Overseas Filipinos: Immigrants and Migrant Workers - Compiled Threads [Archive] - Page 27

xxxriainxxx

July 20th, 2011, 04:58 AM

The Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) – Is it really necessary?
Tuesday, 19 July 2011 01:20 AM Dine Racoma

The Philippine Government has long hailed our overseas Filipino workers for their immense contribution to the country. In fact, without them, our country would have been severely affected by the global economic crisis that crippled the US government and many other European and Asian markets in 2008. Last year. The remittances sent by the OFWs contributed to the unprecedented 7.3% economic growth experienced by the country.

In May of this year, it was noted that OFW remittances showed their highest increase since January, reaching a 6.9% increase. This translates to over $1.68 billion.

So with much owed to the OFWs, why is it that the Philippine Government has found another way to make it more difficult for them to leave the country rather than to find ways to expedite their departure process?

Since March 2011, the POEA office has issued an advisory stating that all departing contract workers need to go to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) office to get a departing clearance validation. This additional stamp on the paperwork costs P100 to process. The intention is that the POEA is to screen any illegally recruited employees and in the process, may be able to curtail the deployment of illegally recruited employees.

This is a bunch of hogwash. Where are the statistics and data to show that the additional clearance has actually been effective? Out of the thousands of contract workers that have attempted to leave the country since March 2011 and have gotten this POEA verification clearance, how many illegally recruited workers were prevented from actually leaving the country?

Also, shouldn’t the validation checking of the contracts and employers be part of the service provided by the POEA, instead of an additional service fee? Why start breaking down services this way? The answer is because you can collect more money. Since the government has made OFWs tax free, perhaps it had to think of ways to offset the loss of tax collected by instead coming up with additional fees for contract workers.

However, the POEA justifies the additional process because it is allegedly for the protection of the workers. According to POEA Administrator Carlos Cao, Jr, “With the validation system in place, POEA is able to check on workers who are carrying tampered or fake travel documents secured through illegal means”.

This seems more like another ingenious way of further milking already harassed and aggravated OFW workers who are already worked to the bone and sometimes even beaten and raped abroad. Also, it’s just an additional burden on the already bureaucratic process, thereby the delaying the release and departure of the employees rather than expediting it.

If the OFWs are supposed to be the new heroes of the country, why is it then that they are being harassed more when it comes to the processing of their paperwork? Aalis na nga lang, pinahirapan pa hanggang sa kahuli-hulihan.

The POEA advises that the validation stamp be obtained a few days before the departure day since it is unlikely that the entire thing can be processed in one day. Given the immensely long lines at the POEA office and how notoriously inefficient the staff workers are, this is just another burden for the workers to carry.

Imagine an OFW worker who has just come home for a quick holiday break and is eager to see his family and friends after being out of the country for several months or even years. Do you seriously think he would want to deal with government bureaucracy at this point? He’ll have to wait in a long line, sometimes even be told to return the next day, only to be slowly processed by government employees who don’t know the first thing about good customer service or even pride in a job well done. Rather than enjoying his vacation time with loved ones, perhaps even flying home to the province, he has to allot at least a day to take care of his documentation.

What makes this clearance stamp even more inane is that it is only valid on the day of departure. What happens if at the last minute, the person wants to stay an extra day for an emergency? Or, what if his flight is delayed due to adverse weather conditions or because of a travel advisory against the country he is heading out to? Well, then he has to endure the entire process all over again!

If the POEA is hell bent of requiring this clearance, then it should at least be valid for a certain number of days past the expected departure date to account for flight delays and other unexpected emergencies. Given the highly bureaucratic process that he has to endure, by the time the OFW pays his fees and leaves the country, he’s probably thinking “good riddance!”

Also, there’s a strong possibility that this is unconstitutional, according to Ambassador Roberto Tiglao, as it is a constitutional right to travel (Art. 3, Section 6).

On top of the P100 exit clearance fee (the amount of which is uncertain how it is disbursed or used by the POEA), the employee also needs to pay an OWWA membership of $25 per contract, plus P900 for one year of Phil Health coverage (never mind that he will be out of the country). Finally, he is also made to pay a minimum fee of P100 for the Pag-Ibig Fund.

Every day, the 3,500 employees leave the country. That means that in a given day, that’s an easy P350,000 cash collected from the exit clearance alone. One has to wonder how these fees are used. It doesn’t seem to be for the service and benefit of the OFWs. Think back to a few months ago during the crisis in the Middle East when the Philippine government didn’t seem to have the means to bring back the workers in danger. They certainly don’t seem to be getting the respectful and efficient service that they should be getting.

The administration should seriously look into this matter and reconsider it. Isn’t there a more efficient way to go about this? Perhaps with all the money collected by the POEA from the Overseas Employment Certificate, they should be able to put up more satellite offices so that more people can be accommodated? Perhaps they can copy the model of the LTO, which put up satellite offices in malls, to the great convenience of motorists. Rather than making things more complicated, why not find ways to streamline the process and cut back on the red tape? Why not make forms and processing doable online? Why not train the employees at the POEA to be more efficient, friendly and have proper work ethic so that late starts and long lunch breaks are curtailed?

Rather than coming up with more documentation and more fees, shouldn’t the government try to find ways to make things easier for Filipino workers headed abroad? Shouldn’t resources at embassies abroad be available for workers to call for free or shouldn’t there be help desk numbers to call in case they have problems with their employers? For employees who do happen to be illegally recruited, embassies abroad should be accessible to them and it should be equipped with the means of providing support for these workers.

Overseas contract workers need to have a stronger voice in how they are treated. No one wants to speak up because all they want to do is get out of the country as quickly as possible so they can get back to work.

Finally, one of the greatest ironies with this OEC is that it is not even stringently checked by immigration officers at the airport!!!

The Aquino administration should rethink this matter carefully. The last thing they want is to alienate and upset our modern day “HEROES” – the very people who are currently pumping the economy with much needed dollar remittances. Show some gratitude and help our countrymen! Platitudes and parades aren’t going to do it.

http://www.thepoc.net/commentaries/12892-the-overseas-employment-certificate-oec-is-it-really-necessary-.html

@dark spirit

July 20th, 2011, 06:44 AM

Pregnant OFW gang raped in Saudi

:ohno::ohno::ohno:

Imagine kung ano ang nangyayari sa mga maids natin na nakakulong sa mga bahay ng mga ani*al na 'to 24/7!:bash:

Nabartek

July 22nd, 2011, 11:15 PM

Shouldn't be the government checking on recruitment agencies than OFWs?

Dami dyan sa Pilipinas na fake/misleading recruiters.

LAPDRN

July 23rd, 2011, 02:27 AM

tapos galit pa tayo dahil exit visa binibigay sa mga pinoy

xxxriainxxx

July 23rd, 2011, 07:29 AM

^^ Funny thing, this OFW might have been working with the right papers and possibly with the OEC from POEA. Just because an OFW has the OEC, hindi ibig sabihin nun fully protektado kami.

b_two

July 23rd, 2011, 08:58 AM

tapos galit pa tayo dahil exit visa binibigay sa mga pinoy

hindi naman lahat ng ofw sa saudi ay domestic helper.:)

xxxriainxxx

July 26th, 2011, 07:17 AM

Pinoys in Greece hurt by politician's racist remarks
JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANO, OFW Journalism Consortium
07/25/2011 | 09:30 AM

EXCLUSIVE

Filipinos in Greece, for nearly a month, are complaining a renowned Greek politician’s remarks likening the European country’s debt woes to the Filipino domestic worker.

The statement of famous Greek composer Miki Theodorakis on June 27 that Greece had become the “Filipina" of a troika of financial institutions brings back memories of how the word “Filipineza" created an uproar over the word’s inclusion in a Greek dictionary 13 years ago.

Filipina-Greek Margie Doyle Papadopoulou finds Theodorakis’ statement “thoughtless, hurtful and racist."

Papadopoulou was referring to Theodorakis’ statement that Greece is the “Fiipina" of a troika of financial institutions and the International Monetary Fund, given Greece’s ongoing economic woes and debt repayment issues.

A newspaper report by Greek journalist Stelios Barmiatzis wrote Theodorakis said the words at a gathering of the movement “Spark" in Naoussa (a fishing village on the Greek island of Paros, an island in the Central Aegean Sea).

Theodorakis was calling on citizens to join protest marches at Syntagma Square, as well as criticized Greek Vice President Theodoros Pangalos.

“At the same time, (Theodoraris) noted that PASOK and ND are in favor of a memorandum with the troika (μνημονίου in Greek), and he berated (Greek President George) Papandereou’s government for ‘national humiliation’ and emphasized how they have reduced Greece to ‘Filipina’ of the troika and of the IMF," Barmiatzis wrote in his report.

Theodorakis, who turns 86 this July 29, is among Greece’s popular composers and was a former member of parliament and government minister.

Reinforcement

Papadopoulou actually acknowledged Theodorakis as a “good man," but said the politician’s remarks are reinforcing Greek racist attitudes on Filipinos.

“Why should a floundering nation of Greeks be compared to Filipinas? How can you callously categorize Philippine women in a way that ignores their individuality, their intelligence, their strengths and their charms? How can you use hard-working and courageous people as a symbol of everything that you find humiliating, a symbol of servitude?"

Then Papadopoulou acknowledge the lingo in common Greek parlance that Greeks use the word “Filipina" to refer to domestic worker.

In 1998, Filipinos protested the use of the word “Filipineza" in a modern Greek language dictionary, defining the word as “a domestic worker from the Philippines or a person who performs non-essential auxiliary tasks."

It was alleged that George Babiniotis, compiler of the said dictionary, distanced himself from all responsibility of Filipineza’s use in the publication since, Papadopoulou observes, “he was merely recording the common usage given to the word by the Greek people themselves".

“He rightly claimed that he was not responsible for giving words their meaning. However, while defending himself, he obviously felt no obligation to attempt to right the wrong that has grown within the Greek language that he claims to love so well," Papadopoulou wrote.

Reminder

Papadopoulou’s open letter that circulated across blogs and on Facebook last July 22nd was not meant to make a counter-racist attack on the Greek composer.

“Filipinos are a just people. They are your allies and stand in solidarity with Greeks in the hope of finding common solutions. They deserve and it is their right to be treated better," Papadopoulou wrote.

Nearly a month ago, the Filipino group Kasapi Hellas lamented Theodorakis’ statement:

“You use the term ‘Filipina’ as a synonym for submissiveness and servitude, as someone low and insignificant: a non-person, so helpless in the presence of employers that she only has to obey blindly."

Yet the group, led by long-time settler and migrant advocate Joe Valencia, told Theodorakis in a statement that “While you wish, thus, to portray an image of blind obedience of the Greek people to the demands of the Troika, at the same time you are demeaning the Filipino people."

“We are outraged at your making this analogy between Filipinas and the situation Greece finds itself in."

There are an estimated 51,656 Filipinos in Greece as of the 2009 stock estimates of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (to include 45,560 temporary migrant workers, mostly domestic workers). These Filipinos, in 2010, sent a seven-year-high US$.222.771 million to the Philippines.

Nevertheless, Theodroakis’ thought is inexcusable, says Papadopoulous.

“Just the fact that you choose Filipinas to show your indignation means that you know something of the injustices that these people face. This does not give you the right to humiliate them in trying to express your own humiliation in the face of the measures being forced on Greece during the current economic situation," she wrote.

There are no reports, as of this writing, of any rejoinder coming from Theodorakis. - OFW Journalism Consortium

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/227298/pinoy-abroad/pinoys-in-greece-hurt-by-politicians-racist-remarks?utm_source=GMANews&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=GMANewsFacebook

Ady001

July 26th, 2011, 07:55 AM

^^ Walang mang-aalipin kung walang paalipin...

But truth be told, we really have to tidy up our image worldwide.

amigo32

July 26th, 2011, 07:59 AM

tama.

kaya please stop sending maids abroad.
magtanim na lang tayo ng kamote rito kay sa magpa alipin sa ibang bansa.

Ady001

July 26th, 2011, 08:02 AM

^^ Or better yet, establish pride but by other means. Tama na yang "pinoy pride pinoy pride" na yan. Kung puro putak2x na lang ang gagawin ng iba diyan dahil nanalo si Manny Pacquiao o kung sino mang jornalistang walang masulat o di kaya'y pinoy na one-hit wonder na making big kuno sa mundo pero wala nang ibubuga kundi 15 minutes of fame sa youtube o kung ano pa man, sorry that is not pride...

Kababawan lang yan...

Let us work hard. If people will see us disciplined, if our government will work hard, if our people could see who in our alta-sociedad is nagpapakitang-tao lang, wala nang aalis ng bansa, at wala nang magpapalipin.

Can't we learn as a people? 500 years has ingrained us of being mendicants. this cycle has been going on for years and years now.

Parchie

July 26th, 2011, 08:09 AM

Kintoy

July 26th, 2011, 11:51 AM

CCT, discussed in the New York Times (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/to-beat-back-poverty-pay-the-poor/)

The city of Rio de Janeiro is infamous for the fact that one can look out from a precarious shack on a hill in a miserable favela and see practically into the window of a luxury high-rise condominium. Parts of Brazil look like southern California. Parts of it look like Haiti. Many countries display great wealth side by side with great poverty. But until recently, Brazil was the most unequal country in the world.

Today, however, Brazil’s level of economic inequality is dropping at a faster rate than that of almost any other country. Between 2003 and 2009, the income of poor Brazilians has grown seven times as much as the income of rich Brazilians. Poverty has fallen during that time from 22 percent of the population to 7 percent.

Contrast this with the United States, where from 1980 to 2005, more than four-fifths of the increase in Americans’ income went to the top 1 percent of earners. (see this great series in Slate by Timothy Noah on American inequality) Productivity among low and middle-income American workers increased, but their incomes did not. If current trends continue, the United States may soon be more unequal than Brazil.

A single social program is transforming how countries all over the world help their poor.
Several factors contribute to Brazil’s astounding feat. But a major part of Brazil’s achievement is due to a single social program that is now transforming how countries all over the world help their poor.

The program, called Bolsa Familia (Family Grant) in Brazil, goes by different names in different places. In Mexico, where it first began on a national scale and has been equally successful at reducing poverty, it is Oportunidades. The generic term for the program is conditional cash transfers. The idea is to give regular payments to poor families, in the form of cash or electronic transfers into their bank accounts, if they meet certain requirements. The requirements vary, but many countries employ those used by Mexico: families must keep their children in school and go for regular medical checkups, and mom must attend workshops on subjects like nutrition or disease prevention. The payments almost always go to women, as they are the most likely to spend the money on their families. The elegant idea behind conditional cash transfers is to combat poverty today while breaking the cycle of poverty for tomorrow.

Most of our Fixes columns so far have been about successful-but-small ideas. They face a common challenge: how to make them work on a bigger scale. This one is different. Brazil is employing a version of an idea now in use in some 40 countries around the globe, one already successful on a staggeringly enormous scale. This is likely the most important government anti-poverty program the world has ever seen. It is worth looking at how it works, and why it has been able to help so many people.

In Mexico, Oportunidades today covers 5.8 million families, about 30 percent of the population. An Oportunidades family with a child in primary school and a child in middle school that meets all its responsibilities can get a total of about $123 a month in grants. Students can also get money for school supplies, and children who finish high school in a timely fashion get a one-time payment of $330.

A family living in extreme poverty in Brazil doubles its income when it gets the basic benefit.

Bolsa Familia, which has similar requirements, is even bigger. Brazil’s conditional cash transfer programs were begun before the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, but he consolidated various programs and expanded it. It now covers about 50 million Brazilians, about a quarter of the country. It pays a monthly stipend of about $13 to poor families for each child 15 or younger who is attending school, up to three children. Families can get additional payments of $19 a month for each child of 16 or 17 still in school, up to two children. Families that live in extreme poverty get a basic benefit of about $40, with no conditions.

Do these sums seem heartbreakingly small? They are. But a family living in extreme poverty in Brazil doubles its income when it gets the basic benefit. It has long been clear that Bolsa Familia has reduced poverty in Brazil. But research has only recently revealed its role in enabling Brazil to reduce economic inequality.

The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank are working with individual governments to spread these programs around the globe, providing technical help and loans. Conditional cash transfer programs are now found in 14 countries in Latin America and some 26 other countries, according to the World Bank. (One of the programs was in New York City — a small, privately-financed pilot program called Opportunity NYC. A preliminary evaluation showed mixed success, but it is too soon to draw conclusions.) Each program is tailored to local conditions. Some in Latin America, for example, emphasize nutrition. One in Tanzania is experimenting with conditioning payments on an entire community’s behavior.

The program fights poverty in two ways. One is straightforward: it gives money to the poor. This works. And no, the money tends not to be stolen or diverted to the better-off. Brazil and Mexico have been very successful at including only the poor. In both countries it has reduced poverty, especially extreme poverty, and has begun to close the inequality gap.

The idea’s other purpose — to give children more education and better health — is longer term and harder to measure. But measured it is — Oportunidades is probably the most-studied social program on the planet. The program has an evaluation unit and publishes all data. There have also been hundreds of studies by independent academics. The research indicates that conditional cash transfer programs in Mexico and Brazil do keep people healthier, and keep kids in school.

In Mexico today, malnutrition, anemia and stunting have dropped, as have incidences of childhood and adult illnesses. Maternal and infant deaths have been reduced. Contraceptive use in rural areas has risen and teen pregnancy has declined. But the most dramatic effects are visible in education. Children in Oportunidades repeat fewer grades and stay in school longer. Child labor has dropped. In rural areas, the percentage of children entering middle school has risen 42 percent. High school inscription in rural areas has risen by a whopping 85 percent. The strongest effects on education are found in families where the mothers have the lowest schooling levels. Indigenous Mexicans have particularly benefited, staying in school longer.

Bolsa Familia is having a similar impact in Brazil. One recent study found that it increases school attendance and advancement — particularly in the northeast, the region of Brazil where school attendance is lowest, and particularly for older girls, who are at greatest risk of dropping out. The study also found that Bolsa has improved child weight, vaccination rates and use of pre-natal care.

When I traveled in Mexico in 2008 to report on Oportunidades, I met family after family with a distinct before and after story. Parents whose work consisted of using a machete to cut grass had children who, thanks to Oportunidades, had finished high school and were now studying accounting or nursing. Some families had older children who were malnourished as youngsters, but younger children who had always been healthy because Oportunidades had arrived in time to help them eat better. In the city of Venustiano Carranza, in Mexico’s Puebla state, I met Hortensia Alvarez Montes, a 54-year-old widow whose only income came from taking in laundry. Her education stopped in sixth grade, as did that of her first three children. But then came Oportunidades, which kept her two youngest children in school. They were both finishing high school when I visited her. One of them told me she planned to attend college.

Outside of Brazil and Mexico, conditional cash transfer programs are newer and smaller. Nevertheless, there is ample research showing that they, too, increase consumption, lower poverty, and increase school enrollment and use of health services.

If conditional cash transfer programs are to work properly, many more schools and health clinics are needed. But governments can’t always keep up with the demand — and sometimes they can only keep up by drastically reducing quality. If this is a problem for medium-income countries like Brazil and Mexico, imagine the challenge in Honduras or Tanzania.

For skeptics who believe that social programs never work in poor countries and that most of what’s spent on them gets stolen, conditional cash transfer programs offer a convincing rebuttal. Here are programs that help the people who most need help, and do so with very little waste, corruption or political interference. Even tiny, one-village programs that succeed this well are cause for celebration. To do this on the scale that Mexico and Brazil have achieved is astounding.

b_two

July 27th, 2011, 02:15 PM

Nabartek

July 27th, 2011, 11:21 PM

maganda sana yang tungkol sa pag-aaral at cct kung may kasabay na programa para sa edukasyon patungkol sa kakulangan sa classroom, libro, teachers, at iba pa. sana hinati nila pondo para sa cct at ibinahagi sa deped para matugunan ang ilang mahalagang pangangailangan nito.

ang isa pang punto ay may kinalaman sa motibo ng ilang mga namamahala sa pondo para sa cct. nakakasiguro ba tayo (na dahil sa tingin ng iba na malinis at tuwid si pnoy) na ang lahat ng nakapaligid sa kanya at ang lahat ng mga namamahala sa pagpapatupad ng programa na may kinalaman sa cct ay hindi gagawa ng alingasngas? idilat ang mga mata at buksan ang isipan.

Exactly. How can parents send their kid to school if there's no school or if they have to walk 8 miles to get to the "nearest school"? The CCT may work on cities as public school abound (although many are not in good state) but in "remote areas"? I have seen a documentary where different grade levels share not only the same classroom, but also the same teacher. God bless those teachers who empathizes with these students.

Kaya nga may mga lola na grade school graduate kasi kamakailan lang nagkaroon ng elementary school (take note: elementary school, not even s small college or vocational school)

I say, abolish pork barrel and divert those funds to our military upgrade (can't take the external threat lightly) and building schools in the kanayunan

At saka masmaigi kung "food stamps" imbes na cash ang ibigay. Yung tipong tatanggapin lang yung food stamp nila kung basic necessities ang bibilhin.

Nabartek

July 27th, 2011, 11:32 PM

On the flipside, how many CCT beneficiaries have jobs?

According to his report, beneficiaries (assuming the ones without a job) prefer jobs over money

Also, with 100,000+ delisted families...tsk tsk.

Cash transfer beneficiaries prefer jobs to money, study says (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/07/27/cash-transfer-beneficiaries-prefer-jobs-money-study-says-169391)

GIVE us jobs, instead of cash.

That is what recipients of the government’s conditional cash transfer program have expressed, according to a study undertaken by Social Watch Philippines.

Win US $500 cash in Sun.Star’s music video contest

In a self-perception survey conducted in 2009 and 2010, University of the Philippines professor Marivic Raquiza said that “some” beneficiaries found the cash grant wanting.

The survey involved 160 respondents equally distributed in the rural area of Sibagat, Agusan del Sur, and in the urban area of Riverside Tramo, Pasay City.

Backed by the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) and the United Nations Development Program, the survey also included interviews with officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd) and the World Bank.

In a later research conducted by Raquiza, she discovered that reduced poverty incidence is not simply the result of linking cash transfer beneficiaries to Kalahi-CIDSS and Sea-K (Self Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran) programs.

She explained that the benefits of Kalahi-CIDSS have generated, at best, localized impact on poverty reduction such as the opening of a road has made it easier for farmers to bring their produce to the market.

“But it has not made a dent on reducing over-all poverty. In one case study, the data showed that poverty incidence even rose in a municipality where a Kalahi-CIDSS project was implemented. Research has shown that SEA-K activities revolve around mostly low-value trade and commercial activities,” Raquiza said in an email.

Department of Social and Welfare Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman disagreed.

“We recognize that (findings) and we are providing sustainable livelihood. But to say that they (beneficiaries) prefer sustainable livelihood rather than accept direct assistance, I suggest that they talk to the beneficiaries and find out if that’s what they see,” she told Sun.Star.

Soliman said the survey may not be representative of the sentiment of the estimated two million households already enrolled in the program.

For instance, the DSWD said a group of 10 women recipients in Cebu City was able to put up a sari-sari store, a small carinderia and barbecue stand through a loan of P75,000 from the SEA-K.

SEA-K is a form of saving and credit facility provided to beneficiaries to help them finance income-generating projects that would augment their low income.

“I was able to draft our association’s project proposal for SEA-K. The trainings I received also enhanced my self-esteem, and now, I feel confident to attend gatherings and talk to people,” CCT recipient and team leader Lucy Dayundul was quoted as saying in the DSWD report.

The CCT or Pantawid Pamilya provides cash grants to poor eligible households on the condition that lactating or pregnant mothers and young children avail of preventive health care and that school-aged children regularly attend school.

The program is now on its mid-level target of reaching the 4.6 million poor households identified by the National Statistical and Coordination Board (NSCB) by the end of 2013, according to the DSWD.

So far, the program has delisted 155,499 households due to inclusion errors, fraud, multiple entries, waived, failed to attend community assemblies, and moved-out to non-Pantawid Pamilya areas.

At a press briefing after submitting the 2012 proposed budget to Congress on Tuesday, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad Jr. said P16 billion will be added to the program to cover three million households next year.

