Overseas Filipinos: Immigrants and Migrant Workers - Compiled Threads [Archive] - Page 9

3cr

May 26th, 2008, 05:37 AM

Bulk of OFWs now younger–NSO
By Cai U. Ordinario
Business Mirror
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/05262008/headlines05.html

THE first waves of Filipinos who went abroad to work are growing older, and the National Statistics Office (NSO), interpreting its survey data, said the large role of these workers in propping up the economy is now devolving to the younger batches between 25 and 29 years old.

NSO data showed active overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) during the period April to September last year numbered 1.75 million, an increase of 15 percent over the estimated 1.52 million in the same period in 2006.

Of the 2007 total, 1.61 million or 93 percent have work contracts compared with the 1.38 million the year before, a rise of 23 million or 17 percent.

The NSO said more than half of the workers, or around 55 percent, were below 35 years old, with the largest number in the age group of 25 to 29 years. Among these workers, men (51 percent) outnumber women but the women are generally younger, of which 29 percent are in the age group 25 to 29 years and 21 percent in the age group 30 to 34 years.

The men were almost evenly distributed among the age groups 25 to 29, 30 to 34 and 45 and over.

These workers sent a total remittance of P110 billion for the period, which is an increase of P8 billion from the estimated remittance of P102 billion for the same months in 2006.

Included in the total remittances are cash which accounted for 74.6 percent, cash personally brought home, 20.7 percent and remittances in kind, 4.7 percent.

“Of the total cash remittance sent for the period April to September 2007, 76.8 percent were sent through banks, 14 percent were sent through door-to-door, and the rest or 9.2 percent were sent through agency/local office, friends/coworkers and other means,” reported the NSO.

“OFWs working in Asia, comprising 78.1 percent of all OFWs, sent the biggest cash remittance of P57.7 billion. Among occupation groups, OFWs working as laborers or unskilled workers posted the highest cash remittance of P17.6 billion,” the agency added.

In terms of occupation, the NSO said that one out of 3 were laborers and unskilled workers, which include domestic help, cleaners, and manufacturing laborers.

“Those who worked as service workers and shop and market sales workers made up 14.3 percent, trades and related workers, 13.8 percent, and plant and machine operators and assemblers, 13.4 percent.”

mwg12a

May 26th, 2008, 07:56 PM

bitoy

May 26th, 2008, 10:18 PM

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080525/capt.095d53b5701d44b19b2be4ffb729908b.philippines_us_memorial_day_mla107.jpg

U.S. and Filipino veterans salute during a ceremony to commemorate the
American holiday of Memorial Day at the Manila American Cemetery at
suburban Taguig city, south of Manila, Sunday, May 25, 2008.

bitoy

May 26th, 2008, 10:20 PM

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080525/i/r399142406.jpg

tigidig14

May 27th, 2008, 01:01 AM

nagluluto ako ng siningag pero nde na purefoods hotdog kundi kung anong mura dun sa local store o may coupon.
naging pogi ako maxado dito, as in, hahaha
natuto ako magswimming dito
natutong magkula ng puti
kahapon ko lang nalaman na wag lamutakin ang okra sa sinigang, mawawalan ng sabaw
and many more...

benchjade

May 27th, 2008, 01:37 AM

^^ In the case of Florida, we only pay the Federal tax. We don't have State taxes.

same here at Nevada. anyway I'm finally a US citizen last Friday. I don't have plans na gawin sana, hehe:D

pi_malejana

May 27th, 2008, 03:07 AM

^^ madali lang po bang maging citizen or a lot of red tape..?? 3 yrs pa ko bago makakuha...:)

benchjade

May 27th, 2008, 04:52 AM

^^ madali lang po bang maging citizen or a lot of red tape..?? 3 yrs pa ko bago makakuha...:)

dahil sa job ko po madali akong nacitizen at free pa po :D

Askal82

May 27th, 2008, 05:03 AM

^^ maglaba at mamalantsa habang nagluluto at nag papakain ng anak.
Mahirap din mag budget ng pera buwan-buwan para may pang-gastos sa Las Vegas --- buwahahah!

Binabudget pa.

:ohno::ohno::lol::lol:

amigo32

May 27th, 2008, 05:04 AM

red_jasper

May 27th, 2008, 05:51 AM

re-post from Congress thread:

May 26th, 2008

Villar pushes ‘no-fault insurance system’ for OFWs

MANILA, Philippines – To solve the increasing number of incidents of illegal recruitment, Senate President Manny Villar pushed, on Monday, for the implementation of a “no-fault insurance system” for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

In a statement, Villar said this insurance system would allow victims of illegal recruitment to receive a refund from the insurer, in the form of direct payment, “regardless of [the victim’s] fault in the incident.”

“The no-fault insurance eliminates the need for victims to establish another liability or fault, through a civil case. It has proven to be an effective system as it leads to quicker settlement and reduces bureaucratic layers in resolving issues,” he added.

The insurance system would also allow OFWs to be refunded by the illegal recruiter for any money lost through debt, Villar said. He added that funds for the OFW insurance system would come from a percentage of the fees for passport processing or from the travel tax.

Villar also urged both the Senate Oversight Committee on Labor and Employment and the Department of Labor and Employment to “study the no-fault insurance system urgently” because, he said, one of eight OFWs falls victim to illegal recruiters.

“Our OFWs are leaving the country with the prospect of greener pasture for their families. But there are Filipinos who, in addition to having suffered the hardships of illegal recruitment, have to go through the complexity of legal procedures to claim indemnification or even refund of fees paid by them,” Villar said.

( www.inquirer.net )

bitoy

May 27th, 2008, 07:41 AM

^^ madali lang po bang maging citizen or a lot of red tape..?? 3 yrs pa ko bago makakuha...:)

red tape? just have a decent job at wag kang pasaway sa may kapangyarihan within 3 years more(since you got 2 already), ayos na yan.

dahil sa job ko po madali akong nacitizen at free pa po :D

Bayaran mo si uncle Sam ng 20+ years in service --- hehehe!... :lol:

Binabudget pa.

:ohno::ohno::lol::lol:

Mahigpit eh................

mahigpit ang pangangailangan!.. :lol:

tigidig14

May 27th, 2008, 07:52 AM

^kelan pala retirement nung situasyon mo?

bitoy

May 27th, 2008, 08:07 AM

^kelan pala retirement nung situasyon mo?

Tagal pa to be 60. :lol:

benchjade

May 27th, 2008, 08:25 AM

Bayaran mo si uncle Sam ng 20+ years in service --- hehehe!... :lol:

NO WAY!!! heheheh

bitoy

May 27th, 2008, 08:36 AM

NO WAY!!! heheheh

Uy, buti ka nga libre ang world tour, para kang nasa cruise ship. :lol:

Juan Pilgrim

May 27th, 2008, 05:56 PM

^^ for one thing irons nowadays have cloth material indicators and the clothes has tags where the type of fabrics used are indicated... I started ironining my own clothes at age 16, I don't think I've burned any clothings i have ever, maybe the cloth covering on an iron board but then again, lately there are ironing board covers that are almost fire proof. If u see a wrinkle on a collar of your dress shirt, it's almost instinctive to figure it out how to correct the kinks using your iron .... but that's me, I'm anal when it comes to my clothing and cleanliness at home...

I can totally relate to this. I am a working man and a family man myself, kaya when I have the time, my most favorite housechores are washing and ironing clothes.

Una meron naman washing machine kaya mas madali, pero dahil OC ako, I use lots of fabric softener in my wash--Blue Suavitel is my favorite scent. Then I do not dry my dress shirts and pants in the dryer. aside from being GREEN, feeling kasi maiiba ang scent IMHO, kaya I line dry it. Weird no? lalo na dito sa Tate, pero try it and you will smell and feel the difference.
http://tkfiles.storage.live.com/y1ptqA3pom2mCTJcBCoBoz3BWVE_qC8wNFexRAvG1ybH00Z4XtmxradcYtYeDOIL-l1X-FiOlZfkpY
I usually choose wrinkle resistant dress shirts, and yet still after washing it, I hang it in a hanger with most creases and wrinkles smoothed out manually. Tapos kung pamporma o pampasok sa tarabjo, I will iron it with lots of NIAGARA starch spray... and when I say LOTS i mean I can consume one can for only 5 shirts. It usually takes me about 10-15 minutes sa bawat shirt, kaya halos isang oras every week.
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ZF4KAXW0aR9z9M:http://www.troubleseekers.com/images/ironing_man.jpghttp://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/03/62/23466203.jpg
The result is in the pudding--- everyone notices how well groomed I am at work.
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/archives/1.jpg
The rest of my clothes are wash and wear...I stil have to make time take care of my 3 babes after work.
http://www.tolife.com.au/images/man-baby.jpg
Haaay Buhay America!
Minsan na mi-miss ko na si 'Day.

:horse:
J.P.

Igsuonnimo

May 27th, 2008, 06:50 PM

bitoy

May 27th, 2008, 07:34 PM

^^ Ako naman, gusto ko na matuto sa pamumuhay ni Doei.

Para makatipid ng kuryente sa pamamalantsa, iniipit ko sa hinihigaan ko ang mga damit para pag-gising ko ay plantsado na rin.

Jhonny the Pilgrim. , sumakit ang tyan ko sa kakatawa sa posting mo.

:lol:

When I was assigned in the middle of nowhere, ganyan ang style ko, iniipit ko sa bed cushions yung mga damit ko na kelangan plantsahin, except some uniforms.
Buti dito sa US, some companies are fine with their employees in wearing casual clothes at work. And during summertime, I really enjoy the view of what women wear here at work. :tongue3:
Naku, lalo na sa LA.... jusko pu! :nuts:

kiretoce

May 27th, 2008, 08:10 PM

bitoy

May 27th, 2008, 08:41 PM

^^ :lol: I can related to that Tsinoy. Our "official" dresscode for work is corporate/business. But I rebelled and started wearing jeans, poloshirts, and sneakers (or sandals) since I don't interact with the public anyway. They didn't say anything about it, but slowly the other employees noticed how casual and comfortable I was, they too started dressing down. Now almost everyone is casually dressed all week, except for those in admin and staff that logs in face time with clients.

My other job in LA turned out to be like your company too. We used to wear shirt and tie and for females, skirts or dress pants but when I came back from a long overseas assignment, Bualah!!!, some big changes in our corporate world.... casual dress code in LA is like strolling in the park outfit. hmm.. those tight jeans and short skirts... :nuts:

kiretoce

May 27th, 2008, 10:26 PM

Manila Road in Shanghai (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/may/28/yehey/top_stories/20080528top8.html)

The Philippines is on the map of Shanghai literally and figuratively. Filipino musicians and artists have been known in Shanghai even before the war. But literally, there is a street in Shanghai called Luzon Road (formerly named Manila Road).

Dr. Gregorio Zaide mentioned in his Philippine History and Civilization, published by the Philippine Education Co. in 1939, that in the International Settlement in Shanghai there is such a street. I confirmed this information recently through a map found in the commemorative book, The Philippines in Shanghai, which was published by the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai in 2005 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China.

It is the roadmap of Shanghai City in the 1930s. Manila Road can be seen prominently in the lower-middle part of the map.

Unfortunately, except for the fact that it was in the former French settlement in Shanghai in the 1930s or before, we don’t have more information about Manila Road. Why was it so named? Was it because there were many residents from Manila or shops owned by people from Manila, or were there many goods from Manila being sold there? We can only guess.

Considering the fact that there were no other streets named after capitals of other countries in that vicinity, the Manila Road then seemed to be unique. Although Zaide mentioned the La Union Hat Store of the Alobog family in Shanghai, there is a picture of a 1937 billing statement of Tabaqueria Filipina Ltd. in Shanghai in the book of The Philippines in Shanghai. They were both located in the commercial street, Nanking Road, not on the Manila road.

Nevertheless, the fact that there was a Manila Road in Shanghai showed how close the relation between Manila and Shanghai were even before the war. In fact, in 1948 there was already a Philippine Consulate in Shanghai and in September 1946, the Philippine Airlines had already the DC-3 carrier to have its first flight to Shanghai that stopped over in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the commemorative book says: “Its most celebrated direct flight to Shanghai took off on the 26th of May 1948. Thirty passengers were on board, including the son of the country’s president, Thomas Quirino, the Chinese Consul General Tsu Shong-shan and other Philippine government officials and journalists.”

My earlier article in the April 20, 2004 issue of the Kaisa newspaper Tulay, “Pinoys in Shanghai,” cited Zaide’s account, but it is quoted here again to highlight the early presence of Pinoys in Shanghai victory: “During Spanish times, Filipino mariners and traders had a colony at the back of the Yangtze River across Shanghai. The site of the colony, now called Pootung, still exists [it became the financial center of Shanghai now], and the people living there are said to be descendants of those early Filipino mariners who married Chinese women and settled down.

“In Shanghai military circles, the Filipinos are rated excellent shots. The Truesmann Cup, a rifle-shooting trophy, was won by Sgt. Jose Cobarrubias in 1933, Lt. Agapito Celis in 1934 and Sgt. Jesus Iglesias in 1936. The Municipal Challenge Cup, another trophy for excellence in marksmanship, was won by Capt. Honorio Evangelista in 1935. The Filipino Company Rifle team, composed of Captain Evangelista, Sgt. Apolonio Orden and Sgt. Iglesias won the International Cup of the Shanghai Rifle Association in 1934 and 1935.

“Filipino musicians are rated among the best in Hong Kong, Shanghai and other cities of China. They can be found playing in swanky nightclubs, hotels and cafes. Pepito Alindada, alumnus of Ateneo de Manila and brother of an ex-councilor of Manila, is now acclaimed as the best band master in Shanghai.”

Igsuonnimo

May 28th, 2008, 12:38 PM

My other job in LA turned out to be like your company too. We used to wear shirt and tie and for females, skirts or dress pants but when I came back from a long overseas assignment, Bualah!!!, some big changes in our corporate world.... casual dress code in LA is like strolling in the park outfit. hmm.. those tight jeans and short skirts... :nuts:

part of the game yan ng pagiging cosmopolitano kaibigan :)

:cheers1:

sa pagiging cosmo, maging polite lang ;)

:cheers1:

Juan Pilgrim

May 28th, 2008, 03:19 PM

Dito rin ako natuto magluto.
http://pro.corbis.com/images/CB049057.jpg?size=572&uid=%7B9EE30713-A387-4EBA-AD7E-B9C26A1BBB6C%7D
nuon bago pa lamang ako dito, enjoy ako sa mga fast food like hamburgers, fries, fried chicken, souvlaki, gyro, hotdogs, falafel... pero magsasawa ka rin pala, so I have to go to Filipino restaurants or Asian groceries to satisfy your craving for the more familiar Filipino food.
http://pro.corbis.com/images/42-19039144.jpg?size=572&uid=%7BCAF6DFB9-A24E-42B5-B6BE-3D13E6B20BF6%7Dhttp://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/99/04/22890499.jpg

then you learn how to economize, and improvise. It really took me a long time before I learned how to cook rice. not fried rice just plain white rice. tapos ng matuto ako magluto ng rice, pa-prito prito naman, primero scrambled eggs muna, tapos naging omelet... ngayon marunong na akong mag spaghetti at mag adobo (tagalog style).
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/hello/259/958/640/DSC_0943_crop.jpghttp://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/uploaded_images/IMGP3780-774717.JPG
Now if you feel like eating something in particular, just give me the recipe, at kung meron yung mga ingredients ---I will try to replicate the dish. You will be impressed--masarap kahit walang MSG or ACCENT.

I don't mind cooking as long as you do the dishes and the clean-up!http://www.picturescolourlibrary.co.uk/loreswithlogo/2303403.jpg
If you do not want -- then call for Chinese food--

Haaay! Buhay sa America!

:horse:
J.P.
TANGKILIKIN NATIN ANG PRODUCTONG PILIPINO!!!!

kiretoce

May 28th, 2008, 04:56 PM

One thing about living here in the US of A is that almost everything is for "your convenience." If you don't want to cook, you can eat out or have it delivered. If you don't want to do the dishes after a meal, use disposable plates and utensils and just throw them out after use, or you can use your fine china and just load the dishwasher afterwards. If you don't want to do laundry, you can have your clothes dry-cleaned. If you don't want to mow your lawn, you can pay someone to mow it for you. You can drive up to a bank ATM to transact business or drive up to a fastfood restaurant to place your order and get it to go without even leaving your vehicle. Ahh....such is the life of the "not-so-rich and not-so-famous" but sure do act like they're some big shot when they go home to the Philippines. :lol:

Juan Pilgrim

May 28th, 2008, 06:45 PM

^^Kimber, I used to choose doing all those things 100% before at my convenience. And I still do, but not as much.
http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/13/64/23146413.jpg
Pero, things changed when I started a family and became blessed with three kids. Although we still either eat out, order delivery or pick-up food 60-75% of the time, the rest of the time me and my wife will cook for the family. Lalo na ngayon mayroon recession daw, kailangan mag-budget.
http://www.spotlightdesign.com/Websites/Lifetown/ShowerImages/363.jpg
Feeling domesticated na ako ngayon compared to my wild days, when I can go rollie pollie and not worry about anything and anyone.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/19/us/22895411.JPG
:horse:
J.P.

kiretoce

May 28th, 2008, 06:55 PM

^^ Hmm....do I see what my future will be through you? :eek:

Spending time with family luxury that some families living here cannot afford. You're extremely lucky to be getting quality time with your kids, and most especially with your wife. :okay:

Juan Pilgrim

May 28th, 2008, 07:15 PM

^^That's why I always try to widen my social network system, mostly through Faith Base and Occupational Base. They provide me with all sorts of support-- even a few hours of babysitting (gratis et amore), so I can spend time with my wife.
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/03/17/18NAPPIES_wideweb__470x335,0.jpg
Bata ka pa naman Kimber, when You reach my age. Things will be a lot clearer. So better enjoy now.

^^I can not foretell the future. But i believe in synchronicity. Yun bang nothing happens by chance or coincidence-- everything happens for a reason.

Baka sa pagbabasa mo ng post ng mga SSCers (like me) meron dahilan.

So we should not just EXIST. nor should we just SURVIVE. We should at least THRIVE AND PROSPER.

:horse:
J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

May 29th, 2008, 06:54 PM

I recommend two exceptional short films about FILIPINOs here in the STATES. I was able to view both artwork last week. Both are very well directed and acted and less than 10 minutes each.

http://www.asiancinevision.org/05_06NationalTour/05Tour_photos/Mothers-Nanay_web.jpg
MOTHERS (NANAY)
Dir. Clarissa de los Reyes
USA | 2004 | 5mins | B/W | Narrative
Left alone with the infant she cares for, a Filipino nanny attempts to recapture her lost motherhood - an urge that causes an unthinkable act.

http://www.asiancinevision.org/05_06NationalTour/05Tour_photos/MotherInay_web.jpg
MOTHER (INAY)Dir. Debbie Formoso
USA | 2004 | 9mins | Color | Tagalog w/ES | Narrative
In a new environment thousands of miles from home, a young Filipina immigrant struggles to care for a 90-year-old grandmother who suffers from dementia.

LET US ALL SUPPORT THE FILIPINO ARTISTAND THE PHILIPPINE ART/FILM INDUSTRY.

:horse:
J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

May 30th, 2008, 03:14 PM

"Buhay Pinoy Abroad, Buhay OFW" by Ercof

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0s7EtOSjAhY

This video depicts the typical life of an overseas Filipino and an overseas Filipino family searching for a gainful family life through remittances from abroad. This will enlighten the public about who are the country's major economic saviors and what sacrifices do they face.

Tags: OFW, Pinoy, abroad, remittances, OF, family

what do you think?

:horse:
J.P.

bitoy

May 30th, 2008, 07:53 PM

Sinag-tala 2003: Ang Balikbayan Box

QhWYXkzU9BI

A song written by Loui Paman and Dee Pizarro about the struggle
between a husband and a wife living an ocean away from each
other. Performed by BJ Alisago and Lorraine De Arco. Brian Rivera
opens the scenes as the Balikbayan Box delivery person. Stage
direction by Sonny Alforque. Choreography by Cynthia Perreira
and Dane San Pedro.

Juan Pilgrim

May 31st, 2008, 06:45 PM

One of New York’s Best Cheap Eats
http://images.nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2006/tanoreen060724_220.jpg
Kuma Inn
It’s a relief to escape the yammering hyenas and bar monkeys of Ludlow Street and ascend a steep staircase to Kuma Inn, a tiny Pan-Asian tapas joint where chef-owner King Phojanakong seamlessly fuses the cooking of his Filipino mother and his Thai father with his own classic French training. The simplest things are some of the most delicious, like a pungent Chinese sausage served with zesty Thai-chile sauce, and an exceedingly satisfying garlic fried rice. The Asian citrus fruit kalamansi makes frequent inspired appearances, especially in a semi-frozen tart that could give Key lime an inferiority complex.
113 Ludlow St., second fl.; 212-353-8866

$25 AND UNDER
Asian-American Chef Makes Tapas His
By DANA BOWEN
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/20/dining/20UNDE.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

HERE comes a time in every restaurant's adolescence when suddenly it isn't the new kid anymore. Some react by hiring publicists. Others revamp the menu. But many embrace their age: once the buzz rush gives way to regulars and the kitchen is running smoothly, the place can be itself, and the chef can enjoy his job.

And that's Kuma Inn, a year and a half after it opened in an upstairs room on the sleepy end of Ludlow Street. Still, it is without a sign above the door. And still, King Phojanakong, a brawny young man with a wide and ready smile, cooks in his open kitchen at the top of the steep stairs.

His Asian tapas menu is a whimsy, but it is what you might expect from a New Yorker born to a Filipino mother and Thai father, who went to culinary school and trained at gastro-shrines like Danube, Daniel and Jean Georges. Mr. Phojanakong's kitchen inspiration comes from his mother's side of the family, so he mines the larders of Spain, China, Southeast Asia and Japan, all of which have historically seasoned food from the Philippines. That means pan-roasted sea scallops — four plump ones — swaddled in sake butter with kalamansi, a tangy citrus fruit, reduced to a sweet-sour sauce ($10). On top, a smoky shower of bacon shards; on bottom, wilted watercress.

It also means unfussy classics, like pancit bihon ($8), voluminous bowls of rice noodles in an earthy stew of carrots, bean sprouts, mushrooms and sweet Chinese sausage. It is Filipino mama food, and fantastic.

Kuma Inn, a spin on the Tagalog word kumain, meaning to eat, is an auteur restaurant if there ever was one, sprung entirely from Mr. Phojanakong's imagination. He consulted with a friend on the leafy bamboo-rice abstractions hanging along the walls. He plays Beatles CD's brought from home. And on weekend evenings, when the studio-size restaurant swells with conversation and body heat, he ambles across it as if it were a living room, opens the fire escape door and cools off in the Lower East Side breeze.

Weeknights belong to neighborhood twosomes and lone, late-night diners, and are often so quiet you could hear the difference between chopping and mincing in the kitchen. Some customers drop in for sake: about a dozen are offered, including a plummy organic variety ($8 a glass, $50 a bottle) and an unfiltered nigori ($6). The fruit-stocked sake sangria ($7 a glass, $22 pitcher) is floral and refreshing, but San Miguel, a pale beer from the Philippines ($6), goes down easier with such emphatically flavored food.

The dishes are tapas in theory and price structure only. Excluding the cheapest plates — shumai with belly-punches of wasabi ($5.50) and steamed edamame slick with lime-basil oil and sea salt ($4) — they're not that diminutive. Chargrilled chicken, beef and pork skewers ($8), and summer rolls stuffed with herbs and vegetables ($6), are sized like generous appetizers. Too bad the tiny mussels ($7) don't come with bread or a spoon: we made do scooping up the extra sake-garlic broth with empty shells.

Seared sausage with caramelized onions and sticky rice ($7.50) is street food reinvented, with a sprinkle of black sesames, into a citified meal. It comes with the house hot sauce, and Mr. Phojanakong should bottle this stuff; its thai chilies and lime juice teeter between sweet and incendiary, uplifting any dish.

These simple bites are best refreshed with homemade pickles ($6), like sharply sour, vine-green long beans; gingery chayote, carrot and jicama achara; and marinated cucumbers. Side orders of garlic rice ($2.50), perfumed with toasty cloves, are also a good idea.

The priciest dishes are also the most elaborate. A small portion of pan-fried, skin-on striped bass straddles baby bok choy and coconut curry foam, with a sprinkle of sweet fish roe ($9). Pork tonkatsu ($8) has a golden panko crust brightened with seasoned greens, and bigeye tuna arrives rare, seared in a wedge over gingery soy ($10).

The flavors and textures are so precise that the occasional mishap is jarring. On one jam-packed Friday, our oyster omelet skimped on oysters, and the sauté cook had a heavy hand with salt. Greenmarket mushrooms were rehydrated, chewy and too strong.

But there was both litchi and fig ice cream ($5), made in the neighborhood by Il Laboratorio del Gelato, and fried plantains with mango caramel ($5) that tasted like bananas Fosters, by way of Manila. They were as good as ever.

Kuma Inn

113 Ludlow Street (Delancey Street), Lower East Side; (212) 353-8866.

BEST DISHES Pan-fried scallops; pancit bihon; sautéed Chinese sausage; homemade pickles; steamed mussels; pan-roasted striped bass.

PRICE RANGE Tapas $5 to $10, side dishes $1 to $5.

CREDIT CARDS Cash only.

HOURS Tuesday through Sunday, 6 p.m. to midnight. Closed Monday.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS One flight up.

