KAKAMMPI News

ANDREI MEDINA, GMA News Eight Filipino victims of the Algerian hostage crisis—four survivors, and four bodies—will arrive in the Philippines on Tuesday, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. “Four survivors and four fatalities are arriving today,” DFA Spokesman Raul Hernandez told GMA News Online via text message. There is also one Filipino still missing in Algeria, according to a report by News TV Live's Mark Salazar. The foreign department has not released the victims' names to the public as per the request of their families. DFA also requested media groups to give space to the families so they could mourn in peace. Meanwhile, an oil pipeline located 70 kilometers from the gas field where the hostage crisis occurred was attacked by suspected rebels on Tuesday, the report said. Two guards were reported to have been killed while seven were injured. It has not yet been established whether this incident is related to the hostage crisis, where 77 foreigners perishe...

CABANATUAN, Nueva Ecija -- Nearly 200 farmers here will benefit from Social Security System (SSS) coverage under a new agreement between the SSS and a local irrigators association that will subsidize the farmers’ SSS contributions and entitle them to bigger SSS benefits and loanable amounts. The Deep Well Sumulong Irrigators Association (DWSIA), which is headed by its President Maximo Hernal, signed its memorandum of agreement with the SSS before 1,000 farmers during a general assembly of irrigators associations (IA) in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija on January 29, 2013. "Under the agreement, the DWSIA will provide a counterpart amount that matches its member’s monthly  SSS contribution . In effect, the subsidy will double the amount of the farmers’ SSS contributions," said SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. "We hope to replicate this innovative arrangement across Central Luzon to boost social protection of some 69,000 farm worker...

By Evelyn Macairan (The Philippine Star) | Updated January 29, 2013 - 12:00am http://www.philstar.com/ headli nes/2013/01/29/902332/ cbcp- hosts-lunch-anti-rh- senators- congressmen MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) hosted lunch yesterday for legislators who fought against the passage of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) law, but clarified this was not an endorsement for the coming midterm polls. It was an opportune time to meet for lunch at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center on United Nations Avenue since most of the bishops were in Manila to attend the CBCP’s 106th Plenary Assembly. CBCP president Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said that they extended an invitation to the senators and congressmen who opposed the passage of the RH bill last year “as appreciation for what they have done.” “We thought of holding a thanksgiving for their efforts and for trying to promote life and the values that we have been upholding through the years (...

The Philippines may eventually lose a favored destination of Filipino workers if the number of OFWs illegally staying in Korea continues to increase, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration warned yesterday. Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac said the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) has decided to reduce the number of newcomers that may be allowed to work in Korea this year to 4,200 from 5,200 in 2012. For 2013, only 7,900 names of OFWs would be included in the roster, a marked decrease from 9,800 names in 2012, Cacdac added. However, Cacdac said the POEA is not disputing the decision of Korea to slash the quota on Filipino workers. “We have to abide with our contract with them. The memorandum of understanding between the government of Korea and the Philippines provides that “the MOEL may  take necessary measures such as reducing the number of jobseekers in the roster or suspending participation in the EPS if the number of Filipino workers absen...

By  MARK MERUEÑAS , GMA News (Updated 3:31 p.m.) - A Manila court has found Manila tour guide Carlos Celdran guilty of "offending religious feelings" for disrupting a Mass in September 2010 in protest for the Catholic Church's stand against the then Reproductive Health bill.   Celdran, then dressed as national hero Jose Rizal,  held up a placard with the word “Damaso”  before Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and several bishops gathered at the Manila Cathedral, a reference to the villainous friar from Rizal's novel "Noli Me Tangere."    "All told, the positive declaration of the (prosecution) witnesses... (is) sufficient to satisfy the quantum of evidence needed for a criminal conviction," said the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court handling the case in its resolution.   Celdran was found guilty of violating Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code which penalizes an offense against hurting religious feelings. Article 133 punishes anyone who ...

By Don Tagala, ABS-CBN North America Bureau WASHINGTON - Philippine Ambassador to the US, Jose Cuisia Jr. said he is not going anywhere. That’s his response to the Philippine Forum’s call for his resignation, as he denied the Philippine government’s alleged inaction on the labor conditions of Grand Isle Shipyard (GIS) Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) in Louisiana. “Where were they?” Cuisia said, “The point is they (Philippine Forum) did not even have representatives there, they were not there. I was there twice. Our Deputy Consul General Ron Castro, for almost two weeks, our welfare officer was also with them. They spoke to them. They helped the families. They made sure that they were given proper attention by Black Elk and GIS.” Attorney Ellaine Carr is representing the OFWs who filed a class lawsuit against their employer – Grand Isle Shipyard (GIS) and recruiter DNR Offshore and Crewing Services for alleged discrimination, trafficking, slavery, wage theft and fraud. Carr ...

By:  Agence France-Presse January 25, 2013 1:24 PM   InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5 MANILA, Philippines -- An eighth Filipino has been confirmed killed in last week's siege by Islamic militants of a remote natural gas plant in Algeria, the government said Friday. The eighth fatality is a male, said foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez, without naming the victim. "His body was positively identified by our team in Algeria. We still have one unaccounted for," Hernandez told AFP. The Philippine government has said 12 other Filipino workers survived the 72-hour hostage drama in the north African desert, including four still recovering from their wounds at an Algiers hospital. Dozens of foreigners were killed during a four-day standoff that ended in a bloody showdown with Algerian commandos on Saturday, with reports of summary executions.