KAKAMMPI News

UN Secretary General António Guterres has described the decision by the Russian Presidency to give recognition to two separatist regions as inconsistent with the UN Charter and a violation of territorial integrity. He has called for peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, in accordance with the Minsk Agreements, as endorsed by the UN Security Council in resolution 2202 adopted in 2015. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has also issued a condemnation. ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said: “Many lives have been lost and people have been suffering for seven years, due to the failure to implement the Minsk Agreements. “Hundreds more ceasefire violations have taken place in recent weeks as the dispute has been artificially fueled. Instead of building bridges for peace, huge amounts have been spent on armaments and the military, and aggressive rhetoric has caused further instability. “The ongoing conflict has had dramatic consequences fo...

Workers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia mark May Day in 2019 with a rally for labor rights. One sign reads “Migrant workers rights.” © 2019 AP Photo/Annice Lyn Migrant workers from Nepal and Bangladesh are suinga widely recognized British brand, household appliance manufacturer, Dyson, over complaints of forced labor and other dangerous working conditions at one of its supplier factories in Malaysia. The plaintiffs are former employees of Malaysia-based ATA Industrial, a long-term, major Dyson supplier. Andy Hall, a migrant workers’ rights specialist, first brought the workers’ complaints to Dyson’s attention in 2019. A Dyson representative said on a Channel 4 program that the company conducted six audits of ATA between November 2019 and June 2021. The final in-depth audit conducted by ELEVATE reportedly identified major forced labor risks. To date, none of these audit reports have been made public. The company representative said that they were proactively working to drive improvements in...

The Philippine government has sent a consular team to Ukraine to supervise requests for relocation or repatriation of dozens of Filipinos who wish to leave the country, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday as the United States warned that Russian invasion may still be possible. Now in Ukraine's Western city of Lviv, the two-man team from the Philippine embassy in Warsaw, Poland would ensure faster coordination with the Filipino community and relevant authorities in the country, the DFA said. Approximately 380 Filipinos are living in Ukraine, most of whom are in Kyiv and located far from the eastern border near Russia. "Two personnel from the embassy, composed of a Consul and an ATN Officer, in coordination with the Philippine Honorary Consulate General in Kyiv, arrived in Lviv last Thursday. The embassy team immediately established an emergency contact base," the DFA said. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier announced scaling down some of its troops fro...

Some employers in Hong Kong are terminating the contracts of overseas Filipino workers who tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report by GMA News stringer Azon Cañete on Unang Balita on Monday. OFWs whose contracts were terminated thus have no place to go. In an interview on Dobol B TV, Migrante-Hong Kong chairperson Dolores Balladares said hospitals are not accommodating OFWs because their contracts are already terminated. “Ang problema talaga is ‘yung matutuluyan ng mga nate-terminate kasi wala namang designated accommodation 'yung Hong Kong government ngayon para sa terminated workers tsaka 'yung nagpa-positive,” she said. (The problem really is accommodation for terminated OFWs because the Hong Kong government has no designated accommodation now for terminated and infected OFWs.) According to Balladares, it is still a question if the employers will rehire the OFWs once they recover. Balladares said 30 to 40 OFWs have asked assistance from Migrante. According ...

Overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong who tested positive for COVID-19 are among those who had to wait outside hospitals before they could be admitted due to full capacity, according to a report on News Live on Saturday. Due to the fifth wave of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong due to the Omicron variant, hospitals were full and could not admit patients right away. According to authorities, Hong Kong hospitals are already 90% full. One OFW who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday just as she was about to leave for a trip back to the Philippines was not allowed to board the plane, along with two other OFWs. They waited overnight outside a hospital in Hong Kong until they were assisted by a nongovernment organization and personnel from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. The three are already in an isolation facility. The Department of Labor and Employment meanwhile is confirming with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office the reports of some NGOs that a few COVID-19 positive...

The Philippine Consulate General repatriated 203 Filipinos from the Macau Special Economic Region, according to a Saturday Foreign Affairs Department report The Filipinos flew home on February 16, 2022. Among them were three wheelchair-bound passengers who were recently hospitalized in Macau. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the Consulate has organized 27 repatriation flights that have brought home a total of 5,355 Filipinos from Macau. Philippine Consul General to Macau SAR, Porfirio M. Mayo Jr., led the Consulate’s Team at the airport to assist passengers on the flight. “Magpapatuloy po ang Repatriation Program ng Konsulado para sa lahat ng ating mga kababayan dito sa Macau,” assured Consul General Mayo. (The Consulate's repatriation program will continue for all our countrymen here in Macau.) Following the adoption by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases or IATF of its Resolution No. 160-A on 03 February 2022...