President Benigno Aquino III allotted P23 billion in 2011 for the program initiated by his political enemy former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2008.

"This is not a dole out. This is investment in human capital because we require parents to bring their children to school, encourage them to have immunization, prenatal and maternal check-ups," Abad said in an apparent swipe to CCT critics.

The government has already released P4.13 billion to cover cash grants from January to May this year.

Pressures

Meanwhile, Social Watch stressed that education does not guarantee access to the jobs market, citing that 4.6 million are unemployed.

Of this number, 44 percent are high school graduates or undergraduates, and 43 percent are college graduates or undergraduates.

Factors that result in higher unemployment numbers include insufficient labor demand and the inability of workers to change jobs and move into other industries, Social Watch said.

"The need for job creation and to improve existing work acquires greater resonance in the context of both complementation and exit strategies of the Pantawid Pamilya," Raquiza noted.

She also cited that health and education performance outcomes of the CCT are limited and inconclusive.

Raquiza said the experience of the most established CCT programs — those in Mexico and Brazil — show that educational achievements of student-beneficiaries were dismaying as they scored either the same or worse compared to non-beneficiary students.

This was also true of an evaluation of CCT in Cambodia where higher enrollment rates of CCT beneficiaries were not accompanied by improved learning outcomes, she said.

The evidence is that learning and health outcomes either stay the same, or may even get worse, as increased demand puts additional pressure on education and health infrastructure that are of poor quality to begin with, and from inadequate personnel, according to Raquiza.

Her observations were once shared by the political opposition led by Arroyo, who doubted the efficacy of the program given the lack of classrooms and health centers in the country.

Raquiza said the UN Research Institute for Social Development argues that in many developing country contexts, improvements in education and health indicators might be better achieved by investing directly in the supply of these services. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)

lovattan

July 28th, 2011, 12:42 PM

Manga Filipino kababayan Mag immigrate naman kayo dito sa Australia.

Ang dami daming manga instsik, indian, british, newzealander, italian, greek etc na nag ma migrate dito sa Australia. Konti pa lang ang manga Filipino dito.
Manga neighbour ko dito sa Berwick a suburb in Melbourne Australia, panay intsik, indian, british, italian, croatian, vietnamese etc.
Kaya yong may manga experience dian mag apply kayo.

Skilled Migrants, Australia Needs You.
http://www.embraceaustralia.com/skilled-migrants-australia-needs-you-9453.htm
The Australian government is under pressure to increase its skilled migration target figures in order to avoid key areas of the economy, particularly the booming resources industry slipping into contraction through a lack of skilled immigration.

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) CEO Jennifer Westacott said “We believe at least two-thirds of the program should be skills-based so that people who come into the country have the skills we need for a stronger, increasingly diverse economy.”

Ms Westacott said that the government needed to “make greater use of temporary migration visas, including the 457 visa program, and the proposed new enterprise migration program for large investment projects.”

The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship has held the annual immigration target at less 170,000 despite the BCA advising that the number should be increased by at least 10,000 in order to keep the economy growing.
Currently on the Skilled Occupation List are Project Builder, Engineering Manager, Industrial Engineer, a wide range of nursing positions, teaching positions and Doctors. If you are looking to make the move to Australia and are eligible for one of the advertised positions take a look at our Australian Visas section where you can find out how to apply.

Australian Skilled Occupations List
http://www.liveinaustralia.com/skilled-visa/skilled_occupations.asp

Occupation Points
Accounting & Finance
Accountant (General) 60
Accountant (Management) 60
Accountant (Taxation) 60
Accountant - Corporate Treasurer 60
Actuary 50
Auditor (External) 60
Auditor (Internal) 50
Branch Accountant (Financial Institution) 40
Commodities Trader 40
Company Secretary (Corporate Compliance, Board/Shareholder Meetings) 50
Economist 50
Engineer - Structural Engineer 60
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Metal Fitters & Machinists - Supervisor 60
Metal Fitters & Machinists - Textile, Clothing or Footwear Mechanic 60
Metal Machinist (First Class) 60
Metal Polisher 60
Precision Instrument Maker & Repairer 60
Precision Metal Tradesperson - Watch and Clock Maker and Repairer 60
Precision Metal Tradespersons - Supervisor 60
Saw Maker and Repairer 60
Sheetmetal Trades Worker 60
Sheetmetal Tradespersons - Supervisor 60
Trades - Other Trades & Services
Flat Glass Tradesperson 60
Floor Finisher 60
Floor Finisher - Supervisor 60
Gem Cutter & Polisher 60
Glass Blower 60
Jeweller 60
Painters & Decorators - Supervisor 60
Painting Trades Worker 60
Piano Tuner 60
Picture Framer 60
Sign writer 60
Sign writers - Supervisor 60
Toolmaker 60
Toolmakers - Supervisor 60
Tradespersons & Related Workers (Not Elsewhere Classified) 60
Trades - Plumbing
Airconditioning and Mechanical Services Plumber 60
Drainer 60
Gas Fitter 60
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Plumbing Inspector 40
Roof Plumber 60
Trades - Textile & Clothing
Canvas Goods Maker 60
Clothing - Apparel Cutter 60
Clothing - Dressmaker 60
Clothing - General Clothing Tradesperson 60
Clothing - Patternmaker-Grader (Clothing) 60
Clothing - Tailor 60
Furniture - Upholsterer 60
Leather Goods Maker 60
Medical Grade Shoemaker 60
Sail Maker 60
Shoemaker 60
Upholsterers & Bedding Tradespersons (Not Elsewhere Classified) 60
Trades - Tilers & Plasterers
Fibrous Plasterer 60
Fibrous Plasterers - Supervisor 60
Roof Slater and Tiler 60
Roof Slater and Tilers - Supervisor 60
Solid Plasterer 60
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Wall and Floor Tiler 60
Wall and Floor Tilers & Stonemasons - Supervisor 60
Trades - Wood & Carpentry
Cabinet Maker 60
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Trades - Printing
Binder & Finisher 60
Graphic Pre-Press Tradesperson 60
Printing Machinist 60
Screen Printer 60
Small Offset Printer 60

xxxriainxxx

July 28th, 2011, 05:21 PM

^^ There's at least 100,000 Filipinos in Australia. Anong konti?

Nabartek

July 28th, 2011, 06:28 PM

Ang hirap daw kasi intindihin ng accent nila :lol:

amigo32

July 28th, 2011, 10:51 PM

^^ There's at least 100,000 Filipinos in Australia. Anong konti?

palagay ko konti in comparison to other nationalities na andun na.

America at Canada kasi ang gusto ng mga Pinoy eh, ayaw sa kangaroo:D

xxxriainxxx

July 29th, 2011, 04:21 AM

palagay ko konti in comparison to other nationalities na andun na.

America at Canada kasi ang gusto ng mga Pinoy eh, ayaw sa kangaroo:D

100,000 out of 20++M Australians, malaki na yan.

Dito nga, wala pa kaming 5,000.

amigo32

July 29th, 2011, 05:02 AM

wag sa australian:D
nabasa ko lang sa ranking, di ko na matandaan saang website.
kung makikita mo ang indians, Vietnamese at chinese population sa Australia masasabi mo konti lang ang Pinoy.

LuckyLady

July 29th, 2011, 07:40 PM

have anyone here travelled lately out of the country? have you noticed that there are 2 immigrations already in the airport? I don't understand why the gov't has to resort to this? Ibig sabihin ba nyan hindi effective yung mga immigration officer sa una kasi kelangan pa may pangalawa mag double check ng mga traveler's documents.

LuckyLady

July 29th, 2011, 07:44 PM

^^That is right. Freedom to work/travel is guaranteed in our Constitution. Offloading people just on the suspicion of working overseas (as if working overseas is a crime!) is harassment and a clear violation of our human rights.

it's happening in the airport...and worst it's not only the OFW's who is seemed to be harrased even those foreigners are being scrutinized like they're a criminal or something. I really don't like the feeling in the airport last time :ohno: seems the gov't is having a paranoia or something but imo there are better ways to do things. One way of making a country's tourism thrive is by letting the tourists feel comfortable in their travels...

xxxriainxxx

July 30th, 2011, 12:00 PM

it's happening in the airport...and worst it's not only the OFW's who is seemed to be harrased even those foreigners are being scrutinized like they're a criminal or something. I really don't like the feeling in the airport last time :ohno: seems the gov't is having a paranoia or something but imo there are better ways to do things. One way of making a country's tourism thrive is by letting the tourists feel comfortable in their travels...

Not only that, ang mismong OFW ang binabastos nila. Tang**a talaga.

anone

July 30th, 2011, 12:18 PM

GodIsNotGreat

July 30th, 2011, 05:15 PM

@dark spirit

July 30th, 2011, 10:57 PM

Saudi defers Nitaqat enforcement, extends OFW stay

By Mayen Jaymalin
The Philippine Star (http://www.philstar.com/pinoyworldwide/article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=63&articleId=709717&section=pwwnewsarticle)
Updated July 25, 2011 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Saudi Arabia has virtually extended the stay of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) facing displacement because of the implementation of its new hiring policy, local recruiters said yesterday.

Recruiters said the Saudi government has deferred the implementation of the “Nitaqat” system, which requires companies to employ more local workers, to March 2012.

The Saudi Ministry of Labor was supposed to implement the Nitaqat system in August, but deferred it to give Saudi employers more time to comply with government requirements.

“There are a number of Filipinos likely to be affected in the first phase of the system’s implementation, but with the grace period they can now transfer to other companies with permission from their employers,” recruiters said.

It is estimated that up to 150,000 OFWs could face retrenchment with the new policy.

Under the Nitaqat, the Saudi Ministry of Labor classifies 300,000 local companies into four categories: excellent, green (complying companies), yellow (partially complying) and red (non-complying companies). Each is required to employ a minimum number of Saudi citizens based on company size and industry.

Yellow-coded companies will not be able to renew the work visas of foreign workers beyond six years, while red-coded companies will no longer be allowed to renew the work visas of their foreign workers.

On the other hand, green-coded companies may recruit foreign workers from the red- and yellow-coded companies even without the consent of the workers’ sponsors.

mwg12a

July 31st, 2011, 10:16 AM

nakaranas ako dati nung papunta ako BKK na super tanong yung sa immigration sa akin tulad ng ano gagawin ko dun, sino pupuntahan ko dun, ilang araw ako at kung babalik pa ako pinas. :bash: isa pang yamot na yamot ako ay yung pag che-check ng bag sa may boarding gate area. :bash:

I don't know, parang standard na ang mga tanong na yan ng immigration officer, usually upon arrival in that country hindi departure. Baka naman kase sa mataas na cases ng human trafficking diyan sa filipinas but as far as I'm concern, that is how immigration officers asked because I get these when I travel to Canada and in before, in europe. Sa filipinas din ganoon pero nga arrival ko hindi departure but I am guessing dahil sa hindi naman ako residente sa filipinas kaya pag dating lang ako tingatanong.

xxxriainxxx

July 31st, 2011, 11:51 AM

amigo32

July 31st, 2011, 11:57 AM

Thankfully, never got asked pa naman anywhere outside the Philippines, EXCEPT, in the Philippines (outbound) - once natanong ako, kung babalik pa ako ng Pilipinas, etc etc. Kakabwisit.

baka nakita ka bitbit na buong bahay:D:lol:

Lucentino

July 31st, 2011, 01:21 PM

Ady001

July 31st, 2011, 01:24 PM

victorlachica

July 31st, 2011, 01:46 PM

madami hiring, just browse sa seek.com

xxxriainxxx

July 31st, 2011, 02:21 PM

baka nakita ka bitbit na buong bahay:D:lol:

Actually, the question was - 'Anong gagawin mo dun? Baka magtatrabaho ka ha?"

Annoying.

Ph Man

August 1st, 2011, 02:10 PM

Actually, the question was - 'Anong gagawin mo dun? Baka magtatrabaho ka ha?"

Annoying.

hehe...pwede mo isagot, nasa mukha ko ba?

jk

pag ang Pinoy lumalabas ng bansa, laging tanong "seaman ka ba?"
gusto kong isagot, gusto ko nga sana. lol

amigo32

August 1st, 2011, 03:06 PM

dapat

mukha ba akong syokoy?:D

Ekweng

August 1st, 2011, 06:34 PM

I guess it's about time that the government should start noticing our tons of creative people. I'm hoping it would materialize at nang makauwi na bansang tinubuan para naman makacontribute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1waIkNWfM&feature=player_embedded

Ph Man

August 1st, 2011, 06:45 PM

dapat

mukha ba akong syokoy?:D

lol, baka maasar pa sa akin at di tatakan ang passport.

pero speaking of our dear seaman na kababayan, some of the white people (locals) i've met in South Africa (Richard's Bay) were all praise to the Pinoy seamen there. kung mga Filipinos daw ang nasa barko na iniinspect nila (ng company), lagi daw sila pinaghahandaan ng meryenda or lunch. in a way, nakakatipid ang kumpanya. gustung-gusto nila ang mga Pinoy, kahit daw nahihirapan mag English, todo hospitality pa rin. natuto na rin sila ng mga ibang Tagalog phrases. Nagulat ako at Tinatagalog ako ng mga locals. :)

xxxriainxxx

August 2nd, 2011, 05:53 AM

Tanungin mo "Oo, pero ----------- mo."

:lol::lol::lol:

Baka di tatatakan passport ko. Hahaha.

hehe...pwede mo isagot, nasa mukha ko ba?

jk

pag ang Pinoy lumalabas ng bansa, laging tanong "seaman ka ba?"
gusto kong isagot, gusto ko nga sana. lol

Haha. Pwede mo rin sagutin

"oo...magaling ako sa sisid marino..." :lol::lol::lol:

lol, baka maasar pa sa akin at di tatakan ang passport.

pero speaking of our dear seaman na kababayan, some of the white people (locals) i've met in South Africa (Richard's Bay) were all praise to the Pinoy seamen there. kung mga Filipinos daw ang nasa barko na iniinspect nila (ng company), lagi daw sila pinaghahandaan ng meryenda or lunch. in a way, nakakatipid ang kumpanya. gustung-gusto nila ang mga Pinoy, kahit daw nahihirapan mag English, todo hospitality pa rin. natuto na rin sila ng mga ibang Tagalog phrases. Nagulat ako at Tinatagalog ako ng mga locals. :)

SA based ka na talaga bro? Ganda daw dyan eh, mahal nga lang pamasahe. HAHAHA. Gusto ko dumaan dyan sa Cape Town.

Ph Man

August 2nd, 2011, 06:30 AM

Hi naman ako based sa SA. Napadpad lang dun dahil sa work. Three weeks lang bro. Sobrang scenic ng Western Cape sa may southernmost part ng bansa. Daan ka sa Cape Town at bumisita sa mga wineries ng Paarl at Stellenbosch. Baka ayaw mo na umuwi pag napunta ka dun.

Tingin ko ang pinakaproblem nila, just like any other country ay yung kawalan ng maraming trabaho para sa mga locals at yung escalating crime rate - sensitive issue ito, kaya di ko na lang ieelaborate. :)

I will post some photos sa tourism thread. :)

xxxriainxxx

August 2nd, 2011, 06:43 AM

Ph Man

August 2nd, 2011, 06:49 AM

Talaga? Ibang klase daw ang mga holduppers. Talagang babasagin ang salamin ng sinasakyan mong kotse. Uso din mga nanloloob ng bahay. Kaya maraming bahay ang me electric fence at motion-activated alarms.

Marami ngang bumababa galing Zimbabwe at yung mga kalapit na bansa sa norte. Kaso marami dun ang illegal, at marami sa kanila napapadpad sa Johannesburg. Yung mga nasa CT, mga locals talaga yung mga blacks dun, although mas dominated ng whites ang lugar. Seaman ang tito mo or sa Thomson Reuters siya? Di ako sa TR nagwwork. :) Me kinalaman sa cargo inspection at laboratory testing yung ginagawa ng company sa SA. :)

xxxriainxxx

August 2nd, 2011, 06:55 AM

Ph Man

August 2nd, 2011, 07:02 AM

Seriously??

Nakakatakot pala sa Joburg. I spent only 3 days in Joburg, another 3 in Richard's Bay. I spent 2 weeks in Western Cape - where Cape Town is.

Meron daw nangyari recently na statewide attacks against sa mga immigrants na galing Zimbabwe. Mga locals yung offenders. Nakakalungkot din, kasi parepareho silang blacks and yet they don't see each other as fellow. Ibang kwento pa ang stratification/discrimination among white, coloured and black South Africans. Don't we wish the world is a better place to live in? Sayang ang napakagandang lugar.

amigo32

August 2nd, 2011, 08:57 AM

dapat kasi pareho na lahat ng kulay natin brown lahat:D pati amoy, wala ng amoy curry, amoy bagoong o amoy cheese:D

onilian2727

August 2nd, 2011, 10:45 AM

[QUOTE=lovattan;82267076]Manga Filipino kababayan Mag immigrate naman kayo dito sa Australia.

dami ngang trabaho diyan.pero gaano namang katagal bago mo mai-upgrade ang natapos sa pilipinas? gaya ba iyan sa canada na mahirap daw mag upgrade kasi pabago bago ng polisiya kaya ang iba di na lang nag-u-upgrade at nakokontento na lang sa mga genaral laborer.:ohno:

GodIsNotGreat

August 2nd, 2011, 07:32 PM

carrieso

August 3rd, 2011, 01:46 AM

Even they are homesick

onilian2727

August 3rd, 2011, 04:17 AM

^^If your main concern is your ability to practice your profession, then immigrating to these countries may frustrate you. Not a few Filipinos however are thinking of their children's future, and the difficulty of landing a decent, professional job is an issue that don't bother them as long as they see their children growing up in a first world country.

too bad. how can they possibly support their children if they cannot practice and use their expertise abroad? how can they give a brighter future for their kids if they don't have a job with decent salary? living and growing up in a new world doesn't mean that you have a better future. it should be accompanied with good resources and means to compensate the adverse conditons and circumstances that may happen along the way.as for myself, immigrating is basically finding and building new ways toward better opportunities and success not only for your kids but for the whole family as well.but of course you have to sacrifice for awhile but not for the rest of your life :) that's my two cents:cheers:

WawaY[625]

August 4th, 2011, 07:27 AM

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/7787/ofws-say-aquino-disrespected-them-with-sona-remark

Overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong are not content with Malacañang’s explanation that President Benigno Aquino III, in his State of the Nation Address, never intended to insult OFWs when he praised workers who opted to stay in the Philippines.
The United Filipinos in Hong Kong said Mr. Aquino’s remarks were contemptuous of OFWs.
In his address to Congress, he had said: “Kung magkasakit ka at makita mo ang nars na nag-aruga sa iyo, sa halip na magserbisyo sa dayuhan kapalit ng mas malaking suweldo, pakisabi rin po, ‘salamat po.’ Bago ka umuwi galing eskuwela, lapitan mo ang guro mong piniling mamuhunan sa iyong kinabukasan kaysa unahin ang sariling ginhawa; sabihin mo, ‘salamat po.’”(If you get sick and you see the nurse who takes care of you, instead of serving foreigners for a higher salary, please say ‘thank you’. Before you go home from school, approach the teacher who chose to invest in your future instead of prioritizing her own welfare, and say ‘thank you.’”)
In a statement issued in Hong Kong, Dolores Balladares, Unifil chair, said: “Action is what counts and for the past year, the lack of action of the Aquino administration belies its professed intention respect OFWs.”
Balladares earlier described Aquino’s remarks as “contempt” for OFWs.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, however, said the other day that there was no attempt to discredit OFWs in the Sona, adding, “It was just to emphasize that we have people here [in the Philippines] who are also making sacrifices.” He added that the President was aware of the “social cost” to OFWs separated from their families.
But Balladares countered: “If he (Aquino) respects OFWs, he shouldn’t have said those words that project us as Filipinos who are only after our self-interests. If he respects Filipinos abroad who have been forced to leave the country due to his and his predecessor’s economic policies, he should have reported programs that are responsive to the needs of migrants. If he respects us, he should have acted on our demands that have been sitting on his desk for the past year.”

mwg12a

August 4th, 2011, 08:49 AM

Waway? May permanent residency ba diyan sa Singapore ang mga pinoy or puede kayong mag apply ng citizenship? Kase unti unti kong nababalitaan na may mga cousins pala ako diyan, kahit hindi ko kilala na mabuti, kasama nila ang family nila at mga anak nila sa local schools ng Singapore nag aaral. Just curious is all. I think appropriate na topic naman ito dito dahil tungkol sa filipinos overseas.

WawaY[625]

August 4th, 2011, 08:53 AM

Yes pwede mag apply both ng PR and Citizenship..kaso pag Citizen ka na kailangan mo i renounce ang Phil Citizenship mo kasi di pwede dual

mwg12a

August 4th, 2011, 09:14 AM

Ah, magaling pala diyan sa Singapore. Malapit pa sa filipinas. Okay lang yan sabihin mo sa singapore authorities renounced mo and filipino citizenship, dito sa US hindi recognized ang dual citizenship pero wala silang magagawa kung continous ka pang mag renew ng Philippine passport hindi naman malalaman ng mga ito. Na tempt nga akong magapply ng Philippine citizenship para baka sakali puede akong bumili ng property sa filipinas na under sa pangalan ko talaga para legal. Nuong araw kase resident allien ang status ko nang nakatira nuon sa filipinas. Since ngayon open na sa dual citizen ang filipinas, mas madali na.

Thank you BTW.

icarusrising

August 4th, 2011, 05:31 PM

More OFWs turning out to be more investment savvy: BSP exec (http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/economy/14592-more-ofws-turning-out-to-be-more-investment-savvy-bsp-exec)

Tuesday, 02 August 2011 20:25 Manuel T. Cayon / Reporter

DAVAO CITY—More overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families are becoming more conscious of the financial opportunities open to their hard-earned money abroad: They are starting to save and engage in investment instruments.

A Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) official said five years ago, OFWs and their families engaged into heavy consumption patterns.

“More OFWs, and that include their families, are into savings and other investible instruments,” said Ma. Cyd N. Tuano-Amador, the BSP assistant governor for the monetary policy sub-sector.

Speaking to reporters after leading the recognition to the winners of the 2011 Awards Ceremony and Appreciation Lunch for BSP Stakeholders. Amador said OFWs now “ask intelligent questions on how to manage their finances, what protections are available to their investible funds, the pros and the cons of investing into a particular fund or security.”

“They are now better armed with their economic and financial situation and we hope to do more and better for them and their financial standing,” she said.

She said periodic surveys on OFW remittances indicate that more OFWs were either into investment activities, or have increased their income for investment.

In 2004 for instance, profile of remittances show that 5 percent were kept for savings and 3 percent went to investment.

The most recent survey on the second quarter of this year showed that 50 percent of remitted money have been kept on savings or invested, while 25 percent of the OFWs have used their investible funds into the different forms of savings and investment instruments.

She said investments were mostly into retail, or Treasury bills, and mutual funds. “That means that they have tapped the bank offers more frequently now.”

“This would show that overseas Filipinos and their families were not using the remittances only for heavy consumption of consumer goods and durables, such as appliances. More are becoming more educated of the financial opportunities around,” she added.

In her speech during the awarding program at the Apo View Hotel here Tuesday, Amador said the BSP has put up programs to increase financial education among Filipinos, improve access on micro-finance and credit surety funds and encourage depositors to tap the various investment instruments.

Meanwhile, the BSP awarded specially sculpted trophies to four corporations and government agencies for their consistent and dedicated contribution to the BSP quarterly surveys on corporations.

The BSP awarded Davao City-based Stencil Mindanao Packaging Corp. in the Business Expectation Survey for corporations, Martsons Food Corp. for the survey on small- and medium-sized corporations, and the Davao City Bureau of Agricultural Statistics office and Caraga office of the National Economic and Development Authority in the category of Information Sources on Regional Economic Development.

