KAKAMMPI News

The Philippines gained recognition anew in Cuba after two Filipinos graduated as new medical doctors from the Ciego de Avila in Cuba. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) identified the new doctors as Herbert Baguiza of Antipolo City and Robert Corpuz of Cabanatuan City. "Dr. Baguiza and Dr. Corpuz also received citations for academic excellence and awards for their contribution to the cultural life of Ciego de Avila. They capped their years of participation in Ciego festivities with a stirring rendition of Guantanamera, a song of Cuban origin," the DFA said on its website (www.dfa.gov.ph). It added the two were among 75 new doctors representing some 40 foreign countries who graduated from the Institute of Medicine in Ciego de Avila after six years of study Philippine Ambassador to Cuba Dr. MacArthur Corsino took a 500-kilometer, seven-hour trip by bus from Havana to Ciego to attend the graduation ceremony. Corsino was one of the guests of honor, who also included Ciego de...

IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE The cases of abused Filipino domestic helpers abroad are actually nothing new. Singapore, specifically, has always had such cases. • In 2008, a 31-year-old pregnant woman faced a Singaporean court for hurting her Filipina maid with a spoon. Read more • In 2009, a 38-year-old Singaporean employer was charged for physically abusing her Filipina maid by kicking her and banging her head against a wall. Read more • Singapore is also the country where OFW Flor Contemplacion was hanged in 1995 after she was found guilty by the courts of killing fellow Filipino maid Delia Maga and Maga’s four-year-old Singaporean ward. - GMANews.TV A Filipino domestic helper found to have been maltreated by her employer in Singapore has assured Philippine officials that she will return to the city state to pursue a case against her former boss. “Magpapagaling muna ako tapos babalik ako sa Singapore para sa kaso (I will let my body recover first then I will return to Singapore to file a c...

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Inspired by the warm response to their outreach overseas absentee voting (OAV) campaign in the city of Yanbu, Philippine officials in western Saudi Arabia have scheduled a series of voter registration in Filipino schools in Jeddah. The OAV Mobile Team of the Philippine Consulate General said registration will be held at the Al-Hekma International School from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday (July 30). On August 7, registration will be held at the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ), followed by another one at the Pearl of the Orient International School (POIS) on August 14. Registration will also continue at the consulate every day from 8:30 a.m.to 4:30 p.m. until August 31, when the OAV registration ends. All that is needed by an applicant to present when registering is a copy of his or her passport or any other documents proving one’s identity. As the registration deadline neared, Consul General Ezzedin Tago appealed on Filipinos 18 years old and above...

Philippine officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) advised Filipinos there to provide the full names of their UAE-born children in applying for registration. Online news site Khaleej Times reported that the Philippine embassy in Abu Dhabi wants to properly document some children who were issued UAE birth certificates. “If the mother is not married, and no father has recognized the child, the surname should be the maiden name of the mother," it said. The report said the move aims to benefit children issued UAE birth certificates that stated only the name of the child without distinguishing the child’s name, middle name and surname. All three names are required in Philippine documents. The consular announcement said the surname of the child must be the surname of the father as it appears in his passport or the father indicated in the child’s birth certificate. It added that the maiden name of the child must be the surname of the mother when she was still single or as it appears ...

How does hepatitis B spread? • It is mainly transmitted in three ways: birth, blood, and sex • It is not spread through air, food, water, breastfeeding, casual contact, kissing, hugging, coughing, sneezing, and sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses. What do you do about it? • Get tested for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). • If you are not infected, get vaccinated (3 shots over 6 months). (The hepatitis B vaccine is 95 percent effective in preventing the infection and its chronic consequences. It is the first vaccine against a major human cancer.) • If you are infected, see your doctor or a liver specialist for routine monitoring and treatment, if appropriate. • Help promote awareness in your community. - taken from the primer on hepatitis B of the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University As the world focuses its attention on the A(H1N1) pandemic, Filipinos in California are gearing up to fight hepatitis B, a disease which they fear has become a “silent epidemic." A...

STOP THE SKIMPY. Women are reminded to dress appropriately in Sharjah to avoid persecution in the Muslim emirate. AP photoPhilippine officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reminded Filipinos there against wearing skimpy, eye-teasing outfits and fighting in the streets, especially in the Sharjah emirate to avoid certain persecution. Online news site Khaleej Times reported that the public decency campaign by Sharjah police seeks to curb such objectionable practices and behavior. "Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) should be careful and should respect the laws and regulations," Philippine Vice-Consul Edwin Mendoza said. The Philippine Consulate in Dubai reminded OFWs in Sharjah that the Criminal Investigation Department is more vigorous and strict in implementing the eight-year-old regulation. Josephine Doria, a 34-year-old Filipino assistant nurse at Central Private Hospital, said she favors the strict enforcement. "Personally, I would like my blouse to be long that cov...

CHICAGO – The lobbying by human rights advocates to bring up human rights issues during the visit of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday (July 30) appears to have paid off. A legal assistant of Rep. Jim Moran (Virginia, D) had called up the US State Department and "confirmed that human rights would be brought up by President Obama during Arroyo’s visit." Tamari Shai, legislative assistant to Moran, informed Joanna Quiambao, a volunteer of Katarungan and Migrant Heritage Commission Legal Resources program, in an e-mail that human rights “will be a major topic of discussion. We remain hopeful that Melissa’s (Roxas) case specifically would be brought up," said Roxas’ lawyer, Arnedo S. Valera. An e-mail message sent by this reporter to Shai for comment was not answered. Meanwhile, Valera, of the MHC’s Legal Resources program, told this reporter that he has filed an appeal before the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Manfred Nowak under the Off...