More jobs in Qatar will be available for Filipinos as the country prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November, Philippine Labor Attaché Adam Musa said on Friday. The jobs will be in the hospitality and tourism sectors, Musa said during a briefing organized by the Department of Labor and Employment. Musa said many Filipinos are returning to Qatar due to the improving COVID-19 situation. From 3,000 job contracts processed in six months in 2020, the Philippine government is now processing 3,000 job contracts every month, he said. Employers in Qatar must assume the quarantine costs of employees and new hires, the labor official said. Around 250,000 Filipinos are in Qatar, and most of them are employed as domestic workers. —KG, GMA News

By RICHA NORIEGA, GMA News Six Filipinos in Ukraine were repatriated on Friday amid reports of a possible Russian invasion. In a tweet, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said the plane carrying the Filipino nationals arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3. “Four of the six returning Filipinos boarded their flights from Kyiv while the other two took their flight from Lviv,” she said. Arriola said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Philippine Embassy in Poland assisted the repatriates. Approximately 380 Filipinos are living in Ukraine, most of whom are in Kyiv and located far from the eastern border near Russia. The DFA earlier said it was in close coordination with its diplomatic posts in the region regarding repatriation arrangements. Russia has deployed around 100,000 troops along Ukraine's northern, eastern and southern borders, with the United States warning that Russian President Vladimir Put...

At least 4,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bound for Hong Kong were not able to leave the country due to the Omicron surge, according to Mark Salazar’s “24 Oras” report on Thursday. “Mayroon na silang mga exit pass na prinoseso na ng POEA, ‘yung mga may ticket na at mayroon na ring mga naka-book na quarantine rooms. May mga OFW tayo na dapat ay lilipad na ay inabutan na ng expiration ng kanilang mga visa,” Dolly Uanang, president of Society of Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines (SHARP), said. (They already have exit passes already processed by Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), those who already have tickets and also have quarantine rooms booked. We have OFWs who are supposed to go to Hong Kong but their visas expired.) “’Yung mga OEC nila o exit pass nila galing sa POEA ay hindi naman apektado ‘yun dahil kahit three months ang validity noon pwede pa naman nila gamitin ‘yun. Ang problema, ‘yung mga visa nila doon sa Hong Kong ay nagsisimula na...

By MA. ANGELICA GARCIA, GMA News The country on Sunday recorded the fewest number of daily COVID-19 cases this year at 1,712, raising the total case count to 3,652,203. According to the Department of Health, the country's positivity rate was at 8.8%. The total conducted COVID-19 tests were 28,500. The new infections brought the active cases to 60,532, of which 856 are asymptomatic; 55,102 are mild; 1,421 are severe; 305 are in critical condition. Of the cases reported on Sunday, the DOH said 1,611 or 94% occurred within the recent 14 days from February 7 to 20. The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were the National Capital Region with 316 or 20%, Region 4A with 221 or 14%, and Region 6 with 180 or 11%. Total recoveries also increased to 3,535,987 after 3,686 more patients recovered from the disease. The death toll climbed to 55,684 with 77 new fatalities. Of the 77 deaths, the DOH said 51 occurred in February 2022, 20 in January 2022, three in October 2021, a...

The Commission on Population and Development vows to further bolster its support for families being supported by young parents, as it revealed on its 53rd anniversary celebration that case numbers of adolescent pregnancies have further decreased in 2020. Based from its analysis sourced from the most recent data in the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Civil Registry and Vital Statistics (2019 and 2020), POPCOM disclosed on February 18, its foundation date, that the number of registered live births among adolescent mothers aged 10 to 17 significantly dropped nationwide from 2019’s 62,510 to 2020’s 56,428—a variance of 6,082, or a 10% decrease. All regions exhibited declines in numbers, with the National Capital Region (NCR) having the most pronounced decrease at 1,004 (from 7,536 in 2019, to 6,532 in 2020 for a 13% drop), then CALABARZON (842: from 8,008 to 7,166), then Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula, 646: 2,574 to 2,139) Region 9’s figures translated into the highest percentage cha...