GodIsNotGreat

August 5th, 2011, 04:30 PM

too bad. how can they possibly support their children if they cannot practice and use their expertise abroad? how can they give a brighter future for their kids if they don't have a job with decent salary? living and growing up in a new world doesn't mean that you have a better future. it should be accompanied with good resources and means to compensate the adverse conditons and circumstances that may happen along the way.as for myself, immigrating is basically finding and building new ways toward better opportunities and success not only for your kids but for the whole family as well.but of course you have to sacrifice for awhile but not for the rest of your life :) that's my two cents:cheers:

Nicely put.

Conditions in these receiving countries are a bit different though from what it is in the Philippines. A two-income nuclear family can afford to rent a decent apartment with all amenities, or even take a mortgage with a house, even with just minimum wage. Social and health services are either free or low cost. Schooling up to high school is free. College and university tuition fees can be loaned out, payable upon the kids' finding work. This is where immigrant Filipino families find redemption; they place a high emphasis on their kids' education that upon their kids' graduation and finding employment, they have moved up a bit in the social strata.

But it takes a lot of sacrifice and hard work.

mwg12a

August 5th, 2011, 04:34 PM

What sorts of investment instruments I wonder? Savings and real state does not generate more jobs. It's good that they venturing mutual funds but that's more for their retirement and such it seems like, I don't think that directly generates enough jobs and strengthens the export industry of the country.

GodIsNotGreat

August 5th, 2011, 06:00 PM

"We should embrace higher levels of migration because it’s in our national interest. High-skilled migrants innovate at a higher rate than the native-born population, and low-skilled migrants meet crucial service sector gaps. On the whole, migrants contribute more to the public purse than they receive in benefits. It’s no wonder the provinces are seeking increased quotas.

We should also increase levels of migration because it can deliver far more for global prosperity than foreign aid and international trade ever will. Completely opening borders, World Bank economists predict, would produce gains as high as $39-trillion for the world economy over 25 years. These numbers compare with the $70-billion that is currently spent every year in overseas development assistance and the estimated gains of $100-billion from fully liberalizing international trade. If we want to revolutionize our foreign aid policy, we can start by giving more people a chance to work in Canada."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/more-immigrants-are-in-canadas-national-interest/article2118755/

I hear that it takes a far shorter wait for Filipinos to immigrate to Canada if they apply in the Middle East than if they apply in Manila. For Filipinos in the Middle East, this is a good opportunity. Imagine just waiting for only a year before flying over to a new country of choice.

@dark spirit

August 6th, 2011, 05:37 PM

UAE officer cleared in US of charges in Filipina maid case
Associated Press
5:26 pm | Saturday, August 6th, 2011
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/files/2011/08/Arab-Officer-Human-300x225.jpg

UAE Col. Arif Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Al-Ali enters Federal court in Providence, R.I. The naval officer is on trial for keeping an unpaid servant, Elizabeth Cabitla Ballesteros, in his Rhode Island home. AP File Photo

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island—A United Arab Emirates naval officer was acquitted Friday of keeping an unpaid servant after a judge concluded that the Filipina’s testimony “doesn’t have the ring of truth.”

Colonel Arif Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Al-Ali embraced his defense attorney and wept after Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi found him not guilty in US District Court in Providence of fraud in foreign labor contracting. Earlier this week, Lisi acquitted him of lying to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

Elizabeth Cabitla Ballesteros, who is from the Philippines, testified twice at trial. She claimed Al-Ali didn’t pay her for long hours of cleaning, cooking and baby-sitting and forced her to sign a document that acknowledged her pay.

“The complaining witness’s testimony simply doesn’t have the ring of truth,” Lisi said.

Ballesteros, who also filed a civil lawsuit, left the courtroom without commenting. Her civil attorney, Ivy O. Suriyopas, called the verdict a “gross miscarriage of justice.”

Lisi also was presiding over the civil suit, but she recused herself on Friday. The civil case was reassigned to Judge John J. McConnell Jr.
Defense attorney Robert C. Corrente said Ballesteros made up her story in search of a payday.

“This woman is a pathological liar who concocted this story to extort him,” Corrente said. “Her story on its face was ridiculous. I think it’s a disgrace that somebody of his distinction was treated like this.”

Ballesteros accompanied Al-Ali’s family last year to Rhode Island, where he was studying for a year at the US Naval War College in Newport. He has since completed the program, and his wife and five children returned to the UAE in April after Al-Ali said they were shunned as a result of the criminal charges.

Lisi said she had doubts about Ballesteros’s story even before Al-Ali took the stand in his own defense. She questioned why a naval officer with 30 years of service would jeopardize his opportunity to be among a select few to study in the US by scamming a woman who had worked for him for three years and cared for his youngest son since infancy.

“It simply doesn’t make sense,” she said.

She also highlighted the vastly differing accounts of a note Ballesteros said she left before leaving the house on October 7. She testified that the note thanked Al-Ali for bringing her to the US and told the family she loved their children. Al-Ali denied ever receiving such a note.

“If he had done what is alleged in this indictment, why if she left a note, would he call the police and call attention to himself? It doesn’t make sense,” Lisi said.

Al-Ali’s story, Lisi said, was “plausible.”

The trial, which began on July 18, was beset by delays prompted by translation problems and defense allegations that prosecutors had withheld evidence before trial.

Ballesteros’ initial testimony was thrown out after an interpreter retained by prosecutors acknowledged she did not translate verbatim questions posed to the witness and her responses. A new interpreter from California was later retained to help Ballesteros, who speaks a dialect of the Tagalog language.

PDI (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/8395/uae-officer-cleared-in-us-of-charges-in-filipina-maid-case)

mwg12a

August 6th, 2011, 06:31 PM

^^ Oh no, that's sad and embarrassing for filipinos at the same time.

I don't know for some reason, i sensed she did these just so she get the chance to stay in the US? She is lucky enough to be take into the US via her UAE employer.

gentlemuscleman

August 6th, 2011, 10:44 PM

STOP SENDING FILIPINAS MAID IN MIDDLE AST.NAGIGING SEXUALLY ABUSE LANG SILA,INIISIP KASI NG MGA MANYAKIS NA ARABO NA PAG NAG HIRE SILA NG FILIPINA MAID AY KASAMA NA ANG SEXUALLY ABUSE KASI SLAVE NA SILA NG FAMILY,EWAN KO BA SA GOVT NATIN?WALA NA BANG ALAM IPADALA SA MIDDLE EAST KUNDI LONGKATOTS NAKAKA DEGRADE NG PAGKATAO NG ATING MGA KABABAIHAN.SA TOTOO LANG MAAAWA KA SA KALAGAYAN NG MGA PINAY NA INAABUSO NG MGA ARABONG MANYAK,PUMASYAL KAYO SA MGA CONSULATE AT EMBASSY NATIN SA MIDDLE EAST PARA MAKITA NYO MISMO ANG KANILANG KALAGAYAN.:ohno::ohno:

Yre

August 7th, 2011, 08:35 AM

^^ And on the other side of the equation...:bash::bash:

Source (http://www.7days.ae/article/news/national/beach-romp-lands-maid-trouble-28594)

Beach romp lands maid in trouble
A housemaid is facing prison after she became pregnant during late-night trysts with her lover at Dubai’s Jumeirah Open Beach
A housemaid has been sentenced to one year in prison after she became pregnant during late-night sex sessions with her lover at Dubai’s Jumeirah Open Beach.

The 26-year-old Filipina would sneak out from her boss’ home after midnight when everyone was asleep to meet up with the Pakistani accountant.

However, when her Emirati boss discovered she had become pregnant during her moonlit frolicks, he reported her to the police.

The maid appeared at Dubai Court of First Instance last week, where she admitted having an illegal affair.

The court heard she told officers during interview that she used to slip out of her sponsor’s home in the early hours to spend time at bars and clubs.

“I used to go with my friend to a nightclub in Karama,” she said. “I used to wait until the family was sleeping and then sneak out the villa because I have the keys. I would then meet my friend and rush off to the nightclub.”

She added: “I met the Pakistani man at the nightclub and we became friends and start going out with each other.

“Once he took me to Jumeirah Open Beach and we went swimming and then we had sex in the water. We had sex
three more times at the same beach on different days.”

The maid discovered she was pregnant a month later when she went to a clinic because she had a pain in her stomach. Her boss found out and made a complaint at Refaa Police Station. The police then arrested her lover.

Both the maid and the Pakistani man were due to appear in court last week. However, the lover failed to show at the hearing and the case was adjourned.

Dubai Court of Misdemeanors sentenced the pair to a year in prison on Tuesday.

Source (http://www.7days.ae/article/news/national/caught-during-beach-romp-28646)

Caught during beach romp

Dubai Court of Misdemeanours hears second illegal sex case in a week as Lebanese man and Filipina girlfriend caught on Umm Suqeim Open Beach

A couple were caught by cops having sex on a Dubai beach after a late night jog.

The 21-year-old Lebanese waiter and his 30-year-old Filipina girlfriend failed to appear at Dubai Court of Misdemeanours today to face charges of illegal sex.

The court heard that a police patrol caught the pair in the throes of passion on Umm Suqeim Open Beach on July 5. The Filipina, who worked at a supermarket, said in official records that she had been dating her boyfriend for a month after meeting him at Mall of the Emirates.

“I went to his home once and he gave me a jacket because I was felling cold but we didn’t have sex to begin with. Then later on we had sex on the beach,” she said in official records.

The Lebanese man said in court documents that the pair had sex many times at his home and added: “We had sex twice on the same beach before and nobody arrested us.”

The Filipina added: “We were caught just after 2.30am. We had been at the beach jogging, then we had sex and the police came,” she added.

The trial has been adjourned until later this month.

It is the second sex on the beach case to go before the courts in the past week. On Wednesday a Filipina housemaid and Pakistani accountant were in court for an illegal affair.

The trial was told the maid became pregnant after having sex in the sea three times on Jumeirah Open Beach.

mwg12a

August 7th, 2011, 01:26 PM

Yre

August 7th, 2011, 03:16 PM

Middleastern country have a real odd law, it's funny sometimes. Considering the cases presented above, it's more of a domestic issue than anything else with the exception of public indecensy ofcourse, that is standard in any society but getting pregnant and partying at night with a boyfriend or lover, you would get thrown in jail??!!!

Last year and early this year, it was mostly brits who lands in this kind of trouble. Highly publicised too, pinagtakhan ko lang kung bakit pati mga kababayan natin mga pinay eh alam na nila na ganun talaga batas sa mga middle east countries eh hindi pa rin umiiwas sa ganyan meron naman mga kwarto! Bakit sa public beach pa!:bash::bash:

mwg12a

August 7th, 2011, 05:26 PM

Well, with islamic law, a non muslim would probably not know what is acceptable or not, considering in UAE they are a bit lax on certain rules especially when it involves foreigners that are not muslims. Who knows. look at his news about two british nationals in UAE.

A couple caught kissing in a Dubai restaurant faces a month of jail time and imminent deportation, local media reported this week.

Ayman Najafi, 24, and Charlotte Adams, 25, have appealed a conviction for public indecency, saying a simple peck on the cheek was blown out of proportion as they dined at Bob's Easy Diner, a restaurant on a seaside strip known as 'The Walk.'

The couple -- both are British citizens -- was taken to court after an Emirati woman sitting with her children at a table nearby reported them to the police, saying they were kissing passionately and touching each other.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/TheLaw/kissing-couple-faces-jail-time-dubai/story?id=10103627

It's a weird situation indeed.

bitoy

August 7th, 2011, 05:44 PM

Middleastern country have a real odd law, it's funny sometimes. Considering the cases presented above, it's more of a domestic issue than anything else with the exception of public indecensy ofcourse, that is standard in any society but getting pregnant and partying at night with a boyfriend or lover, you would get thrown in jail??!!!

They are just human after all, kahit saang lugar maraming gagawa niyan, kaso nasa lugar sila na meron ibang batas pang lipunan. Baka nga naman mas thrilling pag ginagawa sa publiko. nang nasa ME ako, sang katerba naman ang mga nangyayari behind closed doors....umapaw na lang sa labas ng kuwarto ang ibang pangyayari... minsan nakukuha lang yan sa paligo eh kaso nga mainit sa ME parati. :nuts:

Pak-ibig ...masdan ang ginawa mo.... :lol:

Yre

August 7th, 2011, 06:34 PM

Well, with islamic law, a non muslim would probably not know what is acceptable or not, considering in UAE they are a bit lax on certain rules especially when it involves foreigners that are not muslims. Who knows. look at his news about two british nationals in UAE.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/TheLaw/kissing-couple-faces-jail-time-dubai/story?id=10103627

It's a weird situation indeed.

Mas marami pang malala niyan nangyayari dito and it usually happens pag pareho nang lasing kaya napapasobra ang PDA ng mga brits.

Ngayon eh natino na sila dahil iilan na rin ang nakulong at na deport dahil niyan kaso eto nga, mga pinay ang pumalit! paksheyt!:bash::bash:

Wala akong pakialam sa mga pinay (may asawa man o wala) kung anong gawin nila sa katawan nila, pero naman oo, kahit sa Pilipinas nga eh public scandal yang magkantutan sa labas o sa public beaches!

bitoy

August 7th, 2011, 07:34 PM

^^ :rofl:

Yre

August 7th, 2011, 08:09 PM

^^ :rofl:

Nakakabad trip eh. Pati tuloy ako nadadamay, para namasyal lang kami sa beach, ayun sinusundan na tuloy kami ng pulis at baka iniisip siguro eh gagawa rin kami ng milagro sa dagat. :bash:

Wala pa ngang nangyayari sinisita na...paksheyt talaga oo...:bash::bash:

Ekweng

August 7th, 2011, 08:12 PM

ganyan talaga pag tinawag ka na ng laman, kahit san nalang.

Kaya naiinis ako sa PDOS eh. wala silang pakiaalam sa mga umaalis nating mga kababayan basta makabenta ng english-arabic dictionary ok na, minsan kahit no show ok na basta nakabayad. Our embassies should study and give a full report on what an OFW should know upon entering her host country. At nang sa gayon, maiwasan ang kamangmangan sa mga existing laws nila.

xxxriainxxx

August 8th, 2011, 05:33 AM

I think it's the foreigner's responsibility to know what is lawful or unlawful in that country. Hindi na kailangang ipasa yan sa gobyerno.

Manila-X

August 8th, 2011, 05:45 AM

Filipinos has hundreds of options on where to go and work abroad. Why go to a harsh Middle Eastern country when you can go to a less strict East Asian country and get the same pay and benefits.

anak_mm

August 8th, 2011, 06:52 AM

^^ And on the other side of the equation...:bash::bash:

Source (http://www.7days.ae/article/news/national/beach-romp-lands-maid-trouble-28594)

Umm Suqeim Open Beach

Source (http://www.7days.ae/article/news/national/caught-during-beach-romp-28646)

hindi pala Open sa mga Sakim yung Beach, akala nila kwarto nila buong mundo :lol:

Ekweng

August 8th, 2011, 11:49 AM

I think it's the foreigner's responsibility to know what is lawful or unlawful in that country. Hindi na kailangang ipasa yan sa gobyerno.

Kung turista ka, oo you can do all the research. Pero kung magtatrabaho ka lalo na't housemaid at galing sa mga liblib na pook ng pilipinas na di nakapag-aral, you really need government assistance.

sa Bahrain, humigit kumulang 100 ang mga nasa OWWA center na mga takas. kung tatanungin mo sila, laging ang sagot nila "hindi ko po alam yan" or "hindi naman po yan sinabi sa amin na ganyan pala". kaya kahit NGO's pumapasok na sa eksena just to keep them informed and updated. Which in the first place, dapat sana eh nagawa na sa pinas pa lang para maiwasan ang di sana nangyare. kasi in the end, gobyerno rin ang namomroblema kung pano sila pagkakasyahin sa isang floor at kung pano sila papabalikin sa pinas.

Alam ko aware ka dyan.

rain34

August 8th, 2011, 07:54 PM

Hong Kong gears up for landmark labor case (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/8525/hong-kong-gears-up-for-landmark-labor-case)

By Beh Lih Yi
Agence France-Presse
11:26 pm | Monday, August 8th, 2011

HONG KONG—Hong Kong is set to hear later this month a Filipino domestic helper’s legal bid for permanent residency in the southern Chinese city, in a landmark case that has sparked heated debate.

A successful legal challenge will be a first of its kind in Asia, activists said, and a recognition of rights and equality for domestic workers, who are mostly from labor-exporting countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia.

Evangeline Banao Vallejos, a Filipino maid who has worked and lived in Hong Kong since 1986, launched the case last year after her attempts for permanent residency were denied by the city’s immigration authorities.

Under Hong Kong’s Basic Law, a mini-constitution, non-citizens are entitled to permanent residency – which allows them to vote and better access to public services – if they have “ordinarily resided” in the city for a continuous seven years.

The immigration laws, however, specifically exclude the 292,000 foreign domestic helpers.

The case, due to be heard from August 22, has prompted a series of debates with critics fearing that if the court rules in favor, it will open up the floodgates to thousands of foreign maids to apply for permanent residency.

“Just like bankers and teachers, they live here and contribute to the economy, why do we have to differentiate them just because of the nature of their job?” activist Doris Lee told AFP, branding the law “discriminatory.”

Lee, of labor rights group Asia Monitor Resource Center, urged Hong Kong to continue to lead in protecting the rights of domestic helpers.

Domestic workers in the Asian financial hub are guaranteed one day off a week, paid sick leave, maternity leave, statutory public holidays, allowed right to form union and earn at least $480 a month.

Their counterparts in many other parts of Asia – such as Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Japan – are worse off in comparison, rights groups say, lacking legal protection and often facing abuses.

Foreign maids in Malaysia, for example, one of Asia’s largest labor importers, earn as little as $130 a month and reports have emerged from there of shocking mistreatment.

“Hong Kong is already kind of a leader but I don’t think it is enough when there is still fundamental inequality between domestic workers and other workers in Hong Kong,” said Lee.

“If successful, (this case would) mark the first where migrant domestic workers could gain the right of abode after they live in the place for a certain number of years,” added the activist.

Supporters and critics of Vallejos’s bid have held rally and counter-rally over the upcoming case, while newspaper columns and letter pages have been filled with split opinions for weeks.

The government has held special meetings to discuss the possible outcome and is reportedly mulling the possibility of limiting years of service of foreign domestic workers to prevent their bid for residency in the future.

A pro-government party warned there would be an influx of as many as 500,000 people – including children and spouses of foreign maids – and it would cost an extra HK$25 billion ($3.2 billion) in social welfare spending.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said any influx would come at the expense of local workers and forecasted unemployment could jump from the current 3.5 percent to 10 percent.

“We are worried and we hope the government can evaluate every possible outcome of the case as early as possible and be prepared on how to deal with it,” the biggest pro-government party said in a statement.

The immigration department in the city of seven million people declined to comment on the case when contacted by AFP, saying it was “not appropriate” because legal proceedings are under way.

Human rights lawyer Peter Barnes, who represents Vallejos in the test case, said the immigration provision was unconstitutional and described it as “totally unjustifiable discrimination”.

“It shouldn’t even be a question of why they are seeking permanent residency,” said Barnes, who is also representing four other Filipinos who have filed similar bids, in cases due to be heard in October.

Lee from the labor rights group dismissed fears that foreign domestic workers would flock to Hong Kong if permanent residency was allowed, saying it is “not very likely” because of high living costs in the city.

“But as free human beings, it should be within their rights to bring their families over, just like any expat who is entitled to bring their family over,” she said.

xxxriainxxx

August 9th, 2011, 04:42 AM

Kung turista ka, oo you can do all the research. Pero kung magtatrabaho ka lalo na't housemaid at galing sa mga liblib na pook ng pilipinas na di nakapag-aral, you really need government assistance.

sa Bahrain, humigit kumulang 100 ang mga nasa OWWA center na mga takas. kung tatanungin mo sila, laging ang sagot nila "hindi ko po alam yan" or "hindi naman po yan sinabi sa amin na ganyan pala". kaya kahit NGO's pumapasok na sa eksena just to keep them informed and updated. Which in the first place, dapat sana eh nagawa na sa pinas pa lang para maiwasan ang di sana nangyare. kasi in the end, gobyerno rin ang namomroblema kung pano sila pagkakasyahin sa isang floor at kung pano sila papabalikin sa pinas.

Alam ko aware ka dyan.

That is the problem about labour. I think as individuals, hindi ka dapat sumusuong sa mga bagay na kulang ang alam mo kasi that will open opportunities for abuses.

Yung problema kasi sa iba nating kababayan, parating "hindi ko po alam" - that's a lazy answer. Kailangang alamin mo. Sabi nga nila, 'Ignorance of the law excuses no one.' Hindi pwede yang ganyang depensa. Alam na alam sa ating bansa ang mga abusong nangyayari sa mga kababayan natin lalo na dyan sa Middle East.

Minsan maski pagsabihan ng gobyerno, tumutuloy pa rin maski delikado. Gumagawa pa rin ng mga kabalbalan. Dito sa VN, may mga Pinoy na nasangkot sa mga ilegal na pasugalan sa Saigon, meron din na nababalita na nanghoholdap (dyan pa rin sa Saigon). Alam nilang mali yan, pero ginagawa pa rin.

Ang paggamit ng sentido kumon ay hindi na dapat iasa pa sa pamahalaan. Wala po sa edukasyon yan. Minsan maiinis at maaawa ka na lang pag nagkahulihan na. Dagdag na kahihiyan sa mga lehitimong mga manggagawa na Pilipino sa ibang bansa. Hindi lahat ng oras dapat iasa sa gobyerno, ganyang mga pag-uugali kaya hindi tayo umuunlad, walang pagkukusa at hindi marunong tumanggap ng personal na responsibilidad.

Ekweng

August 12th, 2011, 09:57 PM

Group wants sex education included in OFWs' pre-departure seminar
08/12/2011 | 08:24 PM

A militant migrant workers’ advocacy group on Friday pushed for the inclusion of sex education in the pre-departure orientation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“If sex education is being proposed to be part of elementary education curriculum, the need is more pressing for OFWs’ education about sex and health," Migrante-Middle East coordinator John Monterona said in a blog post.

Migrante-Middle East cited a rising number of cases of OFWs getting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases.

It said the Department of Health records showed the number of HIV cases this year reached 6,500, from 324 reported in 1984.

Monterona voiced alarm that of some 500 HIV cases reported so far this year, 67 reportedly involve OFWs.

He added that while such figures are a very small fraction of some 10 million OFWs deployed worldwide, there is still a need to educate OFWs.

“[A] comprehensive program of educating OFWs how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases like HIV must be crafted and implemented," he said.

No extra charges in pre-departure orientation

But Monterona said there should be no extra charges for including sex education in OFWs’ pre-departure orientation seminars (PDOS). “The current fee charge to OFWs by PDOS providers must be the same."

Migrante said topics normally discussed in pre-departure orientation seminars include:

Features of a standard employment contract

Airport procedures

What to do upon arrival at the country of employment

Offenses that could affect overseas employment

What to do in case of a contract violation by the employer

Travel tips

How to remit and various banks offerings in sending remittance

Benefits one could get as member of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration

Manila-X

August 13th, 2011, 03:41 PM

Maids in Hong Kong sue for residency rights

By Beh Lih Yi
8:49 pm | Saturday, August 13th, 2011

Hong Kong is set to hear later this month a Filipino domestic helper’s legal bid for permanent residency in the southern Chinese city, in a landmark case that has sparked heated debate.

A successful legal challenge will be a first of its kind in Asia, activists said, and a recognition of rights and equality for domestic workers, who are mostly from labor-exporting countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia.

Evangeline Banao Vallejos, a Filipino maid who has worked and lived in Hong Kong since 1986, launched the case last year after her attempts for permanent residency were denied by the city’s immigration authorities.

Under Hong Kong’s Basic Law, a mini constitution, non-citizens are entitled to permanent residency—which allows them to vote and better access to public services—if they have “ordinarily resided” in the city for a continuous seven years.

The immigration laws however specifically exclude the 292,000 foreign domestic helpers.

The case, due to be heard from August 22, has prompted a series of debates with critics fearing that if the court rules in favor, it will open up the floodgates to thousands of foreign maids to apply for permanent residency.

