KAKAMMPI News

THE return of more than half-a-million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) due to the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust out front the need to set up a new department to take care of these modern-day heroes. What Congress should do now, we think, is to fast-track the approval of the proposed law seeking to create the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers now pending consideration in the Senate. In the House of Representatives, Speaker Lord Allan Q. Velasco supports the swift passage of the measure. In fact, the congressmen have approved on third and final reading House Bill 5832. Velasco said the onslaught of the pandemic has highlighted the need for the immediate establishment of the proposed department. “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have seen the return of OFWs in droves after they lost their jobs, and thousands more are expected to come home with the global economy in slump,” he said. Set to be certified as an urgent measure by President Rodrigo Duterte, the proposed legislation...

Friday, October 23, 2020 People's Journal107 THE Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) based in the United Kingdom warned all newly arrived Filipino nurses about scams that have victimized returning health workers. The warning was sent by the nurses group the other day through their Facebook account, saying that there has been an increase in financial scams targeting newly arrived Filipino nurses from UK with one internationally trained nurse scammed by someone claiming to be from the Inland Revenue. The scammer was very sophisticated and knew a lot about the nurse including her passing the OSCE (objective strategic clinical examination) recently and registration with the NMC (as an overseas trained nurse. The scammers directed the unsuspecting nurse to an official looking website where she was asked to log-in and enter her other details. The unsuspecting nurse was then asked to pay £900 with the penalty being doubled if the amount was not paid and settled within 24-hours. Ano...

Polina Ivanova and Gleb Stolyarov, Reuters Posted at Oct 29 2020 11:37 PM MOSCOW - Russia has temporarily stopped vaccinating new volunteers in its COVID-19 vaccine trial due to high demand and a shortage of doses, a representative at the firm running the study said on Thursday, in a setback for Moscow's ambitious plan to roll out the shot. "It's related to the fact that there's colossal demand for the vaccine and they are not producing enough to keep up," said the representative of Crocus Medical, the contract research organisation that is helping run the trial in Moscow together with Russia's health ministry. According to provisional information, vaccinations will restart by around Nov. 10, he said. Staff in eight of the 25 Moscow clinics hosting the trial told Reuters the vaccination of new participants in the Phase III study had been temporarily paused, with several citing strong demand and saying they had run out of doses. The Moscow City Health Depa...

ABS-CBN News Posted at Oct 30 2020 04:31 PM MANILA - The Social Security System said it would credit the first batch of November pensions on Oct. 30, Friday via its new disbursement method using the Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) and other "checkless" channels. Covered by the first batch are pensioners whose date of contingency is from the first to the 15th day of the month and are receiving their monthly pensions through PESONet participating banks, e-wallets such as PayMaya, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) accredited Remittance Transfer Company (RTC)/Cash Payout Outlet (CPO) and M Lhuillier, said SSS president and CEO Aurora Ignacio. "For November 2020, given that its first day is a weekend and a declared holiday, we have completed the funding of the first batch of pensions for November 2020 yesterday, October 29. Upon receipt of the funds, our government partner bank – DBP will release them to other PESO...

Agence France-Presse Posted at Oct 29 2020 11:40 PM KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday that Muslims had a right "to kill millions of French people", shortly after a knife-wielding man launched a deadly attack in Nice. Three people were killed at a church in the southern French city, with the attacker slitting the throat of at least one of them, in what authorities were treating as the latest jihadist attack to rock the country. Shortly afterwards, Mahathir -- who was prime minister of Muslim-majority Malaysia until his government collapsed in February -- launched an extraordinary outburst on Twitter. Referring to the beheading of a French teacher who showed pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, Mahathir said he did not approve of that attack but that freedom of expression does not include "insulting other people". "Irrespective of the religion professed, angry people kill," said the outspoken 95-year-...

Reuters Posted at Oct 30 2020 12:43 AM | Updated as of Oct 30 2020 03:56 AM ROME - Italy registered 26,831 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday, the highest daily tally since the start of the health crisis and up from the previous record of 24,991 posted on Wednesday. The ministry also reported 217 COVID-related deaths compared with 205 the day before. A total 38,122 people have now died in Italy because of coronavirus, while 616,595 cases of the disease have been registered to date. The northern region of Lombardy, centred on Italy's financial capital Milan, remained the hardest hit area, reporting 7,339 new cases on Thursday against 7,558 on Wednesday. The southern Campania region was the second-worst affected, chalking up 3,103 cases.