:horse:
J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 06:08 PM

http://americanfilipino.com/images/Krystals_copy.JPG

:horse:
J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 06:11 PM

http://americanfilipino.com/images/600_PNB_Facade.jpg

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 06:16 PM

http://americanfilipino.com/images/Johnny_Air_copy.JPG

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 06:20 PM

http://americanfilipino.com/images/Ihawan_copy.JPG

:horse:
J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 06:23 PM

http://americanfilipino.com/images/Barrio_Fiesta_copy.JPG

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 06:25 PM

http://americanfilipino.com/images/600_Phil-Am_Facade.jpg

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 06:28 PM

http://americanfilipino.com/images/600_Renees_copy.JPG

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 06:35 PM

http://pro.corbis.com/images/42-17307006.jpg?size=572&uid=%7B4DECB473-EE99-4D66-9FBE-D88DDB9009DE%7D

:horse:

J.P.

mwg12a

June 2nd, 2008, 06:37 PM

I've been domesticated even when I was single, I think that's one thing I've never really picked up from being a filipino or of filipino heritage, men usually expect women to do everything at home. I always believe in an equal share of responsibilities, so, i knew how to cook way before I got married...

And to kimber, being married does not mean you're dead. I still go out and hangout with my friends every now and then, it's not as much as I use to but I still do and still is allowed to go, I also let my wife hangout with her friends for a girl's night out. Then throughout the week, we would have time to go out just the two of us, but somehow, we enjoy the presence of our child so we end up usually taking him along with us because to us it's just more fun seing him around doing his usual antics that makes us laugh each time and it never fails.

@JP. are all these in cali? I've never really been in cali but maybe one of these days we will try try it out there. I've got lots of relatives in long beach area that i've already lost contact with...

kiretoce

June 2nd, 2008, 06:38 PM

http://pro.corbis.com/images/42-17307006.jpg?size=572&uid=%7B4DECB473-EE99-4D66-9FBE-D88DDB9009DE%7D

:sly: Hmm....you're saying we sleep all day doing nothing? :nuts: (I wish!) :lol:

@mwg12a: I didn't really mean to say that tying the knot is a death sentence. I've just observed that my friends that did marry (and married young) kinda have that "what if" way of thinking. Especially when we get together and I tell them what I've done, where I've been, etc. They always say, "Man, I wish I didn't get married yet." :colgate:

mwg12a

June 2nd, 2008, 06:43 PM

No, I mean, aside from just working and partying which is typical with single people. I am just saying I can't relate to some married pinoys who is really the "typical man of the house" that he would even ask his wife or children to bring his house shoes or "chinelas" to him instead of him getting himself when he is capable of doing on his own.

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 06:50 PM

@JP. are all these in cali? I've never really been in cali but maybe one of these days we will try try it out there. I've got lots of relatives in long beach area that i've already lost contact with...

This is not in SUNNY CALI

but in the JUICY and CRUNCHY BIG APPLE.
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/1d/3d/32/new-york-city.jpg

:horse:
J.P.

kiretoce

June 2nd, 2008, 06:58 PM

Filipinos and the au pair system in Europe (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/june/03/yehey/opinion/20080603opi6.html)

Mr. and Mrs. Hansen, a wealthy Danish couple, met Minnie in a small island resort in the Visayas. They liked the teenage girl, and offered to sponsor her nursing studies and invite her to stay with them in Denmark. The couple, both holding extremely well-paying jobs, lived in an old farm house in the province. The two enjoyed raising various farm animals and producing their own food, but hiring farm hands are expensive in Denmark. Since they had no children the couple couldn’t qualify as a host family for an au pair. But the brother of Mr. Hansen could. Minnie went to Denmark as an au pair girl, officially to look after the children of Mr. Hansen’s brother, but her actual work was to tend to chicken, sheep and other farm animals. The Hansens got their cheap labor, and Minnie, once back in the Philippines, got to take up nursing in the city. She will look after us when we’re old, the couple said, explaining why they wanted Minnie to take up nursing. Without the Hansens, the island lass would never have been able to take up a college degree or travel abroad. Laws might have been violated, but there were no victims. Everybody was happy.

However, other au pairs from the Philippines have been subjected to worse abuse. Revelations of such prompted the Philippine government to ban its citizens from becoming au pairs in Europe some ten years ago. Well, ban or no ban, Helle Stenum, a Danish researcher, writes in the May 29 edition of Danish daily Politiken that of 2,207 au pairs working in Denmark in 2007, 1,510 were Filipinos. The figures for Norway are 1,760 and 1,103, respectively. There have been stories about forced prostitution, about couples’ renting out their au pair, and making a sport out of testing the limits of the girls by assigning them tasks that no Danish employee would tolerate.

Au pair used to be a popular way for young European girls to experience other cultures. An au pair girl isn’t a yaya or household help, she becomes part of the family and is treated as such. She doesn’t receive a salary but an allowance. According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, au pair “comes from the French term au pair, meaning “on a par” or “equal to,” indicating that the relationship is intended to be one of equals: the au pair is intended to become a member of the family, albeit a temporary one, rather than a domestic servant.”

Stenum believes that the ban imposed by the Philippine government actually puts the girls in even more precarious situations. Since they are in Denmark illegally as far as the Philippine government is concerned, they cannot expect any assistance from their own embassy in case they get into trouble. Of course, Denmark could follow the path of Sweden which respected the Philippines ban by also not accepting au pair status as a ground for granting a visa.

Poverty drives thousands of Filipinos to try out greener, but unknown and dangerous, pastures in faraway lands. Shame on unscrupulous individuals and families who take advantage of the desperation of others.

Danish nurses and daycare workers have been on strike for about two months on the demands of higher wages. These groups of employees are poorly compensated compared to most other sectors. Nurses and day cay workers employed by local government units were granted an average wage increase of 13.4 period over a 3-year period. Others remain on strike.

In the 1960s, a time in Denmark ’s history which just like today was characterized by full employment, men from Turkey and Yugoslavia took the jobs that Danish workers then found unattractive. Today, Denmark is recruiting doctors and nurses abroad. According to local newspaper Sjællandske, lack of medical doctors and nurses in some parts of Denmark has prompted the Danish Embassy in Germany to organize a recruitment fair. Those who sign up for a job in the Danish health care system will be provided language training (proficiency in Danish is a must), assistance to the accompanying spouse to find a job, and special support will be extended to the children for easier integration into the Danish school.

mwg12a

June 2nd, 2008, 07:01 PM

:sly:* Hmm....you're saying we sleep all day doing nothing?* :nuts:* (I wish!)* :lol:

@mwg12a: I didn't really mean to say that tying the knot is a death sentence.* I've just observed that my friends that did marry (and married young) kinda have that "what if" way of thinking.* Especially when we get together and I tell them what I've done, where I've been, etc.* They always say, "Man, I wish I didn't get married yet."* :colgate:

I think that never ever stop, some older dudes think the same way and they are already in their late fourties. But even if we say those, it wears off easily because it's nicer to come home to someone too instead of an empty bed, empty house and such. As you grow older your list of friends to hangout with dwindles because everybody and so and so are already married. It seems like even you're only in the mid twenties, everybody is getting married that you end up hanging out with a much younger crowd which has happened to me a few times... It's just always good to look back sometimes cuz it brings back good memories...

Thanks JP!

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 07:10 PM

:sly: Hmm....you're saying we sleep all day doing nothing? :nuts: (I wish!) :lol:

http://home.att.net/~mcp3_2000/_backgrds/human/man_sleep_walking.gif

"To sleep? Perchance to dream! aye, there's the rub"
(Hamlet--W.Shakespeare)

:horse:
J.P.

crappypants

June 2nd, 2008, 07:24 PM

are those places all in NY? very witty restaurant name Kuma in

Juan Pilgrim

June 2nd, 2008, 07:32 PM

KUMA INN is also in New York City. Downtown Manhattan.

Kuma Inn | 113 Ludlow St., 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10002 | 212-353-8866

:horse:
J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 3rd, 2008, 03:21 PM

http://www.observer.com/files/imagecache/article-teaser/files/parkavenue.jpg

The weather was nice and cool.

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 3rd, 2008, 03:26 PM

http://weblogs.amny.com/news/local/tracker/blog/traff.JPG

It was still early but there were already a lot of cars on the road.

:horse:
J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 3rd, 2008, 03:29 PM

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ZHPlGS4klVA7HM:http://www.lucsnetguide.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/gas_prices.jpg
Price of gas today.
;
;
;
;
;
;
Price of gas tomorrow:
http://www.politico.ws/photos/Mobil%20-%20Charging%20Arm%20Leg%20Nut.jpg

:horse:
J.P.

kiretoce

June 3rd, 2008, 03:34 PM

^^ What's the average price of regular up there in NYC? Here in Orlando it's about $3.83. :(

Juan Pilgrim

June 3rd, 2008, 03:38 PM

http://blogs.trb.com/news/politics/blog/assets_c/2008/04/High%20gas%20price%20photo%20small-thumb-425x328.jpg

:horse:
J.P.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mmo/lowres/mmon33l.jpg:ohno:

kiretoce

June 3rd, 2008, 03:42 PM

:eek: Whoa! $4.00 plus! Yikes!

Juan Pilgrim

June 3rd, 2008, 03:49 PM

http://www.smartcommute.org/Assets/models-car.jpg

:horse:

J.P.

or the delusion to expensive gas...
http://www.karendecoster.com/blog/archives/carpool.jpg:ohno:

pi_malejana

June 3rd, 2008, 10:04 PM

^^ What's the average price of regular up there in NYC? Here in Orlando it's about $3.83. :(

regular is about $4.20 while diesel is almost $5.20+.....

we wen't to NJ (six flags) yesterday and were surprised to see cheaper gas prices, $3.60+ for a regular...
:lol:

mwg12a

June 4th, 2008, 03:10 AM

I'm buying a moppet or a scooter. 87 miles a gallon, can't beat that chit!!!

kiretoce

June 4th, 2008, 02:20 PM

^^ I think you meant Moped (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moped).

Juan Pilgrim

June 4th, 2008, 06:11 PM

For less than $20,000 fully LOADED.
You can get a SMART CAR.
Designed and assembled by the makers of MERCEDES BENZ.
It claims to run on just 40-50 miles per gallon of gasoline.

http://www.ecoshopper.net/wp-content/img/transport/2007/12/smartcar.jpg

:horse:

J.P.

http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/BUSINESS/060629/AP_SMART_CAR.gif

kiretoce

June 4th, 2008, 07:38 PM

Where are the jobs? (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/june/05/yehey/opinion/20080605opi1.html)

A lot of good will come from the administration’s P2-billion subsidy to small electricity users, 10 of whom received P500 each at a quiet program at the presidential palace on Tuesday.

The money will help four million poor “lifeline user” households meet their power bills, which have risen mercilessly in the past few months. Lifeline users are the families or individuals who consume 100 kilowatt-hours or less of electricity each month. The money is a one-time handout.

The project borrows from the Ahon Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a conditional cash transfer project launched by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The program provides cash benefits to families on condition they invest in their children’s future with health checkups, enrollment in school and maternal care. The maximum benefit is P1,400 each month for a family with three school-age children.

To ensure government-subsidized rice for poor families, the administration has issued access cards for heads of poor families to save them from long queues and worries that they may have to buy rice above P18.25 per kilo, the ceiling for the NFA variety.

Because college education has become expensive, the President has ordered state universities and colleges to freeze their tuition fees. Turning her attention to public school students, she made school uniforms optional to reduce the costs of basic education, which include transportation, food, class projects and school supplies.

The palace has also fended off petitions from public transportation owners to raise bus and jeepney fare and has encouraged the idea that sending text messages be made at no cost to the users. It has encouraged regional wage boards to raise the minimum pay.

Promote self-reliance, not mendicancy

Much of the public has welcomed the administration initiatives aimed at ameliorating rice and food prices, electricity charges, oil and gas-related expenses and tuition worries. Analysts however have observed that many of the programs neither address the basic causes of our national ills nor offer long-range solutions to them.

They have warned against short-term solutions to inflation pains. They claim the administration is perpetuating mendicancy instead of promoting self-reliance. “Knee-jerk reaction,” “tokenism” and “palliatives” is how they have described the actions crafted by presidential advisers.

Above all these criticisms, we believe the government and its critics have not focused on a national program we need and could work on—creating and maintaining jobs. Filipinos need jobs desperately. Many of the employed are not paid sufficiently and must look for extra work or a higher-paying job.

The President could borrow an idea from her father—President Diosdado Macapagal—who launched the first nationwide public works project in history, the Emergency Employment Administration. The program hired thousands of jobless men and women who earned honest pay with their toil and sweat. They came out of the experience not richer but with more money to pay for their needs, buy a few amenities and appreciative of honest labor.

Create jobs in the cities and the farms

There are countless jobs that could be done in the cities and the farms. Hundreds of irrigation systems need repair. There is work to be done to fix farm-to-market roads and to improve post-harvest facilities, to mention a few examples.

We do not have to wait for international conferences to beautify and clean up our surroundings. The government said recently public buildings require inspection for the next big earthquake. Repairing, repainting and maintaining government buildings require manpower.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority under Chairman Bayani Fernando is a big employer. Forgetting his public portraits, we look with admiration at how BF’s “Metro Gwapo” project has used brawn and muscles to sweep the streets, direct traffic and keep discipline on the sidewalks.

Local governments—the provinces, towns and cities—could embark on similar projects, using paid hands and volunteers, to help the administration cope with a big headache and to enable millions of Filipinos to earn a living that dignifies them and that honors their skills.

Organize a national jobs program

Small and medium businesses need a strong boost through affordable loans and credit. The underground economy or the informal sector is a strong pillar of the economy that employs half of the labor force, produces services and products. Active entrepreneurship, open to women and young Filipinos, is the alternative to wearying 9 to 5 office or blue-collar jobs.

Private business has an important role but will not of course hire the hands it does not need. The problem, according to a Department of Labor survey, is that many employers could not fill up their vacancies because the skills needed are not available. This takes us back to the job-vacancy mismatch because the schools are educating and training people in the “wrong” vocations.

We will have to continue engaging the overseas job market as we replenish the talent supply. The work of the Commission on Higher Education, the Department of Labor and Employment and the Technical Education Skills Development Authority for education, training and marketing is important.

Giving as many of our people jobs is the way out of poverty, ignorance, idleness and crime. Malacañang, together with the private sector and local governments, must put a national jobs program in place.

portludlow

June 5th, 2008, 05:43 AM

mmmm buhay amerika...................They said to be succesful in the land you immigrate "do what the romans do"

We filipinos always want to do our very best and go the extra mile on our jobs. The problem here in amerika is you are only as good when you deliver. If you get sick, they dont necessarily look on the days you were working your hineys for the good of the organization.

Kababayans almost always work theit butt off even to the point of doing things far and beyond their job descriptions. Lo and behold, we end up being taken advantaged by our co-workers. Some of them think we are nuts.

Our culture is always very profuse in praising people although sometimes we dont really mean it literally. Other cultures get a kick of those compliments and firmly believes them. Other nationalities dont give commendations that easily.

Filipinos are more than qualified to be supervisors, managers and departmental heads. The problem is they dont actually pursue those goals. They are more contented being a regular worker doing much overtime to earn those mighthy dollars but missing the opportunity for advancement.

Our confucian trait makes us so obedient and gives too much respect to authority. Sometimes this backfires on us as we get tag as aloof, reserved and not assertive enough with poor leadership skills.

hehehehe.....not in anyway stereotyping filipinos, just some musings I noticed on myself and our countrymen. Mahirap maging filipino sa ibang bansa kaya siguro sa SSC nalang palaging tumatambay. :)

mwg12a

June 5th, 2008, 05:44 AM

I've seen this here in town already. It's wild !!! If you have kids, it won't be good enough, I think hybrid would make it in the market more than these...

amigo32

June 5th, 2008, 07:11 AM

portludlow

June 5th, 2008, 07:48 AM

^^hoy amigo, bakit sa Jordan pa, sama na lang ako kay waway sa mga bed and breakfast sa KL para makakilala ng mga magagandang dayuhang babae. :lol:

Juan Pilgrim

June 6th, 2008, 08:40 PM

http://nyc.indymedia.org/images/2008/06/97719.jpg

http://nyc.indymedia.org/images/2008/06/97722.jpg

http://nyc.indymedia.org/images/2008/06/97724.jpg

NYPD Harassed Filipinos Commemorating Philippine Day in NYC?

By NAFCON

Approximately 100 parade marchers from the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) and BAYAN USA were met with repetitive harassment by the New York Police Department (NYPD) and security forces of the Philippine Independence Day Celebration (PIDC) Committee last Sunday during the annual Philippine Independence Day Parade. The joint contingent was projecting issues of the rice crisis in the Philippines and protesting the local commercialization of the annual Philippine Independence Day parade and fair along Madison Avenue. Constant harassment from the NYPD, in connivance with the PIDC organizing committee and Philippine Consulate, ended with the arrest of two members of the Filipino community fraternity, Kapatirang Pilipino, or Kappa Pi.

tigidig14

June 6th, 2008, 08:53 PM

I can totally relate to this. I am a working man and a family man myself, kaya when I have the time, my most favorite housechores are washing and ironing clothes.

Una meron naman washing machine kaya mas madali, pero dahil OC ako, I use lots of fabric softener in my wash--Blue Suavitel is my favorite scent. Then I do not dry my dress shirts and pants in the dryer. aside from being GREEN, feeling kasi maiiba ang scent IMHO, kaya I line dry it. Weird no? lalo na dito sa Tate, pero try it and you will smell and feel the difference.
http://tkfiles.storage.live.com/y1ptqA3pom2mCTJcBCoBoz3BWVE_qC8wNFexRAvG1ybH00Z4XtmxradcYtYeDOIL-l1X-FiOlZfkpY
I .P.

kaw ba to?

amigo32

June 7th, 2008, 03:51 AM

bakit chinese nakasulat:D

mwg12a

June 7th, 2008, 07:25 AM

I think it's already very comon even in the Philippines to have washing machine. I know when I still younger and lived in the Philippines, washing clothes isn't a problem. Well, except on the times when in some areas, there was always water shortage.. he he

Juan Pilgrim

June 8th, 2008, 04:06 AM

bakit chinese nakasulat:D

mi amigo, 洗濯機 is not chinese.

It is japanese for "WASHING MACHING."

bakit may problema ka ba sa itsura ko?

くそっあなた. (bakero).

:jk:

:horse:

J.P.

amigo32

June 8th, 2008, 05:31 AM

mi amigo, 洗濯機 is not chinese.

It is japanese for "WASHING MACHING."

bakit may problema ka ba sa itsura ko?

くそっあなた. (bakero).

:jk:

:horse:

J.P.

oh, japanese pala yun hehehe, akala ko kasi pag ganyang sulat hindi ko ma intindihan chinese na:D

ha? sinong may problema sa hitsura mo? pagkaguapo nga ere, puedeng gawing artista:D

Juan Pilgrim

June 8th, 2008, 03:42 PM

...
ha? sinong may problema sa hitsura mo? pagkaguapo nga ere, puedeng gawing artista:D

pasensya na. bossing, amigo.:angel:

Hindi pala ikaw iyon, si tigs
pala.

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 8th, 2008, 04:31 PM

Here are 10 jobs employers find hard to fill

http://www.malaya.com.ph/jun09/news3.htm

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has found at least 10 job positions that local firms consider hard-to-fill, based on a middle of the decade survey of employers.

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200712/r212383_817413.jpg

DOLE said the Integrated Survey of Establishments was conducted by its Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) among 7,630 companies during 2006. Its results were made public recently by the BLES. Only 5,607 establishments responded.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/01Pe95n1wM4YE/340x.jpg

DOLE, in a statement, said the companies were asked what jobs "have presented employers the greatest recruitment difficulties."
http://www.skycontrol.net/UserFiles/Image/Industry_img/200605/200605thales-vietnam.jpg

The survey identified the top hard-to-fill occupations, unfilled for more than a year in non-agricultural establishments with 20 or more workers, as follows:

1-air traffic controllers;
2-aircraft pilots;
3-navigators and flight engineers;
4-personnel and human resource development officers;
5-geologists and geophysicists;
6-pharmacists;
7-industrial robot controllers;
8-decorators and commercial designers;
9-bacteriologists,
pharmacologists,
pathologists and related workers;
10-technical and vocational instructors/trainors;
11-safety, health, and quality inspectors (vehicles, processes and products);
12- architects,
photographers and
image and sound recording equipment operators;
13-and science and mathematics teaching professionals.
http://www.tpjunction.com/images/clip_image002temp_000_001.jpg

It also said it was hard to find
14-accountants and auditors,
15-computer professionals,
16-commercial and technical sales representatives,
17-mechanical engineers, and
18-professional nurses.

http://www.bensemanoff.com/pix/gallery/Ben-Semanoff-Steadicam-Operator-HD-Camera.jpg

The survey noted that nearly one in every four establishments experienced difficulties in recruiting qualified applicants in the past three years.

To address the problem, majority (51.6 percent) of the responding 5,067 establishments suggested improvement of the quality of education (21.9 percent), skills training (12.8 percent), and strengthening jobs fairs, public employment services offices (PESOs) and labor market information (6.7 percent).

The firms also recommended the regulation of overseas deployment in selected categories (5.7 percent), review of labor laws (2.6 percent), and sound macro-economic management (1.9 percent).

-TC-

June 8th, 2008, 04:57 PM

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/99972/Firms-want-regulation-of-OFW-deployment

Firms want regulation of OFW deployment

GMA News TV
06/08/2008

MANILA, Philippines - Improved quality of education, better manpower skills, and more job fairs top the list of potential employers for in-demand but "hard-to-fill" occupations, the labor department said Sunday.

But the labor department also noted employers also want to regulate overseas deployment on selected categories as among the prospective solutions.

The DOLE said these highlighted the findings of a nationwide survey covering 7,630 establishments conducted by its Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES).

Labor secretary Marianito Roque said the DOLE is "already in synergy" with various industries in pushing and implementing the specific and effective interventions.

Roque noted the BLES' middle-of-the-decade 2006 Integrated Survey of Establishments (BITS) was accomplished successfully with the cooperation of thousands of establishments in the field.

The 2006 BITS, whose results the BLES revealed only recently, defined "hard-to-fill occupations" as those that "have presented employers with the greatest recruitment difficulties."

The survey listed the top hard-to-fill occupations, unfilled for more than a year in non-agricultural establishments with 20 or more workers, as follows:

* Air traffic controllers; aircraft pilots; navigators and flight engineers;
* Personnel and human resource development officers;
* Geologists and geophysicists;
* Pharmacists;
* Industrial robot controllers;
* Decorators and commercial designers;
* Bacteriologists, pharmacologists, pathologists and related workers;
* Technical and vocational instructors/trainers;
* Safety, health, and quality inspectors (vehicles, processes and products);
* Architects, photographers and image and sound recording equipment operators; and
* Science and mathematics teaching professionals.

It pinpointed the top five hard-to fill occupations as accountants and auditors, computer professionals, commercial and technical sales representatives, mechanical engineers, and professional nurses.

The BLES survey noted that nearly one in every four establishments had had trouble in recruiting qualified applicants to fill up openings in the past three years.

It added that firms surveyed think that this problem will persist unless resolved.

Majority (51.6%) of the responding 5,067 establishments proposed salient policy and program interventions such as:

* Improve the quality of education (21.9%);
* Skills training (12.8%);
* Strengthen jobs fairs, public employment services offices (PESOs) and labor market information (6.7%); and
* Regulate overseas deployment on selected categories (5.7%);
* Review labor laws (2.6%); and
* Sound macro-economic management (1.9%).

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) indicated that number of jobs fairs being conducted nationwide by DOLE-supervised PESOs, in cooperation with local government units, and labor and management, continues to strengthen with substantial results mitigating structural unemployment, or jobs and skills mismatch.

The BLE said the jobs fairs successfully conducted in all of the country's 16 regions under the supervision of various DOLE Regional Offices continually rose by a robust number in the last three years to 904 in 2007, from 823 in 2006, and from 697 in 2005.

BLE said 462,174 applicants were directly assisted in their search for job openings because of the 904 jobs fairs conducted by the PESOs in convenient, accessible locations across the nation in 2007.

-TC-

June 8th, 2008, 04:59 PM

kiretoce

June 9th, 2008, 03:08 PM

The odd way my sons say ‘Tatay’ in Obama’s America (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/mindfeeds/mindfeeds/view/20080609-141598/The-odd-way-my-sons-say-Tatay-in-Obamas-America)

Visiting friends and relatives are usually amused or puzzled that my sons call me ‘Tatay,” and their mother, ‘Nanay.’ Not “Daddy” and “Mommy” or “Papa” and “Mama.” That’s also how some of our friends’ children call their parents. It’s our way of reminding them -- and us – of who we are and where we come from.

My wife Mara and I even went a step further. We decided, even before our first son, Paolo, was born that Tagalog would be our children’s first language. A few friends and family members thought we were nuts. “Why teach them a language they most likely will not use in America?” they asked.

But for me, that decision was based on a practical reason: I didn’t want my kids to get mad at me. That’s because when I moved to America nearly 20 years ago, I encountered young FilAms who were disappointed, even angry, that their immigrant parents never taught them Tagalog or other Philippine languages. They felt cheated. I didn’t want my boys to feel that way, and wanted to make sure that they would never be able to say to me or their mother, ‘You denied us our heritage.’

Still, I understand why immigrant Pinoys in the past insisted that their children speak English and that they shed as much of the “old” ways as possible. They wanted their children to fit in and not stand out with a thick accent or bad grammar or “strange” customs. They wanted them to be “genuine” Americans -- whatever that meant. To become otherwise would make life harder for them, even dangerous. After all, only about a half century ago, one could still find signs in a few California cities saying, “Absolutely No Dogs or Filipinos Allowed.”

But times are changing in America. Being from a different country is no longer as big a liability as in the past. And having a strange-sounding name -- like Barack Obama -- is no longer an insurmountable hurdle to moving forward in life. Just last week, a black man who is also a son of an immigrant from Africa, and who grew up in Southeast Asia and in a state dominated by Asian Americans just became the Democratic nominee for president of the United States. And he could very well win.

Beyond all that, our decision to teach our children Tagalog was also encouraged by experts who said it was okay and even smart to have children learn as many languages as possible – because it actually makes them smarter. Pediatric experts said so. Paolo’s doctor said so too. Then there’s our own experience. Mara and I grew up bilingual (she’s actually trilingual, being competent in Waray) and we turned out okay.