“Just like bankers and teachers, they live here and contribute to the economy, why do we have to differentiate them just because of the nature of their job?” activist Doris Lee told AFP, branding the law “discriminatory”. Lee, of labor rights group Asia Monitor Resource Center, urged Hong Kong to continue to lead in protecting the rights of domestic helpers.

“If successful, (this case would) mark the first where migrant domestic workers could gain the right of abode after they live in the place for a certain number of years,” added the activist.

The government has held special meetings to discuss the possible outcome and is reportedly mulling the possibility of limiting years of service of foreign domestic workers to prevent their bid for residency in the future.

Human rights lawyer Peter Barnes, who represents Vallejos in the test case, said the immigration provision was unconstitutional and described it as “totally unjustifiable discrimination.”

“It shouldn’t even be a question of why they are seeking permanent residency,” said Barnes, who is also representing four other Filipinos who have filed similar bids, in cases due to be heard in October.

“As free human beings, it should be within their rights

to bring their families over, just like any expat who is entitled to bring their family over,” she said.

Manila-X

August 13th, 2011, 03:42 PM

UK envoy regrets that Filipinos were victims of England riots

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The United Kingdom’s ambassador to the Philippines, Stephen Lillie, on Friday expressed his “shock and regret” at the injuries and damages to property suffered by three Filipinos during the riots that erupted in different parts England this week.

“We are appalled by the scenes that have unfolded in our communities, and I am especially shocked that innocent Filipino residents have become caught up in it,” Lille said in a statement issued by the British Embassy in Manila.

The UK embassy said it was keeping close contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs, while the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, is in touch with the Philippine Embassy in London to monitor the safety of Filipinos in the affected areas, and to help follow up with the police.

“This morning I spoke personally to the DFA to convey our shock at what had happened to the three Filipinos, our sympathy, and the British Government’s concern for them. I underlined the Prime Minister’s personal concern for the victims of the violence, and said we fully shared the DFA’s hope that the perpetrators of these crimes would be brought to justice. I asked that our concern be conveyed to the President,” Lille said.

According to the DFA, one Filipino was hospitalized when he was beaten up while the vehicle of another was stolen by rioters. A shop owned by another Filipino was also damaged.

Lille said the British government had outlined a package of measures that would help communities affected by the riots to get back on their feet.

“The UK government will meet the immediate costs of emergency accommodation for families made homeless by these disturbances. And any individual, homeowner or business who has suffered damage to their buildings or property as a result of the rioting can seek compensation under the Riot Damages Act,” Lille said.

Lille also echoed Prime Minister David Cameron and other UK leaders’ condemnation of the riots and violence that erupted in London and major cities beginning August 6.

“We completely condemn the acts of criminality witnessed during the past week. We will do whatever it takes to restore law and order and to rebuild our communities. Our Prime Minister has made it clear that we are leaving no stone unturned to achieve this,” the envoy said.

mwg12a

August 14th, 2011, 04:57 PM

Nakakabad trip eh. Pati tuloy ako nadadamay, para namasyal lang kami sa beach, ayun sinusundan na tuloy kami ng pulis at baka iniisip siguro eh gagawa rin kami ng milagro sa dagat. :bash:

Wala pa ngang nangyayari sinisita na...paksheyt talaga oo...:bash::bash:

Baka naman kase nakalawlaw ang shortpants mo :lol::lol:

Sigurado ka bang pulis yon? Baka gusto lang makapanood ng XXX scene mo sa tabing dagat. :lol::lol:

Coniocondo

August 14th, 2011, 10:41 PM

Mga pinoy sa UK, sino sa inyo mga nang-loot. Umamin na. Lol.

Manila-X

August 15th, 2011, 05:01 AM

Mga pinoy sa UK, sino sa inyo mga nang-loot. Umamin na. Lol.

Sigurado meron din yan. Hindi lang binabalita

Pero kung i-kumpara mo ang riots sa UK at sa France mas mabagsik ang nang yari sa France lalo na sa Paris.

Parchie

August 15th, 2011, 05:06 AM

Group wants sex education included in OFWs' pre-departure seminar
08/12/2011 | 08:24 PM

A militant migrant workers’ advocacy group on Friday pushed for the inclusion of sex education in the pre-departure orientation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“If sex education is being proposed to be part of elementary education curriculum, the need is more pressing for OFWs’ education about sex and health," Migrante-Middle East coordinator John Monterona said in a blog post.

Migrante-Middle East cited a rising number of cases of OFWs getting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases.

It said the Department of Health records showed the number of HIV cases this year reached 6,500, from 324 reported in 1984.

Monterona voiced alarm that of some 500 HIV cases reported so far this year, 67 reportedly involve OFWs.

He added that while such figures are a very small fraction of some 10 million OFWs deployed worldwide, there is still a need to educate OFWs.

“[A] comprehensive program of educating OFWs how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases like HIV must be crafted and implemented," he said.

No extra charges in pre-departure orientation

But Monterona said there should be no extra charges for including sex education in OFWs’ pre-departure orientation seminars (PDOS). “The current fee charge to OFWs by PDOS providers must be the same."

Migrante said topics normally discussed in pre-departure orientation seminars include:

Features of a standard employment contract
Airport procedures
What to do upon arrival at the country of employment
Offenses that could affect overseas employment
What to do in case of a contract violation by the employer
Travel tips
How to remit and various banks offerings in sending remittance
Benefits one could get as member of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration

Inaakala ko tuloy turuan kung papano mag xxx!

amigo32

August 15th, 2011, 06:37 AM

Group xxx daw:D

xxxriainxxx

August 15th, 2011, 06:53 AM

^^ Yan ang unang basa ko. HAHA. Group sex. haha

Ekweng

August 15th, 2011, 02:56 PM

:lol:

Askal82

August 16th, 2011, 01:01 AM

mwg12a

August 16th, 2011, 02:58 AM

That's true and contrary to what @Ekweng claimed about DH, more than half of the percentage of these filipinas has college or college level education. That is a far cry from being "walang pinag aralan". These means that the DH can read and write, is able to communicate in the english language even if they are not 100% as fluent comparing to other filipinos who are highly skilled and well educated. They should be able to know how to research especially in today's world of high technology and computer age.

bitoy

August 16th, 2011, 03:39 AM

^^ Isn't there suppose to be a compulsory pre-departure orientation seminar before leaving the country for OFWs? kahit na yata sa mag iimigrate, bibigyan ng manuals on what to expect on their destination. Sa mga balita-balita lang o tsismis, marami na silang malalaman na dapat gawin o dapat iwasan sa ibang bansa.

Well yeah, almost all except sex in public... :lol:

xxxriainxxx

August 16th, 2011, 04:08 AM

amigo32

August 16th, 2011, 04:31 AM

Well yeah, almost all except sex in public... :lol:

ang mahal kaya ng room, kaya kung puede namn walang bayad, maglagay lang ng payong, eh di doon na, libre pa yung mga bosero:lol:

bitoy

August 16th, 2011, 05:44 AM

Yang PDOS na tinuturo pa pano magbuckle ng seatbelt? :lol::lol::lol::lol: (Para ano pa ang mga flight attendants???)

Pag maganda o cute ang F/A saka lang nakikinig ang mga pasahero.
Yung stewardess ng china Air ba yun? magaling mag unbuckle ng belt...:lol: nasa scandal news... hehehe

ang mahal kaya ng room, kaya kung puede namn walang bayad, maglagay lang ng payong, eh di doon na, libre pa yung mga bosero:lol:

:lol: kaya nga mabili yung mga beach umbrella sa ME para dun...at sa gabi holding hands pa sila ... hindi bawal pag parehong lalakweh!.. :d

xxxriainxxx

August 16th, 2011, 06:27 AM

Pag maganda o cute ang F/A saka lang nakikinig ang mga pasahero.
Yung stewardess ng china Air ba yun? magaling mag unbuckle ng belt...:lol: nasa scandal news... hehehe

:lol: kaya nga mabili yung mga beach umbrella sa ME para dun...at sa gabi holding hands pa sila ... hindi bawal pag parehong lalakweh!.. :d

Hehe. Cathay Pacific po yun. :D

bitoy

August 16th, 2011, 07:40 AM

Hehe. Cathay Pacific po yun. :D

Cathay ba yun? :lol:

yung sa Malaysian Air scandals ang gaganda, sa PAL meron din ba? :lol:

mwg12a

August 16th, 2011, 07:54 AM

Manila-X

August 16th, 2011, 08:24 AM

Thread 3

bitoy

August 16th, 2011, 08:52 AM

Previous Thread:

Pinoy Migrant Workers (OFW) Thread 5 (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=82921784#post82921784)

boypad

August 16th, 2011, 02:40 PM

Singapore tightens rules for hiring foreigners :ohno:

GMANews.tv Online
08/16/2011 | 05:12 PM

SINGAPORE — Singapore's government, facing complaints from residents having to compete with foreigners for jobs, tightened rules on Tuesday for firms hiring overseas workers in mid-level positions.

The ruling People's Action Party is under pressure to restrict the number of foreigners seeking work in the rich city-state after May parliamentary elections that saw the opposition make historic gains.

Labor shortages mean the country has to rely on immigrant workers for many jobs. The unhappiness voiced by voters in the run-up to elections included competition for jobs and places in schools.

Starting in January next year, a foreigner must earn S$3,000 ($2,493) or more a month before he can qualify for an employment pass that will let him work in Singapore.

Singapore in July raised the minimum qualifying salary to S$2,800 from S$2,500.

"Our aim is to avoid increasing dependence on foreign workers over the long term, by keeping the foreign share of the workforce at about one-third," the Ministry of Manpower said in a statement.

Employers subjects to quotas, levies

The changes will ensure that "as salaries of locals rise as they gain in experience and progress in their careers, they will not be disadvantaged by EP (employment pass) holders coming in at lower wages," the ministry added.

People who do not qualify for employment pass can continue to work in Singapore but their employers will be subject to various quotas and levies. The rules do not affect those who hold permanent residency status.

Foreigners currently account for about 35 percent of the 5.1 million people in Singapore, which serves as a regional headquarters for many banks and multinational firms.

The Southeast Asian country is also a key center for wealth management and commodities trading.

The tighter requirements for mid-level staff, which had been flagged by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over the weekend, has already sparked complaints by employer groups such as the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce and Singapore Business Federation. — Reuters

xxxriainxxx

August 16th, 2011, 03:58 PM

Kuwento
Utang in America and beyond: Debt and Overseas Filipinos
By Benjamin Pimentel

3:19 pm | Saturday, August 13th, 2011
18share285 237

SAN FRANCISCO—My column on indebtedness and U.S. Filipinos prompted this blunt assertion from a reader based in Saudi Arabia.

“OFW’s are not mayabang, unlike FilAms who portray themselves as mayaman, but in fact, they are rich in debt and cursed to debt to sustain their rich-like lifestyle.”

A range of responses naturally followed, including this from another reader, who also worked in Saudi Arabia, but is now based in the U.S.

“Para sa akin, working in Saudi Arabia deserves our appreciation dahil mahirap talaga ang mangibang-bayan, at tumira rin ako ng matagal sa bansang yan—it’s really hard to leave one’s country. Pero ang ayaw ko lang ay [what I don’t want is] to call us all FilAms as ‘mayabang’? That’s very unfair.”

A fair, sensible response in what was in fact was a pointless dispute. (How in the world do you measure “yabang” anyway?)

But the mini-debate does open up an opportunity to talk about such issues as money, personal finance, debt and what an increasingly gloomy global economy means for overseas Filipinos most of whom left home for a key reason: To provide for their families in the Philippines.

It’s also a chance to drill down deeper into the subject of utang and its role in the expanding world of overseas Filipinos.

As we all know, the role they play is critical.

In 2010 alone, overseas Pinoys sent roughly $19 billion, making the Philippines the fourth largest recipient of remittance funds after India, China and Mexico, according to Philippine and World Bank data.

A big chunk of that money comes from U.S. Filipinos. But the rash of bad news — the downgrade, the market freefall, high unemployment — is bad news for that money flow.

“Increasing joblessness and prolonged recession will decrease the amount of remittances as past experience shows,” my friend Richard Cavosora, a social entrepreneur and an officer at Remit4Change.

For that’s what happened in the last market slump.

When the U.S. economy hit the skids in 2008, the rate of growth of U.S. Filipino remittances fell to three percent from 16 percent the previous year, Richard said citing data from the Central Bank of the Philippines.

With the U.S. economy still struggling, remittances fell six percent, or roughly $500 million, in 2009. When the economic outlook improved, they went back up. With another downturn looming, another decline is likely.

However, Richard points to one interesting data point: When remittances from the U.S. took a hit in 2009, Pinoy remittances from other countries actually went up.

“In short, the loss from the US was made up with gains of from all other countries,” he said.

The reason is clear: the Filipino Diaspora has expanded so dramatically over the past 25 years. The Pinoy money flow has gone global!

And the flow is being fuelled by a powerful motivator.

Richard cites an academic who in a 2008 survey of Pinoy remitters here in the Bay Area, concluded Filipinos tend to have “two homes and two hearts.” That is, they live in the U.S., but still are linked, emotionally and even financially, to their hometowns.

Nearly all of those surveyed in that study — 92 percent — said they work “to earn, save, and help kin.” In fact, as I noted in a previous column, when times are tough, and their paychecks aren’t big enough, Filipinos in the U.S. even borrow just to be able to send money home.

It’s a reality that Charito Basa, who moved to Italy to work as domestic helper and then became an advocate for overseas Filipinos, has seen in Italy and other parts of Europe. It’s also a reality she finds troubling.

“I’m very alarmed on this issue, because majority of the cases we confront here are about utang!” she told me.

“Migrants save and do a lot of sacrifices,” she added. And she shares a striking insight from her interviews with community leaders in different European cities: 90 percent of their members owe money to banks, lending companies and loan sharks.

And the push to send funds back home is so great, she said, “that many domestic workers here are sending and spending more than their capacity to earn.”

It’s a troubling trend, especially in a time of grave global economic crisis.
In her work and personal life, Charito says, she has met Filipinos “who are very worried also because nakalubog na sila sa utang” — they are buried in debt.

The people Charito quotes in a 2004 study of migrant Pinoys also complain of how their hard-earned money sometimes going to waste.
“They don’t know how hard it is to earn money here,” one says.
“When I send money to my parents, I always tell them to spend it wisely because it’s not that easy to earn money here,” says another.

Charito affirmed the view that “big spending or borrowing on education is in fact investment” and so are the funds used for health care expenditures for families in the Philippines.

But there are times, she stressed, when overseas Filipinos simply take on unnecessary debt burden. In some cases, it’s an odd, even destructive, form of yabang, she said.

“Kaya daw sila nagkakautang (the reason they go into debt) is because of the high expectations back home,” she said. ” Isinusumpa sila (they’ll be denounced) if they don’t give!”

She was speaking from experience.

In her years as an expat, she helped a brother set up an auto mechanic shop, and bought a fishing boat for another brother, and land for the family. The business ventures failed for various reasons, including neglect and mismanagement.

That was when she became interested in such issues as financial literacy and education for OFWs. Overseas Filipinos, she now believes, must set limits, must have clear, realistic goals based on how much money they can earn.
And just as important, she argues, they must also take care of themselves.
There came a point when she became so frustrated with yet another story of funds sent home by an OFW that ended up going to waste, that she told a kumadre in Rome, “That’s enough, don’t send them anything anymore. More money will go into waste! Mag-ipon ka na lang muna. Save the money first.”
But overall, her focus is for her fellow OFWs to be exposed to more financial literacy and planning.

I know others are focused on that goal too. It is a subject worth exploring in depth. If you have ideas on this subject, send me an e-mail at kuwentopimentel@gmail.com.
On Twitter @KuwentoPimentel. On Facebook at facebook.com/benjaminpimentel

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/8837/utang-in-america-and-beyond-who%E2%80%99s-mayabang-filams-or-ofws

mwg12a

August 16th, 2011, 04:58 PM

^^ wonder what the percentages on filipinos working in healthfield, IT and other specialized field. I understand that the families of alot of these professionals were brought to the US and would join the lower work forces that can be considered as blue color jobs. I guess the filipina spouses of Americans can be included on these. I'm pretty sure those who work in the healthfield has better edge comparing to the ones that works in a lower labor force and since there are a big number of nurses and such, wouldn't we think this is part of the reason why remittances coming from the US would not decrease to an alarming proportion?

mwg12a

August 16th, 2011, 05:07 PM

Ah, I found an answer to my own question

Some guy
Well I dont know about Filipinos occupying low paying, unskilled jobs 'cause according to the US Census, Filipinos actually has the 2nd highest Median Household Income in the United States after Indian Americans (2004 American Community Survey Reports, US Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/acs-05.pdf). Filipinos also comprise the 2nd largest number of foreign-trained licensed, practicing medical doctors in the United States according to the American Medical Association (AMA, http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1550.html). In addition, Filipino nurses, teachers, and dentists are actively being recruited by American hospitals, schools to address the health professional and teacher shortage in this country.

And since the widely affected populace on unemployment in America are the ones who are in labor forces such as factories and such. Filipinos according to this source. The filipino being mostly professionals has the 2nd highest median income in the US of A. 2nd Largest foreign trained licensed professionals such as nurses, doctors, IT workers and such...

This is actually a very interesting find.

In 1980, the Philippines replaced China and Japan as the Asian country sending the largest number of immigrants to the United States. By the 1990s, the Philippines sent more immigrants than any country except Mexico. Among illegal immigrants in the U.S., those from the Philippines rank sixth. The portion of the Filipino American population that is foreign-born is declining: from 69 percent in 1990 to 50 percent between 1998 and 2000 (29 percent were second generation and 21 percent were third generation or later).

In 1986, the passage of the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments enacted stiff penalties for marriage fraud. The 1990 Immigration Act limited the number of family-sponsored preference visas, which continue to decline each year. Instead, employment-based preferences -- mostly temporary -- are on the rise and have become the foremost means of entry for Filipinos to the United States.

http://www.asian-nation.org/filipino.shtml

@dark spirit

August 17th, 2011, 01:06 AM

Remittances seen to boost Q2 growth–Neda

TUESDAY, 16 AUGUST 2011 20:19
CAI U. ORDINARIO / REPORTER

THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) believes the average monthly remittances in the April-to-June period will be able to provide a significant boost to the country’s economic growth in the second quarter of the year.

Neda Assistant Director General for Policy and Planning Ruperto Majuca said the 6.7-percent remittances growth in the second quarter would mean a positive contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the April-to-June period.

Official second quarter figures will be released at the end of the month. In the first quarter, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported that GDP growth was at 4.9 percent.

“As to the impact on Q2 GDP, it should be noted that the Q2 average monthly remittance growth of 6.7 percent is higher than the Q1’s average monthly remittance growth of 5.97 percent. That should have an incremental positive impact on Q2 GDP growth, holding other things constant,” Majuca said.

However, Neda said it still does not have an official GDP estimate for the second quarter. It usually releases its own estimates a week before the actual National Income Accounts are released.

On Monday the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that remittances from overseas Filipino workers increased by 6.3 percent to $9.64 billion in the first half of the year.

In June the BSP said remittances increased by 7 percent to $1.737 billion from the same period in 2010.

Majuca said the 7-percent increase in remittances in June may be sustained in the coming months. However, he said Neda prefers not to provide forecasts on remittances, which it leaves to the expertise of BSP officials.

“We defer to the BSP for official forecasts to avoid the possibility of sending mixed signal to the public.

However, we do not anticipate remittance growth in the coming month to be that far away from the June 2011 figure,” Majuca said.

In the first quarter, the NSCB said the political crisis in the Middle East and North Africa caused the country’s Net Primary Income, flows from and to the rest of the world, to post zero growth.

This slowed the country’s gross national income to 3.6 percent from 11.5 percent the previous year.

This, the NSCB said, was also because of the appreciation of the peso.

SOURCE :Business Mirror (http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/economy/15223-remittances-seen-to-boost-q2-growthneda)

Manila-X

August 17th, 2011, 06:52 AM

It looks like the situation in Syria is becoming more tense.

7,000 Pinoys face evacuation from Syria
By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated August 17, 2011 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday said it is preparing for the repatriation of at least 17,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Syria after tension escalated in the troubled Middle Eastern nation.

President Aquino said the evacuation of Filipinos in Syria was underway but it was unfortunate that only a few responded to the government’s call to leave due to the deteriorating human rights situation in the region.

Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) would automatically impose a total ban in deployment of Filipino workers since the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) raised the alert level in Syria to 3.

The President, speaking in a press briefing after the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council meeting at the Palace yesterday, said Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario informed him that the alert level was raised to 3 in the entire Syria instead of just three cities.

“There is already a quick response team already deployed, I don’t remember exactly since when but same with Libya, there is a quick response team (deployed there) also. There are contingency plans that are actually being implemented already, among them, of course, getting the necessary vehicles to move them out,” Aquino said.

The President told reporters that the government was looking at the Syrian situation “very intensely” because most of the Filipinos there were domestic helpers.

“There are something like 17,000 of our compatriots there and 95 percent of them are domestic helpers so the assumption is they are not, it appears, that they don’t possess the ability as readily as professionals to take care of themselves,” Aquino said.

“Unfortunately, as I understood it, only a few accepted our offer to repatriate them from the beginning so I assume that most of the 17,000 (Filipinos) are still there,” he said.

Aquino said the government would take other necessary steps to ensure that Filipinos would be taken care of in Syria.

The Philippines will not cut political and economic relations with Syria but the government has expressed concern over the 17,000 Filipinos who might be affected by the unrest in that Arab country.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged countries still buying oil and gas from Syria and those sending weapons and giving political and economic support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or who “give him comfort in his brutality” to get on the right side of history.

Clinton made the call to put more pressure on al-Assad’s regime to stop the crackdown on protesters.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Malacañang was calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis but “we are not (cutting off ties with Syria).”

DFA: Time to leave is now

Labor Undersecretary Cruz said they have just received an official notice from the DFA “so we would convene the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for the issuance of the order imposing a deployment ban.”

Cruz said that under the law, the POEA board is required to convene and approve the issuance of a resolution to terminate or impose a deployment ban.

“We are definitely complying with the rules of automatic ban upon raising of alert level 3 although we are convening the board to formalize the order,” he said.

He said as soon as the ban is imposed, all Filipino workers, including those returning to their old employers, would no longer be allowed to leave the country and seek employment in Syria.

Before DFA raised the alert, the POEA has ceased the processing of new hires and only allowed the deployment of returning workers to Syria.

Cruz, however, clarified that at the moment only three areas in Syria - Homs, Latakia and Daraa - are severely affected by the ongoing hostilities.

He said there are more than 3,800 OFWs currently employed in the three places in Syria; majority of them are domestic helpers.

Most of those Filipinos there are still reluctant to leave Syria as they insisted that the hostilities were isolated in three areas.

Del Rosario said he has directed the Philippine Embassy in Damascus to intensify its efforts to reach out to Filipinos and convince them that “now is the time to leave.”

“In view of the escalating violence in Syria, the DFA will be raising alert level 3 for the entire country of Syria, effective today,” he said.

“Under alert level 3 (voluntary repatriation), all Filipinos working and residing in Syria are enjoined to leave Syria and the Philippine government will provide for the repatriation cost,” he said.

Cruz said a report from a special team sent to assess the situation in Syria last Saturday showed that the situation in Damascus remained to be normal.

Citing a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Syria, Cruz said only four OFWs have already expressed their desire to be immediately repatriated to escape the hostilities in Syria.

“There are six others who are seeking repatriation, but they have other reasons like problems with their employment,” he said.

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Carmelita Dimzon said the government is ready to repatriate those who would ask for their immediate return to the Philippines.

“We have a continuing repatriation from Syria and our embassy, labor and OWWA officers are already attending to the needs of our workers there,” Dimzon said.

But DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said that since the start of the revolt in Syria, no Filipino has asked to be repatriated.

In a forum yesterday morning, hosted by the Catholic Media Network and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Hernandez said, “So far no Filipino has been affected in Syria and no one wants to be repatriated back to the Philippines; maybe they still feel safe there.”

He said that while there have been cases of repatriation, these were triggered by labor and other kinds of problems, “but not on account of the violence there.”