Francesco Guarascio, Reuters Posted at Oct 30 2020 01:22 AM BRUSSELS - A vaccine scheme co-led by the World Health Organization is setting up a compensation fund for people in poor nations who might suffer any side-effects from COVID-19 vaccines, aiming to allay fears that could hamper a global rollout of shots. The mechanism is meant to avoid a repetition of delays experienced a decade ago during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, when inoculations were slowed down in dozens of low-income countries because there was no clear liability. The scheme is being set up by the promoters of the COVAX vaccine facility, which is co-led by the WHO and GAVI, a global vaccine alliance, a COVAX document published on Thursday said. COVAX aims to distribute at least 2 billion effective shots around the world by the end of next year. The scheme could foot the bill for 92 low-income countries, mostly in Africa and South-East Asia, meaning their governments would face little or no costs from claims broug...

Josue Gonzalez, Reuters Posted at Oct 30 2020 08:38 AM MEXICO CITY - Mexicans this year paid their respects early to departed loved-ones in the capital city, where the coronavirus pandemic will cast a pall over cemeteries usually resplendent with color and light during the Nov. 1-2 Day of the Dead celebrations. The festive tradition typically draws thousands of people to burial grounds and public plazas across Mexico, many dressed as skeletons, to picnic at gravesides and decorate altars with sugar skulls and photos of dead friends and relatives. But in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus, city authorities have reluctantly ordered cemeteries to stay closed for Day of the Dead this year, prompting Mexicans to file out early.

Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito, Reuters Posted at Oct 30 2020 05:48 AM BRASILIA - Brazil expects to have a vaccine against COVID-19 approved and ready for use in a national inoculation program by June, the head of the country's health regulator Anvisa, Antonio Barra Torres, said on Thursday. With the world's worst outbreak of coronavirus after the United States and India, Brazil has become a key testing ground and has approved late stage clinical trials for four vaccines that are under development. Torres told Reuters that Anvisa has not decided on the minimum efficacy to require but he said the agency has approved vaccines in the past with less than 50% effectiveness. Health authorities in Europe are debating whether to accept a so-called efficacy rate of less than 50% to be able to deliver a vaccine sooner, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. Sandra Gallina, Director General for Health and Food Safety at the European Commission told EU lawmakers in a hearing th...

Vincent Thian, AP Posted at Oct 30 2020 10:02 AM A doctor collects a sample for a coronavirus test from a baby in Subang on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday. Malaysia extended restricted movements in its biggest city Kuala Lumpur, neighboring Selangor state and the administrative capital of Putrajaya from Wednesday in an attempt to curb a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.

Kyodo News Posted at Oct 30 2020 02:05 PM TOKYO - Japan lowered Friday travel advisories issued for 8 countries, including China and South Korea, plus Taiwan, as the pace of new coronavirus infections is slowing, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said. Japan lowered travel alerts for infectious diseases for Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, China, New Zealand, Brunei and Vietnam to Level 2 on its scale of fou4, requesting citizens avoid nonessential trips. Japan previously issued a Level 3 alert for those regions, warning citizens against all travel. But for Myanmar and Jordan, Japan raised its travel advisories to Level 3, in light of the expansion of coronavirus cases, Motegi said. With the addition of the 2 countries, Japan has now issued Level 3 advisories for 152 countries and regions. Separately, Motegi said Japan has lifted another set of travel advisories it had issued for all countries and regions in March in response to the pandemic. Such advisor...

Caroline Pailliez and Matthias Galante, Reuters Posted at Oct 30 2020 09:34 AM Police officers walk in front of Notre Dame church, where a knife attack took place, in Nice, France October 29, 2020. Eric Gaillard, Reuters Pool PARIS/NICE - As he did every day, Vincent Loques, sexton of the Notre Dame church in the French city of Nice opened up the doors around 8:30 a.m. There were few people around; the first Mass of the day was not due to start for another two hours. But soon after he started work on Thursday morning, a Tunisian man armed with a knife entered the church and, over the course of 20 minutes, slit the 55-year-old sexton's throat, beheaded a 60-year-old woman, and badly wounded a third woman who was 44, according to prosecutors. The sexton and the older woman died on the spot, while the younger woman managed to make it to a cafe across the street, where she died from her wounds, France's chief anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said later on Thursda...

