KAKAMMPI News

Marius Zaharia and Renju Jose, Reuters HONG KONG/SYDNEY—Hong Kong expanded a ban on entry for non-residents from several countries as global health authorities raced to curb a potential outbreak of the Omicron virus, while Australia's cabinet will review on Tuesday containment steps after 5 tested positive. Singapore's health ministry said 2 travelers from Johannesburg who tested positive for the variant in Sydney had transited through its Changi airport. Omicron - first reported in southern Africa and which the World Health Organization said carries a "very high" risk of infection surges - has triggered global alarm, with border closures casting a shadow over a nascent economic recovery from a 2-year pandemic. [LINK: https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/29/21/who-initial-info-suggests-increased-reinfection-risk-due-to-omicron] Hong Kong is among the latest to expand travel curbs. In a late Monday statement, city authorities said non-residents from Angola, Ethiop...

Laura Zhou, South China Morning Post Posted at Nov 24 2021 10:58 PM Defense chiefs agree to expand cooperation through strategic exercises and joint patrols in the Asia-Pacific, says Russian ministry China and Russia are edging closer to a de facto military alliance to counter growing pressure from the United States, with the Russian defence chief telling his Chinese counterpart that US aircraft activity near the country’s borders had increased. In a video call on Tuesday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe agreed to expand cooperation through strategic exercises and joint patrols in the Asia-Pacific, including the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, according to Russia’s defence ministry. Shoigu said there had been a “significant intensification” in activities by US strategic bombers near Russia’s borders. “Over the past month, about 30 sorties have been made to the borders of the Russian Federation, which is 2.5 times more tha...

Polina Nikolskaya and Anton Zverev, Reuters Posted at Nov 24 2021 11:07 PM MOSCOW - Russia announced progress in its Sputnik suite of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, with a new version aimed at children and a nasal spray that President Vladimir Putin said he had taken as a booster. Putin said in televised comments that he had been re-inoculated six months after his initial dose of the Sputnik V vaccine because his antibody levels had dropped. He said the booster took the form of an injection, followed the next day by a powder sprayed into both nostrils. "That was all - I didn't feel anything. Nothing. Today, after these two procedures, I already did some sport in the morning," he said. Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which invested in Russia's flagship vaccine and markets it overseas, said Russia would sell the nasal form to other countries next year. Research has been going on in countries around the world to develop nas...

Francesco Guarascio and Jason Hovet, Reuters Posted at Nov 25 2021 04:05 AM BRUSSELS/PRAGUE—Coronavirus infections broke records in parts of Europe on Wednesday, with the continent once again the epicentre of a pandemic that has prompted new curbs on movement and seen health experts push to widen the use of booster vaccination shots. Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Hungary all reported new highs in daily infections as winter grips Europe and people gather indoors in the run-up to Christmas, providing a perfect breeding ground for COVID-19. New cases have jumped 23% in the Americas in the last week, mostly in North America, in a sign that region might also face a resurgence of infections. The disease has swept the world in the two years since it was first identified in central China, infecting more than 258 million people and killing 5.4 million. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EU public health agency, recommended vaccine booster...

Agence France-Presse MONTREAL—Canada began immunizing children aged 5-11 against COVID-19 Wednesday, joining a handful of nations including Israel and the United States in offering shots to this age group. At Montreal's convention center, a few dozen youngsters were among the first to receive the Pfizer doses authorized since last Friday for this age group. To help ease their fears of needles, additional measures have been taken such posting stickers of unicorns or hockey players on partitions between nursing stations, longer appointments than for adults, and a dog to pet. "I was not really scared, but I was stressed," Victor, 10, told AFP, gripping a coloring page with the words "bravo, you received your vaccine" in his hands. At his side, his mother Mathilde explains that he felt "excluded" from his family, being the only one who had not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19. For her, having her son vaccinated made sense, if only to "be to...

Bernard Barron with Sylvie Maligorne and Stuart Williams in Paris, Agence France-Presse Posted at Nov 25 2021 08:43 AM CALAIS, France—At least 27 migrants trying to reach England from France died on Wednesday when their boat sank off the northern French coast, the deadliest disaster since the Channel became a hub for clandestine crossings. President Emmanuel Macron vowed France would not allow the Channel to become a "cemetery" and also spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to agree on stepping up efforts to thwart the traffickers blamed for the surge in crossings. "It is Europe's deepest values -- humanism, respect for the dignity of each person -- that are in mourning," Macron said. The disaster caused the highest death toll since at least 2018 when migrants began using boats en masse to cross the Channel. It comes as tensions grow between London and Paris over the record numbers of people crossing. Prosecutors opened a manslaughter probe after t...