Hernandez gave assurance that in the event the tension escalates in Syria, the DFA and its embassy in Damascus have a contingency plan “so that if there is a need to repatriate, we could immediately take our people out.”

“Usually we have benchmarks that we try to observe when it is time to (go) to the next level (alert level 4). As of now the other benchmarks have not yet been reached but anyway we are on top of the situation and we have the necessary network and they are ready to implement our contingency plans in Syria,” he added.

He also assured the people that the embassy has also deployed people to coordinate with the Filipinos based in Syria.

About 90 percent of the estimated 17,000 OFWs are undocumented, majority of them domestic helpers, while professionals account for only a smaller percentage.

OFWs want to go home

But Migrante-Middle East said Filipinos, mostly domestic helpers who are staying in Homs, are seeking immediate evacuation.

Migrante Mideast regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said there are also about 100 OFWs awaiting repatriation from all over Syria at the moment.

He said the workers are claiming that peace and order situation in Homs has gotten worse as clashes continue and the number of casualties steadily increasing almost daily.

According to OFWs, there are about 300 Filipinos staying in Homs. They said some of their fellow OFWs have been transferred by their employers to their relatives, as they left their homes and fled out of the country.

According to the workers, Philippine Embassy personnel in Syria, in phone calls, merely advised them to take extra care, but failed to personally check on their conditions.

But Monterona admitted that it would be difficult for the Philippine Embassy to evacuate the Filipinos from the troubled areas considering the peace and order situation there.

“This is what we have been telling in the early days when the political turmoil in Syria just erupted - to immediately arrange and ready the evacuation plan and execute promptly and not to wait for the situation to become worse as what is happening there now,” he said.

Reports said Syrian forces shot dead at least 20 protestors last week, as tens of thousands demanded the overthrow of President al-Assad.

Defiant protest marches unfolded across the country despite a military crackdown that has intensified since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan, triggering sanctions and condemnation abroad. - With Mayen Jaymalin, Evelyn Macairan, Pia Lee-Brago

LuckyLady

August 17th, 2011, 08:17 AM

amigo32

August 17th, 2011, 09:57 AM

don't worry, we will be the country hiring singaporeans, americans, europeans etc... Pag nag boom na yung bagong miminahin na gas. magkakaroon na tayo mga housemaid na mga puti, driver na dating hollywood actor:D

hintay ka lang muna, inaayos pa ang tuwid na daan:D

they will be begging help from us Pinoys in the Philippines:D

Si madam Auring po ang nag predict nyan:D

OtAkAw

August 17th, 2011, 01:59 PM

^^Echosero! :lol:

mwg12a

August 18th, 2011, 05:07 AM

:rofl::rofl:

anone

August 18th, 2011, 08:20 AM

Most of Filipinos in Syria ‘illegal,’ difficult to extricate, says NGO
By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:55 pm | Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/9329/most-of-filipinos-in-syria-%e2%80%98illegal%e2%80%99-difficult-to-extricate-says-ngo

MANILA, Philippines—Majority of 17,000 Filipinos in Syria are working and living there illegally, making them more difficult to extricate from strife-torn areas, according to a migrant workers advocacy group.

The Pasay City-based Blas F. Ople Policy Center, in a statement on Wednesday, said years of “unabated” human trafficking of Filipino women to Syria has rendered overseas Filipino workers in conflict-ridden areas more difficult to reach and rescue.

“The Philippine Embassy would have to seek the help of local labor suppliers to find out who are employing our workers and where they can be found,” the center’s president, former labor undersecretary Susan Ople said.

According to the nongovernment organization, most of the Filipinos in Syria were relocated there by recruitment agencies based in Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, and Dubai.

“The first human trafficking case that the Ople Center ever handled was that of a Filipino domestic worker whose passport and contracts were sold from Dubai to Oman to Damascus, Syria way back in 2006. Even during that time, we were surprised to find out that we had 6,000 Filipino women illegally employed in Syria,” Ople recalled.

That number has since grown from 6,000 to a stock estimate of 17,000, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

“The status of these workers as illegal entrants and ‘over-stayers’ contributes to their vulnerability and over reliance on their employers. Right now, our embassy and the Palace augmentation team must reach out to Syrian employers and local manpower agents in order to get to our workers. This must be handled delicately because we also need the cooperation of the Syrian government in securing exit clearances for these workers,” Ople said.

The DFA has raised Alert Level 3 over Syria, urging Filipinos there to voluntarily leave, with the Philippine government shouldering their repatriation expenses.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration also banned the deployment of OFWs to Syria, a move that a Manila-based recruitment consultant, Emmanuel Geslani, described as too little, too late.

“There’s nothing to ban. Filipino domestic helpers there are 95-percent undocumented,” Geslani said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Geslani said he wondered why there were already 17,000 Filipinos in Syria now when in 2007, there were only about 2,000, mostly undocumented and brought by illegal recruitment syndicates.

Ople, for her part, underscored the need for “clear instructions and a candid appraisal” of the Syrian situation from and by the DFA.

“Let us avoid the usual hysterics because real lives are at stake, and the fate of our women workers there are not entirely in our hands,” Ople stressed.

According to the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) for 2011, Syria is categorized under the Tier 2 Watch List, meaning no significant efforts have been exerted by its government to curb human trafficking.

“Thousands of women— the majority from Indonesia, the Philippines, Somalia, and Ethiopia—are recruited by employment agencies to work in Syria as domestic servants, but are subsequently subjected to conditions of forced labor by their employers. Some of these women are confined to the private residences in which they work, and most have their passports confiscated, contrary to Syrian law, by their employer or the labor recruitment agency,” the US TIP Report stated.

Ople said the Philippine government, through the DFA, would need the full support of families in the country with relatives in Syria to fast-track voluntary repatriation.

“Repatriation efforts should include OFWs in dire need of rescue not just from violence in the streets but also due to violence inflicted by some abusive employers. We appeal to the families of OFWs in Syria to share whatever information they have with local and national authorities so that our Philippine Embassy can be of immediate assistance,” the former labor official said.

LuckyLady

August 18th, 2011, 09:35 AM

Ady001

August 18th, 2011, 01:12 PM

anone

August 18th, 2011, 01:14 PM

And in the end, aasa na naman ang iba na iaaahon sila't tutulungan ng gobyerno... :ohno:

sa isang banda naman kahit TNT sila ay yung $ na kinikita nila ay sa Pinas din ang bagsak.

amigo32

August 18th, 2011, 01:16 PM

kaya lang dahil illegal:D kukulangin pa yung pinadala nila sa Pinas pang tulong sa kanila:D

anone

August 18th, 2011, 01:17 PM

saludo ako sa PAL dahil kahit $10M Q1 loss on high fuel prices ay nakuha pa nilang tumulong.

18 August 2011
http://www.philippineairlines.com/news/repatriate_syria.jsp

PAL ready to help repatriate Pinoys in Syria
Philippine Airlines (PAL) said today (August 18, 2011) it is ready and willing to help in the repatriation of Filipinos trapped in strife-torn Syria.

PAL President and COO Jaime J. Bautista said PAL is ready to coordinate with the Philippine government to map out the repatriation plan aimed at ensuring the safe transport of Filipinos from so-called “danger zones” in Syria.

“As the country’s national flag carrier, PAL has a sworn duty to assist in times of crises for the sake of our suffering ‘kababayans’”, Bautista said.

He said that as before, PAL is just waiting for advise from officials of concerned government units like the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor and Employment for coordination.

Among the critical issues to be agreed on include the pick-up point where PAL will fetch Filipino evacuees; the aircraft to be used; flight crew; processing of flight and landing permits; and ground handling arrangements.

A number of times in its 70-year history, PAL has been called upon to operate emergency missions to evacuate Filipinos in conflict-stricken territories.

The latest repatriation effort made by PAL was in March this year when the flag carrier picked up hundreds of Filipinos in Crete, Greece, after they fled the civil war in Libya.

GodIsNotGreat

August 18th, 2011, 11:26 PM

Kapit sa patalim ang mga Pinoy. This is a manifestation of the lack of employment opportunities at home; kahit sa mga delikadong bansa nagtratrabaho pa rin at ayaw pa rin umuwi kahit may gyera na.

-----

Thousands of Filipinos on knife-edge are resisting evacuation efforts amid rising violence in Afghanistan, Libya and Syria.

Concerned activists have accused the Aquino administration officials of either being “very slow” or are “playing down” the situation of the besieged Filipino workers.

The US military command has set for Sept. 9, the start of a “demobilization process” for some 5,000 Filipinos in Afghanistan following an Aug. 13 memo directing companies employing them to prepare an “exit strategy timeline.”

“It is the responsibility of the current employer to repatriate their employees. Additionally, it is in the best interest of all to ensure this is done in a manner that addresses employee, company and the US government needs,” said one memo issued by Col. Brian Alvin, of the US Army’s 645th Regional Support Group based in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/9579/filipino-workers-refuse-to-leave-afghanistan-libya-syria

mwg12a

August 19th, 2011, 01:51 AM

GodIsNotGreat

August 19th, 2011, 02:40 AM

Kaso pag nagkaletse-letse na ang sitwasyon gobyerno pa rin ang gagastos para ma-repatriate sila.

Ady001

August 19th, 2011, 02:41 AM

sa isang banda naman kahit TNT sila ay yung $ na kinikita nila ay sa Pinas din ang bagsak.

That's the other side of the coin...

WawaY[625]

August 19th, 2011, 12:08 PM

First Middle East, now Singapore! What's next considering US and Europe is not doing well these days??? Is our gov't ready to absorb all these OFW's jsut in case they'll be sent back home? The gov't. should foresee this coming and not jsut wait for it.

the minstry of manpower is always adjusting the requirements naman talaga.matindi kasi ang sentimyento ng mga tiga rito against foreigners.na ko coin na nga ang term na 'foreign talent' to ftrash..pinoys included.as for employment passes,if di qualified sa e-pass pwede naman sa s-pass which is lower ang salary threshold (minimum sgd2000).pero wag ka,madaming nag o-overdeclare ng sahod para lang ma meet ang requirements.:ohno: lugi lang pagdating sa tax kasi mas mataas ang assesment mo :lol: anyway,yung increase ng epass is reasonable naman para nga mabawasan din ang daya na declaration at ma filter ang pass applications

WawaY[625]

August 19th, 2011, 12:13 PM

gayunpaman, sabi ng punong ministro nila eh di naman nila isasara ang pinto nila sa aming mga dayuhang manggagawa .yun nga lang mas sina sala na nila ang mga application kasi nga naman nagrereklamo na ang locals.to be honest,talagang madami na rin talaga tayong mga noypi dito..minsan wala na rin 'quality control'

note: di naman sa gusto ko bawasan ang pinoy dito,im just saying it from a non-biased point of view.pero kung ako lang,mas maraming pinoy,mas masaya :lol:

LuckyLady

August 19th, 2011, 12:16 PM

Kaso pag nagkaletse-letse na ang sitwasyon gobyerno pa rin ang gagastos para ma-repatriate sila.

eh sino pa ba ini expect mo na mag babayad, alangan naman ang foregin gov't? o mga private individuals, corporations? eh dyan lang naman nagbabayad mga OFW na yan ng buwis sa gobyerno ng pinas...yung binabayad sa OWWA san ba dapat mapunta di ba para yan sa welfare ng OFW at kung mag ka letse letse sila may pera pantulong...

WawaY[625]

August 19th, 2011, 12:16 PM

sa isang banda naman kahit TNT sila ay yung $ na kinikita nila ay sa Pinas din ang bagsak.

exactly! Atsaka kahit ano pang himutok ng iba dyan,tungkulin pa rin naman ng gubyerno na alagaan ang kapakanan nating mga pilipino..

LuckyLady

August 19th, 2011, 12:22 PM

;83022860']gayunpaman, sabi ng punong ministro nila eh di naman nila isasara ang pinto nila sa aming mga dayuhang manggagawa .yun nga lang mas sina sala na nila ang mga application kasi nga naman nagrereklamo na ang locals.to be honest,talagang madami na rin talaga tayong mga noypi dito..minsan wala na rin 'quality control'

note: di naman sa gusto ko bawasan ang pinoy dito,im just saying it from a non-biased point of view.pero kung ako lang,mas maraming pinoy,mas masaya :lol:

importante lang naman talaga handa ang gobyerno natin in case ma pauwi tong mga ofw...lam nyo naman siguro kung anong mangyayari pag lalong madadagdagan ang mga walang trabaho sa bansa natin...

anone

August 22nd, 2011, 08:25 AM

Filipinos in UAE caught in credit card trap
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/9791/filipinos-in-uae-caught-in-credit-card-trap
Philippine Daily Inquirer 2:04 am | Monday, August 22nd, 2011

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates—Before she arrived in this mecca of migrant labor at age 48, Evelyn Naces, a Filipino nurse, had never owned a credit card. Soon she had 14 credit cards—and like thousands of other foreign workers here, a trip to debtors’ prison.

The Philippine Embassy held a financial literacy program in June. Some workers borrowed at rates of 50 percent or more.

“When they put me in shackles, that was the worst,” said Naces, who had $27,000 in unpaid bills, mostly from helping her grown son start a business back in the Philippines that later failed. “I felt so degraded.”

For years, banks all but threw credit cards at the foreigners who come here in droves to work the malls and fill the office towers. The workers, many of them raised in poor countries and new to easy credit, spent beyond their means.

Staggering losses followed, with jail terms common for those who could not pay.

Whether cast as reckless lending or heedless borrowing, the stories of these foreign workers offer an unusual glimpse of the hidden emotions—webs of pride, guilt and family obligation—that follow millions of migrants across the globe.

Some shopped for pleasure, but many ran up bills by answering pleas from poor relatives for needs as varied as livestock and medical care. The ability to say “no” seldom felt like an option.

Still others, feeling uprooted, built houses back home that they might never occupy. Some mothers who left their children behind tried to salve guilty feelings with expensive gifts.

Vicious cycle

“The family back home often thinks the migrant is earning a lot and raises its expectations,” said Grace Princesa, the Philippine ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who has made debt reduction a part of a government campaign to improve conditions for migrants.

“The poor migrant goes deeper into debt just to answer. It’s a vicious cycle,” Princesa said.

Such was the case with Naces, now 52, a single mother who left her infant son with her parents and went to Saudi Arabia to make money to support him. By the time she arrived in the UAE in 2007, he had already grown up without her.

Though she could not get a credit card in Saudi Arabia, she could scarcely avoid one in the UAE. Salesmen stalked nurses outside hospitals and worshipers after Mass at a Filipino church.

Naces bought furniture, clothes and meals for herself, but her biggest expenses involved her son, whose affection she feared she had lost. She built him a house in the Philippines and bought five cars with credit cards so he could start a rental business.

“I felt guilty for being away and not raising him,” she said. “I was trying to compensate.”

Both mother and son went to jail—he on drug charges and she for debt.

Debtors clog jails

While the government does not disclose how many debtors have been jailed, a legislative body several years ago estimated that 10,000 of them were in the courts or prison.

The Dubai police chief has complained that debtors needlessly clog the jails, and employers have warned the Ministry of Labor that debt problems distract employees.

About 85 percent of the UAE’s population—and 99 percent of the private workforce—consists of foreign workers, and local officials keep watch for signs of discontent.

“The employers were saying, ‘This is a priority to us,’” said Qassim Jamil, a senior official in the labor ministry.

The Central Bank tightened lending rules this year, and the labor ministry sponsored a financial literacy program for migrant leaders.

“What do we want? Freedom!” Ambassador Princesa chanted at a session for Filipinos. “Freedom from poverty! Freedom from credit card problems! Freedom from bank problems!”

Aggressive lending

If migrants spent heavily, lenders encouraged them. Traditionally, credit card use was low (in part because of Islamic strictures against charging interest), but banks spotted a new market and moved aggressively.

With foreign banks like HSBC and Citigroup fighting locals for market share, the number of cards leapt to four million in 2008, a fivefold increase in five years, according to the Lafferty Group, a London research firm.

But the UAE lacks a reliable credit bureau, so lenders could not tell how many cards or how much debt the borrowers carried.

“Banks were falling over themselves to lend, and they didn’t have proper credit checks,” said Andrew Neeson, a Lafferty analyst.

Courted with gifts and teaser rates, few borrowers understood the costs. The average interest rate in the Emirates last year, at 36 percent, was more than twice the global average, and banks routinely add another 10 percent for disability and death insurance.

With penalties, some workers were borrowing at rates of 50 percent or more.

Intoxicating

Anyone can be tempted by easy credit, but migrants raised in poverty can find the glittering malls here especially intoxicating.

“The first time I used my card, I felt amazed,” Naces said. “It’s a feeling of excitement, power—greatness even.”

Rex Arcenio, a Filipino optometrist, accepted a gold card because it came with a Montblanc pen and a limousine ride to the airport for his annual leave.

“It was like a status symbol,” Arcenio said.

He ran up $50,000 in debt—for his children’s education, his brother’s cancer treatment and a house in Manila—and was briefly jailed.

Bouncing check

Technically, debtors go to jail for bouncing the blank “security checks” they must sign when accepting a card. If borrowers fail to pay, banks can deposit the checks for the sum owed, and bouncing a check is a crime.

Whether foreign or Emirati, borrowers must repay the debt after leaving jail, though banks often accept reduced terms.

Skilled workers here are generally treated better than in neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia, which can make their debt travails a shock. Jail conditions in the UAE are described as comfortable, but the accused often appear in court in leg irons.

“My world collapsed,” said Arcenio, a proud man in a white lab coat.

Aisha Alambatang, 54, who served a month for one card in February, could be jailed again for others. A Filipino nurse with three grown children, Alambatang spent most of their childhood years abroad, supporting them from Saudi Arabia.

When she arrived in the UAE eight years ago, she got a raise and six credit cards.

‘My heart was broken’

Alambatang built houses for herself and her daughter, and helped the children start several failed businesses. Then she paid for two daughters to move to Abu Dhabi to job-hunt.

Soon she had a monthly salary of $2,200 and debt service of more than $3,000. When Alambatang arrived in court, her daughter was already there.

“When my daughter saw me with a chain on my foot, I felt like my heart was broken,” she said. Worried about returning to jail, Alambatang gets palpitations when she sees the police, and she sleeps with her daughter for comfort.

“I’m not in jail anymore, but here,” she said, hand over her heart, “I’m more in jail.” New York Times News Service

Yre

August 22nd, 2011, 09:27 AM

mwg12a

August 22nd, 2011, 09:48 AM

^^
This is what i was saying even before the bubble burst 3 years ago with regards to ofw's spending and borrowing habits in the UAE.

I was totally astonished how someone with a salary of below $1,000.00 was able to get 9 credit cards! Although the banks are partially to blame here, the main responsibility is still with the person himself.

Andami daw pinoy ngayon sa mga UAE jail dahil sa utang sabi nung kakilala ko na nagtatrabaho sa isang Dubai Jail...:ohno::ohno:

Was it credit cards from the Philippines? Because I have noticed that there is a more massive issuance of credit cards in the Philippines now comparing to about 20 years ago.

I am seing the same pattern that happened in the US when it comes to giving credits and real state loans to those who cannot actually afford it. Filipinos in the Philippines aren't still very well educated with credit card use. This is a bad practice and it could be catastrophic in the Philippine economy in the near future. I bet that would be felt in another 10 to 15 years time from now. This is where the US bankers, the lenders and the people itself made a big mistake that took the US in its situation right now. Ofcourse, the 911 incident also played a big role in the US economy since this is what Al Quaeda has been targeting all along, the US economy. In the Philippines while there is no foreseable 911 type of catastrophic event, it would be on how filipinos getting addicted to credit cards and then the lenders offering these credit cards to people, once a great number of credit card holders defaulted on its payments, it would definitely show a rippled effect, so, be adviced y'all who are just now starting with all these credit card use, it's cheaper and easier if you save up and pay everything in cash as much as possible. Don't wait until you cannot afford the monthly payment because of your increasing credit card debts every month.

Yre

August 22nd, 2011, 10:03 AM

Was it credit cards from the Philippines? Because I have noticed that there is a more massive issuance of credit cards in the Philippines now comparing to about 20 years ago.

I am seing the same pattern that happened in the US when it comes to giving credits and real state loans to those who cannot actually afford it. Filipinos in the Philippines aren't still very well educated with credit card use. This is a bad practice and it could be catastrophic in the Philippine economy in the near future. I bet that would be felt in another 10 to 15 years time from now. This is where the US bankers, the lenders and the people itself made a big mistake that took the US in its situation right now. Ofcourse, the 911 incident also played a big role in the US economy since this is what Al Quaeda has been targeting all along, the US economy. In the Philippines while there is no foreseable 911 type of catastrophic event, it would be on how filipinos getting addicted to credit cards and then the lenders offering these credit cards to people, once a great number of credit card holders defaulted on its payments, it would definitely show a rippled effect, so, be adviced y'all who are just now starting with all these credit card use, it's cheaper and easier if you save up and pay everything in cash as much as possible. Don't wait until you cannot afford the monthly payment because of your increasing credit card debts every month.

No, UAE credit cards.
What happened in the USA and the UAE is almost similar. Banks lending to people who have no capacity to pay on the amount loaned.
I don't think the credit card companies in the Philippines are as liberal as the US though or for that matter the UAE. It's one of the reason the Philippines was not that affected when shit-hit-the-fan in the US.

xxxriainxxx

August 22nd, 2011, 10:10 AM

I heard we have a credit card bubble in PHL.

mwg12a

August 22nd, 2011, 10:22 AM

Yes, thats what I heard also. It's not really widely talked about yet but from how I observed it, just from people I knew who would even visit here in the US, its alot easier now to get credit cards there in the Philippines. It's not one of those preloaded with minimum limit only but a more maximum allowable credit. Even in purchasing brand new automobile now, it's easier to get financing in the Philippines.

WawaY[625]

August 22nd, 2011, 10:24 AM

Dito sa SG mas strict ang issuance ng credit cards to foreigners. You must earn at least S$80k a year to qualify pero may lumabas sa news na mga pinoy na cc agents na pineke ang financial statements ng applicante para makapasa..ayun kalaboso :lol:

Ako nga 2 lang ang SG credit cards ko joke lang po hehe, ang sarap siguro kumita ng S$80k sa isang taon hahaha

xxxriainxxx

August 22nd, 2011, 10:29 AM

;83099513']Dito sa SG mas strict ang issuance ng credit cards to foreigners. You must earn at least S$80k a year to qualify pero may lumabas sa news na mga pinoy na cc agents na pineke ang financial statements ng applicante para makapasa..ayun kalaboso :lol:

Dito naman sa VN, iba ang pagkakaintindi nila ng Credit Card. Mapa Credit or Debit Card, kelangang magdeposit ka muna ng 20M VND (about 1,000USD). At yun din ang 'credit' limit mo. LOL.

WawaY[625]

August 22nd, 2011, 10:33 AM

Napaisip tuloy ako, dapat nga kumuha na ako nung debit card na may mastercard. ang mahal kasi ng conversion pag nag credit card galing pinas..yun kasi ginagamit ko pag bumibili ng ticket..nung kailan lang sa S$378 ko na plane ticket eh ang bill sa pinas P15k :bash: Eh no choice ako kasi nga online purchase :ohno:

anone

August 22nd, 2011, 10:40 AM

dati dito super hirap kumuha ng credit card at mag open ng savings account, pero ngayon ang dali-dali na at halos lahat na yata ng agent ng bangko ay nag alok dito sa opisina. pati nga mag loan ng car ngayon ay super dali na dito. kaya ang dami na ngayong pinoy dito na payabangan ng sasakyan. may isa akong kilala na barbero na nag loan ng bagong camry. yan ang nakakatakot ngayon baka lumobog sa utang ang mga OFW dito dahil alam naman natin siguro ang ugali ng karamihang Pinoy.

mwg12a

August 22nd, 2011, 10:41 AM

@Waway = May extra charge yan pag foreign ang credit card mo, since sa Philippines ang credit card mo, most definitely, sa Singapore foreign credit card yan kaya may patong pa lalo. Parang na din ATM cards, ewan ko lang sa inyo diyan, pero dito pag nag withdraw ka ng pera sa ibang banko may processing fee na mas mahal. I'm sure parehas din diyan dahil financing at banking system naman ang mga yan.