Fernando Llano, AP Posted at Oct 30 2020 03:55 PM A view shows the deserted Ile Saint Louis as the national lockdown starts as part of the COVID-19 measures to fight a second wave of COVID-19, in Paris, France, Oct. 30, 2020. Christian Hartmann, Reuters PARIS - France headed into a second lockdown on Friday as the resurgent coronavirus pandemic hit new heights in the United States with a daily record of more than 90,000 cases, just 5 days before the presidential election. From midnight, France's 65 million population were largely confined to their homes, needing written statements to leave, in the latest drastic measure to curb a disease that has infected more than 44.5 million worldwide and killed nearly 1.2 million. As lockdowns return, oil prices dropped on fears of a slowdown in demand but tech giants Facebook, Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet reported strong quarterly earnings, reflecting the economic shifts caused by the global outbreak. And in the latest bleak warning...

Published October 30, 2020 3:39pm By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News The overseas deployment of Filipino seafarers grew nearly 12% year-on-year in September despite the COVID-19 pandemic that affected industries across the globe, an official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Friday. A total of 46,049 seafarers were deployed in September compared to 41,179 in the same period last year. “Ang ibig sabihin po nito ay sumisiglang muli ang ating pag-deploy hindi lang ho sa cargo, sa oil, to a certain extent, even the cruise line ay sumisiglang muli,” DOLE Undersecretary Joji Aragon said at the Laging Handa briefing. The Philippines is one of the world’s largest providers of seafarers. On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte urged Congress anew to expedite the passage of a measure that will create a department that will solely address the needs of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). “Ito hong Department of OFW, whichever comes first, whether magkaroon ng separate entity solely d...

Published October 30, 2020 3:13pm By DONA MAGSINO, GMA News Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Friday said Philippine Ambassador to Brazil Marichu Mauro should be removed from her post for violating several Philippine laws when she allegedly maltreated a Filipina domestic helper in her diplomatic residence. Republic Act No. 10361 or the "Batas Kasambahay," the Revised Penal Code, and Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees were some of the laws that may be used in filing charges against the envoy, Zubiri told reporters in an online interview. The senator also mentioned that the daughter of the maltreated maid vowed that her mother is willing to file an affidavit detailing the abuse that she experienced at the hands of Mauro. "'Yung commitment galing sa anak... 'Yung anak ay nagbanggit po sa amin, nailagay niya po sa Facebook page namin when she replied back that after the [self-] quaran...

Published October 29, 2020 6:39pm By NICOLE-ANNE C. LAGRIMAS, GMA News The families of the 36 Filipino seafarers who are still missing almost two months after their ship capsized off Japan have urged authorities to continue search and rescue operations for their loved ones. Mary Joy Fortun, the wife of missing seaman Ronald Fortun, tearfully appealed to lawmakers for help during an overseas workers affairs committee hearing at the House of Representatives on Thursday. Though she expressed gratefulness to the Philippine and Japan governments, she said efforts have not been sufficient. She also said the operator of the ill-fated M/V Gulf Livestock 1 has discontinued her husband's salary. "I would like to appeal to this body to please help us, maawa kayo sa amin, hinihingi lang po namin sa may-ari sa pamamagitan po ng ating gobyerno na tulungan kami na magkaroon ng search and rescue," she said. M/V Gulf Livestock 1, which carried 43 crew members, 39 of them Filipino, ...

Published October 29, 2020 11:38am Speaker Lord Allan Velasco is supporting the passage of a law creating a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have seen the return of OFWs in droves after they lost their jobs, and thousands more are expected to come home with the global economy in slump. President Duterte’s statement that he will certify as urgent the measure for the creation of the Department of OFWs is very timely in order to address the woes confronting our migrant workers in these difficult times,” Velasco said in a statement. “At the same time, [this new department will] help them transition when the global economy begins to reopen and return to pre-pandemic level,” Velasco added. Velasco cited that the remittances of OFWs provided a steady stream of foreign exchange to the Philippine economy, accounting for 9.8% of the country’s gross domestic product and 7.8% of the national income in 2019. “This is the c...