But I won’t lie. Having our first son, Paolo, speak Tagalog as a first language was tough for him and for us. I thank the children’s book publishers and authors back in the Philippines for writing and publishing more works in Tagalog. But there were times when I had to read to Paolo at bedtime when I had to do some on the spot translation as he insisted, “Basa sa Tagalog, Tatay.” (“Read to me in Tagalog, Tatay.”) So I had to quickly come up with such lines as, “Pumunta si Barney sa zoo kasama ni Baby Bob.” (Barney went to the zoo with Baby Bob.)
When Paolo started going to day care, being exposed to a world of English-speaking kids turned out to be an overwhelming experience for him. After picking him up in the first few weeks, Mara was surprised at how talkative he was in the car. We later found why: He was apparently so intimidated by his English-speaking schoolmates that he simply kept quiet the whole day, and then made up for the hours of silence by blabbing endlessly when her Nanay came to take him home.

During his first few visits to Manila, however, Paolo felt like he was in heaven. Once, when we took a walk around my old neighborhood in Cubao and came across a group of children playing in the street, Paolo, his eyes wide open, exclaimed, “Tatay, nagtatagalog sila!” (“They’re speaking Tagalog!”)

Of course, his Manila-based cousins found it strange to have a Stateside cousin who spoke English with a thick Pinoy accent. My nephew, who was then a student at Ateneo High School, and who naturally spoke English with an Arrneow accent, asked me, “Tito Boying, bakit ang barok mag Inggles ng anak mo?” (“Why does your son speak English like Barok?”)

Eventually, we found out that the experts and our instincts were correct. Just a few months into his kindergarten year, Paolo was speaking fluent English. I still remember the moment when, as I was getting into my car after dropping him off, I realized: ‘He hasn’t spoken to me in Tagalog for a week.’

In fact, Paolo, who is turning 9, now only speaks to us in English, though he still understands when we speak to him in Tagalog. On the other hand, his younger brother, Anton, who is turning 3, is, like him when he was younger, fluent in Tagalog, and “barok” in his English. Which has led to some amusing exchanges at home.

“Don’t mess with my Legos, Tonton,” Paolo would say.

“ “E kuya, I just ano – uh - maglaro naman tayo,” the smaller one would respond. (“Let’s play.”)

Paolo still calls me “Tatay.” But he now pronounces it differently, with the accent on the last syllable. As in “atay” (liver) or “ “patay” (dead). He does the same thing with “Nanay.” Visiting friends and family are even more amused by that of course. (I joke that he is saying it with a French accent.)

Anton still gets the accent right, but we expect that eventually he’ll follow his kuya’s lead.

Which is all fine with me and Mara, for at least we know the seeds of Pilipino are planted firmly in their consciousness. And if they choose later on to do more with it and other aspects of their Filipino-ness, many of the ingredients are there for them to dig up and use.

It will be their choice.

And if Obama becomes president, it could become a much easier choice to make. Perhaps a choice that is even celebrated in a society with a painful history of rejecting those who are different -- but which is now evolving into a community where people with strange names, who come from strange lands and who speak strange languages are not just welcomed, accepted and embraced, they at times can even have the seat at the head of the table.

Last week, as Obama was giving his incredibly inspiring speech after clinching the Democratic Party nomination, I told Paolo to sit down with me and watch the broadcast, telling him, “This is important. Something big has just happened.” I later found out that a colleague at work, who is white, had done the same thing with his son and for the same reason.

Whatever happens in November, our world has already been turned upside down. And for that, I won’t mind the odd way my sons call me “Tatay.”

It’s Father’s Day on Sunday. To my fellow Tatays around the world, a toast to all of us!

bitoy

June 9th, 2008, 06:06 PM

^^ Hahaha, the article had to attach an attractive note on the title. :lol:

Well, advance Happy Father's day to everyone. :D

Juan Pilgrim

June 9th, 2008, 07:13 PM

... we're having a HEAT WAVE in the U.S.A.

http://ursispaltenstein.ch/blog/images/uploads_img/week_in_pictures_2.jpg

:horse:

J.P.

kiretoce

June 9th, 2008, 07:27 PM

^^ Yes, let's not drown them, let's choke them instead. :lol:

Juan Pilgrim

June 9th, 2008, 07:37 PM

Just a fun way to cool off.

No choking,
No drowning.

My babes are expert in threading as you can very well see.
Their heads are just a bit heavier than their bods--
--entonces, the salvavida o r floaters.

:horse:

J.P.

kiretoce

June 10th, 2008, 05:29 PM

Asian-Americans' academic success hides problems (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hDvlcBHlqi9AnsB3741q_pQh2U4gD916MHRO0)

With their high visibility on elite college campuses, Asian-Americans have picked up a nickname that makes many uncomfortable: the "model minority."

But a new report argues that Asian-Americans' reputation for academic success has obscured important variations within the group — and created a false sense that all their education needs are being met.

As a group, Asian-Americans have earned above-average incomes and achieved high average levels of education, said Rep. David Wu, D.-Ore., at a news conference Monday to release the report by a national commission, two New York University research institutes and the College Board, which owns the SAT exam. But they are clustered both at both the high and low ends of the scale.

"The conversation in our society has had this high-income, high-education group completely overshadow this other group of folks," Wu said. "It has been an education process to convince folks that we are not an ethnic group, every one of which has just graduated from Harvard."

Relative to other ethnic minorities, Asian-Americans have, indeed, been extremely successful by many academic measures. They substantially outscore other minority groups on average scores on the SAT college entrance exam. And according to the report more than 44 percent included in the group Asian-American (but excluding Pacific Islanders) have earned a bachelor's degree, 20 percentage points higher than the national average.

In the prestigious University of California system, the number of Asian-Americans enrolling each fall has shot up 59 percent in the decade since a ballot initiative ended racial preferences in admissions.

But the study notes often overlooked disparities in achievement among the 48 Asian and Pacific Islander groups that fall into the category under the census.

Just 7.5 percent of Hmong immigrants, 9.2 percent of Cambodians and 7.7 percent of Laotians had earned a bachelor's degree in 2000, compared to 43.8 percent of Filipinos and an identical proportion of Koreans.

On standardized tests, Asians are often disproportionately represented among the highest scores, but also among the lowest — doomed by poor English skills. And while their numbers have surged at many high-profile schools, enrollment among Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders is actually increasing nearly twice as fast at community colleges as at four-year ones.

Jih-Fei Cheng, coordinator of the Asian and Pacific Islander Student Center at California State Polytechnic, Pomona, said the "model minority" idea is a burden for many Asian-American students, who comprise about one-third of the student body there.

"What's insidious about that idea now is that a lot of the youth that are raised now in the U.S. of Asian descent, whether they're from families that have been here five or six generations, or just one or two, they are pressured by this 'model minority' myth by their families and society," he said.

But the report also argues the "model minority" argument can mislead policy-makers.

Robert Teranishi of NYU, one of the study's authors, said Asian-American students face challenges including "being invisible, people assuming they don't have any educational needs, they don't need services, they don't need to be included when it comes to particular policies."

Also, he added, "there's some emerging trends that we've found relating to use of mental health services, suicide rates" indicating Asian-American students may be at particular risk — though he cautioned the data there are limited.

The report dances somewhat gingerly around the topic of affirmative action, cautioning against using the academic success of Asian-Americans to demonstrate racial preferences aren't necessary — that the system is adequate for groups that work hard. It calls that argument an excuse to ignore deep problems in the education system.

"In reality, there are no winners" in a college system where the number of black and Latino students has plummeted with the end of affirmative action, the report argues.

In a phone interview, Teranishi acknowledged the end of the affirmative action significantly boosted the number of Asian-Americans in places like the University of California system. But he says it's not clear that the narrow admissions criteria that replaced the old system have benefited Asian-Americans overall.

"Just as some Asians have probably benefited from the narrow definitions of merit that have been applied in the UC system, I think there are also a lot of Asians that probably are disadvantaged because of that," Teranishi said.

Juan Pilgrim

June 11th, 2008, 10:04 PM

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINAS!!!

http://anton.blogs.com/flag/large.jpg

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINO!!

MABUHAY ANG ARAW NG KALAYAAN!!!

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 11th, 2008, 10:06 PM

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINAS!!!

http://anton.blogs.com/flag/large.jpg

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINO!!

MABUHAY ANG ARAW NG KALAYAAN!!

:horse:

J.P.

bitoy

June 12th, 2008, 08:14 AM

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/2562238537_98f7dda08b.jpg (http://www.nycarthur.com/PhilippineDay2008/index.html)

http://www.nycarthur.com/PhilippineDay2008/slides/_MG_8513.jpg

http://www.nycarthur.com/PhilippineDay2008/index.html

Philippine Independence Day Celebration 2008 (http://www.aratilis.org/pidci/)

Charice Pempengco wows the NYC crowd at the PIDC Independence Day Parade and Cultural show 2008!

crappypants

June 12th, 2008, 08:33 AM

ang ganda niya naman^^ who is that?
typical pinoy Asian face but a shade darker.

bitoy

June 13th, 2008, 12:53 AM

^^ Meron Programme Venue sa isang site, hindi ko na tiningnan ang mga performers sa parade. (wala naman akong kilala kasi) :lol:

But she is really pretty pati yung ibang naka Filipina dress sa album.

-TC-

June 13th, 2008, 05:31 AM

http://businessmirror.com.ph/0613&142008/economy01.html

RP lands in top 10 countries with high increase in jobs
By Max V. de Leon
BusinessMirror
June 13, 2008

THE Philippines landed in the top 10 globally of countries with the highest percentage increase in employment as reported by privately held businesses (PHBs) this year.

A survey conducted by global accountancy firm Grant Thornton International showed that private-sector employment in the country this year increased by 6 percent.

The Philippines emerged tied for 9th place with South Africa, Poland, Australia and Sweden in the study.

Vietnam emerged at the top of the survey with a 14-percent hike in employment; followed by India and China with 12 percent; Armenia, 11 percent; Brazil, 9 percent; Argentina and Singapore, 8 percent; and Turkey, 7 percent.

The East Asia increment is 8 percent, double the global average of 4 percent.

Last year, local PHBs collectively reported an 8-percent increase in employment.

Grant Thornton’s local partner Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A) said companies in the Philippines are having a hard time filling up their requirements for manpower because of the job-skills mismatch problem in the country.

“There are available jobs out there, but what’s happening is that employers are having a hard time finding people with the right skills to fill up these positions,” Greg Navarro, P&A managing partner and CEO, said.

Earlier results from the International Business Report (IBR) show that 58 percent of Filipino business leaders are having a difficult time expanding their businesses due to the lack of skilled workers in the country, making the Philippines the top three country globally whose business growth is limited most by this human-resource problem.

Navarro said the continuing diaspora of local talent is partly to blame for this.

“We’re seeing our engineers leaving for Russia and the Persian Gulf states, our journalists moving to Singapore and the UAE, and our geologists moving to China and Australia. And at the rate they are leaving, the employers they leave behind are having to play catch-up: They have to match that pace when they search for, and train, people to replace these workers. That’s a tall order,” Navarro said.

The Employment Growth Index is formed from responses given in the Grant Thornton IBR. It is determined by calculating the absolute increases and decreases in employment reported by businesses and then calculating the year-on-year head-count change as a percentage for each population as a whole.

-TC-

June 13th, 2008, 06:11 AM

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/06112008/perspective01.html

As carriers fight in the skies, Pinoy OFWs suffer on earth

By Recto Mercene
BusinessMirror
June 11, 2008

WHEN Rexz Maranan came home from London via the Middle East to bury his 80-year-old mother in January, he expected to be away from his work for about two weeks before returning to his job at the Heathrow Airport as a security officer. Instead, Maranan spent more than a month in his hometown of Santa Cruz, Laguna, unable to book a seat on any of the five Middle Eastern carriers, and finally buying a ticket for $1,200 (instead of the $500 given to OFWs), by taking a plane to Hong Kong and then a connecting flight to Heathrow via Frankfurt.

Not only was the additional air fare a burden; he almost lost his job.

Maranan’s plight is not unique to the thousands of vacationing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including those newly hired, who find themselves “stranded,” in a manner of speaking, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) waiting for their chance to fly as virtual “chance passengers.”

Every year, from January until about May, following the long holiday season, thousands of these OFWs are left marooned in their country simply because there are very limited seats to take them back to their place of work. This has been going on annually for the past few years despite a total of 70 flights allowed for the five Arab airlines plying this lucrative route.

Qatar, Gulf Air, Emirates, Saudia and Etihad Airways dominate the destination from Manila to all of the Gulf States destinations, having edged out Philippine Airlines (PAL) and European airlines in the highly competitive market 10 years ago.

PAL asserts that since the Gulf carriers are subsidized by their respective governments, they can dive down the cost of air tickets, thus, it’s an uneven playing field. The Gulf airlines counter that PAL enjoys code-sharing arrangements with some of them, and earns income by enjoying that quota reserved for locally registered airlines.

Whatever the merits of their arguments, the fact remains that of the estimated 5 million OFWs (including illegal) in the Middle East, there is a crying need for more flights that the government must address.

In Saudi Arabia alone, there are more than 2 million OFWs; Bahrain is home to 800,000; Abu Dhabi and Dubai to half a million; and the rest are shared by Doha, Jordan, Oman and Israel, according to Onie Nakpil, the chairman of the Airline Operators’ Council (AOC), and manager for Security of Gulf Air.

Business locators at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark have been vocal about accepting more flights to foreign carriers, but the Air Services Agreements (Asa), which requires a bilateral exchange of flights, renders this impossible at the moment.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (Cab), when asked to comment about the present problem, said it has allowed foreign carriers to fly out of the DMIA, but the quota remains underutilized because these carriers choose to concentrate in Manila, instead of Clark.

“We don’t have a problem with liberalization, but we are also compelled to protect our national interest,” said CAB lawyer Maria Elena Moro, chief of the Hearing Examiners’ Division and concurrent assistant director.

She added that the Cab has granted flying rights to several foreign carriers to fly out of Clark, “but most of these carriers are interested in Manila and not Clark or Subic.” It’s a situation that local carriers use to buttress their arguments that the foreign airlines are unfairly competing, eager only to grab more entitlements but not committed to fly where they’re needed. Moreover, they’re not willing to grant reciprocity.

Moro added that the Cab can’t compel any airline to fly where these foreign airlines don’t want to operate.

At the moment, she revealed that two local carriers, Trans Global Airways and Spirit of Manila, have pending applications to fly out of Clark direct to Bahrain.

Critics of the foreign air carriers said the Gulf airlines have focused on Manila to corner the huge OFW market, and, despite what they have promised before, failed to bring in foreign tourists as part of the bargain.

Nakpil denied allegations that their carriers are heavily dependent on the OFW market, saying that only a small percentage of their seats are allotted for them.

He clarified that majority, if not all, of the travel agents representing the OFWs have a quota set aside for “economy” tickets. The economy section is further subdivided into four “classes,” each class cheaper than the preceding ones.

“Naturally, the cheapest tickets are the ones easily sold and those OFWs who are unable to get them get the next expensive economy tickets until the whole economy classes are used up.”

Nakpil emphasized that the “real” economy tickets are more expensive, which the OFW can barely afford.

Reduced tickets to Hong Kong, for example, go as low as $100, but the “real” economy tickets cost as much as $600, he said.

Low-budget airlines offer rock-bottom prices, but do not provide the passengers of many amenities such as food, lounges and other perks that the high-paying customers enjoy.

The foreign carriers are forced to offer more expensive seats to reduce overhead because of the high operating cost entailed by flying out of the Naia, according to Nakpil, who traced this to the high cost of landing and takeoff fees, security tax and other so-called surcharges imposed on them.

Nakpil said the Gulf carriers have pending applications with the CAB to increase the current frequency from 70 to 140 flights a week, which the CAB is loath to grant unless a new ASA is put in place.

To avoid the sight of stranded OFWs every year, Nakpil said the AOC is proposing that CAB deregulate traffic rights, depending on the season.

“From November to June [holiday season and vacation time for OFWs], all air carriers can apply to mount extra flights without the need for approval from the local carriers,” Nakpil said.

He added that the stringent policy being observed by the CAB, and therefore, by the government, is the cause of the cessation of flights by 17 European airlines during the last 10 years.

“There is simply too much operational cost,” he said, forcing these European airlines to quit flying out of Manila.

At the moment, only KLM, the Dutch airlines, is left to bring Manila passengers to Europe.

Those that had quit during the last few years include Lufthansa, Air France, Sabena, Alitalia, British Airways and Swissair.

The AOC headman said that, at present, the government has failed to offer foreign carriers more incentives such as tax breaks or tax reliefs for them to carry OFWS in and out of the country.

That the country remains a laggard in Asia compared with our neighbors in increasing its tourist receipts is undeniable.

This is the reason why Clark businessmen, led by Rep. Carmelo Lazatin, had proposed to file Executive Order 500-B, a bill that would allow “pocket open-skies policy” for Clark, Subic and other airports that could be designated gateways to the Philippines.

He said that when the DMIA was opened in 1992, there were only five scheduled flights per week, but in 2006, the airport registered 17 scheduled flights per week and an additional 1,280 chartered flights by Korean carriers.

As a consequence, Lazatin said that when the Cab introduced a more liberalized policy, the DMIA increased passenger traffic by 860 percent from 2004 to 2006, with tourist arrivals increasing by more than 70 percent from 2005 to 2006.

“This year, the DMIA has already welcomed its 1 millionth passenger,” Lazatin said.

Last week the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) added to a rising chorus of voices, urging more flights into the country by allowing “pocket open skies” to draw in not only tourists but also investors.

Rob Sears, AmCham executive director, asked whether the country wants a policy that helps the country as a whole or just a particular company or a small group of companies.

The local carriers—Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Asian Spirit and Pacific East Asia Cargo—have opposed EO 500-B or pocket open skies because it does not demand reciprocity from the countries whose carriers want unlimited freedom to fly to that region.

Jaime Bautista, Pal president and COO, said that the national flag carrier supports an open-skies policy that is “fair, equitable and reciprocal,” which E0 500-B does not ensure.

Some aviation sector, who wanted not to engage Bautista, had proposed instead that the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and other related agencies to mount charter flights every year to accommodate the planeloads of OFWS wanting to go on vacation to their home country and still be assured of a flight back to their work, when their vacation had been fulfilled.

Juan Pilgrim

June 13th, 2008, 03:21 PM

^^I hope this goes on and on and on and on....:banana::banana::banana:

:horse:

J.P.

kiretoce

June 13th, 2008, 08:51 PM

Reconsider tough new rules vs overstaying aliens (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080613-142502/Reconsider-tough-new-rules-vs-overstaying-aliens)

The European chapter of a Filipino migrants' advocacy group on Friday asked the European Union (EU) to reconsider its tough new rules against foreigners who violate visa deadlines.

Last week, the 27 EU interior ministers approved a new rule declaring foreigners who overstay their visas illegal, allowing detention for a maximum of 18 months together with their children, voluntary deportation or forced expulsion, and blacklisting for five years.

The rule, which is scheduled to take effect in 2010, is expected to be passed by the European Parliament next week.

An Agence France-Presse report on the new EU rule said Europe has some 12 million overstaying or undocumented migrants, including those from the Philippines, China, Ukraine, and Latin America.

Philippine government statistics show some 124,000 undocumented Filipinos in Europe, 40,000 of them in France and 20,000 in Italy.

However, Migrante-Europe urged the EU to consider a “rights-based” approach to dealing with overstaying aliens.

"In dealing with the issue of undocumented migrants and migration in general, we urge the EU and the European Parliament to shift from a control/security mindset to one of rights-based approach," Migrante Europe said in an emailed statement.

Reverend Cesar Taguba, Migrante-Europe's chairman of the board, asked the EU to "adhere to conventions, treaties, and agreements, institute measures to de-criminalize the undocumented and take measures to remove the basis of 'illegality' by, among others, adopting regularization programs."

Taguba argued that the new ruling goes against the core of international agreements on undocumented migrants, including the Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe Resolution 1509, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, the UN International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and the members of their Families, among others.

"We believe that enforcing these rules on undocumented migrants is counterproductive and would only exacerbate the crises in the EU and the countries of origin of these undocumented migrants because these rules go against social justice and progress, and are inhumane," he said.

Taguba also said most undocumented migrants are forced to leave their countries because of economic, political, and social conflicts, "particularly the economic impositions of the advanced capitalist that cause and exacerbate poverty, hunger, landlessness, unemployment, economic and financial crises in many oppressed and underdeveloped countries which in turn breeds unbridled forced migration and displacement of peoples in the world."

"These conditions leave the people of oppressed and underdeveloped countries, poverty-stricken and persecuted, without any option [but] migrate or leave their country and family in order to be safe and survive," he added.

Taguba said the new rule also does not take into account that overstaying or undocumented aliens contribute to the economies of Europe by taking on jobs that most European nationals no longer take on, such as cleaning and care-giving. He said they also send money home to help support their families and the economies of their home countries.

"These undocumented migrants, in general, are law-abiding and live quiet lives and are willing to fulfill their legal and social duties and responsibilities. Their aspiration is to be recognized and regularized so they and continue to earn their living without any threat of expulsion," he said.

Taguba said the long term solution to forced migration is to "fundamentally address the structural problems of economic backwardness, political dependence and neo-colonial enslavement of the home countries of these undocumented migrants."

At the same time, the Migrante-Europe official thanked European political parties, members of national and European parliaments, and non-government organizations that share their position on migration.

"We appreciate [those who]…continue to steadfastly uphold the rights of all migrants in accordance with the fundamental human rights and international laws, treaties, and conventions," he said.

"We would like to encourage the EU and our European friends and allies to reflect on the statement of Dutch Prince Constantijn who stressed that the Philippine government's labor export policy should not be a solution to its economic crises," he added.

Prince Constantijn, chairman of The Hague Process on Refugees and Migration, visited Manila last week and urged the Philippine government to "create an environment where people who want to stay can stay. You must explore their talents and don't make them feel underutilized. Migration should not be seen as a solution."

kiretoce

June 13th, 2008, 08:55 PM

South Korea’s employment permit system for OFWs to be renegotiated (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=121635)

Amid the outreach program of the Philippine Embassy last Mar. 30, the Philippine Ambassador to South Korea His Excellency Luis Cruz confirmed the government plans and discussed the current issues that confront the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Cruz together with other government agencies like the Philippine Overseas and Employment Agency (POEA), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) is set to renegotiate the Employment Permit System (EPS) which will be on its 4th year of implementation in October.

He mentioned about one of the concerns in the said employment program is the "mismatch" between highskilled OFWs and low-skilled job opportunities. "We cannot deny the fact that most of our skilled workers are the ones who passed the requirement needed to fill in these job openings," Cruz added.

The Philippine government will be working out for our skilled workers to be assigned in some certain categories which are almost of the high-skilled level job descriptions.

Also, he shared that among the industries in the Philippines, 51 percent belongs to the service industry sector. Thus, service industries that concern with human resources surpass other industry sectors.

"Human resources make our country’s economy succinctly strong," Cruz said.

However, the Philippine government doesn’t encourage the continual deployment of our OFWs. In fact all Philippine ambassadors and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) held a meeting and came up with resolution programs that invite foreign investors to the service industries in the country to at least minimize the deployment of the OFWs."

"But we don’t want to suppress the movement of our people since we cannot produce an equal number of job opportunities to a million graduates yearly, and the root cause of migration," he shared.

Also, he mentioned about the "sunrise industries" like massage centers, SPAs and call centers wherein many Filipinos are highly preferred due to their high level of the English language proficiency.

On the other hand, he proudly reported about Ms. Judith Hernandez, a Filipina married to a Korean, who was a political candidate for a congressional seat in South Korea.

"Her invaluable contributions have been recognized by the Koreans especially when she put up this multicultural kindergarten for the children of inter-racial marriages," Cruz said.

However, he commented on the issue about continual problems as regards to inter-racial marriages as a cover up of the alleged existence of human trafficking. He said that human trafficking in varied forms like the escort system and mail order bride is strictly prohibited by law.

The government is serious in solving the root cause of it in the Philippines.

"Currently, this mail order bride system is totally banned in our country. The Philippine Embassy encourages all Filipino concerned citizens and civic groups to help report any act that is identified as an escort system or any of the alleged form of human trafficking to us so that we can urgently report in coordination with the government agency or task force against human trafficking by which the main root is with its point of origin in our country," Cruz said.

Ambassador Cruz has been working out for some more programs of the Philippine government to control the problems of the OFWs both cultural and work-related since he assumed office last February 15.

espangalo

June 13th, 2008, 11:33 PM

kiretoce

June 13th, 2008, 11:53 PM

^^ When I post online articles, the title of the piece is the link the the article's home website. :colgate:

espangalo

June 13th, 2008, 11:56 PM

D'oh!

Gracia

kiretoce

June 13th, 2008, 11:59 PM

^^ De nada. :okay:

kiretoce

June 16th, 2008, 09:31 PM

Imagine a world without Filipinos (http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13&section=0&article=110923&d=16&m=6&y=2008)

Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He says: “When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”

Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.

Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers — 1,019,577 — outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work.

Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.

So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said.

This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.

We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.

We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop.

We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.

Porknight

June 17th, 2008, 08:33 AM

in milan, the filipino ofw's are raising a whole generation of domestic helpers. i can forgive the first generation of ofw's for not finding good jobs and that they have to work as domestic helpers but i think that their children - the newer generation should strive to attain some form of status improvement. but this seems to be impossible, seeing that most of them leave school early or attend vocational schools instead of frequenting a regular university to get a degree that allows you to enter the professional sphere. But thats not the only problem. its not just the kids themselves but it is also the parents. i think that most of them fail to instill some form of principles to their kids in order to encourage them to really strive to achieve something bigger. and yeah they says... italians prefer Italians to occupy the professional jobs but we must not let this idea discourage us or to believe in ourselves that we do not deserve a better life irregardless of that fact that this is not our motherland. These kids... they go to elementary or high schools where normal Italians go. And with this thing, it gives the Filipinos a chance to influence a whole generation of Italians to think that Filipinos are more than just domestic helpers and that we are great thinkers as well, and that we are very well capable of handling important tasks in the society aside from our own. But then all these opportunities have been wasted just because they are satisfied by the money that they are already earning. For most of them, and in particular the younger ones... the only thing that they desire is to be able to buy the trendiest clothes and the most high tech of mobile phones. They would do whatever it takes to get a hold of this simple luxuries even if it means quiting schooling and having to work as a delivery boy or a waitress. And this is sad because, i have seen far to many cases to these things happening. And this thing... this cycle of stupid individual choices ultimately affects a whole society of people. Filipino babies are being born everyday immediately being labeled as future domestic helpers.