WawaY[625]

August 22nd, 2011, 10:45 AM

Kaya nga last option palagi ang credit card..pambili lang ng ticket at yung mga purchase na cc ang kailangan :lol: pero nadiskubre ko yung isang banko eh may mastercard ang ATM nila so lilipat na lang ako dun :lol:

Yre

August 22nd, 2011, 10:56 AM

Dito naman sa VN, iba ang pagkakaintindi nila ng Credit Card. Mapa Credit or Debit Card, kelangang magdeposit ka muna ng 20M VND (about 1,000USD). At yun din ang 'credit' limit mo. LOL.

:lol: Parang HSBC dito sa Dubai, when my boss told me to get a credit card, i inquired with HSBC and yes, same with VN, i was required to deposit AED5,000as bond for the credit card. Sabi ko nevermind, ano ako gago, uutangin ko sariling pera ko! :bash:

dati dito super hirap kumuha ng credit card at mag open ng savings account, pero ngayon ang dali-dali na at halos lahat na yata ng agent ng bangko ay nag alok dito sa opisina. pati nga mag loan ng car ngayon ay super dali na dito. kaya ang dami na ngayong pinoy dito na payabangan ng sasakyan. may isa akong kilala na barbero na nag loan ng bagong camry. yan ang nakakatakot ngayon baka lumobog sa utang ang mga OFW dito dahil alam naman natin siguro ang ugali ng karamihang Pinoy.

You're in Saudi right? Di pa sila nadala sa nangyari dito sa UAE? Actually hanggang ngayon dami pa rin nag aalok ng loans and credit cards laging bumibisita sa office but now they require a certain salary limit before qualifying to get one. Ang nakaka-inis, napaka persistent ng mga mokong, ilang ulit i-decline yung offer nila, speil pa rin ng speil. Ngayon style ko sasabihin ko na agad na sahod ko is only 1,000 dirhmas lang, aba, tatalikod nalang bigla wala man lang paalam.:lol::lol:

anone

August 22nd, 2011, 11:07 AM

^^^yup dito ako Jeddah KSA. tanda ko rin dati na mag open lang ng savings account ay kailangan ng SR5k initial deposit. :D

xxxriainxxx

August 22nd, 2011, 11:09 AM

:lol: Parang HSBC dito sa Dubai, when my boss told me to get a credit card, i inquired with HSBC and yes, same with VN, i was required to deposit AED5,000as bond for the credit card. Sabi ko nevermind, ano ako gago, uutangin ko sariling pera ko! :bash:

I LOLd on that one. Tama nga naman! Tutubuan ka pa. HAHAHA.

mwg12a

August 22nd, 2011, 06:54 PM

;83099847']Kaya nga last option palagi ang credit card..pambili lang ng ticket at yung mga purchase na cc ang kailangan :lol: pero nadiskubre ko yung isang banko eh may mastercard ang ATM nila so lilipat na lang ako dun :lol:

Actually mas maganda kung ATM with mastercard or visa, parang cash na din kase pag cash ma gauge mo and mabudget mo ang purchases mo at hindi ka malulubog sa utang na malaking tubo. Sa akin mas gamit ko ang American Express kahit na ang bayad mo full price ng purchase mo parang cash, nataon kase na ang annual membership fee nito waved sa akin dahil sa MCI customer ako. so may certain limit ako ng purchase kailangan pag $1,000. na stop ko na ang gamit ng AmeEx , I know parang sobrang laki pero kase pati yuong ibang bills duon naka attached so isang check na lang ang bayad at naka-set na automatic debit sa Checking account ko. So, parang cash advance at parehas din ang gastos, ang maganda lang na bubudget ko ang gastos at hindi sakit ng ulo ang issue ng check dito, issue ng check duon, bayad dito, bayad duon tapos may nakakalimutan kang due date, na minimize ang late payment kaya hindi ako nag mumulta sa late payment. Minsan kase na delay sa mail at pag may trabaho ka hindi mo agad naasikaso. Pag sobrang laki naman ang babayaran ko na over 1500 na, nag payment plan ako ng 2 or 3 payments sa isang buwan, usually 2 payments lang para hindi todong bigla ng bayad at nakaka budget pa din.

hakz2007

August 24th, 2011, 07:38 AM

Phl embassy, IOM look for safe routes for Filipinos in Libya
MANILA, Philippines - Philippine officials in Tripoli and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are mapping out safe routes and contingency plans for the repatriation of Filipinos in Libya amid renewed threats of violence in the strife-torn country.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Raul Hernandez said a crucial part in the repatriation process is bringing the Filipinos from the pickup point to the port where the IOM-chartered ship will be waiting. More: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=720087&publicationSubCategoryId=200

Manila-X

August 25th, 2011, 05:54 AM

EDITORIAL - No place like home
(The Philippine Star) Updated August 25, 2011 12:00 AM

The country’s economic fundamentals may be strong amid the US recession and Europe’s debt woes. But that strength is heavily dependent on the billions of dollars remitted annually by millions of overseas Filipino workers. Global economic problems could reduce those remittances and render many OFWs unemployed. Worse, economic problems are fueling resentment directed at migrant workers and opening them to harassment and discrimination. Governments, trying to calm public unrest, are more open to policies that are unfavorable to migrant workers.

OFW organizations have raised concern over such trends in the Middle East and Hong Kong, and even in Britain. Compounding the problem is continuing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. Thousands of OFWs have been urged to return home from Syria, where the path to regime change could trigger more violence before order is restored. So far the majority of OFWs in Syria have refused to leave, mainly for fear of losing their jobs and facing unemployment back home.

Erasing that fear must be one of the priority goals of President Aquino. In Hong Kong, OFWs said foreign maids have been the targets of hate messages online, calling them cockroaches and parasites that cause social chaos and should return home. OFW leaders urged the Aquino administration to create decent jobs in the Philippines so there will be no need for Filipinos to seek employment overseas.

The booming business process outsourcing sector is starting to meet this need, but most returning OFWs will need retraining to qualify for BPO jobs. Thousands of BPO job openings cannot be filled for lack of qualified workers. Returning workers can also be retrained for jobs in the tourism industry, which the government should promote as a major livelihood and revenue source.

The government must also fast-track measures that will improve the environment for the types of investments that can create the decent jobs that OFWs want. The country has a unique resource that its neighbors cannot offer: the quality of the Filipino workforce. But more incentives are needed and a better business environment created to make the Philippines more competitive. Through better education and training, the government must also prevent the deterioration of the quality of the workforce.

There is no place like home. Filipinos should not have to choose discrimination and security risks abroad over life in their own land.

anone

August 28th, 2011, 08:07 AM

Ramadan gesture: Theft accused maid let off
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article494482.ece

By RODOLFO ESTIMO JR. | ARAB NEWS

Published: Aug 28, 2011 00:03 Updated: Aug 28, 2011 00:03

RIYADH: A Filipino maid who was accused of theft has been repatriated home, according to the Philippine Embassy.

A case was filed with a Dammam court on June 29 against 29-year-old Linda Grace de la Rosa of Alkhobar. She had earlier been identified as “Rosalinda” in an Arab News report on July 13.

De la Rosa, who maintains that she did not steal a ring worth SR375,000 from her employer because she was not allowed to enter his bedroom where it was supposedly kept, left the Kingdom on August 21. The embassy said the sponsor issued an exit visa after the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in the Eastern Region (POLO-ERO) headed by Labor Attaché Adam A. Musa made the necessary arrangements.

“The sponsor also provided a one-way ticket and SR10,000 as gesture of compensation since the case had dragged on for at least four months. She also received her outstanding pay,” the embassy said.

Musa said the sponsor dropped the case against her out of goodwill and in the spirit of Ramadan.

xxxriainxxx

August 28th, 2011, 08:54 AM

anone

August 28th, 2011, 09:02 AM

^^^korek at ayaw lang nilang aminin ang katangahan at kasamaan nila.

xxxriainxxx

August 28th, 2011, 09:14 AM

^^^korek at ayaw lang nilang aminin ang katangahan at kasamaan nila.

Kakaawa talaga ang mga kababayan natin dyan sa Middle East... Hayyy....

amigo32

August 28th, 2011, 09:27 AM

^^^korek at ayaw lang nilang aminin ang katangahan at kasamaan nila.

palagay ko rin.

hanapin mo nga yung boss nyang lalake at bahala ka na sa parusa:lol:

Nabartek

August 28th, 2011, 09:45 AM

Was it credit cards from the Philippines? Because I have noticed that there is a more massive issuance of credit cards in the Philippines now comparing to about 20 years ago.

I am seing the same pattern that happened in the US when it comes to giving credits and real state loans to those who cannot actually afford it. Filipinos in the Philippines aren't still very well educated with credit card use. This is a bad practice and it could be catastrophic in the Philippine economy in the near future. I bet that would be felt in another 10 to 15 years time from now. This is where the US bankers, the lenders and the people itself made a big mistake that took the US in its situation right now. Ofcourse, the 911 incident also played a big role in the US economy since this is what Al Quaeda has been targeting all along, the US economy. In the Philippines while there is no foreseable 911 type of catastrophic event, it would be on how filipinos getting addicted to credit cards and then the lenders offering these credit cards to people, once a great number of credit card holders defaulted on its payments, it would definitely show a rippled effect, so, be adviced y'all who are just now starting with all these credit card use, it's cheaper and easier if you save up and pay everything in cash as much as possible. Don't wait until you cannot afford the monthly payment because of your increasing credit card debts every month.

Dapat may flyers din ang gobyerno tungkol sa paggamit ng credit card. Alam mo naman ugali ng mga ibang tao (not limited to any nationality), swipte ng swipe para magpabongga lubog naman sa utang...parang yung housing bubble. Daming nakiuso.

Tapos may pautot pa mga credit card companies na "minimum payment", but in reality tutubuan kapag hindi mo nabayaran ng buo ang due date yung utang mo at lolobo ng malaki kapag nagstick ka sa minimum payment. Tapos may pautot pa sila na credit card protection that comes with a monthly fee.

If ever there really becomes a credit card boom in the Philippines, IMO, the Phil govt should AGGRESSIVELY promote the mentality that do not spend money beyond what you cannot pay, kahit "on credit" pa. Parang gamitin mo lang yung amount na kaya mong bayaran

mwg12a

August 28th, 2011, 12:01 PM

Yep, bad news ang mga credit cards na yan, before you knew it, you're already drowning in debt, and it has a very strong implication in the economy when more and more people defaulted on their payments especially when people are also defaulting on their home mortgages.

Nabartek

August 28th, 2011, 12:04 PM

Worse is, if it becomes a "requirement" in the Philippines to have a credit history to acquire properties like in the US. Mahirap din ang dependent ang society sa "plastic money". Parang no choice kungdi magcredit card :/

xxxriainxxx

August 28th, 2011, 12:12 PM

^^

Good thing the Philippines is unlike South Korea:

Analysis: South Korea's reckless consumers edge towards debt
Thu, Aug 25 2011
By Yoo Choonsik

SEOUL (Reuters) - If thrift is an Asian virtue, then it is one that South Koreans are notably lacking: each adult has almost five credit cards on average and the household debt burden exceeds that of the United States before the subprime crisis.

With the growing risk of a global double-dip recession hitting exports from Asia's fourth largest economy, consumer spending has been key to economic growth.

But household borrowing has propped up that spending. With debt far above levels that triggered a credit card crisis eight years ago, it is now perhaps the biggest risk that Korea faces and one that the government is loath to tackle ahead of elections next year.

Alongside the mainstream banks, there has been robust growth from kerb market lenders. One even advertises that it will transfer funds after an 11-second procedure on a smartphone.

Official data shows that loans from these secondary lenders grew almost 10 percent in 2010 to 7.5 trillion won ($6.9 billion) as they tapped into insatiable demand from students, housewives and office workers.

Household debt "is really serious and getting more so day by day," said Hong Hee-deok, a lawmaker with the opposition Democratic Labor Party.

"Many people now have to borrow more to pay interest, and those who can't see their debt principle snowballing each day. If not dealt with quickly, I think this could cause troubles that may lead to another sovereign crisis," he said.
Private economists are not that worried. True, any talk of the high consumer indebtedness is a blast from the past for those familiar with the 2003 credit card crisis in which millions defaulted and the central bank was compelled to inject funds into a tense bond market.

But it is premature to anticipate a 2003-like endgame, said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research at HSBC in Hong Kong. "Should household debt growth remain high for a long time, this would inevitably raise risks for financial stability. But, for the time being, this is not on the horizon."

INFLATED CONCERNS?

Korean household debt reached 155 percent of disposable income in 2010, exceeding the 138 percent recorded in the United States at the outset of the subprime crisis, said Erik Lueth, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong.

For some Koreans, the debt burden has already become unsustainable. Kim, a shoe polisher working in central Seoul who declined to give his first name, said credit troubles contributed to the failure of his marriage and he was struggling to pay off his debts.

"One of my customers from Chohung Bank one day told me I can get a card easily and indeed came back later with a gold card issued for me. It was all because of the card that my life has collapsed thereafter," said Kim.

South Korea has been bitten by debt before. In 1997, heavy company borrowing triggered a near sovereign insolvency, but companies have cut debts close to 100 percent of equity from 425 percent at that time. The government also has strong finances.

Concerns that another global recession will hit exporters hard may also be overblown. Exports to the most vulnerable economies, the United States and Europe, have fallen to 25 percent of the total from nearly 40 percent in 1997 as Korean companies have tapped into fast-growing markets like China.

That leaves household debt as the biggest risk and, so far, government action has been muted.

It says the bulk of household debts are owed by rich people and relatively well covered with collateral, and points out that loans from banks or conventional financial institutions are relatively sound, with delinquency ratios staying below 1 percent for banks and below 2 percent for credit card loans.
In June, it asked lenders to cap overall lending growth below the nominal economic growth rate of around 7-8 percent annually, in addition to an earlier policy of limiting lending growth to below deposit growth.

"The measures were not aimed at reducing the total amount of loans, but I think they were the best option available to the government to curb debt growth while minimizing the impact on economic growth," said Lee Sang-jae, chief economist at Hyundai Securities in Seoul.

Indeed, the heavy debt servicing burden at households has become the single biggest factor affecting economic and financial policymaking in South Korea.
The Bank of Korea's reluctance to raise rates lock-step with rising inflation seems to be directly related to the debt situation, either for fear it may trigger a wave of defaults or that it will rein in spending. A percentage point increase in interest rates could in theory take about $8 billion off Korean private consumption.

WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE

While Korea has won plaudits for its response to surging global capital flows and its leadership role in the Group of 20 nations' response to the fallout from the U.S. credit crisis, it appears to have forgotten lessons from financial meltdowns.

In the wake of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, Seoul encouraged banks to issue as many credit cards as possible so as to boost consumer spending, and by 2002 the number of cards in circulation surged 2.7 times to 105 million.
By the time the inevitable crisis came, Koreans had an average 4.6 cards per adult and a whopping $100 billion in debt on them. The average ratio of debt to disposable income for households hit 108 percent in 2002, right before the credit card crisis broke out.

Millions of defaults ensued and the government was forced to step in and bail out the country's then largest issuer, LG Card.

Card ownership levels dropped to as low as 3.5 per adult in 2005, but have surged again to stand at nearly five per adult at the end of March this year, according to official data, as Koreans use them to pay for everything from coffee to luxury cars.

"Household debt to disposable income is also significantly higher than the 130 percent recorded at the outset of Korea's credit card crisis in 2003," said Lueth at RBS.

DOUBLE ELECTION WITCHING

While the Korean authorities have been loud on rhetoric, room for action may be limited by elections next year and an economic slowdown as the ailing global economy crimps demand for exports.

For the first time in 20 years, the country will see parliamentary and presidential polls in the same year and rattled lawmakers from the ruling party have been sounding more populist as the votes near.

"Frankly there's some chance lending regulations could face resistance when economic slowdown becomes a hot issue," said one economist at a brokerage house, who did not want be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
($1 = 1083.850 Korean Won)

(Writing by David Chance; editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Vidya Ranganathan)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/25/us-korea-economy-debt-idUSTRE77O4JU20110825

:nuts::nuts::nuts::nuts:

Nabartek

August 28th, 2011, 12:18 PM

Ang bongga naman nila. I don't get the rationale having more than 3 credit cards - Visa, American Express, Master Card. I knew of some people who have multiple CC. I think one is enough although sometimes kasi may stores na hindi tumatanggap ng AE, or tumatanggap lang ng AE, or MC.

Hopefully, hindi maadik ang mga Pilipino sa credit cards

xxxriainxxx

August 28th, 2011, 12:21 PM

^^ an acquaintance in Korea has 5 credit cards, bibili ka lang sa grocery, may libre ka na credit card.

Nabartek

August 28th, 2011, 12:22 PM

Really? Kaya pala lumaki ang utang, di yata tinignan kung may capacity magbayad ago bigyan ng CC. :lol:

xxxriainxxx

August 28th, 2011, 12:24 PM

^^ a shoe polisher in Korea can get a gold card.

Ady001

August 28th, 2011, 03:01 PM

^^ And I just remembered that article, waaaaaayyyyy back in 1994 when they paid back all of their debt. When countries pay back all their debts, it's a good and bad sign. Good because wala na silang tang-ots. Bad because the economy will flounder. so tang-ots ulit to perpetuate the cycle.

Nabartek

August 28th, 2011, 03:14 PM

Looks like an economy will not flourish without utang? :lol: It is either ikaw ang umuutang or ikaw ang nagpapautang. Both sides have its downside and upside in the utang scheme.

Ady001

August 28th, 2011, 03:16 PM

^^ I now sense that the global economy, unless we have some dealings from out of space, will have to do away with this cycle of borrowing/lending and paying to pump money in continuously.

Nabartek

August 28th, 2011, 03:20 PM

How will money circulate if there is no borrowing/lending...I dunno with economies tied to each other, it seems hard to break away.

@dark spirit

August 28th, 2011, 03:24 PM

Ady001

August 28th, 2011, 03:30 PM

How will money circulate if there is no borrowing/lending...I dunno with economies tied to each other, it seems hard to break away.

It's almost the same situation with Japan na din.

I have the personal feeling that Credit/High Rentals were there as a passive investment plan; you earn doing nothing and time is your only puhunan. Same goes with auctions or investing in high-value goods (almost like in madam anone's case) but that's a haphazard investment kind.

Nabartek

August 28th, 2011, 03:48 PM

^^ Correct me if I got it wrong? workers in Japan earn money for doing nothing? I thought the Japanese were the most industrious? Or is it limited to the credit/rental/utang business?

Ady001

August 28th, 2011, 04:00 PM

^^ I mean Japan's external debt. I cannot really say about the individual level.

Nabartek

August 28th, 2011, 04:14 PM

I knew I got it wrong. Hahaha. I guess it is similar to China, only that their tactic is too keep their money value at a "fixed price".

crossboneka

August 30th, 2011, 09:12 PM

bagong logo ng POEA

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/1bWziqiBJ.rHiw_VlvC80A--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0yMTg7cT04NTt3PTM1OA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-PH/News/abs/053011_pilipinastarana.jpg

old logo
http://images.gracepalazo.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/R@DFtQoKCDAAAFoPJBs1/POEA%2520LOGO%2520-black%2520globe.jpg?et=0atEZeUBVr37hxUr5%2Btimw&nmid=

xxxriainxxx

August 31st, 2011, 04:01 AM

^^ huh??

Mercato

August 31st, 2011, 07:39 AM

Had the Department of Tourism and the POEA merged as one entity? :lol: :lol:
Kasi when I opened this page for a moment there namalikmata ako coz nagmerge ang last 2 letters of Pilipinas with Tara Na at ang basa ko'y Pilipinas, Takas Na. (no pun intended on the goals of the POEA of course) :D

Nabartek

August 31st, 2011, 07:46 AM

^^ Parang pinapaalis yung Pilipinas sa slogan na yan

Mercato

August 31st, 2011, 07:49 AM

^^ oo nga, one way of deflating our huge population. Send the excess overseas and pray they don't return. :lol: :lol:

Nabartek

August 31st, 2011, 08:29 AM

Not good news

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/global-filipino/08/30/11/number-hiv-positive-ofws-doubles

boypad

September 2nd, 2011, 06:43 PM

OtAkAw

September 2nd, 2011, 07:57 PM

--------------------------------------
^^
:ohno::ohno::ohno:
spirit of Ramadan?
Ginawa pang dahilan ang Ramadan!:down:

Mga demonyo talaga yang mga amoy baktol na yan. :ohno:

amigo32

September 3rd, 2011, 12:19 AM

chrismartin02

September 3rd, 2011, 09:57 AM

^ I agree. Please stop deploying maids in the entire Arab world, puro abuso inaabot ng mga kabayan natin dyan. :(

Manila-X

September 4th, 2011, 12:35 PM

Politicos also use and dupe OFWs
By Susan K
Philippine Daily Inquirer
1:51 am | Sunday, September 4th, 2011

We often hear stories of OFWs being abused, duped and exploited overseas. But overseas Filipino workers should not only be wary of recruitment agencies and bad employers. They must also watch out for people “pretending” to be public servants.

One neophyte lawmaker went to see overseas workers in various countries by joining a religious group. In her speech, she promised to help each and every OFW who sought her assistance.

After her visit, one OFW sent her an e-mail asking for help. When her staff told her about the e-mail, the legislator immediately asked: How big was the family of the OFW and how many votes would she get if she helped the person?

A disgusting public servant! The election is still too far off but, from her action, we can conclude that only votes—not persons—matter to her. We heard that this lawmaker is raising funds to win again in 2013.

Another lawmaker advertised himself as pro-OFW in the last elections. But when Filipino workers went to his office to ask for help, he advised them to go to Bantay OCW Foundation, claiming it was his extension office, as if he was the one funding the Bantay OCW. He lost in the last elections.

Even our Bantay OCW program is not being spared. These politicians act as if they are really helping our OFWs and that they can be depended upon by our troubled kababayans overseas. But the truth is some of them just dupe our kababayans.

By the way, Bantay OCW will partner with Kabalikat ng Marino in a themed Radyo Inquirer program entitled “Seaman’s Hour,” especially dedicated to Filipino seafarers around the world, every Thursday both on NBN 4 (10:10 p.m.-11:10 p.m.) and Radyo Inquirer 990 AM (7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.).

Seaman’s Hour will feature recent news, issues, laws, complaints relevant to seafaring Filipino workers, and job opportunities. It is in collaboration with Kabalikat ng Marino partners Leo Santiago and Capt. Edwin Itable, president and secretary, respectively. Itable is also the national secretary of Masters and Mates Association of the Philippines (MMAP).

Resource persons include Rear Admiral Adonis Donato of OSM Maritime Services, Director Christina Salinas Manzano, Capt. Ronaldo Enrile and engineer Peter Lugue of Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Inc. (PTC), Capt. Rodolfo Aspillaga, MMAP president and maritime lawyer Dennis Gorecho.

The joint forces of Bantay OCW and Kabalikat ng Marino are supported by Maritect, Argonaut, CFSharp, SBR Maritime Services and Protect.

Seaman’s Hour is open to all interested parties who want to support our world-class Filipino seafarers, in the spirit of genuine public service.

RonnieR

September 5th, 2011, 05:26 AM

Ban looms on deployment of maids to 3 mid-East countries :ohno:

Malaya - Business Insight
September 2, 2011

THE deployment of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar may soon be stopped.

A source in the recruitment industry said the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has already approved the ban on HSW deployment to the three countries which have yet to meet the requirements of the Amended Migrant Workers law (RA 10022).

The law restricts the deployment of OFWs only to a host country which has labor and social laws protecting the rights of workers; is a signatory to and/or a ratifier of multilateral conventions, declarations or resolutions relating to the protection of workers; and has concluded a bilateral agreement or arrangement with the government on the protection of the rights of OFWs.

The source, who declined to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter, said the ban would cut deployment to the three countries by "as much as 50 percent this year."

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz confirmed that the deployment ban was recommended by the Department of Foreign Affairs based on RA 10022 but said the POEA board of which she is also chairman has not adopted the DFA recommendation.