Balikbayans in a hurry paid up to P10k for faster COVID test results —DOTr exec Published October 29, 2020 11:19am By JOVILAND RITA, GMA News A private laboratory at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) was charging up to P10,000 from Filipinos arriving from abroad for faster swab test results, a Department of Transportation (DOTr) official said Thursday. The amount was lower than the P20,000 amount earlier bared by Senator Richard Gordon, who suspected that some officers may be earning "commissions" from this. Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV, DOTr Usec. Raul del Rosario, who heads the One-Stop-Shop for Management of Returning Overseas Filipinos, noted that the collection has been stopped. Del Rosario, also the administrator Office for Transportation Security (OTS), identified the private laboratory as the Philippine Airport Diagnostic (PAD) Laboratory. “Totoo po 'yun nag-offer po siya ng P7,000 para sa 24 hours [na turnaround time] at P10,000 para sa 1...

Published October 28, 2020 12:50pm By MICHAELA DEL CALLAR/ An approval from President Rodrigo Duterte is needed before the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) could conduct an inquiry on the country's ambassador to Brazil who was caught physically abusing her household helper, DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said Wednesday. At the same, Locsin vowed that the department's response to the matter "will be severe to the fullest extent of the law." "The recall of Philippine Ambassador to Brazil Marichu Mauro will enable the DFA to conduct an expedient and thorough investigation into the incidents of physical abuse perpetrated by her against her household staff as shown in the CCTV footage recently aired by a Brazilian news outfit," Locsin said on Twitter. "But first the DFA will get authority from the Office of the President to proceed as a young lawyer reminded us all or it will be an exercise in futility." Section 51 of the Foreign Service Act ...

Published October 27, 2020 8:09pm By DONA MAGSINO, GMA News Senate committee on labor chairperson Joel Villanueva on Tuesday said the bill seeking to establish a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers has yet to be tackled by his panel. "We already filed last month Senate Bill No. 1848, the administration bill which consolidates the comments of Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Budget and Management into the proposed Department of Overseas Filipino Workers," Villanueva said in a statement. "But the affected agencies are still refining the provisions with the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office to ensure seamless services to overseas Filipinos," he added. Once a "unified" version of this bill has been produced, the Senate committee may start its deliberations, according to the senator. President Rodrigo Duterte urged Congress to fast-track the passage ...

Published October 27, 2020 5:50pm By MICHAELA DEL CALLAR/ A fact-finding team has been formed to investigate the Philippines' top diplomat to Brazil who was caught abusing her Filipina domestic helper on video, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. The team that will probe Ambassador Marichu Mauro, who was seen physically assaulting her 51-year-old maid several times in a series of CCTV footage released by Brazilian news outlets, will be led by a senior diplomat. "If prima facie evidence is established by the fact-finding team, the case will be heard by a hearing panel constituted by the Board of Foreign Service Administration," the DFA said in a statement. Mauro was recalled from her post following release of video footages showing her berating and mistreating her household staff. Mauro, the country's envoy to Brazil since 2018, was seen pulling the staff's hair and throwing objects at her. The Filipina maid left Brasilia on October 21 and is ba...

Published October 27, 2020 2:45pm By JOJO DASS DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Authorities are investigating the death of a Filipina who jumped from the sixth floor of a building reportedly to escape police before dawn on Sunday, October 25, in Sharjah, a neighboring emirate north of Dubai. Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes, head of the Philippine mission that has jurisdiction on the place of incident, said they have been in contact with the victim’s next of kin and taking the necessary steps to repatriate her remains. “We have reached out to the family. We will work on the shipment of remains pending investigation by appropriate UAE authorities po,” Cortes told GMA News Online. According to various local media reports, the Filipina, 40, fell to her death from the balcony of a building in Al Majaz, a cosmopolitan waterfront area in Sharjah. The National reported that Sharjah Police was notified of the incident at 3 a.m. on Sunday and that an ambulance was sent to the scene where p...

