JW’s “extremist activities.” ADVERTISEMENT The law, enforced in 2002, bars “public and religious associations or any other organizations, or of mass media, or natural persons [from undertaking activities]… aimed at the forcible change of the foundations of the constitutional system and the violation of the integrity of the Russian Federation.”...

By  Aaron Mangunay  -   February 24, 2017   1104   0 Ang  OFW Identification Card System  o mas kilala bilang OFW ID ay inaprubahan na nga ni Presidente Duterte noong nakaraang Pebrero 7 sa pulong ng gabinete. Photo from http://pcoo.gov.ph Magandang balita ito, Kabayan! Bukod sa tulong na maidudulot nito sa pakikipagtransaksyon natin sa mga ahensya ng gobyerno, ang OFW ID ay magsisilbi ding debit card at credit card. Ayon kay Secretary Silvestre Bello ng DOLE, ang OFW ID system ay isang malaking bahagi ng integrated DOLE system at naglalayong i-ugnay ang DOLE database sa database ng gobyerno katulad ng sa Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Philippine Overseas Employment Administartion (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Social Security System (SSS), Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), at iba pang sangay ng g...

Jose M. Galang Despite expectations of sustained sales and profits growth, Japanese investors in the Philippines do not seem to be as enthusiastic as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in pouring huge amounts of investments into the country.  Of the Japanese firms operating in the Philippines, 54.4 percent plan to expand their business in the next one to two years, while 44.7 percent will simply maintain their present activities, according to results of a recent survey conducted by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). A small 1.0 percent of the Japanese companies surveyed also indicated plans to transfer to a third country or withdraw from the local markets. In the 2015 survey, the proportion of Japanese firms that bared plans to expand their business in the Philippines comprised 55.1 percent of the polled companies. The lower level recorded in the 2016 survey indicated a slightly weaker sentiment among Japanese investors. And yet a high 77.5 percent of the Japanes...

TRIPOLI - A Philippine nurse held by Islamic State in the Libyan city of Sirte said on Monday that she and her colleagues had been forced to treat militants and give them medical training. The nurse is from a group of seven women, one man and a 10-month-old child who are being repatriated from Libya to the Philippines. They were freed from Sirte when local forces drove Islamic State from the city last year. Islamic State took full control of Sirte in early 2015, turning it into their North African stronghold and holding dozens of foreign captives. The Filipino nationals are medical staff who were among foreign workers already in the city when it came under the ultra-hardline group's rule. "When they found out we were Muslim they released us but under a strict condition that we will have to work as nurses in their hospital and we had to train ISIS (Islamic State) on emergency care and nursing course," the nurse told reporters in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. "...