"Pag in-adopt iyon, iyon (ban) ang magiging effect," said Baldoz.

Records show that of the total 96,583 HSWs deployed in 2010, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE took 46 percent or 44,675.

In the same year, Kuwait was the second biggest employer of Filipino HSWs with 21,554, followed by UAE in third with 13,184, and Qatar in fifth with 9,937. – Gerard M. Naval

http://www.malaya.com.ph/sep02/news9.html

:banana:i-total ban na ang mga maid sa mideast:banana:

A realization for Kuwait. Good job PH officials. :cheers:
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTQ1OTIxMDIyMg==

Philippines 'very serious' on implementing Migrant Workers Act

Published Date: September 05, 2011
By Ben Garcia, Staff Writer

MANILA: The implementation of the Philippines Republic Act 10022, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers Act, was the only reason why Manila recently announced the imposition of a ban on exporting domestic workers to three Gulf countries, including Kuwait. Under RA 10022, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is required to impose a deployment ban in cases where labor laws, multilateral conventions, or declarations protecting overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are not observed.

Speaking with the Kuwait Times yesterday, Philippine Labor Attach� to Kuwait David Des Dicang, explained that the plan has yet to be deliberated by three Philippine government agencies (DOLE/OWWA/POEA). He stressed that Manila "is very serious" about enforcing the law," adding, "It's all about the implementation of our [the Philippines'} Migrant Workers Act.

Dicang noted that in 2009 the Philippine Congress amended the 1995 Migrant and Overseas Filipino Workers Act. "Since the start [of implementation] in 2010, we already had several of those contacts [with the host governments in the Middle East] stipulating our desire to implement the Migrant Workers Act," he said, adding, "It contained a series of stages and I assumed the plan of the Philippine government and the news that came out from Manila is related or connected to enforcing [implementing] our migrant
workers law.

Asked whether he supported a total or partial ban on Philippine domestic workers coming to Kuwait the official responded, "I have no direct knowledge about a plan banning domestic helpers. Until now, there's been a series of meetings in Manila regarding the plan. We are waiting for the official memo from Manila and probably confirmation and guidelines.

According to Dicang, Republic Act 10022 stated that all migrant Filipino workers must be covered by laws protecting their rights in their countries of destination and should be covered by labor bilateral agreements between the two countries. "Some countries need to come up with laws to protect our workers," he said. "The migrant workers act was amended and approved by the Philippine Congress; the agencies like us in Labor and Employment should implement it.

Philippines Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz was recently quoted in the Philippines' Manila Bulletin newspaper as saying that the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila had made the ban recommendation after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Qatar failed to comply with Republic Act 10022 or the Amended Migrant and Overseas Filipino Workers Act of 1995.

This is based on the DFA certification, using RA 10022 as the basis," Baldoz was quoted as saying. Based on the POEA's deployment data last year, the country sent some 20,000 domestic workers to Kuwait, 13,000 to the UAE and 10,000 to Qatar.

RonnieR

September 5th, 2011, 12:58 PM

Boys accused of raping man

Haneen Dajani
Sep 5, 2011
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/courts/boys-accused-of-raping-man

ABU DHABI // Four boys accused of raping and robbing a Filipino man told a court this morning that he willingly offered them money for sex.

AJ filed a complaint against the teenagers – two Jordanians and two Egyptians – accusing them of kidnapping him, raping him and stealing Dh110 and a gold chain.

The boys said in previous private hearings at the Criminal Court of First Instance that he seduced them into allowing him to pay them to rape him.

At the last hearing, the taxi driver who drove the group to AJ's apartment testified that AJ rode with them willingly and there were no signs of them forcing him to go with them.

According to police records, after intercourse AJ took the four boys to an ATM to withdraw money.

One of the boys was already in a relationship with AJ, and on the day of the incident his friends decided to watch as they had sex, they lawyer for a different boy said after today's hearing.

Reports from medical tests were to be presented during the hearing, the case's third. They reports were not ready, however, so the judge adjourned the hearing.

The verdict will be announced today.

hdajani@thenational.ae

anone

September 5th, 2011, 02:24 PM

^^^ OMG nakakahiya, pero pano naging rape ay sya mismo nagdala sa mga boys sa bahay nya tapos may relasyon na pala sila nung isa at saka ang lakas ng loob nyang dalin sa bahay nya eh apat yung boys.

Manila-X

September 14th, 2011, 06:59 AM

130,000 Filipino nurses face job loss due to ‘Saudization’
By Philip C. Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
3:24 am | Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

The estimated 130,000 Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia are expected to bear the brunt of the kingdom’s “Saudization” policy, a migrant rights group said Tuesday.

According to Migrante-Middle East (M-ME) regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona, a news report said the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) planned to hire local nurses in all its medical facilities.

He said the MOH issued a circular indicating that employment contracts with foreign nurses, including Filipinos who had completed 10 years of service, would be terminated to give way to newly graduated Saudi nurses.

“We are quite certain the MOH plan of replacing 10-year in-service foreign nurses is in line with the ‘nitaqat’ that entered its new phase of implementation,” said Monterona in a statement.

The nitaqat is a policy that classifies private companies according to the number of Saudi workers they hire.

The Saudi Ministry of Labor has classified 300,000 Saudi companies into four categories, namely, excellent and green (complying companies) and yellow and red (noncomplying companies). Each company would be required to employ a minimum number of Saudi citizens based on company size and occupations.

This system has been resorted to by the Saudi government to curb the growing local unemployment rate.

boypad

September 14th, 2011, 05:39 PM

Bleak Christmas seen :ohno:

Wednesday, 14 September 2011 00:00
By Batas Mauricio
Gold Star Daily - Mindanao

Credit Suisse, the Swiss financial services firm, just made Christmas 2011 very bleak for Filipinos with its forecast that over-all economic growth in the Philippines for this year, originally projected to be at 5%, would only be 4.2%. This would make the Philippines the worst economic performer in Asia for 2011.

Then, even Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga Jr. is singing a very sad tune, with his admission that achieving the 7-8 percent growth target for the first half of 2011 is now a virtual "mission impossible," considering that so far, the country only managed to grow by four percent.

So, why are these economic slowdowns and under performances happening? The government says these are all because of outside influences---rising oil prices, disasters Japan, slow recovery of US and European economies---but Credit Suisse is saying, on the other hand, that it is because of under performance by the government itself. How about you, dear reader, what do you think?

The Philippines will lose an estimated US$1.4 billion yearly in salaries of its ship captains who face separation from their employment with international seafaring vessels and ships, on account of the failure of the government to upgrade, since 2002 or thereabouts, the ship captains' academic qualifications to include a training for management duties as such captains.
Emmanuel Regio, the president of IsLand Overseas Transport Corporation and of the EastGate Group of Maritime Companies, said this amount of US$1.4 billion is taken from the US$10,000 average monthly salaries of Filipino ship captains, multiplied by 12 months in a year, and further multiplied by 12,000, which is the number of affected Filipino ship captains.

Regio said the Europe-based International Maritime Organization (IMO) actually informed the Philippine government in 2002 yet that Filipino ship captains will lose their jobs, probably by the end of September 2011 or thereabouts, if the government did not require them to undergo further studies on ship management and administration.

It is a requirement of the IMO for ship captains manning international seafaring vessels that the captains are academically-equipped with management skills. But, it is a source of wonder for companies like those owned by Regio to see that the government, from 2002, had not been doing anything to require Filipino ship captains to take up units in ship management from accredited maritime Schools.
This is apparently due to a "turf" war among the different government agencies which think that it is their office which should be responsible for complying with the IMO directive, Regio declared. At this point though, it might require the highest levels of the Aquino government to act to avert this looming crisis, Regio said.
Regio has another warning, on top of his disclosure that the Philippines is expected to lose some US$ 1.4 billion annually which represents the salaries of Filipino ship captains manning international ships who will be laid off from their jobs in the next several days.
Regio disclosed that because the Philippines is failing or refusing, without any justifiable excuse, to sign an international agreement which will allow Filipino seamen---captains or ordinary seafarers---to enter the countries where their ships will dock, these seamen are now barred from going down their ships, and are left as virtual prisoners in their cabins while their foreign counterparts are allowed to disembark and enjoy the amenities of the port.

This situation is driving Filipino seafarers crazy, Regio said, considering that all of them usually stay on board while their ships are on the high seas for long periods of time, and are not given any entertainment at all, making them terribly seasick. Indeed, I wonder why our government is not acting to solve this problem?

http://goldstardailynews.com/mauricio-batas/5937-bleak-christmas-seen.html

Kintoy

September 14th, 2011, 06:42 PM

anong bleak Christmas? September pa lang may Christmas decors na

RonnieR

September 15th, 2011, 08:54 AM

^^ That seafarer issue is being resolved. It will not lead to job losses.

RonnieR

September 15th, 2011, 08:55 AM

:lol:

Saudi official dismisses fears of Moroccan maids
Shura member says there will be no ban on Moroccan maids
Published Thursday, September 15, 2011

A Saudi official has scoffed at fears by local women at plans to turn to Morocco to recruit housemaids following a dispute with Indonesia and the Philippines, saying there will be no ban on domestic workers from that Arab country.

Talal Al Bakri, a member of Shura council (appointed parliament), was reacting to reports that Saudi women have asked the Shura to enact legislation to ban the hiring of Moroccan housemaids on the grounds they are attractive women and could snatch their husbands off them.

Al-Bakri, a member of the social and family commission in Shura, said the council would not discuss such demands, which he branded “irrational.”

“We should not distinguish between housemaids from Ethiopia, the Philippine, Indonesia and Morocco….women are women wherever they come from,” Al Bakri said, quoted by the Saudi Arabic language daily Sabq.

“I wonder why Saudi women feel tense and worried by women from a certain country….don’t we have maids from many countries…the Saudi market is open and can import labour from any country as long as laws allow it…there is no justification for the Saudi women’s fears….they should be rational and realistic and they should have a national feeling instead of suspecting others.”

According to the Saudi Sharq newspaper, the Shura has been deluged by demands from Saudi women urging it to act against government plans to open the door for the import of Moroccan domestic workers.

“Many Saudi woman have objected to plans to import domestic workers from Morocco…they say the Moroccan women are beautiful and this will cause continuous anxiety and concern in Saudi families,” 'Sharq said.

“Some of them said Moroccan women are so attractive that their husbands could easily fall for them…others said Moroccans are good at magic and sorcery and that this could enable them to lure their husbands.”

Al-Bakri said Shura would not debate any requests by women to stop the recruitment of Moroccan maids, adding:” The council has much more important issues to discuss and does not need to waste its time on such matters.”

In comments last week, a Saudi chamber official said Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy and the world’s top oil exporter, could turn to Morocco and other countries to get its domestic workers following the dispute with the Philippines and Indonesia, the largest suppliers of housemaids to the Gulf countries.

“We are considering turning to countries which allow their domestic workers to move to other countries without preconditions…these include Morocco, east Asia, and some south African countries,” said Saad Al Baddah, director of the labour recruitment committee at the Saudi Chambers Federation.

“For the time being, we face a problem regarding Moroccan domestic workers as there are no official recruitment centres…temporarily, Saudis can travel to Morocco and bring in housemaids directly.”

Riyadh’s plans to turn to new domestic labour sources followed the suspension of recruitment of housemaids from the Philippines and Indonesia in June over disputes on wages and other terms.

Officials said last month they could soon lift a ban on maids from the Philippine once a final deal is signed between the two countries.

http://www.emirates247.com/news/saudi-official-dismisses-fears-of-moroccan-maids-2011-09-15-1.418725

RonnieR

September 15th, 2011, 08:57 AM

related news: so much of insecurity from Saudi women.

Maid from Morocco? No thanks, say Saudi wives
Feel Moroccan women are beautiful and could snatch their husbands
By Nadim Kawach

Published Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Moroccan actress Maryam Hassouni, now based in Holland, epitomises the beauty that Saudi Arabian housewives have brought into question (GETTY/GALLO)

A few weeks after uniting against a long-standing ban on female car driving, Saudi women are again joining hands in another common cause—this time against the recruitment of housemaids from Morocco. Their excuse is that Moroccan women are beautiful and could snatch their husbands off them.

While the campaign against the driving ban came too late, their reaction to government plans to import Moroccan maids was too swift and decisive.

The Shura council (the Gulf kingdom’s appointed parliament) said it had been deluged by demands from Saudi women urging it to veto plans by the government to turn to Morocco to get housemaids following the suspension of domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia.

“Many Saudi woman have objected to plans to import domestic workers from Morocco…they say the Moroccan women are beautiful and this will cause continuous anxiety and concern in Saudi families,” 'Sharq' daily said.

“Some of them said Moroccan women are so attractive that their husbands could easily fall for them…others said Moroccans are good at magic and sorcery and that this could enable them to lure their husbands.”

In comments last week, a Saudi chamber official said Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy and the world’s top oil exporter, could turn to Morocco and other countries to get its domestic workers following the dispute with the Philippines and Indonesia, the largest suppliers of housemaids to the Gulf countries.

“We are considering turning to countries which allow their domestic workers to move to other countries without preconditions…these include Morocco, east Asia, and some south African countries,” said Saad Al Baddah, director of the labour recruitment committee at the Saudi Chambers Federation.

“For the time being, we face a problem regarding Moroccan domestic workers as there are no official recruitment centres…temporarily, Saudis can travel to Morocco and bring in housemaids directly.”

A labour ministry official said Saudis are allowed to hire Moroccan housemaids directly in the absence of official or private recruitment offices for that country.

“We can provide Saudis with a visa for one Moroccan domestic worker but they have to bring them in or look for government offices in Morocco…this procedure is temporary pending the establishment of such offices in Saudi Arabia,” labour ministry spokesman Hattab Al Anzi told local newspapers.

Riyadh’s plans to turn to new domestic labour sources followed the suspension of recruitment of housemaids from the Philippines and Indonesia in June over disputes on wages and other terms.

Officials said last month they could soon lift a ban on maids from the Philippine once a final deal is signed between the two countries.

Employment offices across Saudi Arabia said they were already negotiating with other countries to supply maids and offset a shortage resulting from the boycott of Philippine and Indonesian domestic workers.“Many Saudi women have asked the Shura council to intervene to stop plans to bring in housemaids from Morocco,” 'Sharq' said.

“Some women threatened to resign their job and stay at home so their husbands will not be left alone with the Moroccan maid.”More than 1.5 million housemaids from the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other Asian and African nations work in Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom has been under fire from local and foreign human rights groups over the death of some housemaids, who have been reportedly killed by their employers. Pressure mounted in late 2010 following news that an Indonesian housemaid was severely tortured by her female employer.

The case of the 23-year-old maid, Sumiati Salan Mustapa triggered furor through the Kingdom and other countries after she was hospitalised with severe head and body injuries because the torture by hot iron.

http://www.emirates247.com/news/maid-from-morocco-no-thanks-say-saudi-wives-2011-09-14-1.418358

hakz2007

September 15th, 2011, 09:49 AM

VP Binay: PHL may lift ban on 'au pairs' in more European countries
Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay said the country may consider lifting in more countries in Europe the ban on "au pair" programs where a family provides a person with room, board, and a small salary in exchange for taking care of children.

In a statement on Thursday, Binay said the reinstatement of the au pair program in some European countries would bring employment opportunities to Filipinos.

“I believe this would facilitate the establishment of education and employment opportunities in Europe for Filipinos, particularly those who have been affected by the political situation in the Middle East," Binay said.More: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/232428/pinoy-abroad/vp-binay-phl-may-lift-ban-on-au-pairs-in-more-european-countries

Ady001

September 15th, 2011, 01:41 PM

Ady001

September 15th, 2011, 01:42 PM

VP Binay: PHL may lift ban on 'au pairs' in more European countries
More: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/232428/pinoy-abroad/vp-binay-phl-may-lift-ban-on-au-pairs-in-more-european-countries

Is an "au pair" a trend for those who's going abroad and short on cash? Para atang sosyal version lang siya ng DH.

Coniocondo

September 15th, 2011, 05:07 PM

AmbutLang

September 15th, 2011, 06:13 PM

I got my letter from US Embassy saying they are processing my immigration papers.

However, I'm pushing 40 years old already and earning Php636,000 a year, which is not bad money here. I'm also a Manager already here in RP.

Should I start all over again and go to US? Isn't it risky a move at my current state? What would you do if you're in my place?

P636,000 = or (exchange rate $42) about $15,120.oo + this is equivalent income to person in food stamp/welfare in the U.S. The food stamps is like a credit card which can be use only in supermarket.This is about $250/mo to start from ang goes high more having more child or number in the family. This amount will entitle the person for federal subsidy of $450/mo as pocket money allowance if the person is 65 years old and older.
undocumented worker makes $100/day but no insurance while city worker make minimum$15/hour for 8 hours work and free medical and dental.

Here is a good advice, take the immigration papers asap. If its not for you then for your children since our public schools here in the U.S. is free up to high school and free school bus ride to and from school free lunch in school. If you are in New York City the school offer free breakfast, subway ride or 25 cents per ride back and forth on school days between 6AM to 6PM.IF you are worried about college education there are plenty of scholarship programs to avail. It nothing else there is a college loan for the students payable in 10 years after the second year after graduation.

sorry to be frank. Also I have seen millionaires in the Philippines taking advantage of the school systems here in the U.S.

pi_malejana

September 15th, 2011, 09:08 PM

Askal82

September 16th, 2011, 01:42 AM

I got my letter from US Embassy saying they are processing my immigration papers.

However, I'm pushing 40 years old already and earning Php636,000 a year, which is not bad money here. I'm also a Manager already here in RP.

Should I start all over again and go to US? Isn't it risky a move at my current state? What would you do if you're in my place?

Are you expecting to get an employment as soon as you arrive here? If yes, then go ahead. If not, I would rather advise you to stay there because you have a secured job. The current job environment in the US is bleak at this moment - with 9% unemployment rate and even new grads here can't find any work. If you do come here and you got lucky finding a job here, don't expect to land in the same position you had back there right away.

My brother whose a nurse went back to the Philippines to study, then when he came back here to work, it took him another year to land a job - and he's not even full time yet. Nursing jobs were so easy to come by back then - it won't take a day before you get phone calls for an interview the moment you fly your resume's. At this time, it's a completely different story.

Ady001

September 16th, 2011, 03:28 AM

^^ Kayong 3 tatlo ata taga NYC :D.

I'm interested with the inputs. Others?

amigo32

September 16th, 2011, 04:48 AM

di ba pang apat ka?

sa NY

ka rin di ba?

Cubao:D

Skyprince

September 16th, 2011, 05:43 AM

I went to Morocco early this year... and seriously, Moroccan women are among the most beautiful I've seen. They are generally polite, reserved and educated too.

Ady001

September 16th, 2011, 05:57 AM

^^ Quaint vestiges of French influence?

Cette filles est tres magnique, je pense.

bitoy

September 16th, 2011, 08:04 AM

I got my letter from US Embassy saying they are processing my immigration papers.

However, I'm pushing 40 years old already and earning Php636,000 a year, which is not bad money here. I'm also a Manager already here in RP.

Should I start all over again and go to US? Isn't it risky a move at my current state? What would you do if you're in my place?

It's really up to you. If you can take a leave of absence for a month or two that will be good, just to feel what it's like here in the US. And at the same time try to sneak in your resume to some companies that still have opening for jobs that you desire.
Even with the tough economy now, there are still some companies that are hiring, just don't expect too much. This is not like during the dot-com or the Y2K era that a lot of Filipinos got hired. Halos naubos ang IT dept. ng Far East Bank nuong Y2k at nahire sila dito sa amin. :lol:
Tapos na ang panahon na yan...lots of new immigrants start from scratch, may abilidad ka naman dahil naging manager ka na sa atin, kayang-kaya mo ang mga trabaho dito.

^^ Kayong 3 tatlo ata taga NYC :D.

I'm interested with the inputs. Others?

Ikaw naman mag inpooot -- pipila pa ako sa soup kitchen... :lol:

Ady001

September 16th, 2011, 08:43 AM

^^ Most of my folks are from Quebec. Iilan lang sa New Jersey. So I can't really say anything.

Ph Man

September 16th, 2011, 09:22 AM

It's really up to you. If you can take a leave of absence for a month or two that will be good, just to feel what it's like here in the US. And at the same time try to sneak in your resume to some companies that still have opening for jobs that you desire.
Even with the tough economy now, there are still some companies that are hiring, just don't expect too much. This is not like during the dot-com or the Y2K era that a lot of Filipinos got hired. Halos naubos ang IT dept. ng Far East Bank nuong Y2k at nahire sila dito sa amin. :lol:
Tapos na ang panahon na yan...lots of new immigrants start from scratch, may abilidad ka naman dahil naging manager ka na sa atin, kayang-kaya mo ang mga trabaho dito.

Are US companies keen on hiring immigrants than locals? Or what about if you just decided to spend a month or two in the US as tourist, and send out your resumes to prospect employers. Will they assist you in getting a work permit just in case? :)

bitoy

September 16th, 2011, 12:19 PM

Are US companies keen on hiring immigrants than locals? Or what about if you just decided to spend a month or two in the US as tourist, and send out your resumes to prospect employers. Will they assist you in getting a work permit just in case? :)

As immigrants seeking employment, they will get the same treatment under the Equal Employment Opportunity laws. As a tourist, unless you have special skills or knowledge, I think, the company may take an exception and will petition for your working visa. Other nonimmigrant person can be classified into different Exchange Visitor Program(s).

Ady001

September 16th, 2011, 12:33 PM

bitoy

September 16th, 2011, 06:32 PM

Askal82

September 16th, 2011, 07:17 PM

^^ Kung From Unlawful Carnal Knowledge yun sir @toybits, pwede kaya? :D

Para atang ganun nangyari sa friend ko. UST Physical Therapy grad, may Masters pa in business admin, pero nag-call center. Funny really, he was overqualified. But he's a really humble guy and very friendly pa. He's now affiliated with Duke University after they petitioned for him.

Marami talagang paraan. Babagsak din yan sa diskarte. :lol:

Para lumaki ang chances mo dito kailangan malakas ang networks mo.

Sa atin, connection tawag dyan. ;)

Askal82

September 16th, 2011, 07:22 PM

^^ Yung ibang nag tourist dito, hahanap ng eskuwala na tatangap sa kanila dahil pag nakapasok, karamihan puwedeng magtrabaho o ang kumpanya na ang bahala mag petition. Ganoon yung ka batch ko sa HS, nag tourist sa Canada, naka pasok sa Purdue to get his PhD, ngayon manager na sa R&D ng Cisco. Pero maluwang pa nuon, ngayon mabigat na ang labanan sa dami ng foreign students dito.

On top of that, marami pa mga grad dito mismo na nahirapang makakuha ng work. So kung galing ka sa ibang bansa, napakaswerte mo na kung nakakuha ka ng work because the chances here are becoming slim.

wino

September 16th, 2011, 09:14 PM

amigo32

September 17th, 2011, 12:13 AM

Askal82

September 17th, 2011, 01:01 AM

Are US companies keen on hiring immigrants than locals? Or what about if you just decided to spend a month or two in the US as tourist, and send out your resumes to prospect employers. Will they assist you in getting a work permit just in case? :)

Depende sa employer. Kung sakaling nakakita ka ng work dito at mabait ang employer mo, maari ka nilang i sponsor. Kung hindi, sorry ka nalang.

Swertihan lang pero wala namang masama makipagsapalaran.

Yeah, good idea din yung punta ka muna dito sa tourist para ikaw mismo maka assess ng situation dito.

Askal82

September 17th, 2011, 01:08 AM

meron akong customer na taga US Navy(pootie), retired na. 4 years na raw sila ng kanyang asawa sa Pinas nanirahan, inis daw sya sa gobyerno ng Pinas dahil second class citizen daw sya rito:D gusto nya mag trabaho, di raw puede, gusto nya bumili ng FA di rin daw puede:lol: samatalang pag Pnoy daw pumunta sa tate puede raw maging pulis.:lol:

Nde kasi immigration country ang Pilipinas. Sa tingin ko may benefit din kung bubuksan din sa immigration ang bansa + buksan din yung economy (tanggalin yung 60/40 ownership b/s)para dumami yung mga mamumuhunan sa bansa plus mapapalitan din yung mga nawalang manggagawa natin na inexport sa ibang bansa.