Published October 28, 2020 11:31am Legal and livelihood assistance have been offered to the household staff of recalled Philippine Ambassador to Brazil Marichu Mauro whom the latter allegedly maltreated. The Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a non-profit organization that assists overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are victims of exploitation and human trafficking, said the aggrieved household staff can contact mobile number 09618114288 and look for case handler Jenny Sespene or she can message Susan Ople via Facebook: www.facebook.com/susan.ople. “We just want her to know that our organization is willing to help her get through this, legally and even financially, because we know how difficult it is to be caught in a situation wherein you need to defend yourself against a person of authority, which in this case is no less than a Philippine ambassador,” Ople, president of the policy center, said. The former labor undersecretary said it would always be the personal decision of the abused ...

Neil Jayson Servallos (The Philippine Star ) - October 29, 2020 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines — The road clearing program will resume next month in areas under modified general community quarantine or MGCQ, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced yesterday. In a memorandum circular, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año ordered local government units (LGUs) to resume road clearing operations beginning Nov. 16. Año said roads should be cleared of obstructions by Jan. 15 next year. “The LGUs are given enough time to comply with the order. They are reminded that road clearing is a year-round activity that requires sustained effort and implementation,” the DILG memorandum read. Jonathan Malaya, spokesman for the DILG, said partial implementation of road clearing operations is allowed in areas under GCQ. Malaya said LGUs in areas under MGCQ should fully enforce the directive of President Duterte to clear public roads of obstructions. The 75-day road clearing operati...

Ian Nicolas Cigaral (Philstar.com) - October 26, 2020 - 7:04pm MANILA, Philippines — Governments and corporates accumulating large debts this year for pandemic programs are bound to suffer the negative consequence of expensive payments starting next year, Moody’s Investors Service said on Monday. The scenario, in turn, threatens to further deteriorate the fiscal house of Asian economies, but most especially Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines where foreign debts accounted for over a third of total liabilities. “Through 2021, we project a worsening in debt affordability, as measured by interest payments as a share of revenue, driven by higher debt-servicing costs associated with the large increases in debt as governments ramp up stimulus spending amid simultaneously large declines in revenue," Moody's said of these countries. Asian governments where budgets have typically been tight binged on debt this year to ensure cash continue flowing while they control the sprea...

Kristine Joy Patag (Philstar.com) - October 27, 2020 - 10:35am MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE 1 12:21 p.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte wants Congress to accelerate the passage of a bill creating a sole agency to handle migrant worker concerns, a proposal stuck at the Senate over issues of funding and treatment of workers in agencies bound to get killed by the measure. “I’d like to hurry up Congress on this one of my proposals during the campaign period was the creation of Overseas Filipino (department),” Duterte said in a public address aired Tuesday morning. The bill’s advance at the upper chamber has been hampered by "issues (that) are yet to be settled," Senate President Vicente Sotto III said in a text message. While he did not go into specifics, he said these issues concerned the labor department and its attached agencies, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). As it is, the priority legislation would...

Friday, September 18, 2020 Lee Ann P. Ducusin234 THE Department of Health said the government needs P12.9 billion for the purchase of vaccines against COVID-19. DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje made the disclosure during the budget hearing on DOH’s proposed P127 billion budget for 2021 before the House appropriations panel. “We need P12.9 billion po, pero P2.5 billion po muna ang in-allocate namin kasi po ang scheme, puwede hong loan sa Landbank para macover ‘yung remaining budget requirement. Ang mechanism po, uutang po sa Landbank, the purchase will be made by PITC-Pharmaceutical under DTI. Iyong pambayad, kukunin po sa budget ng DOH in the coming years. Iyan po ang aming proposal ng vaccine procurement,” she said. Likewise, Cabotaje said the DOH is also in touch with suppliers who are keen on selling anti-COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines once it becomes available and passed regulatory standards of the country’s Food and Drug administration. The clinical trials for the Wo...