WAUKESHA, Wisconsin - The man accused of driving his vehicle into a traditional Christmas parade near Milwaukee made his first court appearance on Tuesday since the weekend rampage and was charged with homicide, as the death toll rose to six. The death toll was raised after prosecutors said an 8-year-old boy had died, marking the first death of a child in the incident. Darrell Brooks, 39, appeared in Waukesha County Circuit Court and the court commissioner set bail at $5 million. Authorities said Brooks deliberately drove an SUV through police barricades on Sunday and the annual parade in the city of Waukesha, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Milwaukee. The high bail comes after Brooks was released from custody in another case after posting $1,000 cash bond on Nov. 11, an amount that the Milwaukee County district attorney's office now says was "inappropriately low in light of the nature of the recent charges" against him. Brooks on Tuesday was charged with five counts ...

Jennifer Gauthier, Reuters Posted at Nov 24 2021 10:35 AM Renee Reeves delivers an apple crisp to a home in the evacuation zone after rainstorms lashed the western Canadian province of British Columbia, triggering landslides and floods, shutting highways, in Abbottsford, British Columbia, Canada on Monday. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to help British Columbia rebuild after the devastating floods last week caused by a phenomenon known as an "atmospheric river" brought a month's worth of rain in two days that submerged massive part of Canada’s westernmost province.

A total of 204 more "distressed" Filipinos have been repatriated from Macau, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday. In a statement, the DFA said the Philippine Consulate General in the city successfully conducted its 25th repatriation flight on Tuesday. Since March 2020, the consulate has brought home a total of 4,961 Filipinos from Macau due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The DFA requested those returning Filipinos in Macau to register their details at the consulate’s online registry at https://tinyurl.com/repatMacau. Meanwhile, the consulate also welcomed the recent decision of the government’s task force regarding fully vaccinated passengers from yellow list countries. “The consulate also welcomed the recent decision of the Philippine COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), in its Resolution No. 149-A, requiring fully vaccinated passengers arriving from places under the yellow list to undergo only thre...

Marino party-list Representatives Sandro Gonzales and Macnell Lusotan have filed a resolution urging the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to extend the passport validity of Filipino seafarers and land-based overseas Filipino workers by two years. In filing House Resolution 2367, the lawmakers pointed out that the delay in processing of passports might result in lost employment opportunities and the replacement of Filipino seafarers and land-based OFWs by other nationalities whose governments can immediately issue their workers' deployment documents. "Unfortunate as it may sound, there is an urgent need on the part of the government to support the deployment of OFWs through the extension of the validity of their passports to give them opportunity to be gainfully employed abroad while employment opportunities in the country remain scarce," the lawmakers said. Gonzales and Lusotan urged the DFA to extend the passport validity of OFWs due for deployment within 120 day...

By GISELLE OMBAY, GMA News The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced on Sunday that the United Arab Emirates is reopening its doors for pandemic-displaced OFWs and job seekers. According to Labor Attaché John Rio Bautista of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Dubai the the Dubai Duty Free shops will be rehiring over 600 laid off OFWs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “During the pandemic, Dubai Duty Free needed to layoff some workers. But with the revival of the economy here, the management reached out to us and we have a special facilitation for them," he said. "More than 600 Filipino workers will be coming back and their salary is competitive. Every week we process not less than 100 contracts for OFWs who will be rehired,” he added. Aside from the retail sector, Bautista said there were employers who expressed interest in hiring Filipino health professionals. Over 8,000 job orders for household service workers (HSWs) were also verified by POLO sin...

By TED CORDERO, GMA News “[The] IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) already decided to provide boosters to OFWs and seafarers who are to be deployed within four months,” vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. Galvez, who also serves as the National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer, said Saturday. Galvez said that the Food and Drug Administration is being requested by the IATF to make the necessary inclusion and amendments. “FDA only allows boosters for A1 (medical frontliners), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (persons with comorbidity),” Galvez noted. The approval of the administration of booster shots for OFWs was also announced by National Task Force (NTF) spokesperson Retired Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla. "I just got the confirmation now. He (vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.) said that in order to maintain our competitive advantage as well as protect the much needed livelihood of our OFWs as well as seafarers to secu...

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has widened the compulsory insurance coverage of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to include re-hires and agency-hired workers, according to a report on "Saksi"on Tuesday. According to Department Order 228, the manning or recruitment agency should shoulder the insurance for the OFWs they deploy if the employer or the workers re-hired and direct hire will pay the insurance premium. The OFW can pay the insurance premium and have this reimbursed at a later date. The effectivity of the insurance policy covers the employment period of the OFW. The order is implemented amid the public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. -- BAP, GMA News

Thirty-six Filipino fishermen stranded in Fiji for more than two months have returned to the country, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday. The DFA said the stranded fishermen safely arrived at the Davao International Airport through a special chartered flight on November 5. The men were crew members of Chinese-operated fishing boats, who were scheduled to return to the Philippines last August. However, 19 of them tested positive for COVID-19 prior to their flight. “Apart from making arrangements for the fishermen’s repatriation and Philippine entry protocol requirements, quarantine amenities, and COVID-19 tests, they were also provided with welfare assistance of food and other essential items while still stranded in Fiji and awaiting their rescheduled flight,” the DFA said in a statement. The 19 fishermen who tested positive for COVID-19 received P10,000 financial aid under the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s (OWWA) Alagang Kabayan Project, while th...