Sa India palang, marami na silang mga doctor at engineers na pwede nating ma tap sa immigration. :lol:

RonnieR

September 17th, 2011, 06:05 AM

RonnieR

September 17th, 2011, 06:08 AM

I hope these Filipinos seamen are safe.

14 Filipino seamen seized in West Africa

Published : Saturday, September 17, 2011 00:00
Article Views : 19

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday confirmed that a Cyprus-flagged and Norwegian-managed tanker was seized on September 14, with 14 Filipino seafarers on board in Lome, Togo in West Africa.

MT Mattheos I has a total of 23 seafarers of mixed nationalities on board.

In a report to the DFA, the vessel’s local manning agency also stated that all crew members are well and safe and that the families of the Filipino seafarers were already apprised of the incident.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario has instructed the Philippine Embassy in Abuja to make representations with the Nigerian authorities for the safe rescue of the Filipino seafarers and the Philippine Embassy in Oslo to coordinate with the vessel’s principal in Norway to ensure that negotiations for the release of the Filipino seafarers is being undertaken.

The DFA is closely coordinating with the embassies and the local manning agency of the vessel for any further developments.

The last incident of kidnapping in West Africa involving Nigerian pirates was in July 2011 involving 20 Filipino seafarers of MT Anema E Core who were eventually released after four days of captivity.

Of the 104 Filipinos who have been kidnapped off the coast of West Africa since February 2006, 88 Filipinos have been released, two are still missing, and 14 are being held captive.

Off the coast of Somalia, a total of 32 Filipino seafarers onboard five vessels have been held captive as of date.

The Philippine government has undertaken measures to minimize the exposure of Filipino seafarers to piracy attacks, including making arrangements with ship principals and manning agencies for vessels to travel along a safety corridor and to adopt best management practices as a deterrent to piracy attacks. Jun Pisco

http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/ofw/13498-14-filipino-seamen-seized-in-west-africa

RonnieR

September 17th, 2011, 08:39 AM

Is it safe in Kuwait for our OFWs? No abusive employers?

Kuwait to hire 660 nurses from PH
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 09/16/2011 8:22 PM | Updated as of 09/16/2011 8:22 PM

KUWAIT – Hundreds of Filipino nurses are needed to fill in the vacancies in the public and private medical facilities in Kuwait.

According to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health (MOH), public hospitals and clinics are in need of 360 nurses.

However, the MOH will no longer recruit OFWs directly from manpower agencies in the Philippines.

One of the local Kuwaiti companies qualified to recruit Filipino nurses is the Medi-tech Global Technologies for Medical Supplies and Services.

“We are one of them, Global Technologies, one of the companies qualified to recruit nurses from the Philippines to the Ministry of Health,” said Dr. Shadya Kamal Hakeem.

The recruitment for Pinoy nurses will continue until the end of this year.

“We start issuing visas and send it to [the] Philippines so they can join us,” he said.

Although Kuwait is serious in implementing its Kuwaitization, it admits that there is still a shortage of nurses.

“Actually, the Ministry of Health, they have a great shortage of nurses and they will continue to hire more nurses either from the Philippines or other countries,” said Abbas Yousef al Baghli, general manager of the Al-Bahar Medical Service.

Labor Attache David Des Dicang said officials and human resources directors always say that the hiring for nurses will increase.

“Lagi sinasabi ng mga managers and HR directors, the hiring will still increase, kukuha sila nang kukuha ng mga Pinoy. We don’t see any adverse effect on the employment sa tinatawag nating Kuwaitization,” said Dicang.

MOH nurses will receive 600 Kuwaiti dinars or equivalent to P91,000 monthly salary, free accommodation and transportation.

Meanwhile, aside from nurses bound for government hospitals, another 300 Pinoy nurses are needed by private hospitals and clinics.

“Next month, we will recruit for private hospitals and private clinics 300 nurses. Prepare all your documents. All your documents should be attested by the embassy and submit it to our agency in the Philippines,” said Dr. Hakeem. Maxxy Santiago, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/09/16/11/kuwait-hire-660-nurses-ph

Ph Man

September 17th, 2011, 05:32 PM

^^ yun ang mahirap sa mga seaman natin. kung saan me pirate incidents, lagi silang andun. i heard some shipping lines have special preference over Filipinos. Some prefer Ukrainian/Russian - e.g., Russian shippers.

Depende sa employer. Kung sakaling nakakita ka ng work dito at mabait ang employer mo, maari ka nilang i sponsor. Kung hindi, sorry ka nalang.

Swertihan lang pero wala namang masama makipagsapalaran.

Yeah, good idea din yung punta ka muna dito sa tourist para ikaw mismo maka assess ng situation dito.

As immigrants seeking employment, they will get the same treatment under the Equal Employment Opportunity laws. As a tourist, unless you have special skills or knowledge, I think, the company may take an exception and will petition for your working visa. Other nonimmigrant person can be classified into different Exchange Visitor Program(s).

Guys, thanks for the clarification. That might be a good idea really. Siguro ganun din ang kalakaran kung sakali man sa Europe.

I think an interoffice transfer will also be a good idea. May mga taga Manila kasi, pag napupunta sa ibang bansa for training or seminar, naaaliw yung mga foreigners and they would want that staff to stay with them.
:)

Yre

September 17th, 2011, 05:43 PM

^^@RonnieR
Bihira ang mga ofw na professional na ina-abuso ng employer anywhere sa middle-east, so far wala pa naman akong narinig na kaso.
Kalimitan mga domestic help lang ang naa-abuso, sa visa pa nga lang or labor card nila, "slave" na ang nakalagay, dapat lang talaga ihinto na pagpadala ng DH sa mga middle-east countries.

Askal82

September 17th, 2011, 05:46 PM

^^ yun ang mahirap sa mga seaman natin. kung saan me pirate incidents, lagi silang andun. i heard some shipping lines have special preference over Filipinos. Some prefer Ukrainian/Russian - e.g., Russian shippers.

Guys, thanks for the clarification. That might be a good idea really. Siguro ganun din ang kalakaran kung sakali man sa Europe.

I think an interoffice transfer will also be a good idea. May mga taga Manila kasi, pag napupunta sa ibang bansa for training or seminar, naaaliw yung mga foreigners and they would want that staff to stay with them.
:)

Wishing you the best of luck! :)

Ph Man

September 17th, 2011, 05:57 PM

lol...not yet. i'm thinking of visiting some friends in TX and GA. but it's purely a tourist travel. minsan nga lang, may mga pangyayari talaga sa buhay ng isang tao na habang nasa Pinas ka, maisipan mo - "what am i doing here", "why am I sticking with this job" and so on. so whatever one is resolved to do today, might change drastically the next day. so far i'm enjoying my current because of its perks. pero sabi nga ni Ms. Melanie Marquez, we can never can tell.

Askal82

September 17th, 2011, 06:26 PM

^^ If you do come here for a visit, let me know if you care to drop by NYC so we can meet up with the other SSC folks around here. :)

Ph Man

September 17th, 2011, 06:32 PM

well...that's a good idea. i'll keep note of that. thanks. during my first visit last year (business trip), I was sick for the first week. anlalakas pala kasi mag aircon ng mga taga US pag summer.

it was like a come and go trip. i didn't have the guts to ask my boss for an extended stay. lol

there'd be next time...i hope. then i shall include NYC in my itinerary. :okay:

Askal82

September 17th, 2011, 10:14 PM

Interesting how this article (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/12833/how-hard-is-it-to-get-a-us-visa) was posted in inquirer recently as we are discussing it.

Ady001

September 18th, 2011, 02:07 AM

^^ And that article lead me to another article:

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/12827/filipino-is-british-hospitals%E2%80%99-nurse-of-the-year

Filipino is British hospitals’ Nurse of the Year
By Madonna Virola
Inquirer Southern Luzon
12:30 am | Sunday, September 18th, 2011

CALAPAN—A Filipino from this Oriental Mindoro city was named Nurse of the Year during the 2011 Star Awards of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH).

Teodoro “Junjun” Medran Jr., 38, a clinical charge nurse at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in the United Kingdom, was chosen from over 60 nominees, mostly British, by patients, colleagues and a board of judges that included member of parliament Nicolas Soames, a grandson of the late prime minister Winston Churchill.

Following the award, Medran said in an e-mail that he was cited by the Philippine Embassy in London for being a good example for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and struggling parents.

Medran has also been nominated for the Blas Ople Bagong Bayani Award

2011, which recognizes the role of OFWs in fostering high standards of responsibility, efficiency and integrity among overseas workers; and in promoting the welfare of OFWs.

Now on its second year, the Nurse of the Year award is given by the BSUH National Health Services in cooperation with The Argus newspapers. Last year’s awardee was a Briton.

The BSUH is described in its web site as the regional teaching hospital operating across two sites: the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

Medran said the award was a recognition of the hard work and professionalism of Filipino nurses and OFWs.

The Department of Foreign Affairs estimates that 250,000 Filipinos live in the UK.

As clinical charge nurse, Medran said part of his job was to certify dead patients who, sometimes, did not have relatives. “I make sure I am with them (before they die), holding their hands, reciting prayers. I always whisper in their ears my wish that they be reunited with the Lord in heaven,” he said.

“I always make my patients happy by singing love and joyful songs to, at least, ease their anxiety. There’s so much from within to share,

like love-filled childhood,” he said.

Medran said he learned his empathy for others from his father, who would give away even the food he was about to eat if somebody asked for it. His father believed the giver was more blessed than the recipient.

A graduate of Arellano University at 18, Medran went to the UK in 1999, after working at the Lung Center of the Philippines for six years, then the Philippine Heart Center for two years. He was also a college lecturer while waiting for the board examination results.

“Almost half of my life was spent in the hospital so I said, ‘Why not treat everyone as a family member, too?’ It must really be a calling because I continue to be excited everyday in doing the same job,” he said.

He saw his work as more than just caring for the human body and saving lives. “To touch the soul and emotion of another, I always put myself in someone else’s shoes and always feel that I am a member of the families of my patients. When they are lonely or without visitors, I like feeding them if they can’t feed themselves and making them look good by giving them a shave and cutting their hair. I believe that if they look good they will feel good,” he said

Former patients who returned to the hospital would always ask for him upon admission. Medran would give them a hug, happy to see that they had recovered.

He said, though there were challenges, his courage and strong faith in God enabled him to overcome the obstacles.

Medran is married to another nurse, Cindy Laroco of Baguio City, who works in the same hospital. They have three children: Michaela Argenta, 6; Thea Mikayla, 5; and Theodore, 3.

3cr

September 18th, 2011, 02:16 AM

On a promising note, I'm really amazed that even with the world crises going on, our OFWs vigilantly continue to send back money/remittances at a record pace. Our saving grace really and true heroes of our country especially in these very uncertain times. :banana: :banana: :banana:

Remittance grew at 6.1% but pace slowed in July
Business Mirror
September 15, 2011
http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/16625-remittance-growth-at-61-slowed-in-july

Remittances sent home by overseas Filipino workers increased but at a slower pace in July due to the faltering global recovery.

The funds increased 6.1 percent from a year earlier to $1.72 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Thursday. Remittances grew 7 percent in June.

From January to July this year, remittances increased 6.3 percent to $11.4 billion. But when calculated in peso terms, remittances actually declined to P485.926 billion in the first seven months of this year from P494.654 billion in the same period in 2010. That’s because the average peso-dollar exchange rate in July last year was 46.3203 versus this year’s 42.8088.

“The slowdown in global growth is translating to a slowdown in remittances,” Ildemarc Bautista, an economist at Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., said before the report. “It may affect the exchange rate and we may see a weaker peso.”

The peso dropped 0.2 percent to 43.325 per dollar as the close of trading on Thursday, according to Tullett Prebon Plc. It touched 43.362 earlier, the weakest level since June 30.

Remittances account for about 10 percent of the country’s economy and are the nation’s largest source of foreign exchange after exports.

The BSP expects overall remittance flows should grow by 6 percent or 7 percent to some $20 billion by the end of the year.

But an interesting facet to the latest BSP report on remittances is that the money sent home by sea-based overseas Filipinos are growing more than three times faster than that sent by land-based workers.

Data the BSP extracted from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) show sea-based remittances having grown 14.1 percent during the period versus growth of only 4.3 percent for land-based overseas Filipinos.

“The steady inflow of fund transfers from overseas Filipinos despite the difficult conditions overseas could be explained partly by the sustained demand for Filipino manpower,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said, noting the 19.5-percent increase in job orders processed by the POEA totaling 26,504 in August alone.

The job orders brought the total manpower demand to 162,574 from year to date, Tetangco said.

He reiterated the recent credit downgrade of the United States, the protracted sovereign- debt crisis in euro-area countries and social unrest in the Middle East and North Africa should only have “modest impact on the remittance inflows for the rest of the year.”

Worker supply remains high as the number of land-based workers with processed job contracts and waiting to be deployed totaled 313,709. This was 24.2 percent higher than year-ago total of only 252,666.

Sea-based workers with processed contracts and similarly waiting deployment also rose by 5.5 percent to 280,348 from 265,656 last year.

The biggest source of remittance remains the United States, mostly because remitting units often have US headquarters to which the money is initially sent prior to forwarding them to their intended beneficiaries.

Mercato

September 18th, 2011, 02:21 AM

^^ Kayong 3 tatlo ata taga NYC :D.

I'm interested with the inputs. Others?I concur with everything the Trio Los Panchos said except the location. Why NYC? it should be the Golden State :D :D kahit sabihin nating na-messup ng konti ni Arnie eh well, maganda pa rin sa San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento et al. :lol: :lol: tapos kung gusto nila mag-pilgrimage malapit lang driving distance ang Las Vegas, NV. At andami daming Outlets for shopping all over the place. When they say Bargains, they are real bargains talaga. :lol: :lol:

crappypants

September 18th, 2011, 02:36 AM

yeah, specially cost of living is very high in NY city and also parts of California.
I would keep the green card and use it only for vacation . Besides you're already living a comfortable life in the PHils. given you could earn more in the US, the cost of living is also higher, though MM is catching up. Money is not always everything. If I were you I would stay in the Phils and use my expertise and talent in helping improve the country that way your children and grandchildren may never have to deal with this dilemma in their future.

Coniocondo

September 18th, 2011, 06:36 AM

Here is a good advice, take the immigration papers asap. If its not for you then for your children.

sorry to be frank. Also I have seen millionaires in the Philippines taking advantage of the school systems here in the U.S.

no need to be sorry. i appreciate your being frank as it is well-intended. and your inputs are very informative.

if i were you, i wouldn't go...:D if you have a job offer though here in the US, then yeah take it; if not well just get the green card and return to the Philippines; since you're a manager I assume you can take a vacation for one month??:lol:

unfortunately, my situation right now at work is resign or stay. if i had to meet the immigration requirements, i would need to resign. it does not help that everything is being scheduled in like 3 months time frame from the time i received my first Embassy letter about a 3 weeks ago.

Are you expecting to get an employment as soon as you arrive here? If yes, then go ahead. If not, I would rather advise you to stay there because you have a secured job. The current job environment in the US is bleak at this moment - with 9% unemployment rate and even new grads here can't find any work. If you do come here and you got lucky finding a job here, don't expect to land in the same position you had back there right away.

At this time, it's a completely different story.

This is the reason why I'm quite not as excited. It seems if I decide to go, I would have to take a non-manager postion and work my way up again. And working way up again is not as quick as it used to be, from what I gathered.

It's really up to you. If you can take a leave of absence for a month or two that will be good, just to feel what it's like here in the US. Tapos na ang panahon na yan...lots of new immigrants start from scratch, may abilidad ka naman dahil naging manager ka na sa atin, kayang-kaya mo ang mga trabaho dito.

I wish I could just take a leave but I can't. I already talked to my boss and with budgeting season (I work in Finance) looming, the company needs a person full-tiime to work my responsibilities.

So, there's the risk. Resign here, not make it in US, then come back and see if I can find similar work in RP that pays about the same.

I would keep the green card and use it only for vacation . Besides you're already living a comfortable life in the PHils. given you could earn more in the US, the cost of living is also higher, though MM is catching up. Money is not always everything. If I were you I would stay in the Phils and use my expertise and talent in helping improve the country that way your children and grandchildren may never have to deal with this dilemma in their future.

If it were about using my expertise and talents in the country, I think I have done that. I've spent close to 20 years serving this great nation. And it has served me well as well.

But I do like to think that this could also be an opportunity to provide my talent to a struggling United States. But also, I wish to retain my status of living. Here, I am considered as Middle Class. I earn 6.5x as much as the Minimum Wage Earner.

Here's a question to you all :

What is the Household Middle Class Annual income in the United States? I will use the figure as my target. I understand that initially, I may have to start from the bottom. So my second question will be :

About how many years will it take before such Household Middle Class Annual income is reached if a person has to earn it individually?

Coniocondo

September 18th, 2011, 06:42 AM

pi_malejana

September 18th, 2011, 08:36 AM

^^ hmm, that should be about right... anyway, hope you don't mind but do you have a family going with you??

based on what you said, you should just stay... go to the US as a tourist na lang..

Ephesus29

September 18th, 2011, 08:38 AM

I plunged into it too in the mid-70's, immigrated to Canada. Sometimes it is a tough call, specially when a person has the best of almost everything in the Philippines. Education, training and the right skills. A great employment that pays well, lives in a middle class neighbourhood, with perhaps a couple of household helper. Would be tough. For me the transition wasn't that hard at all. I wasn't happy where I used to work, and I abhored corruption. I also came from the deep trenches in the Philippines. No regrets at all, immigrating to Canada. If I look back 36 years ago, I thought I wouldn't have the life that I have now , if I would have stayed in the Philippines, given the current situation in the country in the 70's.

Now the Philippines seems to have gained a lot of economic tractions based from what I've been reading, and hearing. I would imagine that life now in the Philippines is a bit more easy for someone with the right education than previous, to get ahead in life.

For those people who are planning to moved to USA/NA, who are not quite sure about their move and future, consider your priorities, and what you would like to garner in the future that are not quite or unlikely achievable in the Philippines. It won't be that easy, but sometimes great networks, and right connections would lead you to the right directions. There will bumps and pits along the way, but if you are determine to surf the wave, chances are you will get to where you want to go. :cheers:

mwg12a

September 18th, 2011, 10:13 AM

I would really hold off for now if someone is planning to immigrate in the US because of the obvious. Joblessness and volatile economy. Canada on the other hand would be a different story. They can probably try their luck there if they are truely unhappy with what they have in the Philippines. There is not much difference anyway. You have to bust your rear end to succeed every where you go. Just where your heart's desire and your instinct take you, that's what you should follow without any regret.

What @conciocondo should really look into is the job availability and his expertise. I would say if the area of expertise is very competitive in the US and that the US produce alot of these professionals, I would think twice, because, chances are you would just be very disappointed and perhaps you would not be able to get a company who would support your sponsorship but if you are in a position that is hard to comeby with the US graduates you would most likely get employed right away and with a better position. This is why the US embassy in various countries usually issue job orders on certain areas of profession. For instance, Medical doctors who went through their residency in the US do not require petitioners, they are self petitioners since they are considered class A, just like scientist and such.

Ady001

September 18th, 2011, 01:19 PM

^^ I think that's what happened to my friend. Prior to his entry to the US, he was a licensed physical therapist in Pennsylvania and another state that escapes me.

mwg12a

September 18th, 2011, 01:30 PM

I asked the same first question to my Facebook American friend and she said the low end of Household Middle Class Annual Income is $60,000. An example of this is husband and wife both earn $30,000 each a year.

Depends on what state your friend lives in. NY and Cali, that income is way tough on you especially if you have children. There are Americans who makes 20K or less a year and this is the reason why some of them work 2 or 3 jobs. But yes, that's low end of middleclass.

Askal82

September 18th, 2011, 06:20 PM

This is the reason why I'm quite not as excited. It seems if I decide to go, I would have to take a non-manager postion and work my way up again. And working way up again is not as quick as it used to be, from what I gathered.

The worst case scenario when you do get a job could be that you'll just end up taking jobs much much lower than your qualification that does not have anything to do with what you are doing there right now (like in sales-related job). It's a big risk especially with the current situation here in the US. I've known some who lost their jobs making tons of money in a year but has to work in the department store whose meager income is barely enough to cover up the costs of living and sustain their lifestyles.

Before you make your move, place your financial security here as your priority so when you can finally establish here, everything will be smooth sailing. If I were you just like what others recommend, take your time to come here as a tourist so you can assess the situation yourself.

Coniocondo

September 18th, 2011, 08:36 PM

^^ hmm, that should be about right... anyway, hope you don't mind but do you have a family going with you??

based on what you said, you should just stay... go to the US as a tourist na lang..

thanks for the response. No, I'm just by myself. My parents petitioned me, both 70 years young. Only one of them works and if I go, I would have to pitch in to the budget -- maybe around $500 a month -- but I will live with them initially.

I plunged into it too in the mid-70's, immigrated to Canada. Sometimes it is a tough call. No regrets at all.
Now the Philippines seems to have gained a lot of economic tractions based from what I've been reading, and hearing. I would imagine that life now in the Philippines is a bit more easy for someone with the right education than previous, to get ahead in life.

There will bumps and pits along the way, but if you are determine to surf the wave, chances are you will get to where you want to go. :cheers:

Thanks for sharing sir. You're right, it is a tough call.. If this were a case of me going in when I was in the 20s, it may be easier because I would have more lead time to be where I want to be when I turn 40 -- as opposed to coming in when I'm around to being 40. Also, the thought of possibly working as waiter or service crew at fast foods is discouraging, no offense to those in this line of work.

I would really hold off for now if someone is planning to immigrate in the US because of the obvious. Joblessness and volatile economy.
Just where your heart's desire and your instinct take you, that's what you should follow without any regret.

What @conciocondo should really look into is the job availability and his expertise.

Sadly, my job is very competitive, i.e., in high supply. And sadly also, immigration is not an opportunity I can hold off. It's either take it or leave it. I wish I could hold it off and knock at the Embassy when I feel like going already. That would be awesome though. :)

Depends on what state your friend lives in. NY and Cali, that income is way tough on you especially if you have children. There are Americans who makes 20K or less a year and this is the reason why some of them work 2 or 3 jobs. But yes, that's low end of middleclass.

So maybe to be a true middle class, I will just apply my current 6.5x of Minimum Wage Earner ? From Ambutlang's post, the Minimum Wage is $15,000 a year. So that means, $15,000 * 6.5 = $97,500.

The worst case scenario when you do get a job could be that you'll just end up taking jobs much much lower than your qualification that does not have anything to do with what you are doing there right now (like in sales-related job). It's a big risk especially with the current situation here in the US. I've known some who lost their jobs making tons of money in a year but has to work in the department store whose meager income is barely enough to cover up the costs of living and sustain their lifestyles.

Before you make your move, place your financial security here as your priority so when you can finally establish here, everything will be smooth sailing. If I were you just like what others recommend, take your time to come here as a tourist so you can assess the situation yourself.

Thanks sir for the inputs. I have a friend who is working 2 jobs -- 1 as 8-5 a car assembly (dashboards specifically); then at night in Lowe's, which I researched as similar to our Handyman here. He has a wife who works in a fast food as Manager and they shared to me their Household Income of $50-$60,000. They did migrate though in 2005. And after 6 years, they are close to being Middle Class American citizens. Modesty aside though, I know I am better educated than either of them and has more solid work experience.

To sum,

It appears $60,000 is the low end of Middle Class, and 6.5x of Minimum Wage or $97,500 appears as middle end of Middle Class; and further around 7-8 years is a gauge to meet that.

$97,500 I think is a good target as it will at least get me to where I am right now in the Philippines, granted I have to work it up around 7-8 years. I'm just not sure if 7-8 years is the correct number of years to get to it.

Here's then a question to you all :

Based on your experience working abroad, especially for those in US or Canada (based on my research, about similar exchange rate), how many years does it take from start to hit around $97,500?