Sunday, October 18, 2020 People's Journal35 TOKYO, Oct 18, 2020 (AFP) – The coronavirus remains active on human skin for nine hours, Japanese researchers have found, in a discovery they said showed the need for frequent hand washing to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. The pathogen that causes the flu survives on human skin for about 1.8 hours by comparison, said the study published this month in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal. “The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes Covid-19) on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission in comparison with IAV (influenza A virus), thus accelerating the pandemic,” it said. The research team tested skin collected from autopsy specimens, about one day after death. Both the coronavirus and the flu virus are inactivated within 15 seconds by applying ethanol, which is used in hand sanitizers. “The longer survival of SARS-CoV-2 on the skin increases contact-transmission risk; however, hand hygiene c...

BRUSSELS, Oct 19, 2020 (AFP) – Belgium imposed a nationwide overnight curfew on Monday as Switzerland made wearing face masks compulsory in indoor public spaces, the latest desperate measures by European governments to fight a powerful second coronavirus wave. More than 250,000 people have died of the virus in Europe but the deepening crisis there stands in contrast to Australia, where the nation’s second-biggest city began easing a lockdown that kept millions of people largely confined to their homes for months. Cafes and restaurants across Belgium were shuttered for four weeks as the country tackled its own infection spike, part of a continent-wide surge that has seen a 44 percent increase in cases across Europe in the past week. But the move has prompted a backlash from businesses despite authorities warning the country of 11.5 million people was in the middle of an exponential increase in cases. “We don’t feel considered, and it hurts my heart,” said Angelo Bussi, a restaurant ...

Thursday, October 22, 2020 People's Journal12 BANGKOK, Oct 22, 2020 (AFP) – Thailand’s premier revoked an emergency decree aimed at quelling pro-democracy protests on Thursday after it failed to stamp out daily rallies demanding his resignation and reforms of the unassailable monarchy. The student-led pro-democracy movement has been gaining momentum since mid-July, with mostly young demonstrators calling for Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s removal and a rewrite of a 2017 military-scripted constitution. Some protest leaders have also issued controversial demands to reform the ultra-powerful and wealthy monarchy, whose influence permeates every aspect of Thai society. The “severe” emergency measures were imposed last week after anti-government protesters flashed a three-finger salute to a royal motorcade — an unprecedented challenge to the monarchy. But the ban on gatherings of more than four people failed to discourage tens of thousands of demonstrators who have amassed daily aro...

Thursday, October 22, 2020 People's Journal32 DUBLIN, Oct 22, 2020 (AFP) – Ireland became the first European country to enter a second national lockdown and Germany’s daily cases leapt to a record high as the second wave of coronavirus spread gloom across the continent on Thursday. As a Covid-19 surge gripped European countries ahead of the onset of winter, Spain added to the list of disquieting statistics when it became the first country to pass a million cases. Many European authorities have been reluctant to reimpose harsh lockdown measures, after previous restrictions caused deep recessions and widespread bitterness. But Ireland’s five million people have been ordered to stay at home for six weeks, with non-essential businesses urged to shut up shop. Irish authorities have also imposed a strict five-kilometre (three-mile) travel limit, limited bars and restaurants to takeaway only and extended a ban on visits between households. “It’s devastating to see us locked down a...

BEIJING, Oct 22, 2020 (AFP) – A secretive 2018 agreement between Beijing and the Vatican is on the brink of renewal, despite strident US condemnation and warnings from underground Chinese priests loyal to Rome that they have only become more marginalised since it was signed. Newly communist China severed ties with the Holy See in 1951, forcing Catholics to choose between membership of the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association or non-sanctioned churches loyal to the Pope. The Communist Party is officially atheist and exercises strict control over all recognized religious institutions, including vetting sermons. The provisional deal, signed in September 2018, allowed both Beijing and the Holy See a say in appointing bishops, in an attempt to close the schism in China’s 12-million-strong Catholic community. An announcement extending the deal is widely expected in the coming days. But Washington has put intense pressure on the Vatican to scrap it, saying it has failed to ...