An elderly Filipino was hurt after he was stabbed outside a trolley station in El Cajon, California, earlier this month, according to a report on ABC News. Jose Serra, 71, was on his way to work at a manufacturing facility and just got off Arnele Avenue trolley stop when attacked on the morning of November 3. The suspect, who ran off after the stabbing incident, was described as a tattooed Hispanic male with a shaved head. He was reportedly armed with a footlong knife. Serra sustained stab wounds in the hand, arm, stomach and back of his head. Despite the severity of Serra's wounds, a friend, Todd Jones, said "[l]ooks like he's going to make it through." Before the incident, Serra has lost his job as a janitor, the report said. Jones has organized a Gofundme campaign to help Serra with his expenses. —KBK, GMA News

The Philippine Embassy in the US on Friday warned Filipinos against scammers and fraud schemes targeting them. advertisement The scammers and fraud schemes claim "to be part of or associated with the Philippine Embassy and/or the Philippine Ambassador," it said in an advisory. These scammers and fraud schemes use social media to victimize Filipinos, the embassy said. "The Embassy notes that it currently operates using its official and verified emails, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account," it said. The embassy urged Filipinos to remain vigilant and report to the Embassy or the Consulate General any attempt to scam them "when contacted by unverified and unofficial social media profiles claiming to be Philippine officials." It said Filipinos should be wary and cautious especially when their personal and banking information are asked for, or they are requested to make a financial contribution. "By reporting, raising awareness, and denouncing t...

PINOY ABROAD The Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday raised Alert Level 4 in Ethiopia due to the ongoing conflict in Tigray and other neighboring regions. In a statement, the DFA advised all Filipinos not to travel to Ethiopia at this time due to the continued and intensifying conflict. "Filipinos who are in the country where Alert Level 4 is in effect are advised to restrict non- essential movements, avoid public places, and immediately prepare for evacuation," the DFA said. Alert Level 4 is raised when there is a large-scale internal conflict or full-blown external attack. Under this alert level, the national government undertakes mandatory evacuation procedures. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's November 2020 offensive in Tigray now threatens to unleash instability across the country, as fears grow of a rebel advance on the capital Addis Ababa.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and several migrant groups are drawing up policies related to the humane recruitment of overseas workers, according to a report on "Saksi" on Thursday. The project is under the National Plan to Mainstream Fair and Ethical Recruitment of overseas Filipino workers or OFWs. The objective is to set the policies that would be at par with global standards in processing of OFWs and decrease the number of victims of illegal recruiters and fast track the facilitation of complaints raised by OFWs. According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), there are OFWs experiencing abuse by their recruiters despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the POEA received 140 complaints against recruitment agencies. There are 25,000 OFWs who sought legal assistance. -- BAP, GMA News

Published November 4, 2021 11:40am The non-filing of income tax returns is different from tax evasion, lawyer Vic Rodriguez, spokesperson for presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Thursday. Rodriguez explained this in an interview with CNN-Philippines, claiming that the petition lodged against Marcos is just a propaganda of “yellow wannabe political assassins.” “Alam mo propaganda ito ng mga yellow wannabe political assassins…Walang tax evasion na kaso si presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos. ‘Yung kaso po na yan ay simply non-filing of ITR,” Rodriguez argued. (This is just a propaganda of the yellow wannabe political assassins. There is no tax evasion in the case of presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos. His case is simply about his non-filing of ITR.) “Maling-mali na siya ay tax evader. Ang naging hatol lang ay hindi nakapagbayad ng income tax return,” he added. (It is wrong to call him a tax evader because the conviction is on the basis of his non-filing...