I think that this is not only happening here in milan, or italy... i think that its the same thing in hong kong, dubai, spain, greece, uk and all these other developed countries where Filipinos would dare sell all their properties just to go there and work as "slaves".

This is really saddening because even countries that we believe to be poverty ridden such as indonesia have this sad impression of our country. For example, i have an indonesian friend who has said to me... oh in Singapore there are a lot of filipinos doing cadd and 3d works.. their really good at that but then again they get stuck doing that kind of job. and these are the types of people who never get boss-type jobs.

I am a graduate of architecture and it saddens me that every year young graduates scramble to get into these kinds of job in singapore, in doha or in dubai etc... just to work in these monkey-see-monkey-do type jobs that inspite of being satisfying in an economic point of view... does not really offer a high degree of career growth.. which really sucks but again these things are true and i don't know why a lot of Filipinos are happy, ecstatic and contended to be in this position. I truly think that it is almost a sin that these people are satisfied with their lives and that i think that it is selfish of them to desire for something that is not that great and to aim always for mediocrity, which has had serious repercussion not only in our daily normal lives but in our work life as well because we have been branded as highly skilled but non-leadership type workers destined to be stuck in the service sector industry.

I am really not happy about this because... it is not that i honestly care about how these people run their lives and how these people decide on how they want to go on with their lives. But the fact that i am Filipino and being that... i belong to that society and with that, i am forced to accept all the negative connotation and impression that come along with my citizenship. And being in a global city such as Milan, it is a daily struggle that i have to contend with... which is hard because this is something that i can not solve myself even if i try my hardest, and believe me... i am trying to do my best to somehow change this image by studying the best as i can and presenting myself in the my performance in the university the best that i can. But then again... it is out of my hands... i alone can not change the world... :( all i can do is to do my part and hope that the others realize and do their obligation to the Filipino society...

You live in Italy Milan ? well i live here too in Florence. So be honest with yourself Italy doesn't have really good job opportunities to young Italians so do you think young Filipino have it ?
Here young Italians college graduates have to go abroad to do the job they studied for if they don't many of them end to work in call centers for less than 600 euros , unemployement here is very high.

Many filipinos here choose to be domestic helpers for a reason they can make more money being a "slave" than a , secretary , nurse , waiter , delivery boy , bar tenders .. you name it . They live in their masters' houses where they have free food and shelter why bother aspire a cleaner job where you have to rent an apartment for 1000 euros and earn 100 euros more than a maid if you lucky ?

My real concern here is not the type of the job they do , but how they behave and they waste their money . I grew up here and i can see the difference between the old and the new generation . The old generation were more hardworking , some of them retired bought houses and now the live with italian pensions in the philippines they made it . The new generation waste all their money on beer and stupid gadgets like the latest models of cellphones . Some of them don't really see any future neither here or in the philippines , they hardly save money.

Many of the new generation come from the Philippines didn't grew up here they don't even bother to learn the language , they dress as hip hop singers.
Many of these young people didn't use the money sent by their parents in the Philippines didn't graduate so they find their self here .

Then the worst thing is how they behave , the younger one don't have any respect , they scream a lot , they drink on the streets and urinate on sidewalk , Some of them use drugs , shabu now is getting popular because of us. If filipino were saw as a hardworking people 10 years ago now i don't know.

Italy is not a good place to raise children , racism , hard to find a job (any job) , you will never feel at home but is a good place to earn money far better than many places in the middle east but from the very first day you are here you have to think how to get out and get back were you belong !

Juan Pilgrim

June 17th, 2008, 06:56 PM

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/01/11/w16_delhi_s_motorists_wideweb__470x284,0.jpg
New York City, New York nga ba ito???

Haay naku!
Summer na naman sa New York City!

Grabe na naman ang TRAFFIC.

Ang mga TURISTA ay mag dadagsaan naman.
Kung saan saan tumatawid kahit bawal!

Sari saring AMOY, sari saring KULAY.

Haay! Buhay sa Amerika.

:horse:

J.P.

kiretoce

June 17th, 2008, 09:25 PM

Number of jobless nearly 3 million (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/june/18/yehey/top_stories/20080618top2.html)

Nearly three million Filipinos, led by college graduates, were out of jobs as of April on a slumping domestic economy during the first three months of 2008, the government reported on Tuesday.

The economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), grew 5.2 percent from January to March, compared with 7.5 percent during the same period last year. GDP is the total value of goods and services produced in a country in a year.

In its latest Labor Force survey, the National Statistics Office said the number of jobless Filipinos stood at 2.9 million, higher by 200,000 than the 2.7 million recorded last year.

The unemployment rate in January to April 2008 was 8 percent. It was 7.4 percent during the same period in 2007.

Of the total 2.9 million unemployed Filipinos, about 40 percent of them were college-level, and 14 percent elementary-school level. Unemployed high-school level Filipinos comprised 45.3 percent, with 32 percent of them high-school graduates.

More males were unemployed, 62.5 percent, than females, 37.5 percent. For every 10 unemployed Filipinos, five were in the age group 15 to 24 and three, in the age group 25 to 34.

The statistics office said three regions recorded double-digit unemployment rates, with Metro Manila registering the highest at 13.8 percent. The two other regions were Calabarzon (referring to the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) at 10.3 percent and Central Luzon at 10 percent.

Of the estimated 57.7-million population 15 years and over in April 2008, 36.4 million were in the labor force. This number placed the participation rate in the labor force at 63.2 percent, lower than last year’s rate of 64.5 percent.

The total employed population as of April this year numbered 33.5 million. Almost half or 49.6 percent of the employed were in the services sector, 35.5 percent in the agriculture sector and 14.9 percent in the industry sector.

Among the various occupation groups, laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest group, making up 32.6 percent of the total employed population in April 2008. Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen ranked second with 17.3-percent share of the total employed population.

Employed persons fall under any of three categories: wage and salary workers, own-account workers and unpaid family workers.

Of the total 33.5 million employed Filipinos, more than half or 52.8 percent were wage and salary workers mostly working for private establishments. The statistics office said wage and salary workers are those who work for private households, private establishments, the government and government corporations and those who work with pay in own-family operated farm or business.

It added that those working for the government or government corporations accounted for 8 percent of the total employed and 4.7 percent were workers in private households. More than one-third or 34.7 percent of the total employed persons were own-account workers, with self-employed workers registering the highest share, 30.1 percent, of the total number employed.

The statistics office said the number of unpaid family workers were about 12.5 percent.

It added that the number of underemployed persons as of April this year was estimated at 6.6 million or 19.8 percent of the total number employed, higher than last year’s 18.9 percent during the first four months of 2007.

The underemployed were found mostly in the agriculture sector, registering at 46 percent, followed by the services sector, 38.5 percent and the industry sector, 15.5 percent.

About 57.5 percent of the underemployed were part-time workers or had been working for less than 40 hours a week.

bitoy

June 18th, 2008, 01:43 AM

^^ That looks like a city in India...

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/364259981_e2e147d052.jpg

Life is a bench.

Naunahan ako, upuan ko yan pag lunchtime. :lol:

venntro

June 18th, 2008, 09:20 AM

Japan to prioritize nurses from Indonesia rather than from RP: report (http://http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=122053)

Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - Indonesia will send 400 nurses to Japan in August to help the rapidly ageing country deal with a shortage of healthcare workers, a report said Tuesday.

The workers would be the first Indonesian nurses sent en masse to Japan, which traditionally sources many of its foreign nurses from the Philippines, Japanese consul Masaro Sato was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.

The agreement for 400 nurses is higher than the 200 per year originally set out in a Japan-Indonesia free trade deal inked last August.

"We are giving priority to nurses from Indonesia rather than from the Philippines because Japan and Indonesia share many similarities such as cultural diversity," Sato said.

The nurses, who would be required to have a minimum two years' experience, would work in Japanese hospitals, Sato said.

On top of the demand for nurses, Sato said Japan required 600 carers and that "hundreds" would be sent from Indonesia next month.

venntro

June 18th, 2008, 09:26 AM

Australia workers union helps OFW get 2nd chance (http://http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=122050)

Four months ago, when Rico Mavotas was infected with a bacteria that could cause lung infection and even blood poisoning, he though his dream of working in Australia was all over.

Mavotas was then diagnosed with melioidosis, an infectious disease he said he contracted during his last job as a pump mechanic, ABS-CBN Australia News Bureau reported.

"Kahit na may mga personal things na nangyayari sa buhay ko, mahirap pero kailangan pa rin gawin. Minsan naisip ko na tumigil na. Huminto na. Pagod na ako. Iyun bang hindi lang umuwi kundi pagod na ako, sa buhay gusto ko ng humilata. Pero hindi answer yun, binigyan ka ng Diyos many times na binigay sa iyo yung mga pagkakataon na yun. Make it worth," Mavotas said.

His illness made him spend a month inside the Royal Darwin Hospital without a job and health insurance.

While recuperating, the immigration department gave him until December 2007 to find a new employer—a deadline he failed to meet.

Despite this, Mavotas still counts himself lucky after he was hired as a pump technician by another company.

"Yung dati kong employer nag-raise ng issue na I’m not competent enough, hindi naniwala itong bago kong employer kasi actually yung tingin nila sa mga Pilipino magaling. Maayos magtrabaho," he said.

The Australian Manufacturing Worker's Union helped Mavotas initiate court proceedings against his previous employer who even offered him $2000 to drop the charges, but the union says Rico's entitled to more than that.

"Employers are just using them over here for cheap labor and it's not right you know. Those workers bring good skills to this country and they should get paid like anybody else," said Steve Millne.

Mavotas’s inspiration is the family he left back home. He said he is determined to continue what he has started in Australia--to provide a better life for his loved ones. With reports from Emcille Cada, ABS-CBN Australia News Bureau, Darwin, Australia

Lucentino

June 18th, 2008, 09:35 AM

Japan to prioritize nurses from Indonesia rather than from RP: report (http://http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=122053)

Agence France-Presse

----

"We are giving priority to nurses from Indonesia rather than from the Philippines because Japan and Indonesia share many similarities such as cultural diversity," Sato said.

The real score is that Japan will have a hard time getting nurses from RP, since most RP nurses would rather go to North America, Oceana, Europe, and other countries which support immigration/naturalization.

venntro

June 18th, 2008, 09:43 AM

The real score is that Japan will have a hard time getting nurses from RP, since most RP nurses would rather go to North America, Oceana, Europe, and other countries which support immigration/naturalization.

^^ So Japan is just sour-graping only? RP nurses have so many options abroad.

bitoy

June 19th, 2008, 03:08 AM

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z138/lancero33/junho/yi3.jpg

Napagod lang si Manoy sa pagpintura ng harapan. Kelangan pahinga muna. :D

mwg12a

June 19th, 2008, 03:25 AM

Saan yan? Basilan?

bitoy

June 19th, 2008, 03:46 AM

^^ Sa Tondo. :lol:

A Filipino resident sits outside his house as U.S. navy hospital ship Mercy crew members repaint his wall during a humanitarian mission at the slum district of Tondo, Manila on Monday June 16, 2008. The Mercy's gentle diplomacy has won hearts in the Philippines, where the U.S. military has been providing combat training and weapons to the underfunded military since 2002 to stop the poor Southeast Asian country from continuing to be a breeding ground for terrorists and extremist ideologies.

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_080614-N-9689V-001.jpg

CALBAYOG CITY, Philippines (June 14, 2008) U.S. ambassador Kristie Kenney, left, and Calbayog City Mayor Mel Serimento unveil a completion plaque for the newly renovated Calbayog Health Clinic. The clinic was renovated in by U.S. Navy Seabees and members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines engineers during a Pacific Partnership 2008 engineering civic action program.

absinthe_888

June 19th, 2008, 07:00 AM

state visit ba si glue pag punta nya USA next week?

bitoy

June 19th, 2008, 08:16 AM

state visit ba si glue pag punta nya USA next week?

PGMA sets 10-day visit to U.S. (http://www.news.ops.gov.ph/today.htm#PGMA%20sets)

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo leaves Saturday evening for a 10-day visit to the United States to further strengthen the historic Philippines-US relations.

The President, accompanied by First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo, will take a commercial flight to San Francisco, California, the first stop of her US visit.

Also with the presidential party are some Cabinet officials, lawmakers and top Filipino business leaders.

The Chief Executive’s US engagements include meetings with Filipino communities, Filipino World War II veterans and American business groups.

She will also hold a series of meetings on a wide range of issues including the environment, security, human rights, and other global concerns.

From San Francisco, the President will proceed to Fresno, California, a four-hour drive from San Francisco, to hear mass and interact with the Filipino community before proceeding to Washington D.C.

Meeting members of Filipino communities in the countries that she visits is a standard feature of the President’s trips abroad in an effort to keep them posted on developments back home and to encourage them to invest in the country, as well as thank them for their remittances that had helped improve the economy.

The President’s second stop is Washington D.C. where she will meet with President George W. Bush at the Oval Office.

The White House meeting, the highlight of her US trip, will focus on outstanding global issues of common concern to the two countries, notably terrorism, food security, non-proliferation of nuclear arms and human rights.

The President is expected to thank Bush for his support to Filipino World War II veterans through the US Veterans Office in Manila and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, and express her hope for a favorable resolution of the remaining issues relating to Filipino veterans.

The President will also personally thank the US Senate for its historic 96-1 vote in favor of the Veterans Benefits Bill calling for additional benefits to Filipino WWII veterans.

At the Pentagon, the President will discuss with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates the Philippines’ defense reform program.

The President will also take the opportunity to meet with the Philippines-US Friendship Caucus, a group composed of members of the US House of Representatives who have openly supported moves to strengthen relations between the Philippines and the United States.

The President will also meet with officials of the Washington-based the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

Last March, the MCC granted the Philippines Compact Eligible status, opening the door for the Philippines to avail itself of up to $700 million in grants to help boost the country’s economic growth.

The Philippines has gained compact eligible status after passing objective indicators in the areas of governing justly, investing in its citizens, and encouraging economic freedom.

Also in Washington, the President will meet with stakeholders of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) a multi-nation effort to push the CTI project spanning across Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

The Triangle holds the richest concentration of iridescent corals, fish, crustaceans, mollusks and marine plants in the world.

The ASEAN-US Business Council (USBC) and the United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) will co-host a dinner in honor of the President in Washington.

In New York, the last leg of her US trip, the President will be meeting with a number of business leaders and investment groups, including Libby’s Fruits, Target Sourcing, ROTEC Technology and APAC Customer Services.

She will also host a reception for the permanent representatives to the United Nations in connection with the candidature of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
TOP

orangejuice

June 19th, 2008, 01:05 PM

Pwede bang 3 citizenships? Coz my son, technically has 3, since my husband has 2 citizenships and I am a Filipino citizen.

kiretoce

June 19th, 2008, 02:49 PM

Multiple citizenship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_citizenship), or multiple nationality, is a status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one state.

Dual citizenship (being a citizen of two nations), or dual nationality, is the most common type of multiple citizenship.

Multiple citizenships exist because different countries use different, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, criteria to bestow citizenship. Thus, a person becomes a citizen of multiple countries because countries, not persons, decide who is and who is not a citizen.

Individual countries follow their own individual rationales in establishing their criteria for citizenship. Some countries bestow citizenship automatically at birth to persons with a parent who is one of their nationals (jus sanguinis), or to persons born on their territory (jus soli), or through marriage to persons wedding their nationals (jure matrimonii). Other nations (such as Australia) allow the grant of citizenship to be made to the children of citizens under certain circumstances. In addition, citizenship can be granted through naturalization. Once citizenship is bestowed, the bestowing country may or may not consider a voluntary renunciation of citizenship to be valid.

Some countries consider multiple citizenship undesirable and take measures to prevent it; this may (e.g., in Denmark, Japan, Singapore and India) take the form of an automatic loss of a citizenship if another citizenship is acquired voluntarily, or (e.g., carrying a foreign passport in Saudi Arabia) criminal penalties for exercising another citizenship. Others may allow a citizen to have any number of nationalities. However, since each country decides for itself who its citizens are, based solely on its own laws and generally without regard for the laws of other countries, it is quite possible for a given individual to be considered a citizen by two or more countries even if some or all of these countries forbid dual or multiple citizenship.

On the other hand, some countries consider multiple citizenship desirable because it increases opportunities for their citizens to compete and build contacts globally, and/or have taken active steps towards permitting multiple citizenship in recent years (e.g., Australia since April 4, 2002; India, as noted below, has introduced a form of overseas citizenship but this stops well short of full dual citizenship).

Many countries, even those which "permit" dual or multiple citizenship, do not "recognize" dual or multiple citizenship under their laws: individuals are treated either as citizens of that country or not, and their citizenship with respect to other countries is considered to have no bearing. This can mean, (e.g., in Iran, Mexico, many Arab countries, former Soviet republics) that consular officials abroad may not have access to their citizens if they also hold local citizenship. Some countries may provide access for consular officials as a matter of courtesy, but do not accept any obligation to do so under international consular agreements. The right of countries to act in this fashion is protected via the Master Nationality Rule. In popular discourse, reference to countries that "recognize" multiple citizenship may refer only to the lack of any specific statute forbidding multiple citizenship (leaving aside the difficulties of enforcing such statutes).

flesh_is_weak

June 19th, 2008, 03:07 PM

di ba mahal yun? paying taxes to the RP and whatever country your a citizen of?

bartman

June 19th, 2008, 03:15 PM

di ba mahal yun? paying taxes to the RP and whatever country your a citizen of?
and what taxes would those be?

flesh_is_weak

June 19th, 2008, 03:19 PM

i dunno...that's what one of our lecturers (she's a dual citizen) told us

bartman

June 19th, 2008, 05:55 PM

i dunno...that's what one of our lecturers (she's a dual citizen) told us
classic!!!
this sort of thing always bewiders me
someone says something and you just accept it, no questions asked :ohno:

but to answer your question kung hindi ba mas mahal...
you won't pay any more taxes than you normally would if you were not a dual citizen
pwera na lang kung kailangan mong kumuha ng sedula
napaka mahal nun; baka umabot ng ONE DOLLAR

Juan Pilgrim

June 19th, 2008, 07:57 PM

Summertime is the best time to go to CONEY ISLAND.
Amusement park na meyron pang beach (shore).
One can leave their cars at home and take the train instead.
http://www.anguilla-beaches.com/images/corny-coney-island-2279.jpg

pi_malejana

June 19th, 2008, 08:15 PM

^^that's always crowded during the summertime.. (we went there last year)..
another amusement park near NY is six flags (NJ)...:)

mwg12a

June 19th, 2008, 08:28 PM

^^ almost all beach side in the US gets crowded especially during the spring time at spring break but people just love to go out there at the beach and lay down to get some nice tan...

Juan Pilgrim

June 19th, 2008, 10:03 PM

http://www.larrysart.com/medium/FireIslandLightwitgDunes.jpg

Perfect with some ICED TEA?

http://www.bestflavors.com/images/LongIslandIceTea-M.jpg

REFRESHINGGG!

pi_malejana

June 20th, 2008, 04:27 AM

^^ speaking of long island, it has some nice beaches to offer too.. James Taylor will be having a concert here on sunday in Jones Beach.. Journey will be in Jones Beach too this August..

venntro

June 20th, 2008, 11:12 AM

Europe Pinoys face ouster (http://http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=122368)

By ESTRELLA TORRES
Business Mirror Reporter

Close to 60,000 workers may soon join the huge number of the unemployed should that number of nondocumented Filipinos be deported from Europe, as it seems probable, after the European Parliament approved on first reading draft legislation for tougher rules on illegal immigrants.

Voting 369 to 197 with 106 abstentions, the European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Commission, adopted the draft rule that allows six to 18 months of detention for visa overstayers and a 5-year ban on reentry.

The draft puts up, however, a legal aid fund for poor prospective deportees with an initial €676 million (est P45 billion).

“In any case, this EU legislation applies only after a decision has been taken by the national authorities to deport an illegal immigrant. Each member-state retains the power to decide in the first place whether it wishes to regularize or deport the immigrant,” said the EU Parliament in a statement Thursday.

There are around 40,000 undocumented Filipino workers (termed TNTs, for tago ng tago) in France, mostly in Paris and Nice; and 20,000 in Milan and Rome in Italy. Most of them are domestic helpers.

The draft requires that once a decision has been taken to deport an individual, that person is given a period of seven to 30 days to voluntarily leave the Union.

“If the deportee does not leave, a removal order will be issued. If the removal order is issued by a judicial authority which believes the individual in question might abscond, the person can be placed in custody for a maximum of six months, with possible extension to another 12 months in some cases,” said the EU.

Groups that tried to reduce stiffer penalties for overstaying foreign workers—among them, a proposed lesser period of detention to three months and a one-month period to regularize their stay—were rejected by the Parliament.

Another provision specified that courts in EU member-states must approve “as speedily as possible” the decisions of EU governments to deport an illegal worker.

“The original draft legislation required a court order within 72 hours, while the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee wanted 48 hours. A proposed amendment seeking to restore the deadline of 72 hours was rejected.”

The draft allows detention of children and family members of illegal immigrants “as a last resort,” but prohibits coercive measures. “Unaccompanied minors may only be deported if they can be returned to their family or to ‘adequate reception facilities’ in the state to which they are sent.”

There is an escape provision—the EU Parliament must first agree with the EU Council that before a person is deported, the deporting member-state must consider if that person’s life and liberty may be endangered by such EU action and that EU both bodies should determine which countries are deemed “safe.”

venntro

June 20th, 2008, 11:13 AM

Death empowers Filipinos in Canada (http://http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=122350)

By PERLA ARAGON-CHOUDHURY
The Philippine Reporter/Canada

May 24 this year marks the fourth anniversary of the death in Toronto of a Filipino-Canadian, Jeffrey Reodica, then a 17-year-old honor student at Scarborough's Jean Vanier Catholic School.

At close range he was shot in the back by a Toronto policeman who was in plainclothes and who would later claim self-defense because Jeffrey "had a knife" with him.

What really happened in that killing, said to have racist overtones?

And why did it galvanize Filipino immigrants -- seen as laidback passive, peaceful and fun-loving - to organize for social justice?

We have an answer, thanks to a paper by Mila Astorga-Garcia entitled "The Road to Empowerment in Toronto's Filipino Community: Moving from Crisis to Community Capacity-Building" (Working Paper No. 54 of the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement-Toronto; April 2007).

Astorga-Garcia writes in the 48-page paper, "Some eyewitnesses, including a youth a few feet away from Jeffrey at that time ... stated that he had had no knife, and was defenseless when he was shot thrice in the back.

"What also enraged the family and members of the community was the way Jeffrey had been portrayed in some mainstream media accounts as a violent, knife-wielding youth, who was ready and determined to attack and kill, including a police officer. This was greatly resented by many, some of whom regarded it as a ploy to justify the shooting by the police. For many in Toronto's Filipino community, such mainstream media reports served merely to propagate the police version of the incident "

Astorga-Garcia then describes how a crisis in Toronto's Filipino community stemming from the shooting and death evolved to a social justice movement that was built though a community's capacity-building efforts.

She also reports how the family and the community coped by taking action to redress what they saw as a racist and oppressive act by the strong against the weak. They organized the first permanent coalition on of Filipino-Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area - the Community Alliance for Social Justice (CASJ) - and mobilized resources to fight for justice and for broader issues.

Filipinos limited to caregiving jobs
In particular, these greater concerns are the investigation of the exploitation and abuse of live-in caregivers (mostly Filipinos); the limited access of foreign-trained professionals like Filipinos to professions and trades; and reforms in policing and community safety such as independent bodies and processes in the investigations and adjudication of civilian complaints against the police.

As of 2007 the CASJ represented 27 organizations and hundreds of individuals members, and is still growing. It has become sought after for advice by individual Filipinos, and for partnership by other people of color.

Massace rally in May 2005 that started at Nathan Phillips Square, went to the Toronto Police Headquarters and to the Coroner's office, demanding justice for Jeffrey Reodica.

Aside from the process of mobilization, the Filipino-Canadian community also became empowered by means of culturally sensitive crisis interventions that replaced traditional mental health counseling kindly offered by the city government but which was seen by Filipino culture as an admission that something is wrong and requires fixing.

Astorga-Garcia organizes her paper logically - introduction, . sections on the crisis, its impact and the responses to it; lessons learned, epilogue; conclusions and policy implications. She presents her points in such a way that one becomes angry at racial profiling but remains hopeful about principled protest.

One is also impressed by the author's thorough documentation - the paper has nine lengthy appendices - as she seamlessly quotes from a number of sources - press conferences, community meetings, a consultation conference, focus groups, interviews, news reports, position papers, government submissions, legal briefs, and news coverage, as well as notes on vigils, pickets, rallies, and other related community events

As a result, she portrays the often simultaneous and overlapping events from the time of the killing through the Justice for Jeffrey Campaign to the establishment of CASJ and through the Coroner's Inquest requested by the family and reported out in late 2006. It is unfortunate, however, that there are no pictures of these activities. Perhaps this can be remedied in the future.

Towards the end of her paper, Astorga-Garcia muses, "It would be interesting ... to look at how other communities respond to a crisis, so as to see the commonalities and differences one may find. Within the Filipino community, it would be valuable to continue tracking and monitoring the developments of the CASJ and the emerging movement for social justice, in order to determine its impact not only on the community but also on the broader Toronto community and Canadian society in general."

With her ability to present the big picture, Astorga-Garcia makes one look forward to her next monograph on the blossoming of the movement triggered by the Reodica tragedy. And with her attention to the drama inherent in a conflict, especially one with racial undertones, she captures the telling detail which grips the heart.