ROME, Oct 22, 2020 (AFP) – Pope Francis on Wednesday voiced support for same-sex couples, calling them “children of God” and saying they should be allowed to have legally recognized civil unions, in a radical shift from previous pontiffs. The pope, whose opposition to gay marriage remains unchanged, said in a documentary premiered at the Rome Film Festival: “These are children of God, they have the right to a family. “What we have to create is a law of civil union, they have the right to be legally protected. I have defended that,” he said in film-maker Evgeny Afineevsky’s “Francesco”. According to biographer Austen Ivereigh, the future pope backed civil unions for gay couples while he was still the archbishop of Buenos Aires and known as Jorge Bergoglio. But while Francis has previously spoken about same-sex unions, he has always voiced opposition to gay marriage, saying that marriage should only be between a man and woman. “‘Marriage’ is a historic word,” he told French sociolo...

Saturday, September 12, 2020 People's Tonight252 Bienvenido EspinoA FILIPINO who was sentenced to death in Kuwait for the murder of his Filipina partner in October 2007 has been pardoned by the nation’s Amir, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed Saturday. After receiving clemency from Kuwait’s Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Bienvenido Espino was repatriated to Manila on August 30. “The Philippine government, through the Embassy, had been asking the Kuwaiti government to pardon OFW Espino. No less than then-presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III personally appealed to His Highness The Amir to grant clemency to OFW Espino,” Chargé d’Affaires Mohammed Noordin Pendosina Lomondot said in a statement. He said that even after his death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in 2013, “the Philippine government remained persistent in appealing for the Amir’s pardon, through our letters to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” On b...

Tuesday, October 20, 2020 Lee Ann P. Ducusin36 Department of Labor and Employment THE Department of Labor and Employment yesterday said thousands of overseas Filipino workers stand to benefit from a revised policy of the government of Bahrain which grants Flexi Work Permit to migrants beginning early this month. Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Manama reported that the Arab state has reinforced its work permit system in an effort to curb the mounting number of illegal migrant workers that led to many cases of abuses. “The new policy will provide added protection to over a thousand OFWs in Bahrain who are holders of this type of visa,” he said. According to Hana AL Safar, Director of Communications of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority in Bahrain, the new policy provides for intensified inspection on foreign workers to ensure that they are not involved in the practice of professions or engaged in occupations that they are not...

Sunday, October 11, 2020 Ryan Ponce Pacpaco97 REPATRIATED overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who wish to acquire new practical skills have been encouraged to avail of government’s tuition-free technical vocational education and training (TVET) programs. “They may freely enroll in state-run or accredited private TVET schools without having to pay for any tuition or miscellaneous fees,” said Aniceto Bertiz III, deputy director-general for partnerships and linkages of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). TVET program graduates can use their newly acquired proficiencies to establish small tax-exempt, home-based shops under the Barangay Micro Business Enterprises Law, Bertiz, a former ACTS-CIS party-list lawmaker, said. “They may also use their new competencies to obtain new jobs here at home or abroad,” Bertiz said. A total of 204,481 OFWs – 69,477 sea-based workers and 135,004 land-based workers – have come home since the COVID-19 pandemic began, accordin...

Saturday, September 19, 2020 Lee Ann P. Ducusin218 THE Department of Labor and Employment Saturday reported that an erring Singapore-based employment agency was suspended for refusing to settle the the complaint of a Filipino household service worker. Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Singapore issued a notice of suspension to Union United Employment Pte Ltd. Bello said the aggrieved OFW alleged that the agency collected unauthorized fees from her salary and failed to properly document her deployment despite its being a POEA-accredited agency. The suspension order is effective for 60 days. With order to cease from the operation, POLO and POEA will suspend all the documentary processing of the erring agency. The labor chief said the POLO-Singapore has also recommended to POEA the revocation of the agency’s accreditation to prevent it from victimizing more HSWs. POLO Singapore encourages OFWs to call telephone number 6737.3977 ex...

Friday, September 18, 2020 People's Journal268 THERE are 1,075 Filipino skilled nurses who were accepted to work in various German hospitals are stranded in the country due to the deployment ban on health workers imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force [IATF] on COVID-19 since April 2 this year. The Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI), the largest recruitment association in the country, took a survey recently among its members to find out how many Germany–bound nurses are in their pipeline and ready to be deployed once the ban is lifted by the government. The 1,075 stranded nurses have been out of work for the past two years and out of the national health care system in preparation for their German posts, and their finances have practically dried up. The nurses are slowly losing their German language proficiency even as their German employers await the lifting of the deployment ban. The recruitment agencies said the nurses have been studying German for ...

