Senate probes death of 2 OFWs ---- Cecille Suerte Felipe - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) died under unknown circumstances in Saudi Arabia, prompting the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to request for autopsies. During yesterday’s public hearing of the Senate committee on migrant workers, chairman and presiding officer Sen. Raffy Tulfo said he received complaints from the families of OFWs Jelyn Arguzon and Riolyn Sayson. In his opening statement, Tulfo said Arguzon’s husband sought help to uncover the true cause of his wife’s death as he was only vaguely told by the agency that the cause of death was unknown. Tulfo said Arguzon was deployed to Jeddah as a household worker on June 16. The last time she spoke to her husband was on June 27, and she was found dead at her employer’s house on July 19. When Tulfo asked about the result of the autopsy on Arguzon’s body, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the report showed that she died of natural causes. “We do not accept this so the next course of action is an autopsy here in the Philippines,” Cacdac said. He pointed out that “when foul play appears, their lawyer on the ground is activated and will immediately file a case regarding the concerned regarding the foul play report if there is any.” Meanwhile, Sayson’s husband also asked for help to clarify the sudden death of his wife on July 16. He said their last conversation was on July 15 when she complained of chest pains. He added that his wife always worked overtime, lacked food and sleep and experienced cruelty from her employer. According to the medical report, Sayson died of cardiac arrest but her husband said that she had long sought help from the foreign recruitment agency for her chest pains and difficulty breathing. However, the agency said that she was just acting and was probably just homesick, he said. The committee tackled Senate Resolution No. 1086, or the enforcement of stricter monitoring measures on OFWs in relation to the deaths of Arguzon and Sayson. Tulfo urged the DMW and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to enforce stricter measures to ensure the protection, safety and well-being of OFWs through constant monitoring. “Licensed recruitment agencies should equally share the burden of strictly monitoring their deployed workers, and their capacity to do so must be closely watched by our agencies,” Tulfo stressed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more