And so through the writing one flinches at the way Jeffrey Reodica took his nephew to football practice or dropped him to daycare center; the way the sympathizers declined police protection at the funeral but welcomed them at the first-death-anniversary rally; the way the Filipino-Canadian youth reached out to their counterparts of people of color as well as to white Canadians; and the way a Filipino expert on racism was disallowed to present some portions of her testimony at the inquest.

These and many more were the reasons why the movement for social justice had to emerge, Astorga-Garcia tells her readers far and near.

About the Author
Perla Aragon-Choudhury is a freelance writer in the Philippines who has chosen to focus on women, health and development issues, including those on the social costs of migration and trafficking in persons. Her articles have been published in various magazines and newspapers in the Philippines.

venntro

June 20th, 2008, 11:17 AM

Exploited overseas, missed at home: The Pinoy migrant worker (http://http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=122181)

By SOPHIA ANN TORRES
Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project

Despite being called the country's "new heroes,” they are subjected to various forms of abuses, exploitation and discrimination. Wide attention is generated when a hapless Filipino worker is sentenced to death in a distant land.

Thousands of Filipinos sympathized with and mourned for domestic helper Flor Contemplacion when she was hanged in Singapore in 1995 after being found guilty of killing a fellow Filipino worker and her Singaporean ward. Her death moved the government to pass the Migrant Workers Act which seeks to protect the rights and welfare of Filipino workers abroad.

International pressure led to the Philippines abandoning the death penalty here, but the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is currently monitoring 29 cases of Filipinos facing execution overseas -- 11 in Malaysia, nine in Saudi Arabia, four in China, three in Kuwait, one in Brunei and another in the United States.

Whereas Filipinos are facing death in Malaysia for drug crimes, most face the ultimate crime for murder in countries in the Gulf where abuse against migrant workers and domestic helpers in particular is rife.

The nearest to face capital punishment is 29-year-old May Vecina who was convicted to die by hanging in Kuwait after being found guilty of killing her 7-year-old ward in 2007.

According to DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr., Vecina was convicted of killing her employer's youngest son Salem Sulaiman Al-Otaib in January 6 last year. She also allegedly attempted to kill his 13-year-old brother Abdulla by slitting his throat and stabbing his 17-year-old sister Hajer.

Her death sentence became final on January 2008 and only needs to be signed by the Kuwait Emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al Sabah to take effect.

Despite two letters of appeal from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the Kuwaiti Emir has not so far responded. That said, the DFA remains cautiously optimistic about Vecina's fate according to Conejos. As well as appealing directly to the Emir, the government is also said to be seeking high level interventions through the European Union and other influential groups to encourage the Kuwaiti leader to commute the sentence.

At her trial, Vecina alleged she suffered physical and mental abuse from her employer which led her to lose her mind.

Capital cases in the Middle East and elsewhere however only represent the tip of a massive problem which faces migrant workers overseas that cause some to commit crimes. Mostly however Filipinos overseas live and work peacefully despite their sometimes facing abusive, exploitative and sometimes inhumane practices and conditions.

The Philippines is hosting this year the second UN Global Forum on Migration and Development on October 28-31 when the government intends to lead international discussions around the need to respect and protect the rights and interests of migrant workers.

In the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and delegates from a majority of the 192 member states, the Philippines will press hard for greater respect to be given by host countries to guest workers.

According to Undersecretary Conejos, the government will have a bilateral meeting with representatives from Arab states. While no binding agreements are envisioned, the meeting will be particularly important, he says, "given the most problematic issues regarding migrant workers happen there."

But while large international forums and bilateral meetings are welcome, much more needs to be done at the practical level in terms of implementing change. Unfortunately, most of the 36 countries that have so far ratified the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families are those nations which send out guest workers in large numbers.

The treaty was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1990 and came into force in July 2003, yet no single western country has ratified it nor have any of the Gulf States.

According to Conejos, the countries yet to sign up to it argue there is no need to do so as their own laws afford sufficient protection.

"Many receiving countries do not want to ratify the treaty as it imposes certain obligations that equally provide for the protection of the rights of workers both for legally and illegally staying," he said.

Former chairperson of the Commission of Human Rights Purificacion Quisumbing believes that unless a group of developed countries change their position and ratify, the rights of migrant workers will not improve.

She maintains the UN committee implementing the treaty has not functioned since 2003 because there is no panel member from a hosting -- developed -- country.

"We need reciprocity on this aspect," says Quisumbing. "If these countries really recognize the value of Filipino migrant workers then they should ratify and ensure the protection of our citizens."

Statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) show that the Middle East hosts nearly 60 per cent of the total Filipino migrant working population. The region is also home to most of the reported cases of physical and sexual abuse, exploitation and inhumane treatment.

According to POEA, the top four destinations for Filipino workers in 2005-2006 were Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.

These migrant workers are commonly deployed as domestic help, factory and construction workers.

UN statistics show there are now 192 million global migrants -- 8.2 million coming from the Philippines.

The nation's strong sea-faring tradition and the English language capability of many means much of the global merchant navy is made up of Filipino crew. And this has led to many facing terror on the high seas at the hands of pirates and hijackers.

The DFA reports no fewer than 31 cases of highly dangerous emergency situations since January 2006 that have involved a total of 9,500 Filipino workers.

Not all incidents are at sea, and Filipinos have been banned from working in places like Iraq after a spate of kidnappings and killings. The country also recently buried a former teacher who was working in the spa of Kabul’s leading hotel when it was overrun by a Taliban suicide mission.

But yet the economy, very limited good employment opportunities at home and the poor state of the welfare support system means the country remains very heavily dependent upon remittances.

In the short to medium term it helps to keep the country afloat as it is increasingly battered by energy and food crises, but in the longer term it does nothing to build real skills and capacity locally.

In his recent visit to the Philippines, Prince Constantjin of the Netherlands who chairs The Hague Process on Refugees and Migration admitted that the west had to help developing countries address the issue of "brain drain" and social disruption caused by a continuing exodus of professional and skilled workers. The Philippines currently faces a shortage of skills in a whole range of areas -- not just nursing, dentistry or teaching.

As governments try to link migration with development during their meeting in Manila this October, they must also try to put a face on the deep cuts to societies that constantly lose talent that is necessary to facilitate sustainable growth at home.

The government here meantime needs to look beyond the positive impact of remittances and gauge the social impact of having millions of children growing up without mothers, public hospitals running out of doctors and nurses and remote schools in the barrios losing teachers. Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project

bukid

June 20th, 2008, 03:15 PM

ggHX7xxUzdM

we are still waiting for the return of ALL the bells of balangiga.

old wounds could never heal until we see the americans return our bells.

kiretoce

June 20th, 2008, 03:37 PM

^^ They never heal because we keep picking at the scabs. :lol:

flesh_is_weak

June 20th, 2008, 03:57 PM

^^ok, that was educational...

btw, the sarcasm wasnt really necessary, thank you

kiretoce

June 20th, 2008, 04:40 PM

Australia and Canda wants to hire more OFWs (http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/hl/hl107602.htm)

Australia is looking to the Philippines as a source country for workers needed to help address a skills shortage there.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday that the situation has prompted Australian companies to hire workers from other countries, especially the Philippines.

Although Filipinos seeking overseas work will find Australia a good prospect, the DFA warned prospective overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to be wary of illegal recruiters.

Reports received by the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney said that individuals posing as recruiters are victimizing Filipinos who wish to work in Australia, after it was reported last January that the country has 120,000 job openings available to foreigners.

The consulate advised Filipinos to be aware of the type of visa that their recruiter is applying for them.

It said the visa commonly issued to Filipinos for work in Australia is “457 Visa.”

The Australian government issues to its companies a “Temporary Business Long Stay Visa,” also known as the “Standard Business Sponsorship Subclass 457 Visa” or the “457 Visa,” which is then provided to foreign workers they employ.

Authorized companies can either directly hire Filipino workers or employ a manpower agency accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency.

A Filipino who is recruited for Australian employment is matched to an Australian company that has been issued a 457 Visa, DFA officials said.

The DFA explained that the 457 Visa allows a foreigner temporary long stay for work purposes for six months to four years.

But this visa does not give permanent residency or migration status, it said.

The DFA said that illegally hired foreign workers in Australia are exposed to abuses, hazards, and risks.

“If they are caught, they are deported and blacklisted from future re-entry into Australia.”

A legal recruiter should not also make the applicant pay for Australian administrative fees and/or air travel to Australia, as laws require a company to shoulder all costs of fees and the worker’s air travel to Australia, the Australian embassy in Manila said.

The worker must not pay for his air travel to Australia.

It said inquiry or complaint may be lodged with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) through email address nsw.457Jntegrity@fmmi.–gov.au.

Philippine Consul General to Sydney Maria Theresa Lazaro stressed that Australia does not allow the recruitment of domestic maids and farm workers from overseas.

In January, former Australian ambassador to Manila Tony Hely said that the Philippines has become the strongest source of skilled migration into Australia over the last two years.

Hely said Filipinos have a strong interest in going to Australia as skilled migrants.

He said that Australia is actively promoting migration from the Philippines because it has structural skills shortage across a wide range of industries and there are skills that are in abundance in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Canada expects an increase in the arrival of Filipino workers there within six months after passing the screening conducted by Canadian employers in Manila recently.

Canada’s Province of Saskatchewan said that the 11 Saskatchewan employers who participated in the Philippines mission were “extremely satisfied” and expect to offer over 250 jobs to Filipino candidates.

“Those new employees can expect to arrive in Saskatchewan within six months,” the statement said.

Successful missions to the Philippines and to southwestern Ontario have Saskatchewan employers returning home optimistic about the number and quality of potential recruits.

“We are working to sustain our economic momentum by helping meet Saskatchewan’s talent challenge,” Advanced Education, Employment and Labor Minister Rob Norris said.

Norris said about 12,000 jobs is opening up in Saskatchewan in the next years.

He urged Filipinos to consider Saskatchewan province rather the than Canada’s centers if they intend to work there because of better chances of higher quality of life and higher income.

Norris said Saskatchewan is in need of skilled labor, particularly in the manufacturing, service and health sector.

“Most people go to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. These are the centers. But in smaller communities the environment is easier and less expensive. It’s more than just Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver,” Norris said.

kiretoce

June 20th, 2008, 04:41 PM

kiretoce

June 20th, 2008, 04:51 PM

New EU rules may affect 94,000 irregular OFWs in Europe (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080620-143800/New-EU-rules-may-affect-94000-irregular-OFWs-in-Europe)

Some 94,000 irregular or undocumented Filipino workers in Europe may be affected once the European Union enacts a new immigration rule against overstaying or illegal migrants.

According to the latest Department of Foreign Affairs figures culled from reports of overseas posts, there are at least 610,102 Filipinos in Europe as of June 2007. Of the number, 189,023 are permanent residents, 189,023 are temporary residents, and 94,113 are undocumented.

The EU comes closer to enacting the so-called return directive for undocumented or irregular migrants after its parliament earlier this week passed it on first reading. The rule, which details the procedures for detention, deportation, and re-entry ban, is expected to be enforced 24 months after the rule's final adoption.

The rule is enforced only after the national authorities have made a decision to deport an immigrant, who will then be given from seven to 30 days to voluntarily leave Europe.

The adopted legislative text allows undocumented migrants, including children, to be held in custody between six months and 18 months. However, children will be detained only as a "last resort" and will not be subject to coercive measures.

Right now, many member-states hold irregular immigrants in custody indefinitely.

The rule will not be enforced in the United Kingdom and Ireland as they have not opted into this area of Community law. The UK allows for indefinite detention and Ireland for a maximum of eight weeks.

The overall EU migration policy, of which this return directive for irregular migrants is just one part, is still being discussed at various levels and organs of government.

In general, the EU seeks to encourage regular migration and is planning to issue a Blue Card for regular migrant workers, allowing them and their family to work and live in Europe for long periods of time.

==================================================================

Europe Pinoys face ouster (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=122368)

Close to 60,000 workers may soon join the huge number of the unemployed should that number of nondocumented Filipinos be deported from Europe, as it seems probable, after the European Parliament approved on first reading draft legislation for tougher rules on illegal immigrants.

Voting 369 to 197 with 106 abstentions, the European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Commission, adopted the draft rule that allows six to 18 months of detention for visa overstayers and a 5-year ban on reentry.

The draft puts up, however, a legal aid fund for poor prospective deportees with an initial €676 million (est P45 billion).

“In any case, this EU legislation applies only after a decision has been taken by the national authorities to deport an illegal immigrant. Each member-state retains the power to decide in the first place whether it wishes to regularize or deport the immigrant,” said the EU Parliament in a statement Thursday.

There are around 40,000 undocumented Filipino workers (termed TNTs, for tago ng tago) in France, mostly in Paris and Nice; and 20,000 in Milan and Rome in Italy. Most of them are domestic helpers.

The draft requires that once a decision has been taken to deport an individual, that person is given a period of seven to 30 days to voluntarily leave the Union.

“If the deportee does not leave, a removal order will be issued. If the removal order is issued by a judicial authority which believes the individual in question might abscond, the person can be placed in custody for a maximum of six months, with possible extension to another 12 months in some cases,” said the EU.

Groups that tried to reduce stiffer penalties for overstaying foreign workers—among them, a proposed lesser period of detention to three months and a one-month period to regularize their stay—were rejected by the Parliament.

Another provision specified that courts in EU member-states must approve “as speedily as possible” the decisions of EU governments to deport an illegal worker.

“The original draft legislation required a court order within 72 hours, while the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee wanted 48 hours. A proposed amendment seeking to restore the deadline of 72 hours was rejected.”

The draft allows detention of children and family members of illegal immigrants “as a last resort,” but prohibits coercive measures. “Unaccompanied minors may only be deported if they can be returned to their family or to ‘adequate reception facilities’ in the state to which they are sent.”

There is an escape provision—the EU Parliament must first agree with the EU Council that before a person is deported, the deporting member-state must consider if that person’s life and liberty may be endangered by such EU action and that EU both bodies should determine which countries are deemed “safe.”

bitoy

June 20th, 2008, 05:57 PM

It might take a presidential order from Bush to bring those bells back. Since he is the commander in chief, he can just order those war souvenirs be returned to their rightful owner. Of course with a little push from the Samar representatives or even PGMA should step in and get this thing done in behalf of the people of Balangiga.

bukid

June 20th, 2008, 06:05 PM

^^ They never heal because we keep picking at the scabs. :lol:

it would only heal if america return the bells as a symbol of goodwill to the people of the philippines. japan had given us an image of the madonna of japan holding a cross in her right hand as a symbol of the friendship and goodwill between of two nations, between the japanese and the filipinos.

will america do the same by returning the bells that they have stolen from us? the missing bells in the belfry would always remind us of american arrogance. especially since we knew that U.S. of A had supported, thru their congress, the return of jewish manuscripts to the jews (israel).

red_jasper

June 21st, 2008, 06:52 AM

June 23, 2008
Saskatchewan heads to Philippines and Ukraine to recruit workers

Richard Gilbert
staff writer

The Saskatchewan government led a delegation, including representatives from the construction industry, on a recruitment mission to the Philippines and the Ukraine.

They were armed with a tool to attract foreign workers. The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) is an immigration program designed to allow the provincial government to select skilled workers and entrepreneurs based on their ability to contribute to the local economy.

Under the program, the provincial government nominates applicants to the federal government for landed immigrant status, if they meet specific criteria.

Rob Norris, minister of advanced education, employment and labour and three SINP officials led a group of 11 employers on a recruitment mission to Manila, Philippines from May 20 to May 30. The employers were interested in attracting potential employees, while government officials provided support through on-site assessment of their eligibility for the SINP.

“This mission to the Philippines is an example of the type of public-private partnerships that are key to increasing immigration, building our communities and sustaining our economy,” Norris said.

Read on (http://www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id28427)

jvillanueva

June 21st, 2008, 09:50 PM

Hi boybaha, just wanted to share this with you in case you know other filipinos in my situation here in the states.

I'm an american-born filipino and both my parents were born in the Philippines. My mom came here in 1968 and within 5 years (in 1973) became a naturalized U.S. citizen. My dad came here in 1970 and got his U.S. citizenship in 1975. I was born in 1972.

The Philippine government recognizes filipino citizenship by jus sanguinis (by blood) and NOT jus soli (by soil/land). Since my parents were still filipino citizens at the time of my birth here in Los Angeles, I'm allowed to utilize R.A. 9225. (which I have not done yet).

Here is an excerpt of The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines (2004 Revised Edition):

SECTION 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:

(1) Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this constitution;

(2) Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;

(3) Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority; and

(4) Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.

Now, here is what it means to be a NATURAL-BORN filipino citizen:

SEC. 2. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance with paragraph (3), Section 1 hereof shall be deemed natural-born citizens.

Also, ANY U.S. citizen (filipino or not) who is "NATURALIZED" in another country AFTER they acquire their U.S. citizen may be in jeopardy of losing their U.S. citizenship. Remember, the key word is naturalization.

Any filipino U.S. citizen who wants to apply for DUAL citizenship (U.S. & Philippines) under the CITIZENSHIP RETENTION AND RE-ACQUISITION ACT OF 2004 (R.A. 9225) will not necessarily jeopardize their U.S. citizenship because this act (R.A. 9225) is NOT a NATURALIZATION process (the naturalization process for filipino citizenship already occured prior to U.S. citizenship).

Why are U.S. immigration laws strict when a U.S. citizen becomes NATURALIZED in another country?

Read this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalization

My mom and dad recently acquired their dual citizenship and did most of their paperwork at the Bureau of Immigration in the Intramuros Office in Manila (they are now semi-retirees in the Philippines). Lots of paperwork, photocopies, and falling in line for payment receipts. Their birth records where not obtainable from the NSO (National Statistics Office) because they were destroyed during World War II. :nuts: Pero they still managed to work with the immigration officers and get their dual citizenship. ;)

I think doing all the paperwork here at the Los Angeles Philippine consulate would have been another long task (due to snail mail). I wanted my parents to go straight to the source in the motherland and address any issues/concerns directly with the immigration officers.

My plans for dual-citizenship falls directly in-line with queetz@home; primarily for investment/business purposes in real estate. My dad owns a palayan which I will be allowed to inherit and own in full (fee-simple estate - without filipino citizenship), but that's pretty much it. I can't buy land, only inherit.

I don't think the U.S. "frowns" on dual-citizenship. Just use your common sense when the situation arises. For example, just show your blue passport for international flights and your green passport for domestic flights (inside the Philippines). On job applications, no need to mention unless asked (like in security background questions, just to make sure you are not on an INTERPOL list or something) . And always state your foreign citizenship was NOT acquired through NATURALIZATION. I think you can live most of your life here in the states without the burden of getting penalized for having dual-citizenship. Afterall, you're still a U.S. citizen living in your own country of citizenship,
di ba?

thank you for good post,very informative indeed

Lucentino

June 22nd, 2008, 07:25 AM

Europe Pinoys face ouster (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=122368)
---

Can EU survive without those hardworking Pinoys? I dont think any other country close to EU would be able to match the talent, skills and industriousness of our fellow countrymen. I hope they would rather move to evaluate further.

Although in some cases, once a Pinoy becomes legal, they lose some of their competitiveness --- is it because they already feel secure?

jbkayaker12

June 22nd, 2008, 12:35 PM

Many Eastern European countries send their people to work in the more prosperous countries of Europe so the Philippines is not the only source of guest workers, legal and illegal in the continent.

jbkayaker12

June 22nd, 2008, 11:26 PM

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z138/lancero33/junho/yi3.jpg

Napagod lang si Manoy sa pagpintura ng harapan. Kelangan pahinga muna. :D

Just a sad reminder of why the Philippines is in state it is in. Whether the photo was taken in jest or not, it shows how life is in the Philippines. People waiting for handouts and help from others.

red_jasper

June 23rd, 2008, 04:48 AM

Monday, June 23, 2008
Vietnam, RP leaders to meet Bush
By P. Parameswaran, AFP

WASHINGTON -- Facing political and economic pressures at home, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Tan Dung travel to Washington this week for talks with U.S. President George W. Bush. ]

The visit by Arroyo, a U.S. ally in the "war on terror," is expected to finally put an end to tensions caused by her pullout of Filipino troops from the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq in 2004, experts said.

"I don't think the pullout substantively impacted the US-Philippine relations but in the political sense, it created an impression that there was space between the U.S. and Philippines," said Walter Lohman, an expert with Washington-based Heritage Foundation.

The Tuesday meeting will also give the unpopular leader some political capital to remain in office until her term ends in 2010 after she survived several political impeachments amid rumors of military coups, he said.

"The meeting is not necessarily an endorsement of any of her policies but will be demonstrating a certain respect for the constitutional order in the Philippines as she is the elected president," Lohman said.

Arroyo, whose popularity is the lowest in three years as soaring prices slowed growth and slashed incomes, is expected to discuss military counterterrorism cooperation and steps to liberalize bilateral trade with Bush, who is in his final six months in office and also unpopular.

Dung and Arroyo could raise with Bush issues such as energy pricing and subsidies, and rising inflation amid rocketing oil and food prices impacting their economies in a "very serious way," said Ernie Bower, former president of the U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Council.

"I think they will come to ask the U.S. President about what U.S. policy is on these issues and what they can do about it," Bower said.

Read on (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/regional%20news/2008/06/23/162253/Vietnam-RP.htm)

Juan Pilgrim

June 23rd, 2008, 05:56 PM

http://lh3.ggpht.com/KMiron/RmIHnhmWDFI/AAAAAAAAA5I/4GJwK63U0RQ/IMG_4756.jpg?imgmax=512
nag-cherry picking kaming mag-anak nitong nakalipas na Sabado.
Sabi ko mga bata magpakabundat na kayo sa cereza
eat all you can kasi while picking.
Pero may bayad na yung iuuwi.
$4.99 a pound in our neighborhood produce.

http://www.michaelmerino.net/wp-content/img_2671.jpg
Reminds me of my days as a boy
strawberry picking in the Mountain Province.

:horse:

J.P.

kiretoce

June 23rd, 2008, 06:07 PM

^^ Ahh....the joys of living up north. Had the experience of apple picking once, when I lived in Illinois. Then grape picking in the Napa Valley in California. Now, all I pick are oranges, grapefruits, and calamansi from our (and my aunt's) backyard down here in Florida. :colgate:

pi_malejana

June 23rd, 2008, 09:29 PM

^^ sir kimber.. where did you stay in Illinois??

kiretoce

June 23rd, 2008, 09:38 PM

^^ In Hinsdale, 20 miles west of downtown Chicago. It's located south of Oak Brook, north of Burr Ridge, east of Clarendon Hills, and west of Western Springs. Right up next to I-294.

bitoy

June 25th, 2008, 09:19 PM

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080624/capt.eaa09e6b14274981bd30848eb20c3874.bush_us_philippines_dcev102.jpg

Salamat

Arroyo lobbies in US for veterans’ equity bill (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view/20080625-144743/Arroyo-lobbies-in-US-for-veterans-equity-bill)

WASHINGTON, DC (VIA PLDT)—With the uncertain fate of the Veterans Equity Bill in the US Congress, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has made a strong appeal to US President George W. Bush, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers to consider the long quest for benefits of the Filipinos who fought under the American flag during World War II.

“I made a strong case for why the Philippine war veterans deserve equity, and I asked for the understanding and support of the leaders of America,” Arroyo said during a lunch she hosted on Tuesday (Washington time) for reporters covering her US trip.

“This is consistent with one major aim of this trip—to help fight for the passage of the Filipino veterans equity bill, which is part of a larger bill pending in the US Congress,” she said.

“So I’ve spoken with Speaker Pelosi, with Senate Majority Leader [Harry] Reid, President Bush ... not to mention, of course, the [bill’s] authors and sponsors, to thank them for what they did.”

Arroyo was referring to Senate Bill 1315, an omnibus veterans equity bill that the US Senate approved in April with a 96-1 vote. A counterpart bill is pending in the committee level at the US Congress.

Representative Darrel Issa, one of the key proponents of the veterans bill for Filipinos, had earlier said the sponsors were hoping for a vote in the committee this week in time for Arroyo’s visit.

If the bill is not passed by the US House of Representatives before the adjournment of sessions and the November presidential election, it goes back to zero.

Porknight

June 26th, 2008, 01:51 PM

A total waste of time and money . She could saved the money for the trip and gave them to the veterans ? Made more sense ! I totally doubt that Bush will give her any cent.

Espano_Atx

June 26th, 2008, 06:48 PM

A total waste of time and money . She could saved the money for the trip and gave them to the veterans ? Made more sense ! I totally doubt that Bush will give her any cent.

So negative...

Animo

June 29th, 2008, 09:28 PM

By Solita Collas-Monsod (http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=145265)
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:07am (Mla time) 06/28/2008

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine-American Friendship Day? What a farce. What exists between the two countries is a parody, a travesty, of the give-and-take that characterizes a friendship between two parties. They give us crap, and we take it, and that is essentially what exists.

The list of such instances is a long one, one of the more recent being how the provisions of the Philippines-US Visiting Forces Agreement were twisted beyond all recognition, resulting in the midnight transfer of a US soldier from a Filipino jail to the US Embassy, in direct defiance of a court order, with the complicity of the Philippine government. Then, of course, there were the direct interferences by the US government in Philippine politics, again with the complicity of our government, putting into office those who were accommodating and keeping out those who dared to be critical. And who can forget that provision in the Bell Trade Act—after our so-called “independence,” mind you, which required the Philippine government to get the permission of the US president before changing its exchange rate?

The recent visit of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the United States has highlighted what is arguably the earliest post-World War II example not only of execrable American government behavior toward the Filipino people but also of its own hypocrisy. Consider (the following material was taken from the National Federation of Filipino American Associations and the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans Inc.):

In July of 1941, then-President Franklin Roosevelt issued a military order inducting members of the entire Commonwealth Army of the Philippines into the US military service, making them members of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). Nota bene: Roosevelt had to do this, because when the war broke out, there were less than 32,000 US regular troops in the Philippines. Roosevelt’s order added at least 120,0000 more, who then faced the almost 500,000 occupying Japanese forces. In other words, the United States relied primarily on Filipino soldiers, scouts and guerrillas to resist the occupation forces.