Monday, October 19, 2020 Cristina Lee-Pisco48 Publication Source : People's Journal The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday said two new countries in Asia and the Pacific have lifted inbound restrictions on Filipino travelers, subject to flight availability and medical protocols. The two countries are Laos and Afghanistan. Malaysia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Hong Kong have imposed stricter medical protocols and visa regulations for those who are exempt from entry restrictions. Mongolia’s borders, meanwhile, remain open but inbound travelers in the country are now required to present negative COVID-19 test results and must have all applicable documents to support their visa status. Japan, on the other hand, has gradually opened up inbound entry for students, dependents and technical interns but still prohibit entry of short-stay travelers, including tourists. Previous information on travel restrictions for other countries and re...

INQUIRER.net / 04:05 PM October 23, 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The Manila City government launched on Thursday, October 22, a 66-bed COVID-19 quarantine facility at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, the 14th facility to be opened in the nation’s capital. Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno said this is the biggest quarantine facility built by the local government so far. He was joined by Vice Mayor Maria Shielah ‘Honey’ Lacuna-Pangan during the launch. “This quarantine facility, modesty aside, through the help of Secretary Villar and Engineer Macud, makikita mo pang world-class ‘yung sa PLM, mas defined. It’s a good experience for us in to really do as many quarantine facility as possible,” Moreno said. “Through experience, nag-i-innovate na nag-i-inovate yung facility at nagiging safe na safe sa medical frontliners and to the patients at mas nagiging komportable,” he added. Likewise, Moreno emphasized the importance of free mass testing and construction of quarantine facilities, ...

By: Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Nestor Corrales - @inquirerdotnet05:26 AM October 23, 2020 More than half million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were displaced by the pandemic abroad while an estimated 1.1 million more were unable to resume or start working overseas since January, official figures showed. According to data from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), as of Oct. 20, there were 505,837 OFWs who were affected by the pandemic, including the 864 who died out of the 9,402 OFWs who contracted COVID-19. A total 496,435 OFWs were reported to have lost their jobs due to the global economic shutdown. The Dole said 260,575 of the distressed OFWs had already been repatriated while 131,047 were still waiting to be brought home. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he was surprised to find that 104,813 OFWs opted to stay to stay put rather than face economic uncertainty in the Philippines. “There are thousands (of OFWs) who lost their jobs or cannot go to their jobs b...

By: Daphne Galvez - Reporter / @DYGalvezINQINQUIRER.net / 10:54 AM October 21, 2020 MANILA, Philippines — Over 6,000 overseas Filipino workers are now stranded in different quarantine facilities in Metro Manila after the Philippine Red Cross stopped conducting COVID-19 tests for the government, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Wednesday. Bello said the OFWs are stranded since it now takes longer for them to get their COVID-10 results, which before only took one to two days. “Mula pa nung October 15 ay nakatengga na ‘yung OFW dahil mabagal yung swabbing. Dati isa dalawang araw lang, ngayon umaabot na ng isang linggo [ang labas ng results],” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo. (Since October 15, OFWs are already stranded because the swabbing takes longer. Before, it only takes one to two days before the results come out but now it takes a week.) Since October 16, PRC has stopped conducting tests on arriving overseas Filipino workers, passengers in airports a...

The Korea Herald/Asia News Network / 05:58 PM October 19, 2020 SEOUL — Senior defense officials of South Korea and the Philippines met via video conference Monday and vowed to strengthen cooperation despite the new coronavirus situation, the defense ministry said. During the inaugural session of the Joint Defense Cooperation Committee between the two countries, Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min and his Filipino counterpart Ricardo David discussed various security issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic and peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula, according to the ministry. Park asked for the Philippines’ support for Seoul’s hosting of the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference next year, as well as for the cybersecurity unit under the Asean Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) which South Korea is to co-chair with Malaysia from 2021 to 2023. David thanked South Korea for the provision of masks to his country and expressed hope to quickly overcome the virus situation through ...