The number of COVID-19 cases among Filipinos overseas increased to 23,817 with the addition of 248 new infections, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. The DFA said the death toll rose to 1,424 with 74 new fatalities. The agency also recorded a total of 14,129 recoveries. So far, there are 8,264 active cases undergoing treatment. The Middle East/Africa remained be the region with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases among Filipinos abroad at 13,129, with 928 deaths and 6,652 recoveries. The Asia Pacific Region followed with 5,996 infections, including 114 fatalities and 4,234 recoveries. In Europe, a total of 3,651 Filipinos were infected with the virus, of whom 130 have died, while 2,562 have recovered. The Americas, meanwhile, has recorded 1,041 cases with 252 fatalities and 681 recoveries. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/BM, GMA News

Published November 2, 2021 5:37pm Fifty-eight distressed overseas Filipinos from Bahrain were repatriated, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday. The DFA said the batch that arrived included detainees and overstaying Filipinos at the Philippine Embassy’s shelter. “Due to the continuing implementation of the limitation of arriving passengers in the Philippines, many distressed Filipinos in Manama Bahrain requested the Philippine Embassy’s assistance for booking tickets at a special rate given by Gulf Air,” the department said in a statement. “The Embassy also coordinated with the DFA - Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and concerned agencies for the exemption of the repatriates from arrival limitations as well as for the quarantine facilities for the repatriates,” it added. Since August, the embassy has facilitated the repatriation of 287 stranded Filipinos in Bahrain via Gulf Air’s direct fligh...

By LLANESCA T. PANTI, GMA News The Philippine Embassy in Japan said Monday that no Filipino was hurt during an October 31 train attack in Tokyo which injured 17 people. Philippine Deputy Chief of Mission to Japan Robespierre Bolivar was referring to the attack staged by a man dressed as Joker, nemesis of superhero Batman, inside a Tokyo train line. "Sa kabutihang palad, wala namang Pilipino na napaulat na na-injure (Fortunately, no Filipino was hurt)," Bolivar said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview. "The suspect is now under police custody," he added. BoIivar said there are around 283,000 Filipinos in Japan as of July 2021, and around 34,000 are in Tokyo. He also said there are no active COVID-19 cases within the Filipino community as of the moment. He could not give figures as to the COVID-19 vaccine coverage of Filipinos in Japan due to the data privacy policy of the Japanese government. However, Bolivar said that 70% of the Japanese population are already v...

By ANNA FELICIA BAJO, GMA News The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said it has lowered the alert level for Iraq from Alert Level 4 to Alert Level 3 due to the improving security situations in the country. Alert Level 4 means mandatory repatriation while Alert Level 3 means voluntary repatriation. In its advisory dated November 2, the DFA said the alert level was lowered due to some improvements in the security situation in the country and as requested by the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Iraq. "Following this development and upon the recommendation of the DFA, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Governing Board has issued Governing Board Resolution (GBR) No. 9 series of 2021, exempting returning OFWs to Iraq from the deployment ban, subject to specific conditions listed in the said resolution," the DFA said. It also advised Filipinos in the country to still exercise caution, to restrict movements only to those which are necess...

By TED CORDERO, GMA News Published November 4, 2021 10:53am The number of unemployed Filipinos rose to its highest level since the beginning of the year in September amid strict quarantine restrictions during the month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday. At a virtual press conference, National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa said the number of unemployed adults - ages 15 and above - stood at 4.25 million reflecting an unemployment rate of 8.9%. This is the highest unemployment rate since January 2021, Mapa said. This is also higher than the 8.1% unemployment rate or 3.88 million jobless individuals recorded in August. “These results were expected as many parts of the country remained under stringent and blanket quarantines for most of the survey period. In particular, the modified enhanced community quarantine was extended in the National Capital Region (NCR) up to September 15,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said ...

High level consensus from G20 leaders urgently requires national action plans to create jobs with Just Transition. The convergence of crises: inequality, the global pandemic and the climate emergency has exposed workers to the greatest social and economic shock in a generation. G20 leaders recognised that the global health and economic crisis has affected billions of lives and puts at risk progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. “We are in a race against time put in place action plans to deliver on G20 commitments. 575 million jobs are needed by 2030 to stabilise the economy, with Just Transition plans to create climate friendly jobs and keep the world on a pathway to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” said Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, ITUC COVID-19 Vaccine: Support for global vaccinations with the aim of vaccinating 40% of population in all countries by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid 2022 as recommended by the WHO but universal access to vaccines requires fundament...

BY: JUSTIN B. SANTOS/ PHOTOS BY: ARNOLD T. RAMOS Mandaluyong City. Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Vice Chairperson and General Manager Royina Marzan Garma represented by Dr. Roel Aparato, Division Chief III of the Satellite and Medicines Division of the Medical Services Department together with Nurses Joanne Alonzo and Margaret Mejia, and Pharmacist Sonya de Leon led the donation of medicines to deserving claimants from Tagaytay City, Northern Samar and Trece Martirez Cavite on Monday, October 25, 2021 at the lobby of the Conservatory Building, Mandaluyong City on PCSO’s 87th week-long Anniversary Celebration. Gala Vocational HS class of 1982 of Gamay, Northern Samar was also given various medicines amounting to Php50,000.00 to be utilized in their own civic medicines donation programs benefitting other alumni and their families. Hazel Doxi, class president thanked GM Garma with a greeting “Happy 87th Anniversary po sa PCSO Family and congratulations to all your a...