In 1942, the US Attorney General recognized that the Filipino solders inducted into the US military service by President Roosevelt were “in active service in the land and naval forces of the United States.”

Under the 1944 GI Bill of Rights, these Filipino military personnel were at first included in consideration for benefits, confirming their veteran status.

In September 1945, the Federal Bureau of Veterans Affairs stated that these personnel were eligible for US veterans’ benefits, thus reconfirming their veteran status.

Clear so far? And it is not as if the Filipino military personnel and guerrillas (organized after the USAFFE surrendered) were deadbeats. Their role was lauded as “heroic and substantial” in enabling the United States to succeed in its war effort. Historians have opined that the defeat of the Japanese military in the Philippines was the start of Japan’s road to final defeat.

And this is the thanks they got:

In February of 1946 (even before we were granted our independence), President Harry Truman signed the Rescission Act. This stripped these same lauded soldiers of their US veteran status. Not only that, among non-US citizen veterans of the US military that came from 66 countries, only the Filipinos were stripped of their US veteran status! How’s that for repayment for courageous and honorable service? They give us crap and we take it? How’s that for perfidy?

Because if the Philippine government made a protest at the time, I have yet to hear of it, or read of it. Of course, at the time we were still a commonwealth, and at that time, complaining against the United States was unthinkable. Somehow, we considered them our savior, totally ignoring the fact that if they hadn’t been in the Philippines in the first place, Japan would probably not have attacked us. (This is the considered opinion of the famous Col. Edwin Ramsey, who as a lieutenant formed the guerrilla forces in Central Luzon.)

And 62 years later, with the number of veterans down to about 15 percent of their original number, these brave and patient souls are still waiting for what should have been rightfully theirs in the first place.

How much will it cost the United States to give the veterans their due? Depending on the allowances, the range is between $50 million and $100 million a year—an amount that declines, of course, as nature takes its course and the numbers of veterans diminish by attrition.

Compare this amount to the $435 million per day that is estimated to be the cost of running the Iraq war (this from the San Francisco Chronicle). But maybe that is not a fair comparison. How about if we compare this to the $52 billion (in 2008 prices) that was the estimated cost of the physical damage to the Philippines wrought by World War II (remember what Ramsey said, and while we’re at it, one million Filipinos died during both the Japanese and the American attacks)?

Or here’s another comparison: In 1950 prices, the value of that $52 billion worth of damage was about $5.8 billion. The reparations Japan agreed to pay us was less than one-tenth of that amount. The “aid” of the United States? Certainly we received it—tied to their suppliers. But the United States forgot to pay, and we did not demand, rent for the use of military bases as Clark and Subic—44 years’ worth.

Philippine-American Friendship Day? With that kind of friend, we don’t need any enemies.

bitoy

June 29th, 2008, 10:10 PM

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_070510-N-4207M-033.jpg

- Master Chief Culinary Specialist Moises Lovinaria and Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Lyndsee Pereyra
perform the Tinikling, a Filipino folk dance, during the Asian-American Pacific
Islander Heritage celebration in the hanger bay USS Essex (LHD 2).

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_080509-N-5617R-169.jpg

PERSIAN GULF (May 9, 2008) Yeoman Seaman Lloyd Culpepper, left, and Personnel Specialist
3rd Class Carlo Canosa, both assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 47,
plays arnis, a system of Filipino martial arts, during a practice rehearsal for Asian Pacific
Heritage Month show aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham
Lincoln (CVN 72).

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_070218-N-1113S-002.jpg

General Santos City, Philippines (Feb. 18, 2007) – A young Filipino conducts the 7th Fleet band
at Changco Elementary School. A new two-classroom building for the school was handed over to
General Santos City during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The structure was built as part of Project
Friendship, a humanitarian assistance/community service project involving the armed forces of the
Philippines, and Sailors and Marines assigned to amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge.

Porknight

July 1st, 2008, 08:44 PM

So negative...

but true ... I'm more realistic !

See Aroyo came back with nothing <!

kiretoce

July 1st, 2008, 08:56 PM

RP urged to help OFWs facing deportation in the EU and Sabah (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080701-145843/RP-urged-to-help-OFWs-facing-deportation-in-EU-Sabah)

Groups representing overseas Filipino workers urged the government on Tuesday to prepare for mass deportations of undocumented Filipinos from Europe and Sabah, Malaysia, which have been planning massive crackdowns against illegal migrants.

Migrante International called the looming mass deportations “a disaster in the making” for the Arroyo administration as it urged the government to intervene diplomatically on behalf of more than 100,000 undocumented workers in Europe and almost 500,000 in Sabah.

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center, meanwhile, appealed to Malaysian authorities to ensure humane treatment of thousands of undocumented foreign workers to be deported from Sabah.

The center's founder, Susan Ople, and Migrante's chair Connie Bragas-Regalado asked the Philippine government to launch diplomatic initiatives and prepare a contingency plan for Filipinos who would be deported.

“The impending deportations are, without a shred of doubt, inhumane. It would be criminal for the Arroyo administration to ignore this urgent matter,” Migrante chair Connie Bragas-Regalado told reporters, adding that the host countries could be persuaded to keep the OFWs.

“The best thing the Arroyo administration can do for the thousands of OFWs who face deportation abroad is to push for their regularization [in their jobs], since they contribute heavily, not only to the Philippine economy, but also to their host countries,” Regalado suggested.

Regalado stressed the importance of ensuring the rights of Filipino citizens in the course of Europe and Malaysia’s crackdowns.

Early this month, 27 European Union interior ministers voted to detain overstaying migrants for a maximum of 18 months, and along with their children, they will be forcefully expelled and blacklisted for five years. Meanwhile, the Malaysian federal government ordered a “revitalized” crackdown to “flush out” undocumented workers in Sabah on Sunday.

Regalado suggested placing the crackdown in the agenda of the Philippine government in the forthcoming Global Forum on Migration and Development in October.

The Ople Center, meanwhile, expressed concern that the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur lacked the resources and personnel to help Filipinos caught in a revitalized immigration campaign.

“They need the authority and resources to fund a bigger diplomatic team composed of labor, social welfare and consular personnel familiar with Sabah and the ethnic dialects of the Filipinos now living there,” Susan Ople said.

According to the center, the Office of the Philippine Labor Attaché headed by Josephus Jimenez has only five people for an estimated 400,000 Filipinos living and staying in Sabah and 30,000 workers in peninsular Malaysia.

“Under normal times, the embassy is already overstretched in dealing with welfare cases. What more during a massive crackdown that could affect thousands of Filipinos in a province that is miles away from Kuala Lumpur?” Ople asked.

Ople urged the government to take advantage of improved relations between the Philippines and Malaysia in ensuring that violence would not be applied on illegally staying Filipinos during deportation.

“In light of the cordial relations between the Philippines and Malaysia, we wish to appeal to Malaysian and Sabah authorities not to use force in dealing with foreign workers but to coordinate their actions with the embassies concerned to ensure that no one gets hurt or is unfairly treated,” she said.

According to the center, Filipinos from the poorest communities in Mindanao have relocated as plantation workers in Sabah where they are able to earn more. The Philippines has a dormant territorial claim to Sabah and the maritime borders between the Mindanao and Sabah have been porous for centuries.

“We also know of women who have been trafficked to Kota Kinabalu (Sabah's capital) to work as bar girls in pubs frequented by foreigners. The dignity and welfare of these women must be protected as well,” Ople said.

Espano_Atx

July 1st, 2008, 10:35 PM

but true ... I'm more realistic !

See Aroyo came back with nothing <!

How can you be so sure?

Porknight

July 2nd, 2008, 02:11 AM

How can you be so sure?

What she didn't came back yet ??? she is still in the USA spending government money in an expensive 5 star hotel ?

mwg12a

July 2nd, 2008, 03:01 AM

red_jasper

July 2nd, 2008, 01:37 PM

94,000 irregular OFWs in EU told to 'regularize' status

'Filipinos are loved,' says DFA official

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080702-146069/94000-irregular-OFWs-in-EU-told-to-regularize-status)
First Posted 18:47:00 07/02/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- As the European Union prepares to implement tougher migration rules against foreigners who overstay their visas, the Department of Foreign Affairs asked the estimated 94,000 irregular overseas Filipino workers in Europe to "regularize" their status there.

"If there's a possibility for them to regularize their stay there, I would ask them to do so. And if the law is finally implemented and they are asked to return [to the Philippines], I ask them to comply with the law and return. That way, they can go back," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Esteban Conejos said Wednesday.

Otherwise, he pointed out, those who defy the law or are recidivists -- those who keep committing the same offense -- will face a five-year ban to returning to Europe.

Filipinos are “wanted” in Europe, Conejos said. “Filipinos are loved. It is to our benefit if we regularize our status."

He also noted that the policy directive will not be enforced until each of the 27 EU member-states enacts its own law within 24 months after the passage of the directive, which has just been approved on second reading at the European Parliament.

"The policy directive is not self-executing," he said.

The DFA official said he has sent a communication to all the Philippine diplomatic posts in Europe about the EU policy directive and to monitor developments about its implementation in their areas of responsibility.

"I ask [the diplomatic posts] to see how the policy directive will develop in the individual member-states in the next two years," he said.

Conejos said the upcoming Second Global Forum on Migration and Development, which the Philippines will host and his office is spearheading, is the perfect forum to discuss the issue.

In particular, he said, Roundtable Session 2.1 will table this for discussion. And there, he said, the Philippines can demand for a larger market for regular OFWs as it helps reduce the incidence of irregular Filipino migrants.

"Unlike in trade and finance, the development concepts in migration is still fluid. And this forum is a perfect opportunity for us to help shape the language for it," he said.

Conejos said the Philippines abides by the principle of shared responsibility for both labor-sending and -receiving countries, and the principle of respecting the right of sovereign states to enact policies regarding migrants.

"We will not contest [the policy directive]. Every country has the sovereign right to decide who stays and who does not as long as they abide by treaty obligations and customary international laws," he said.

Porknight

July 2nd, 2008, 06:04 PM

^^^ Be glad that atleast Arroyo has atleast made some achievements in the Philippines, something that you have never witnessed in the previous administration.

Where do you expect a president stay whenever they travel overseas? 3rd class inns/hotels where her security can't even provide a friggin safety to a political leader? Quit whinning for crying out loud. Hindi puro lang dakdak na walang katutoran..

Ok so now only because she made very very small achievements for the country and a lot for herself and her family now she can do what she wants !?
And people can't even complain ? I guess we have to improve democracy a little bit !

I always supported GMA and i really think that she is the best president that the philippines ever had but as taxpayer and not as a believer (she is not god) i pretend to complain whenever I think is right to do it and the lack of transparency and a roadmap in her agenda make her operate more and more questionable !

The country was hit by a typhoon and a tragedy and she wasn't there , she was instead in the USA to do what ? For the veterans ? as I sayed she could save the money for the trip and give everything to the veteran ?

Juan Pilgrim

July 2nd, 2008, 06:36 PM

http://www.inn-california.com/sanfrancisco/images/c4165.jpg?subject=Message from Inn-California web site

We are finally going on our long awaited summer vacation.:banana:

2 weeks OFF from work,:banana::banana:

http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/BNS/BNS189/asian-grandparents-with-grandson-~-BPH134.jpg

our 3 babes will be with their doting grandparents in Concord, CA!:banana::banana::banana:

http://www.sftravel.com/hotels/classy/images/le-meridien-san-francisco.jpg

my wife and I are booked at Le Meridien next to the Embarcadero!!!:banana::banana::banana::banana:
just the 2 of us
many miles away from the babes.

I find myself humming to the song by Tony "I left my heart in San Francisco!"

It's perfect.

:horse:

JP

mwg12a

July 2nd, 2008, 08:37 PM

How can she know that a typhoon that is going to hit the Philippines is going to be that worse? What? She is better than weather tracter?? How stupid that statement was....

The problem is, the complain you are making are so typical with most filipinos who doesn't know anything but complain. You hear news here and there then you make a big fuzz out of it. All you do is complain and complain but are you doing anything different for the filipino people? Well, yeah maybe the dollar you sent back to the Philippines but thats besides the point. The point is that you are always have something negative to have to say, sometimes you just jump in a conversation then start whining.... That is one thing why the filipinos are not moving forward as a nation and economy wise.

Look at how filipinos are perceived half of the time? Sure we are seen as hard working people but what else? We are perceived as poor people who is escaping poverty in the Philippines as a DH or as a contract workers. Sure it is mostly due to a corrupt government but half of the time, the people itself contributes to the downfall of our economy. I don't think there is any president that is being critisized or attempted to be overthrown from Cory Aquino, Ramos and now Arroyo ( I wouldn't count Erap because he is really a joke to begin with and he was even elected by the filipino people???)

My point here is that, whether a Philippine President is doing something, there is always any suspecions of corruption. Couldn't it be that many filipino people have a dirty mind and has no other better things to do in life except to find faults on their fellow filipino?

Did you even notice your own statement? You said "You have always supported GMA... blah blah blah..." then here you are complaining about her as if you had never supported her to begin with?? What kind of logic is that??? Why did you even support someone you never believed in? This logic is really beyond me . I'm really sorry to say that... I would probably have a better faith in your words had you uttered the words " I regret I supported her presidency because now I feel sorry for it because of what crime she is committing, but no, you said you supported her and IS THE BEST PRESIDENT there is and YOU PRETEND YOU COMPLAIN WHENEVER YOU FEEL IS RIGHT? Something is wrong with that statement seriously....

Okay, I sounded like I'm attacking you but its more of not understanding the logic of your statements. I am not attacking you personally because I do not know you as a person...

Animo

July 2nd, 2008, 08:49 PM

Carmie Carpio AJ Press (http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=124&a=28732)

On July 4, 1946, the US flag was lowered amid cloudy skies to give way to the raising of the Philippine fl ag. A crowd of hundreds of thousands who were gathered to witness the historical handing down of sovereignty by the US to the Philippines, their colony for 48 years, had every reason to cheer and rejoice.

From then on, for nearly 20 years, Filipinos recognized the 4th of July as the day that they gained freedom. Year after year, they marked the day with revelry and national pride.

But not every Filipino joined the annual 4th of July celebration with the holiday bands and parades. The celebration was not embraced by Filipino nationalists. They voiced out their plea to declare Philippine independence on the day that Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared our freedom in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898.

Turning point

In a move that surprised many, President Diosdado Macapagal issued Proclamation No. 28 on May 17, 1962, directing the Congress to enact a measure statutorily declaring June 12, 1898 as our offi cial Independence Day. Two years later, on August 4, 1964, Republic Act No. 4166 was signed by him, making June 12 as Independence Day and July 4 as Philippine Republic Day (now Philippine American Friendship Day).

Behind Pres. Macapagal in this landmark transition were Sen. Ramon Mitra, Sr., who authored the June 12 independence bill, historians and academicians led by Gabriel F. Fabella—known to be the father of the idea of June 12 as Philippine Independence Day, and a strong clamor from Filipino nationalists.

The rest of the Filipinos found the switch hard to swallow. From 1946 to 1962, they observed the 4th of July with joy and cheer. After all, more than 20,000 Americans were killed while driving out Japanese invaders from the Philippines from 1944-45. They believed they owed the Americans their guarded safety and protection.

Still, June 12, 1898 won over July 4, 1946. The argument was that independence was not actualized during Aguinaldo’s declaration. But as historians contend, the Philippine Revolution would have claimed its triumph over Spain if not for the short-lived Spanish-American War. When the Americans emerged victorious, they purchased the archipelago for $20 million and thereafter colonized it. Somewhere along these events, the Philippine-American War ensued after American troops impeded an indigenous independence movement, leading to around half a million Filipino lives lost.

As University of the Philippines political scientist Alex Magno said, "Until 1991, the ghost of the Philippine-American War still haunted us." This is why some Filipino academics actually believe it was on September 16, 1991, the date the Philippine Senate boldly refused to extend the US lease at the Subic Bay Naval Station, that we finally achieved our true freedom.

So many dates, one freedom

For nearly 50 years now, Filipinos have learned to let go of the 4th of July as the date of our independence. But many among us are still unsettled on this matter, adamant that freedom came when the Americans gave it to us.

This is where the sensible arguments prepared by Fabella, then head of the Philippine Historical Association, come in:

1. If Philippine Independence will be celebrated every 4th of July alongside the American Independence Day, our celebration will be dwarfed and the international community and diplomats would fail to celebrate with and recognize us;

2. July 4 as Philippine Independence Day is a date that was made and declared by the US Congress, not by the Filipino people, whereas June 12 was chosen and declared by the Filipino people by virtue of R.A. 4166 enacted by the Philippine Congress;

3. The declaration of Philippine Independence took place on June 12, 1898, whereas July 4, 1946 only signifi ed US recognition of Philippine Independence; and

4. If the Philippines would celebrate independence every 4th of July, the international community would think of the Philippines as not free at all but as a colony that remains to be associated with the US.

Still, the 4th of July in 1946 did not happen for nothing. Philippine-American Friendship Day, looking back 62 years, made us relearn to savor the gift of freedom which most of our ancestors could not experience from their graves. Let us seize this chance to foster more meaningful and mutual ties with our Americans friends, and at the same time heal wounds. Only then will our path to a complete national recovery will be smooth, straight, and clear.

(AJ, with research from the National Historical Institute and the Philippine History Group of Los Angeles)

Porknight

July 2nd, 2008, 09:15 PM

How can she know that a typhoon that is going to hit the Philippines is going to be that worse? What? She is better than weather tracter?? How stupid that statement was....
She could stop going ? or coming back ? Ok if you are in charge the leader you have to be present period !

The problem is, the complain you are making are so typical with most filipinos who doesn't know anything but complain. You hear news here and there then you make a big fuzz out of it. All you do is complain and complain but are you doing anything different for the filipino people? Well, yeah maybe the dollar you sent back to the Philippines but thats besides the point. The point is that you are always have something negative to have to say, sometimes you just jump in a conversation then start whining.... That is one thing why the filipinos are not moving forward as a nation and economy wise.
I'm sending Euro which is better , I always saved a lot of money and didn't spent so much here where I am now and I bought some land in my beloved country made a business and employed 15 people (I created jobs lol), I pay a lot of taxes. And all the money that I earn in country i try to spend it into the country !
I also complain when I think that Gma is doing bad and support her when she doing good ! What about you mate beside support so blindly GMA whenever she is criticize from the press in country and outside of it ?

Look at how filipinos are perceived half of the time? Sure we are seen as hard working people but what else? We are perceived as poor people who is escaping poverty in the Philippines as a DH or as a contract workers. Sure it is mostly due to a corrupt government but half of the time, the people itself contributes to the downfall of our economy. I don't think there is any president that is being critisized or attempted to be overthrown from Cory Aquino, Ramos and now Arroyo ( I wouldn't count Erap because he is really a joke to begin with and he was even elected by the filipino people???)
This people the OFWS are making better than the goverment when we are talking about DFI something like 500% better mate ! About Erap eletected by the people well what I can say this is democracy mate if you like it or not!
You know people votes count and can complain ....

My point here is that, whether a Philippine President is doing something, there is always any suspecions of corruption. Couldn't it be that many filipino people have a dirty mind and has no other better things to do in life except to find faults on their fellow filipino?
About other filipino no i don't even think about interfering about their lives , but when it comes to the president someone who is PAY by us, well with no offence but i like to judge her like other democratic nations citizen do when it comes to their leaders !

Did you even notice your own statement? You said "You have always supported GMA... blah blah blah..." then here you are complaining about her as if you had never supported her to begin with?? What kind of logic is that??? Why did you even support someone you never believed in? This logic is really beyond me . I'm really sorry to say that... I would probably have a better faith in your words had you uttered the words " I regret I supported her presidency because now I feel sorry for it because of what crime she is committing, but no, you said you supported her and IS THE BEST PRESIDENT there is and YOU PRETEND YOU COMPLAIN WHENEVER YOU FEEL IS RIGHT? Something is wrong with that statement seriously....

Okay, I sounded like I'm attacking you but its more of not understanding the logic of your statements. I am not attacking you personally because I do not know you as a person...

I always support her as a president , replaced her by another with another military mutiny and don't let her finish her term would be a disaster for our nation . I don't even want to think about the rating agencies would do to us if something like that would happen. But I cannot simply ignore the press and I cannot stop to complain whenever I see something wrong.

On the other hand she is giving me hope , the nation GDP is growing , finally she realize how important infrastructure are and she made some smart move in macro economy system .
For the Philippines she is a very good president but if we compare her with our neighbours well she is less than average !

kiretoce

July 2nd, 2008, 09:33 PM

http://www.inn-california.com/sanfrancisco/images/c4165.jpg?subject=Message from Inn-California web site

For our very first SSC-Philippines USA meet in August 2006, we did a walking tour of San Francisco and we visited this place by the Embarcadero.

Juan Pilgrim

July 2nd, 2008, 09:42 PM

For our very first SSC-Philippines USA meet in August 2006, we did a walking tour of San Francisco and we visited this place by the Embarcadero.

KimBro, where was the 2007 SSC Philippines USA meet held?

Is there going to be one this 2008? And where might that be?

:horse:

JP

kiretoce

July 2nd, 2008, 09:56 PM

^^ 2007....nada. :( 2008....who knows. :dunno:

kiretoce

July 2nd, 2008, 09:56 PM

2007....nada. :( 2008....who knows. :dunno:

There are a lot of Bay Area forumers, if you let them know you're coming, they can set up an instant meet in honor of you. :colgate:

mwg12a

July 5th, 2008, 08:11 AM

bitoy

July 5th, 2008, 11:13 AM

HTNKJCbZU70

Fil-Am Friendship Day

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/51/180023594_6061551b5a.jpg

Porknight

July 5th, 2008, 02:31 PM

On your first comment? Read and analyze your own statement. You don't get it do you?? It's a storm for crying outloud, it's mother nature.... If the weather bureau CAN'T PREDICT it accurately 100% of time, WILL an economist who happens to be the president would know? And if she found out the severity of the typhoon, would she be able to stop it? Sure, she can pose for the camera and show her support but will it stop the storm from happening????? Hello!!!!! No, she cannot... She would be asking for financial support from the US government regardless...

What kind of supporter are you when you put down the same president you supported to be installed in the office? You still claim up to now that you are supporting her to the core. Come on, make up your mind, it's either you support her still OR SHE LOST HER APPEAL TO YOU period!!!

And NO, I never supported Arroyo at all in any way or form, but I don't flip flop on her...You talk as if you wanted her out of the office but then, you "balingbing" your mode when you are asked if you do not support arroyo ..LOL

If you read above I explained why i want her to stay and finish her term. If you forgot what happened to our economy last time a president was unable to finish his term !

Probably you don't , rating agencies downgrade us , the pesos loss his value , cutting jobs , less DFI than the previous year , the world saying "again?..." ecc..

btw you know what if you really worship her who cares and you think that she is so perfect that no one can even question her work is fine !

I was been in Sweden part of Scandinavia for a short vacation where all is so freaking perfect , clean ,advance , where the press is so free and influential , where human rights are respected , where education and Healthcare are the best in the world and they are mostly free and people still complain and complain , because they think that they can improve !

If you think that Aroyo is so great and our country is the greastet in the world and you are happy with it Amen I'll be happy for you too !!!

Meanwhile in the real world I'll try my best to help my small , corrupt , dirty backward and beloved country !

mwg12a

July 5th, 2008, 03:41 PM

^^^^ Read above, already said I never supported Arroyo. My stand is firm and I don't send mix signals to anybody when I talk about her. To me if you see something wrong with her, don't say you support her. I can't support any president whom I think is not worth supporting in. If I see her as corrupt, I want her out.... no buts no excuses.. OUT IF OUT. No more statements like "I support Arroyo BUT SHE IS THIS AND THAT and I can bitch about how she performs and call her corrupt, then in the end you would shout I SUPPORT HER AS PRESIDENT and a great leader we ever had. That is not a good sign of stability, as a citizen and as a good - smart voter and supporter...

diezelbenz

July 6th, 2008, 03:25 AM

I started a similar topic not realizing this thread existed so I apologize if some of the observations I will be sharing have been covered. I also did not read all the posts of this thread as its quite long.

Offering some opinions on some things I read, from my experience, you get faster acceptance and assimilation in the US if you know how to express yourself verbally - regardless of whether you have an accent or not. The most important thing is to know how to talk. People here tend to put you down even more if you cannot express yourself and know how to reason.

Pinoys seem to think they are inferior to the caucasians.

Keep the emotions out of it. Generally, Americans don't carry grudges.

red_jasper

July 6th, 2008, 04:47 AM

Thomasites root of RP-US friendship, says Kenney on July 4
July 06, 2008 01:26:00
Vincent Cabreza
Philippine Daily Inquirer (http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/education/view.php?db=1&article=20080706-146718)

BAGUIO CITY -- Ambassador Kristie Kenney celebrated US Independence Day on July 4 touring the 100-year-old Teachers Camp here Saturday, remarking that the Thomasites were the roots of the enduring friendship between Filipinos and Americans.

“[The story of the Thomasites at Teachers Camp] is a wonderful beginning, and it’s a tradition that continues today of American-Philippine friendship,” she said.

The Thomasites were the pioneer American teachers who sailed in 1901 from San Francisco to the Philippines aboard the SS Thomas to set up the country’s public school system.

“The Thomasites came … at a time when travel was not the norm … and they did not only teach [Filipinos] English … they taught life skills, as well,” Kenney said.

“Education bridges differences in cultures within our nations, because we represent two nations of great cultural diversity. Education is our past, our present and our future,” she said.

Teachers Camp officials treated Kenney to a reenactment of the camp’s history that cast high school students wearing period costumes. The reenactment featured a scene where Filipino boys in G-string beat Americans in baseball.

July 4 is also Filipino-American Friendship Day. It may no longer be a public holiday, but this does not prevent the Department of Education from commemorating the annual event here.

Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador said every Filipino shared ties with Americans.

“Every Filipino can claim that he [or she] is a product of the Thomasites.”

diezelbenz

July 6th, 2008, 08:14 AM

Juan Pilgrim

July 6th, 2008, 04:26 PM

2007....nada. :( 2008....who knows. :dunno:

There are a lot of Bay Area forumers, if you let them know you're coming, they can set up an instant meet in honor of you. :colgate:

KimBro, there are only two forumers I would like to meet at this time, CrappyPants and StLito. Alam ko taga west coast sila.

Kahit na gusto kong kami lang nga ng sweetey ko ang magkasama sans the babes during that weekend.
Believe me ganito ang Buhay sa Amerika kapag meyron ka ng mga babes, limited na ang alone time ninyo ng sweetheart mo!
I will still want to meet these 2 special forumers to thank them in person for some :cheers: ako ang taya.

Maybe next time we can plan for a SSC PHILIPPINES USA MEET this 2008.
How about WINTER in your TURF--- Sunny FLORIDA? I would like to thank you too in person for helping me when I was very new to SSC. more:cheers:

:horse:

JP

mwg12a

July 6th, 2008, 09:42 PM

I'm confused, I know at first crappypants seems to be still in the Philippines because she keeps on asking everybody about what advice we can give to those who are still in the philippines, then lately, she sounded she lives in canada, now, from juanpilgrim, he said crappy is in the US westcoast.... then one time she said she went to highschool in the US.... Where are you in marites /crappypants really?

kiretoce

July 7th, 2008, 02:47 AM

Maybe next time we can plan for a SSC PHILIPPINES USA MEET this 2008.
How about WINTER in your TURF--- Sunny FLORIDA? I would like to thank you too in person for helping me when I was very new to SSC. more:cheers:

:horse:

JP

You're welcome to come down to "mah hood" in the winter. You'd enjoy the warm sunny weather sans the snow and freezing temps. :okay:

I'm confused, I know at first crappypants seems to be still in the Philippines because she keeps on asking everybody about what advice we can give to those who are still in the philippines, then lately, she sounded she lives in canada, now, from juanpilgrim, he said crappy is in the US westcoast.... then one time she said she went to highschool in the US.... Where are you in marites /crappypants really?

Marites (crappypants) went to high school here in the US. She lives in Oregon. She travels between the US and SEA (particularly Thailand) a lot.

red_jasper

July 7th, 2008, 03:54 AM

Celebrating all things Philippine
7/07/2008 11:15:00 AM

http://dailyadvertiser.yourguide.com.au/multimedia/images/large/185987.jpg
READ PHILIPPINE: Wagga mayor Kerry Pascoe and
Philippine Consul General Maria Theresa Lazaro look
over Wagga Library’s collection of books about the
Philippines, including some in the Philippine language.

WAGGA’S Philippine community had plenty to celebrate in the city at the weekend.

A special ceremony was held at the Wagga Civic Centre on Saturday to mark 110 years since the Philippines became independent of Spanish colonialism, and a library program called Read Philippine was launched.

Philippine Consul General Maria Theresa Lazaro visited Wagga to mark the occasion and Wagga mayor Kerry Pascoe helped raise the Philippine flag.

The Read Philippine program aims to boost the resources available in Wagga and promote the Philippine culture and history to the broader community.

It was developed through a partnership between Wagga City Council, the Philippine consulate and the Filipino-Australian community.

“This project is something that we want to sustain … It is the young people we are targeting, and their friends,” Ms Lazaro said.

She said it was important that second and third generation Filipino immigrants now living in Wagga could access re-sources about their country and in their language.

About 85 Filipino-Australian families now call Wagga home, and the weekend’s celebrations were the second time Ms Lazaro had joined Cr Pascoe in raising the Philippine flag.

Here (http://dailyadvertiser.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/celebrating-all-things-philippine/805524.aspx)

red_jasper

July 7th, 2008, 11:59 AM

Pinoys in Norway, Denmark, give aid to 'Frank' victims
07/07/2008 | 04:40 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The Filipino community and friends of the Philippines in Norway and Denmark have donated a total of P565,840 to victims of Typhoon "Frank," Malacañang said Monday.

A Palace statement said the donation was formally handed out to the government during their 9th Filipino Community Leaders Meeting held at the Philippine Embassy in Oslo last June 30.

Philippine Ambassador Victoria Bataclan received a ceremonial check from the Filipino community in Norway.

The Filipino community, aside from donating directly to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), also sponsored the construction of one classroom in the Sara National High School in Iloilo under the government's "Classroom Galing sa Mamamayang Pilipino Abroad (CGMA) program."

The breakdown of donations received by the Philippine Embassy, based on receipts and initial pledges by the Filipino community and friends of the Philippines in Norway and Denmark, included P40,000 from Filipino communities and Norwegian friends in Norway.

It also included NOK4,121 from Filipinos who watched Caregiver Oslo' NOK1,000 from "Cabalen" in Oslo; DKK1,500 from Filipinos who watched "Caregiver Copenhagen"; DKK10,000 from Pinay Exclusive in Denmark;

NOK1,500 from Jesus is Lord in Oslo; $500 from Filipinsk Integroring Interessegruppe (FIIG) & Active Service Omsorg og Rekruttering (ASOR);
$500 from ASEAN Travel/Philippine Women's Organization (PWO); NOK5,000 from Sacred Heart Community in Fredrikstad;$1,000 from Filipino Working Group in Oslo; and NOK1,100 from Sister Ofelia Simbillo in Oslo. - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/105497/Pinoys-in-Norway-Denmark-give-aid-to-Frank-victims)

Juan Pilgrim

July 7th, 2008, 03:22 PM

thanks, tsinoy.

You are correct about not minding others. I have been around a bit longer than you think. I actually don't give a r@ts _ss about how they behave. However, there are some observations which I admit irritate me. An example is during Filipino gatherings or parties. Certain people seem to always make a point to publicly praise or honor the physician types. I never understood this. What are the rest of us then? Paperweight?

It further irritates me that the physician types also take the praise to heart and not correct the people who do it. I expect them to at least say something like " ... you are too kind but other Filipinos deserve as much praise. We all underwent the same..... etc, etc...".

It irritates me because as far as I am concerned, whether one is a physician, engineer, nurse, laborer, etc.... no matter who you are..... we all underwent the same hardships and difficulties in coming to and living in the US. NO ONE is better than the other!!

This must be a character trait that I never picked up on nor understood what is to be gained by it. A carry-over from spanish colonial times where Pinoys were treated as inferiors perhaps? As one acquaintance once crudely put - Mabaho rin ang ta-e natin'g lahat!!

But as you said, I too just shrug my shoulders.

naimbag, welcome to SSC Philippine Forum.

You know what, I never realized that other people find it IRRITATING that the so-called physician types/ nurses types are treated by other kababayan here in the US differently.

All the while kala ko ako lang ang naiilang kapag masyadong pinaparangalan o binibigyan ng kakaibang pag-galang ang mga taong tulad nito.

I have been in the US for about 4 years, relatively a newcomer compared to others. But taking note of your observations, marami pa pala akong dapat matutunan.

"You can not please everyone, all the time."

:horse:

JP

Lucentino

July 7th, 2008, 05:58 PM

I think there's a strong representation of Filipinos in S. America especially in Brazil and Argentina. I read something about it online. Talking about lack of representation, I always thought of North Korea as one of a few countries where there are hardly Filipinos.

I don't know if there are any Pinoys in Rwanda, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Falkland Islands, Greenland or even in Antarctica!

bitoy

July 7th, 2008, 07:03 PM

Juan Pilgrim

July 7th, 2008, 07:13 PM

I did not know Maritess is such a MYSTERIOUS LADY.

Now, I am intrigued.:)

Nag post ng picture si Lili.
Sana magpost rin si CrappyPants.

TSINOY, where in the world are you?

:horse:

JP

bitoy

July 7th, 2008, 07:18 PM

^^ PDX

Juan Pilgrim

July 7th, 2008, 07:33 PM

^^ PDX

PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT!:banana:

:horse:

JP

mwg12a

July 7th, 2008, 07:39 PM

Oh okay folks, now I'm not so confused ..LOL Ito naman kase si crappy, hindi mo maintindihan, hindi mapakali sa isang lugar..LOL Minsan kung magsalita, para siyang nasa pinas namimili ng mga condo, tapos, naglimayoy sa Canada kala ko naanduon pa rin. Kay Pilgrim ko lang narinig na nasa west coast US, kaya pala nagtatanong ng pinoy store ka tsinoy.. thanks all!

Ako gusto kong ma meet itong si tsinoy, he sounded so cool. Kiretoce would be a cool to meet in person as well, too bad I almost had a chance to meet him in Orlando, just don't want to bring the whole clan when I meet him while I was there, he might not not agree to meet me again next time, the kids with us including my own don't sit still, they are all "kulit" you'd be tempted to put them all in one sack, too bad, that's considered child abuse so, you can't do that even for 30 mins..LMAO

hehehe, secret... if you ask me, kelangan me bayad kung nasaan si Maritess talaga.

Clue #1 ~ dito lang siya malapit sa amin. :D

(that gave it away kaagad... hahaha)

Aba aba, hinsik ka talaga, pate ba ang location ni Marites ginagawa mo ring business??LMAO

mwg12a

July 7th, 2008, 07:49 PM

Hats off to all Pinoys in Norway!!!

kiretoce

July 7th, 2008, 08:04 PM

I did not know Maritess is such a MYSTERIOUS LADY.

Now, I am intrigued.:)

Nag post ng picture si Lili.
Sana magpost rin si CrappyPants.

TSINOY, where in the world are you?

:horse:

JP

Marites posted photos of her some time ago. But yeah, they're few and far between.

Ako gusto kong ma meet itong si tsinoy, he sounded so cool. Kiretoce would be a cool to meet in person as well, too bad I almost had a chance to meet him in Orlando, just don't want to bring the whole clan when I meet him while I was there, he might not not agree to meet me again next time, the kids with us including my own don't sit still, they are all "kulit" you'd be tempted to put them all in one sack, too bad, that's considered child abuse so, you can't do that even for 30 mins..LMAO

That's okay, mwg12a. There will be other times to meet down here, especially now that you have relatives here in the Sunshine State which i"m sure you'd be regularly visiting. I don't mind kids, I've been around a ton of them in my life (mostly relatives and the kids from church) so I'm used to having rugrats around. :lol:

Juan Pilgrim

July 7th, 2008, 08:25 PM

Marites posted photos of her some time ago. But yeah, they're few and far between.

iF you know that she wouldn't mind,
would you please, re-post those pics.

Wala bang directory or roster and SCC Philippine Forumers?
Yung meyron pictures.

:horse:

JP

mwg12a

July 7th, 2008, 08:34 PM

Marites posted photos of her some time ago. But yeah, they're few and far between.

That's okay, mwg12a. There will be other times to meet down here, especially now that you have relatives here in the Sunshine State which i"m sure you'd be regularly visiting. I don't mind kids, I've been around a ton of them in my life (mostly relatives and the kids from church) so I'm used to having rugrats around. :lol:

My wife's uncle/ adopted father always lived there, it's beeen 25 years I believe for them... Just never mentioned before probably. But always nice to meet people you talk to online..

mwg12a

July 7th, 2008, 08:37 PM

iF you know that she wouldn't mind,
would you please, re-post those pics.

Wala bang directory or roster and SCC Philippine Forumers?
Yung meyron pictures.

:horse:

JP

There is, in samahan thread, you see directory there for SSC phil forrumers. Now, in Photo Album and Camwhore threads, you would see a lot of the forrumers faces there, some are just shy but that's okay. One day, they will have sore eyes for being a peeping tom and not shows back..LMAO

crappypants

July 7th, 2008, 11:20 PM

crappypants

July 7th, 2008, 11:43 PM

Oh okay folks, now I'm not so confused ..LOL Ito naman kase si crappy, hindi mo maintindihan, hindi mapakali sa isang lugar..LOL Minsan kung magsalita, para siyang nasa pinas namimili ng mga condo, tapos, naglimayoy sa Canada kala ko naanduon pa rin. Kay Pilgrim ko lang narinig na nasa west coast US, kaya pala nagtatanong ng pinoy store ka tsinoy.. thanks all!

Ako gusto kong ma meet itong si tsinoy, he sounded so cool. Kiretoce would be a cool to meet in person as well, too bad I almost had a chance to meet him in Orlando, just don't want to bring the whole clan when I meet him while I was there, he might not not agree to meet me again next time, the kids with us including my own don't sit still, they are all "kulit" you'd be tempted to put them all in one sack, too bad, that's considered child abuse so, you can't do that even for 30 mins..LMAO

Aba aba, hinsik ka talaga, pate ba ang location ni Marites ginagawa mo ring business??LMAO

bakit pinapalabas mo kong jetsetter? hoy, hindi ako ganyan kayaman ha. nagshoshopping shopping ng mga condo? :lol: baket hindi ba pwedeng mag window shopping. :lol:

diezelbenz

July 8th, 2008, 12:37 AM

naimbag, welcome to SSC Philippine Forum.

You know what, I never realized that other people find it IRRITATING that the so-called physician types/ nurses types are treated by other kababayan here in the US differently.

All the while kala ko ako lang ang naiilang kapag masyadong pinaparangalan o binibigyan ng kakaibang pag-galang ang mga taong tulad nito.

I have been in the US for about 4 years, relatively a newcomer compared to others. But taking note of your observations, marami pa pala akong dapat matutunan.

"You can not please everyone, all the time."

:horse:

JP

Don't get me wrong. I am closely related to many Pinoy physicians and yes, their work is commendable. However, I feel that public recognition should be reserved only to people who accomplished something outstanding. Not their routine work.

As for me, I still do not understand the reasoning for this besides thinking that it is a carryover of Pinoy culture. Although I have been in the US much longer than you, I've always made this observation since I was new here.

I should clarify however that I don't think this is the doc's doing but members of the population who feel compelled to do so.

Juan Pilgrim

July 8th, 2008, 01:45 AM

Don't get me wrong. I am closely related to many Pinoy physicians and yes, their work is commendable. However, I feel that public recognition should be reserved only to people who accomplished something outstanding. Not their routine work.

As for me, I still do not understand the reasoning for this besides thinking that it is a carryover of Pinoy culture. Although I have been in the US much longer than you, I've always made this observation since I was new here.

I should clarify however that I don't think this is the doc's doing but members of the population who feel compelled to do so.

naimbag, I agree with you!

:horse:

JP

bitoy

July 8th, 2008, 02:20 AM

PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT!:banana:

:horse:

JP

Yeah @PDX, we share the same runway when the F-15s makes some noise.

Oh okay folks, now I'm not so confused ..LOL Ito naman kase si crappy, hindi mo maintindihan, hindi mapakali sa isang lugar..LOL Minsan kung magsalita, para siyang nasa pinas namimili ng mga condo, tapos, naglimayoy sa Canada kala ko naanduon pa rin. Kay Pilgrim ko lang narinig na nasa west coast US, kaya pala nagtatanong ng pinoy store ka tsinoy.. thanks all!

Ganoon din kami nuong hindi pa mahigpit sa border, madalas din kami sa Chinatown sa BC, now, may mga Asian stores na rin dito na matino.

Ako gusto kong ma meet itong si tsinoy, he sounded so cool. Kiretoce would be a cool to meet in person as well, too bad I almost had a chance to meet him in Orlando, just don't want to bring the whole clan when I meet him while I was there, he might not not agree to meet me again next time, the kids with us including my own don't sit still, they are all "kulit" you'd be tempted to put them all in one sack, too bad, that's considered child abuse so, you can't do that even for 30 mins..LMAO

We are all COOL, maghahasik tayo ng lagim whenever we hangout. Malay mo, madestino ako sa Midwest.

Aba aba, hinsik ka talaga, pate ba ang location ni Marites ginagawa mo ring business??LMAO

Sa mahal ng gas, kelangan benta lahat pati location information.

lugi negosyo lah!. :lol:

crappypants

July 8th, 2008, 05:43 AM

o kitams LMAO malapit lang ang Canada sa amen. six hours lang. :lol:
pero sa mahal nga ng gas, malayo na ren.

mwg12a

July 8th, 2008, 06:00 AM

@crappy. Mataray ka kase kaya ka madaling mapansin pag hindi ka nagpopost dito, masarap harassin in person ang matataray...LMAO kidding!!

@tsinoy, basta ba may champoy at seedless dikiam, solve na ako..LOL Puwede na rin ang authetic chinese food, libre mo.

@crappy pants again. Tunog mayaman ka kase, pa shopping shopping , window shopping pa ng mga condo. Mag pahangin ka naman ng yaman mo dito sa akin, hirap na hirap na akong magtrabaho, Kala ko pag nag"bum" ako, para na rin akong milyonario kain tulog na lang, hindi pala, kailangan ka pa ring luminya para sa welfare benefit mo.. hay naku!! LMAOOOOOOOO

Juan Pilgrim

July 8th, 2008, 04:43 PM

http://www.cagle.com/news/2004Chappatte/images/gas%20prices.jpg
Sa taas ng precio ng gasolina,
going for long drives
can now be categorized as a
LUXURY!!!
http://inconcrete.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/biodome.jpg
BIODOME. MONTREAL, CANADA
http://travel.aolcdn.com/travdestguide/Quebec-City-canada_01-360a032407.jpg
Chateau Frontenac Hotel, Quebec City, Canada

kaya ang planned 10 hours drive
namin to Canada (QUEBEC City/ MONTREAL)
will be in the postponed for now!:ohno:

pourquoi? pourquoi? pourquoi?

:horse:

JP

bitoy

July 8th, 2008, 11:31 PM

@tsinoy, basta ba may champoy at seedless dikiam, solve na ako..LOL Puwede na rin ang authentic chinese food, libre mo.

LMAOOOOOOOO

yeah, libre buong barangay, kumpleto parati ako ng baon na champoy, dikiam at minsan lumpia pa nga.

kiretoce

July 8th, 2008, 11:42 PM

http://inconcrete.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/biodome.jpg
BIODOME. MONTREAL, CANADA

Isn't that the Olympic Stadium in Montreal?

kiretoce

July 9th, 2008, 11:43 PM

Radio Pinoy in Rome (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/diaspora/diaspora/view/20080709-147345/Radio-Pinoy-in-Rome-Ciao-buona-sera)

Ciao, Grazie, Buona Sera!

Like grace notes, these Italian words enliven text messages and phone calls to a weekly Filipino radio program that airs from Rome. The senders and callers are Filipinos, most of them blue-collar and domestic workers in Italy.

The radio program is Radio Pilipino sa Roma (RPR) on 97.50 FM airing every Monday from 10 to 11 p.m. over Radio Meridiano 12.

The program has been on air for 18 years, hopping from one radio station to another until it found a secure home in Radio Meridiano 12 owned by the Salesian Fathers.

Fr. Cesario Sixto Y. Sanedrin, Fr. Sanny to his friends in social action in the Philippines and in Italy, is one of the familiar voices on RPR. Although his main job is with the Vatican office of Caritas (the Catholic Church’s international social welfare agency), radio work has added more meaning to Fr. Sanny’s stay in the Eternal City.

“RPR is not a church program,” Fr. Sanny, 57, told the Inquirer. “It is just a program of and for Pinoys. It is run and managed by three overseas Filipino workers, namely, Cora San Jose from Navotas, Augusto Cruz from Tanay, and myself, a migrant worker in the Vatican. The three of us do it as a service to our fellow OFWs. Wala kaming bayad. Abonado pa kami kung kinulang ang bayad sa radio station.” (We don’t receive any pay. We even advance our money if there’s not enough to pay the radio station.)

RPR started on Nov. 4, 1989 under the auspices of Liga Italo-Filippine Emigrati (LIFE) at Radio Citta Aperta owned by the Communist Party in Italy. The founders were Cora Sim of LIFE, Manny Dasig who was a broadcaster in Dagupan City before he became an OFW, and Cora San Jose. Fr. Sanny, who had broadcast experience back in his diocese, joined shortly after RPR started.

He recalled: “The air time then was free and we didn’t have to pay the radio station. Three years later we had to move out when management tried to influence and dictate on the program content.”

Freedom is not free

RPR found another station, the Radio Radicale 2 owned by the Radical Party of Italy. “Because it had a nationwide frequency we were listened to all over Italy, from Milan down to Reggio Calabria.” RPR enjoyed freedom from interference by the owners. But this freedom was not for free.

Fr. Sanny said they were able to get PCI Bank, which opened a branch in Rome at that time, to sponsor the program. “RPR did a lot to promote PCI Bank Express Padala and made it the No. 1 remittance center in Italy.” (PCIB later merged with Equitable. It is now Banco de Oro.)

A management change in Radio Radicale 2 six years ago caused another move for RPR. “We were told to move out per instruction of the new owner. We found out that the new policy was ‘for Italians only.’ No migrants. So we had to search for another station.”

The search brought RPR to the Salesians’ Radio Meridiano 12. Air time was not free and charges were higher than in the previous station. Fr. Sanny said RPR was able to get Philcargo Freight Services to be one of the sponsors.

“Philcargo is owned by OFWs Pol and Evelyn Reyes who started off as domestic helpers and later ventured into the cargo business. Now and then we get one or short-time sponsors. Our latest sponsor is the Philippine Labor Office-OWWA-Pag-ibig-SSS combined group. We also do some fund-raising. Generous people chip in. We have the Friends of RPR that supports us in many ways.”

Four years after RPR started the RPR co-founder Many Dasig moved to Milan and was replaced by Jessie Ramirez who, Fr. Sanny said, became councilor in Rome and was replaced by Jeffry Jordan. Victor Cocoy Vicente, a former child actor in Italy, also joined. Augusto Cruz joined last year when Jordan resigned because of conflicting work schedules.

Fr. Sanny described RPR as a public service and variety show. The language used is Taglish (Tagalog-English mix) or Tagalog-Italian a.k.a. Tagliano.

“We only play OPM (original Pilipino music), nothing else,” Fr. Sanny said. “May mga OPM na pinasikat namin dito among the Pinoys. (There were OPM that became hits among the Pinoys here, thanks to us.) The format is simple – introductions, Philippine news, discussion of burning issues in the Philippines. That’s why I am a regular reader of the Inquirer online. We have information and announcements from the Labor Office of the Philippine embassy. We discuss Italian legislations related to migrant issues such as documentation, direct hiring, taxes, social security.”

RPR laffs

Fr. Sanny and his RPR barkada have amusing stories to tell about the calls and text messages they get during the program. Many of these have been transcribed and compiled. Fr. Sanny called them “RPR Laffs.” A sample:

RPR: First time mo bang tumawag? (Is this the first time you called?)

Caller: Nakatawag na ako kanina. Pero sabi niyo hold your line. Biglang nawala. Nabitawan ko yata yung linya! (I managed to call a while ago. But you said hold the line. It suddenly disappeared. I think I dropped the line!)

RPR: Buti nakatawag ka uli. (Good thing you called again.)

Caller: Kaya nga ho hawak-hawak ko na itong cord. (That’s why I’m hanging on to this cord.)

kiretoce

July 10th, 2008, 12:23 AM

On identity in America (http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/dongoodson/2008/07/08/on-identity-in-america/)

Catherine Parker’s blog a few weeks ago entitled “African-American: Meaning what exactly?” raised several interesting points and got me thinking.

The blog reminded me of something that happened in my freshman (first) year of college. I was working in the scheduling and events office of my university’s student union, processing requests for room space for the various student organizations on campus. When a request came in for the Filipino Student Society I looked up from my other work, recognized the applicant from one of my classes and decided to make small chat as I checked availability on the computer. I said, somewhat cheekily, “You know my great-grandmother was born in Manila, do you think I could qualify to be part of the Filipino Student Society?” The Filipino-American student paused, looked at me, paused a bit longer, but then, probably wanting to be as inclusive as possible said, “uh, sure, why not.”

I remember feeling like I should have apologised. It is true that my great-grandmother was born in the Philippines, where her family had lived for at least a century if not more. Her mother’s family was part of the elite Spanish colonial society who owned plantations across the islands and who lost these possessions during the Spanish-American War. At best, I would consider myself to be of Spanish descent, but I do not share the culture, history or traditions of Filipinos that this student society was celebrating.

My grandmother on my father’s side is also part Native American, but this does not mean that I will “check” the box for Native American on any form I fill out, be it for university applications or the census.

Like most Americans I am a mutt, a combination of multiple different ethnicities and races. I can apparently claim Spanish, Native American, German, Irish, and Welsh ancestry. After living abroad and realizing that this means nothing to the Spanish, German, Irish or Welsh that I have met, however, I now call myself American, plain and simple. For me, that is my ethnicity and my nationality.

But identity is subjective. I choose not to refer to myself any longer as a hyphenated American, that is, as German-American or Spanish-American. If someone asks me, sure, I will tell him or her where my family comes from. But that is a decision that is up to each individual to make.

I emailed a few family members and friends of mine to ask them how they self-identify, just to give you a sense of how fluid identity is in America. My cousin Adian, for example, responded, “I consider myself kind of like a mix of Hispanic, Spanish (like descendent of someone from Spain), Native American, and any other that I have in my blood, but when people ask, I normally joke around and say I’m a white skin or white Mexican. They normally get a kick out of that. For the most part I just consider myself an American because America is a mixed culture and so are most people when you look at their roots.” My brother-in-law, who was born in Mexico but raised in the United States identifies himself as Mexican, and my sister has commented on how they will have a mixed-heritage home, with their children similarly being able to choose whether they will call themselves Hispanic, Mexican-American, white, American, etc.

Most Americans will joke about their ancestry and make light of their background. As my girlfriend, who is half Lebanese and half Jewish, said, “I consider myself an American through and through, but I like Lebanese food and Jewish humour. I also tan well given my Semitic blood on both sides.” Overall, no matter who you meet, the majority of Americans will tell you that they are American first and foremost; if they choose to be called Jewish-American, African-American, black, Asian-American, Mexican-American, Hispanic etc., it is usually a symbol of their choice to identify as a member of a community within America, but the two are not mutually exclusive.