By RICHA NORIEGA, GMA News Published February 3, 2022 2:05pm Fifty stranded overseas Filipinos (OFs) in Bahrain have been repatriated, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Thursday. Pregnant women, overstaying OFs, deportees, and minors were among those who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on January 31, the DFA said. According to the DFA, the quarantine facilities of all repatriates were arranged by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). The Philippine Embassy in Bahrain coordinated with Bahrain’s interior ministry and immigration officials to secure the repatriates’ exit clearances and permits. “The departure of this first batch of repatriates effectively launched the embassy’s repatriation program for 2022,” the DFA said. “The embassy continues to provide assistance in repatriating stranded Filipinos in Bahrain as part of the Philippine government’s COVID-19 response program,” it added. — VBL, GMA News

By CONSUELO MARQUEZ, GMA News Seaman's books of first-time seafarers will be given free by the Philippine government, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said on Monday. In President Rodrigo Duterte's Talk to the People, Tugade reported that the Maritime Industry Authority also cut by 50% the cost of renewal of expiring seaman's books. "'Yung mga first time seamen, na kukuha ng seaman's book. ang halaga nito P1,000 to P1,800 depende kung san mo kukunin, libre na ho yun," Tugade said. "Paano ang renewal? 50% discount up to December this year," he added. The seaman's book is an equivalent of a working visa for seafarers. —NB, GMA News

By JOAHNA LEI CASILAO, GMA News Published February 2, 2022 3:16pm The Philippines has dropped to a moderate risk classification for COVID-19 from a high risk classification, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country has recorded a negative one-week and two-week growth rate. Though the average daily attack rate in the Philippines is still at high risk, it has dropped to 19.93 cases per every 100,000 individuals. Vergeire said both the national health systems capacity, total beds, and ICU beds are at low risk. “So tayo ay talagang nagmu-move na towards itong decline na ito. So hopefully tuloy-tuloy po tayo,” Vergeire said at a media forum. (So we are really moving on towards the decline in the number of cases. Hopefully it will continue that way.) The Philippines on Tuesday logged 9,493 new COVID-19 cases. —KBK, GMA News

Thứ năm, ngày 2 tháng 9 năm 2021 | 11:52 76 years ago Vietnamese people under the leadership of Communist Party of Indochina successfully carried out the August Revolution and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The path of independence and socialism that Vietnamese people chosen in 1945 has been continuing until today. The immortal spirit of the August revolution is reflected in today fight against pandemic Covid-19 under the slogan “No one left behind.” The current situation in Vietnam, as in other Southeast Asian countries, is that we are trying to deal with the pandemic. There is a closed connection between the August Revolution and the current fight against the pandemic. In order to represent this connection my paper consists of six points. I will discuss these points from a historical approach. First, I’ll discuss the immortal spirit of the August Revolution in 1945 when Vietnam gained independence from France and Japan. Second, I’ll discuss the three enemies ̶ fa...

Chủ nhật, ngày 30 tháng 1 năm 2022 | 21:37 The Canada-Vietnam Friendship Society (CVFS) on January 29 held a webinar on Vietnam’s foreign policy on the occasion of the 92th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (February 3, 1930-2022). The Canada-Vietnam Friendship Society (CVFS) on January 29 held a webinar on Vietnam’s foreign policy on the occasion of the 92th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (February 3, 1930-2022). The event attracted the participation of many Canada friends and overseas Vietnamese. Speaking at the seminar, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong gave the attendees a comprehensive picture of Vietnam's foreign policy after 35 years of Doi Moi (renewal) and reviewed milestones of external affairs in the country's history. The Ambassador emphasised the 13th National Party Congress's strategic orientations on foreign affairs, which include consistently implementing the foreign policy of independence and s...

After successfully pushing for the lifting of quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and soon to tourists, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion has shifted his sight on bringing students back to school as a means to bring the country back to normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "Now that the country is vaccinating 12 to 17 and 5 to 11, we will push the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to open our schools, provided that both students and teachers are already fully vaccinated,” Concepcion said. "We are starting finally starting to move on and hopefully, this move will help our economy,” added Concepcion, who successfully convinced the IATF to drop the quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated ROFs starting Feb. 1 and to tourists starting Feb. 10. Concepcion said bringing back students to school should be prioritized, provided that they are vaccinated and belong to households with 100 percent...