After I read Catherine Parker’s blog I was, to be honest, a little perturbed. I know that many South Africans and others around the world believe that Americans are “too” politically correct and sensitive about issues of race and ethnicity, and perhaps I am a perfect example of this. Yet, as much as identity is subjective, it is also important to be respectful of other individual’s and other communities’ identities.

Imagine this. It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day — a national day of commemoration in America. A day when school children across the country learn about the civil rights movement, about the sacrifices and the great achievements of African-Americans (i.e., blacks) who were marginalized in American society for centuries. The purpose of the day is also to highlight the history of the African-American community that had previously not appeared in textbooks, which tended to only feature America’s white, European history. Imagine now that you are entering your classroom, where you are the only black student, and taped to the door of the room is a poster featuring a white student with a big grin on his face, thumbs up, saying “Next Year Support Trevor Richards for Highest Achieving African American* Student Award” - *He’s from South Africa. This is the situation that transpired in which, as Catherine Parker stated, “The school freaked out, everyone got their knickers in a knot, and Trevor and two of his classmates were suspended.” Perhaps a two-day suspension was a bit extreme, but it cannot be denied that this stunt and its timing were insensitive and in poor taste.

Yes, it is true; everyone in the States knows that when you say African-American you mean black. But, as many respondents on Catherine Parker’s blog pointed out, the term African-American has a history of its own and came from within the community itself. It was not imposed by the Census Bureau to divide Americans into statistically convenient categories, nor does it mean that we do not also use the term black in America, or allow people to use multiple terms to describe themselves. The incident involving Trevor Richards is not symptomatic of the fragility of race relations in America, which are far from great, nor does it represent the fact that “everyone is at pains not to be seen as discriminatory for fear of punishment or retribution.” This was a question of respect, or Trevor’s lack thereof.

Again, wanting to get a broader sense of the issue, I emailed African-American friends of mine to ask them their opinion on what it means to be African-American. To Courtney Priester, who has lived in South Africa for many years now and has witnessed this debate before, it is “a term that is misused and misunderstood worldwide. The black race in America are of African descent (as is everyone in the world) but our culture and heritage was stripped, so now we have a mixture of old wives’ tales, hints of African cultures, from all over Africa and self produced Afro-centric ideologies that provide us with some sense of wholeness and culture. So yes, a true African American would be someone who was born in Africa and naturalised in the States no matter what colour they are. Yet the burning issue for me is would they actually claim the African American mantle or would they go for Dutch American, German American?”

Moreover, when we are asked in the United States to provide information regarding race, ethnicity, gender and other physical attributes such as disabilities, the purpose is to foster diversity, be it in schools or elsewhere. This is another reason why I will not list Native American or Hispanic on any form that I fill out. Sure, I have Spanish ancestors, I grew up in New Mexico, Mexican cuisine is my favourite type of food, and I know a bit of Spanish. But I am not Hispanic. Checking the Hispanic box on any official forms will not increase diversity at the schools I attend or the places I work, nor will it help provide opportunities for those who often face discrimination — discrimination that I have been fortunate enough never to encounter as a white, middle-class Christian male.

Can white South Africans like Catherine Parker and Trevor Richards claim to be African? Absolutely, white South Africans have been a part of this continent for centuries. Identity, like I said, is subjective. It is up to the individual to decide how he or she identifies him or herself and with which communities they identify. I would just ask that they be a bit more considerate of the historical significance of the term African-American as well as its meaning to a large community of citizens within the United States. As irritating as some may find political correctness, it is more often than not a matter of respect — respecting the history, culture, traditions and identities that others choose for themselves and their communities.

red_jasper

July 10th, 2008, 03:26 AM

Filippinos working in Skopje

The Skopje's suburb of Karpos has around 150 new neighbors for the past several months. They all hail from the Philippines, a country of around 80 million people.

Some of the neighbors were thrilled with their new neighbors, who currently live in a four floor apartment building.

"They are great, even made a basketball hoop for the kids, so we are playing." Some of the older ladies in the neighborhood don't like their new neighbors because they would put their washed clothes outside for drying.

And what are they doing in Macedonia?

-"We came to work. Currently we are building the new U.S Embassy in Skopje. It pays well. Americans are the best empolyers, they also pay for our trip home." says one of the Filippinos in perfect English.

The U.S Embassy is building a massive structure near downtown Skopje. From the distance, the architecture looks nothing like an Embassy, rather, a mini Pentagon.

Mina has spoken to several individuals familiar with the project, who confirm the grand structure will house not just the U.S. Embassy, rather it will be the Headquarters of FBI and CIA for SE Europe. Macedonia was picked for it because it is considered the friendliest country to the U.S in the region, possibly in Europe. At the same time, the Macedonian Directorate for Defense & Counter Intelligence DBK has enjoyed close ties with the CIA for years.

How important and significant is this new American structure in Skopje? It will be in direct communication, linked with the US base in Aviano, Italy.

Some of you may wonder why where the Filippinos chosen to work on the U.S Embassy? Their selection has nothing to do with Macedonians, who could also do the job.

This stems from a US Policy that exists world wide, even in the U.S. For instance, any building built for the US Government in the States needs to be done by an approved contractor, a contractor where all employees have gone through a thorough background check. The background checks can sometime be very lenghty, specially the ones done by the U.S Government. Our guests from the Philippines have already have all of their background checked, have proven very reliable and have done previous work for the U.S on different locations. It's the principle, 'you stick with who you know', hence their visit to Macedonia.

They built the Karpos neighborhood a basketball hoop, you can't go wrong with that.

Source (http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/2239/45/)

kiretoce

July 10th, 2008, 03:38 AM

^^ They spelled Filipinos wrong. :(

red_jasper

July 10th, 2008, 06:12 AM

^^ yep...
noticed that too :ohno:

kiretoce

July 10th, 2008, 08:00 PM

Filipino seafarers seen as world-class (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/july/11/yehey/top_stories/20080711top6.html)

Filipino seafarers are a league all their own, according to a member of President Gloria Arroyo’s Cabinet.

Chairman Dante A. Ang of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas on Thursday said local sailors are “world-class” and among the most-respected overseas Filipino workers.

Because they are globally competitive, Ang added, the Filipino seamen “receive high salaries of not less than $3,000 monthly and treated well by their foreign employers.” Their rather big income, he said, has translated to their families owning comfortable houses and their children going to good schools.

Retired Vice-Admiral Eduardo Ma. Santos confirmed Ang’s statements. Santos, the president of the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific, said the Filipino seafarers, especially graduates from the academy, earn at least $3,000 a month, with some getting more.

A graduate of Class of 2004 said he himself was receiving more than the mentioned amount from a foreign shipping firm. He had earned his bachelor’s degree in Marine Engineering, one of the courses offered by the maritime academy located at Kamaya Point in Alas-Asin here.

Among the world’s seafaring countries, Ang said, the Philippines ranks second for the most number of officers on foreign ships. “In quality, these officers are toe-to-toe with those from China, India and many countries in Europe,” he added.

The chairman congratulated the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific for producing topnotch graduates and gave tribute to Capt. Gregorio Oca, the school’s founder.

Ang, though, warned the academy’s alumni against misplaced pride in their school.

“Success must be compassionate not to oneself but for others, for success must be coupled with responsibility,” he told cadets and alumni who trooped the line during a parade and review after a downpour passed.

Ang was guest of honor and speaker in the Sixth Alumni Homecoming and Parade where he was given arrival honors. As customary for guests of the maritime academy, he planted a tree seedling in the school compound.

Andreas Nordseth, director of the Danish Maritime Authority, was among the special guests.

Santos said 645 students have graduated from the academy since 1998, the year the school opened. These graduates, he added, are gainfully employed in foreign ships. To their number will be added 128 maritime students who will be given their diplomas Saturday.

Students of the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific are all scholars who are entitled to free tuition, board and lodging. They are commissioned as officers of the Philippine Navy and are assured of employment upon passing the government’s board examination.

kiretoce

July 10th, 2008, 08:09 PM

Filipinos preferred for construction boom in Guam and the Middle East (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=124766)

Anticipating a worldwide construction boom, an overseas employment organization is batting for the establishment of more technical skills training centers so that Filipinos can fill the demand for blue-collar workers.

"We don’t need white-collar jobs. We need to go back to skills training. Mas matagal na kakailanganin ang skilled worker," Victor Fernandez, president of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI) told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

The big demand for blue-collar workers will initially be generated by Guam as more US personnel transfer from US bases in Okinawa to the unincorporated US territory.

On June 13, PASEI and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the setting up of a pilot training program for skilled workers who will be sent to Guam.

Some 23,699 United States Marines, their families and civilian personnel will be moving from Okinawa, Japan to Guam from 2012 to 2014.

The troop movement, the largest since the Vietnam war, would require a major construction of a naval base, which will start in 2009.

The US and Japan have agreed to spend at least $15 billion for the major military construction project.

Rogelio Peyuan, TESDA’s deputy director-general for field operations, said hundreds of job items will be available for the Guam construction projects, including welders, pipefitters, carpenters, masons, finishing electricians, engineers and more jobs that require skilled workers.

The MOA said the Guam Contractors Association has informed the Philippine government and PASEI that around 50,000 construction workers will be needed for three to five years.

It said PASEI was specifically contacted by the Guam Economic Development and Commerce Authority to "prepare for this development."

Filipino preference

The Department of Trade and Industry’s Philippine Business Report (PBR) May 2008 issue said Mayor Paul McDonald of Agana, Guam wants skilled Filipino workers to fill majority of the job openings.

The PBR, which is published monthly by the trade department, quoted McDonald as having said: "Communication and our shared culture are practical reasons why we prefer Filipino workers over other nationalities."

McDonald also said that Filipinos are "hardworking, skillfull, and most importantly, proficient in the English language."

Aside from the only three-hour plane ride from Manila, Guam is also home to thousands of Filipino migrants. Around 26 percent of the island’s inhabitants are reportedly of Filipino descent.

Peyuan said the first trainings will be conducted at the TESDA-Taguig compound before the end of this month.

The first trainees, he said, will come from Iloilo since the province’s 2nd District Rep. Judy Syjuco promised to fund the initial training.

The lawmaker is the wife of TESDA Director-General Augusto Syjuco.

The first batch will also work as OJTs in construction projects in the province, which will be financed through the congresswoman’s pork barrel.

Aside from the skills training, Peyuan said PASEI has also requested TESDA to teach workers how to speak "work-related" English.

Peyuan said Filipinos have no problem graduating from TESDA’s language trainings, especially in English.

"Our language trainees have a very good batting average. They usually finish the course," he said.

Fernandez said trained Filipino workers will be sent to Guam in late 2008 or in 2009.

Worldwide construction boom

Fernandez said the construction boom in Guam is just the tip of the iceberg.

He said more Filipino workers may land jobs in Canada, which will conduct major construction projects for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Saudi Arabia will also need thousands of skilled workers for its plan to build four new urban centers, Peyuan said.

Aside from Saudi Arabia, several other countries in the Middle East will need skilled workers, Fernandez said.

Among the Middle East countries that have started major construction projects are the United Arab Emirates, Doha in Qatar, and Bahrain, he said.

Europe and other Asian countries have also opened up job offers for skilled workers, particularly those in construction work, for major infrastructure projects that will start next year.

kiretoce

July 10th, 2008, 08:42 PM

South Korea urged to accept Filipino English teachers (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/10/content_8525339.htm)

The Philippine government said on Thursday that it is asking South Korea to reconsider its education policy and accommodate Filipino English teachers in their language schools.

Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Luis Cruz has discussed with Commissioner Choo Kyu-ho of the Korean Immigration Office the possibility of revising the law so that Filipino teachers can gain entry into South Korea, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.

Under Korea's law, only professionals from "native" English-speaking countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Canada can teach the language in Korean schools.

In response, Choo said that South Korea is "considering extending the scope" of the law since its public schools are in need of more English teachers, according to the release.

"With its highly qualified workforce, the Philippines can help South Korea meet this demand," Cruz said.

He added that talks would continue between the Philippines and the South Korean governments to extend the scope of the law and open its labor market to qualified Filipino English teachers.

Former Philippine Ambassador to Korea Susan Castrence earlier said she found the policy "bizarre" despite the fact that thousands of Koreans flock to the Philippines every year to study English.

"Even the native-speaking United States gets teachers from the Philippines and why not Korea? You will be solving the dearth of English teachers with Filipino teachers," she said.

Castrence said about 1,312 Filipino teachers were teaching English and other subjects in the United States in 2007.

Early this year, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Singapore have criticized the Korean government's alleged "discriminating" working visa policy for teachers coming from non-native English speaking countries.

The countries denounced Seoul's "narrow-minded" visa regulation as it prevents Korean students from developing English skills in a cheaper and more efficient way.

They argued that "it is against international norms of equal treatment for all."

Among the countries classified as "eligible" to obtain the visa are the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland.

Aside from the Philippines, other countries named as "ineligible" to teach English in Korea are Kenya, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan and India. Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, was also included in the list.

tigidig14

July 11th, 2008, 01:09 AM

natural sa mga koreano ang magsulat ng magaling na english, kahit salita nila ay balo-baloktot

mwg12a

July 13th, 2008, 12:16 AM

Yep, that's right, Korean are very particular with grammar in writing mostly, they use the very formal and deeper english words...

I find it odd really that the Korean, chinese and taiwanese english institutions' obsession with native english speakers , particularly caucasian looking. They are very particular in hiring these people that alot of times, the native english speakers they are hiring are not even college level or at some point, are just GED or highschool undergraduates, their only ticket is being a natural born native speakers and white. Had it been someone who speaks english fluently but they don't match the typical caucasian looking, they get turned down right away. Just the case of this Chinese Korean American I knew , on their phone interview, he was pretty much being hired, but once they saw his full name and maiden name together with his picture? They would turn him down, it's just rediculous just because the guy sounded very american with no accent at all and to top it all he has college education, and he was replaced by white american and white canadian who does didn't even make it to college.. Pinoys are very much capable of teaching english especially if they really have a real higher education...

Juan Pilgrim

July 13th, 2008, 11:00 PM

There is nothing better on a nice summer Saturday than a free concert at the park.
http://www.amny.com/media/photo/2005-11/20718540.jpg
That is ofcourse if you are early enough to get inside the park.

Shot through the heart
And youre to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name
You give love a bad name

we listened from afar.

:horse:

JP

tigidig14

July 14th, 2008, 01:06 AM

kala ko nung una si hillary clinton yung nanghahalik ng ibang babae

Juan Pilgrim

July 14th, 2008, 01:43 AM

^^:lol::lol::lol:

OO nga ano?

:horse:

JP

IMPRESARIO

July 14th, 2008, 02:11 AM

I'm close to Six Flags Great Adventure here in Jersey, but havn't been there yet, nakakainins. heheh

pi_malejana

July 14th, 2008, 08:18 AM

^^ punta ka, ang ganda, sulit..!! sakyan mo ung kingda ka, pakita mo samen picture mo...!:D

Lucentino

July 14th, 2008, 04:48 PM

Pinoy migrants third largest group of new arrivals in US in 2007 (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=125159)
By RODNEY J. JALECO
ABS-CBN North America News Bureau

WASHINGTON D.C. There was a slight decrease in the number of Filipinos immigrating to the United States in 2007, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Nonetheless, they comprised the third biggest group of new arrivals, next only to natives of Mexico and China.

A total of 72,596 Filipinos became new legal permanent residents - perhaps better known as "green card" holders - in 2007, down slightly from 74,606 in 2006 but higher than the 60,746 in 2005.

But the DHS reported an overall decline in the number of new immigrants which it attributed to "application processing issues at USCIS." The USCIS or US Citizenship and Immigration Service which replaced the INS or Immigration and Naturalization Service as part of reforms following the 9-11 terror attacks in the US.

"The decrease in legal permanent residents flow between 2006 and 2007 was concentrated among family-sponsored immigrants, refugees and asylees," the DHS report said. The total number of legal permanent residents decreased from almost 1.3 million in 2006 to about one million last year.

"Green cards" or legal permanent resident status are based on several categories, primarily petitions by relatives already in the US, petitions for employment, certain refugees and asylum seekers.

The US sets aside an average of about 480,000 family preference and 140,000 employment preference visas a year. However, the DHS report indicated that more than 590,000 family preference visas were issued in 2006, forcing them to restrict the number of visas in 2007 to 226,000 - the statutory minimum number of family preference visas that can be given in a year.

Employment preference visas also exceeded the 2007 limit, the DHS said.

Most of the new immigrants settled in California, New York, Florida, and Texas. In the metropolitan areas, most decided to live in the New York-New Jersey-Long Island area, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area; Miami-Fort Lauderdale area; and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria-Rockville area.

Perhaps, more significantly, America appears to be getting the most productive people - more than 45% of them are 25-44 years old and nearly 60% are married. Also, the new immigrants are more likely to be women.

The DHS estimated there were 280,000 Filipino illegal residents in 2006, comprising about two percent of America's total illegal immigrant population of nearly 12 million. The bulk - about 6.6 million - is from Mexico. The DHS said about 40% of these illegal immigrants are in California and Texas.

The DHS said more than 3 million of these illegal immigrants, representing 28%, entered the US from 1995 to 1999.

New citizens

A separate DHS report showed 38,830 Filipino immigrants won their American citizenship last year, down slightly from 40,500 in 2006. They comprised the third biggest group, next to natives of Mexico and India.

Immigrants who wish to become American citizens should be at least 18 years old, must be a legal permanent resident and should have stayed in the US for at least five years.

In the past, Filipinos were able to take a shorter path to citizenship by joining the Armed Forces, especially the US Navy. A sizeable number of Filipino immigrants still follow this pattern, serving in America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The average waiting period between legal permanent status and citizenship for Filipinos was six years, compared to 11 years, on the average, for Mexicans and nine years for other Pacific Islanders. The average waiting period for all groups in 2007 was 8 years.

The DHS said the number of people seeking citizenship doubled from 730,000 in 2006 to 1.38 million in 2007.

"Until the 1970s," the DHS report said, "the majority of persons naturalizing were born in European countries. With increased legal immigration from Asian countries, the arrival of Indochinese refugees in the 1970s, and the historically higher naturalization rate of Asian immigrants, the regional origin of new citizens shifted from Europe to Asia."

kiretoce

July 14th, 2008, 06:47 PM

UK still open to foreign maids (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/july/15/yehey/opinion/20080715opi5.html)

Britain’s Immigration Minister Liam Byrne has come out with a policy statement keeping the labor market open for foreign maids and allowing tourists to stay longer in the United Kingdom.

“This year sees the biggest changes in Britain’s immigration and border security system for 45 years. Our policy will deliver strong borders, a selective migration system and an expectation that newcomers earn the right to stay,” Byrne said.

His statement covered two major points: One, that the current domestic worker’s visa will be preserved for two years, and two, that tourist visas will have a validity of six months instead of three months.

Had the British government phased out the domestic worker’s visa under the point-based system, foreign maids would have lost the chance to work in that country. The maid’s visa policy will be reviewed after two years of operation and be made permanent if it is proven to be of maximum benefit to British households.

Byrne’s announcement was in response to his government’s consultations on its visitor’s policy with parliamentarians, community leaders, the ethnic minority and with people in India, it’s largest visa market.

It answered President Gloria Arroyo’s concern for the continued stay of Filipino maids and caregivers in Britain which she raised during her visit to London last December.

“We are proud of the protection we afford overseas domestic workers,” said Byrne in preserving the two-year visa for foreign maids. It is a reassurance that Filipino maids can still work in the United Kingdom. It banished their fears that the hiring of foreign maids’ would be stopped by the UK government.

There are thousands of Filipino maids in the UK enjoying high salary and better working conditions. They stand a good chance of becoming permanent residents or UK naturalized citizens if they can qualify under the country’s immigration laws. The policy allowing Filipino maids to continue working in Britain is a recognition of the role they play in serving British families.

Filipinos with relatives working in Britain welcome the tourist’s visa policy under which a permanent Filipino resident in the UK is allowed to sponsor the visit of a family member without putting up a monetary bond. However, he is required to be licensed by the UK Border Agency and will be subject to sanctions if the sponsored relative fails to return to the Philippines after six months.

The recruitment of Filipino domestic helpers has become a worldwide phenomenon, with many countries finding them a welcome addition to their people’s families. By choice, the maids find Britain, Canada, Italy, Hong Kong and some other European nations as good destination points. They enjoy good pay, ample government protection and better treatment by employers.

In Canada, many Filipino maids have become permanent residents and naturalized Canadian citizens since its government intensified the hiring of Filipino domestic helpers in the 1980s.

These maids have since petitioned for the immigration of family members and are now living with them in relative comfort in their adopted country. Many have taken up new jobs commensurate with their college courses, whether earned in the Philippines or in Canada.

In Italy, Filipino domestic helpers take two or more jobs to increase their income. Many have decided to stay in the country as immigrants with their families.

There are an estimated 160,000 Filipino maids in Hong Kong who are well protected by its labor laws. An employer who compels his maid to do non-household chores, like washing a car, is subject to sanctions calling for a heavy fine or a jail sentence. Recently, the maid’s salary was increased from HK$3,480 to HK$3,580.

It is in the Middle East countries where Filipino maids often encounter problems of employer’s abuse and exploitation. Contract substitution is prevalent, resulting in the payment of reduced salaries. In some instances, maids are driven to commit suicide by jumping from windows because of employer’s torture or sexual abuse.

The government should take a selective deployment policy organizing marketing missions to countries where Filipino maids are treated well and closing destination points where they are maltreated and exploited. It has done this by banning the deployment of domestic helpers to Lebanon.

The sending of maids to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, which have registered a high incidence of runaway Filipino maids due to maltreatment should be reviewed with a view to formulating a new deployment policy.

kiretoce

July 14th, 2008, 06:59 PM

Filipinos are your new servers (http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_257417.html)

Filipinos faces are already commonly seen delivering frontline service in restaurants, clubs, and bars here, but they are now popping up in a new arena - the coffee shops.
Most are serving drinks and clearing tables, but they come a lot more qualified than their foreigner counterparts doing the same job on work permits. The Filipinos are here on S-passes, typically granted to those with at least a diploma, or employment passes, which are granted to graduates.

They are not complaining, because the job they have and the money it brings are much better than being jobless back home.

Mr Eric Dellosa, 38, is an electrical engineering graduate who is serving up cups of teh-O, kopi and Milo Dinosaur at a Holland Village coffee shop.

He arrived in May last year, hoping to find work in a restaurant or office. Finding nothing, he settled for the coffee shop job, which gives him a take-home pay of 'about $1,500'.

With this sum, just shy of the minimum $1,800 S-Pass workers typically earn, he has to pay off the instalment on the $3,500 fee charged by an employment agency he used; he also has to budget for his monthly rent at a Tanglin flat he shares with three others.

NO AGE BARRIER
'In the Philippines, it's very hard for people above 30 to get a job, so I feel lucky to have found one here.'

He still has money left over to send home to his wife and eight-year-old daughter.

Long hours at a low salary and having only two days off a month are not a problem for him, even if these are exactly the reasons many Singaporeans shun the job.

He is still better off than when he worked as a sales executive for a Philippine packaging company till it folded in 2000, plunging him into several years of joblessness.

He said, beaming: 'In the Philippines, it's very hard for people above 30 to get a job, so I feel lucky to have found one here.'

His colleague, who only wanted to be known as Domingo, also has a degree, in political science. Back home, the best he managed was being a server in McDonalds, where he worked for five years.

His coffee shop job here pays about $2,500 - '10 times more' than what he earned at home, said the 26-year-old.

Not only do Filipino nationals want these jobs, they are helping to ease what appears to be a staffing crunch for coffee shop owners.

These heartland bosses have to keep within quotas for workers from countries like China who come in on work permits.

Coffee shop owners can also hire workers from other approved countries, but hesitate to do so because those workers may have language problems with customers.

Mr Bob Tan, 33, a general manager who oversees three food courts in Tampines and Bukit Panjang run by Astar Food Court, said his workers are Singaporeans, Malaysians or China nationals.

'It is important that we are able to communicate with our employees to train them and also that they are able to communicate with our customers, who are mostly Chinese-speaking,' he said.

He said he did not rule out hiring Filipinos if they were willing to work in coffee shops.

Foreign S-Pass holders, therefore, may well hold out some relief for the staffing crunch faced by coffee shop owners.

Only up to a quarter of the coffee-shop workers can be foreign S-Pass holders, but there is no restriction on where they come from. The employment levy is lower too - $50 a month, compared to at least $150 a month for a work permit holder.

Botak Jones, a kopitiam-based Western food chain, has hired at least 16 Filipinos across its eight outlets.

Owner Bernie Utchenik said he has found them diligent and carrying 'the right approach' to the job.

'They come here with a more invigorated attitude, to do jobs people here might find mundane,' he added, noting that his Filipino staffers are trained in a broad range of skills relevant to the service industry.

Mr Christopher Tan, the head of commerce in the Foochow Coffee Restaurant and Bar Merchants Association, said the Filipinos' command of English also gives them an edge in areas like Holland Village, which has many expatriates.

They may have a problem with heartlanders though, he added.

'How are they able to communicate with the heartlanders - especially the old Chinese grandmas? Filipinos don't know our languages and our dialects,' he said.

Ms Marilou Satieda, 25, a supervisor at the Botak Jones outlet in Toa Payoh who has been here just over a year, said she does not find language a problem: She just hollers for her Mandarin-speaking colleagues when necessary.

But the local lingo, of course, can be picked up.

Mr Dellosa can now get his head around kopi-O, teh-si and Milo-peng, respectively black coffee, tea with evaporated milk and iced Milo.

'I hear the words every day so I picked them up,' he said cheerily, as he rushed off to call in his next order of teh-si and teh-halia (ginger tea).

For Ms Satieda, who has a degree in hotel and restaurant management and now lives with her Singaporean boyfriend in Woodlands, the job keeps her independent.

Back home, when she ran her own business selling telephone top-up cards, she earned less than the $1,800 she gets now, she said.

'Ultimately, I am open to working in any industry.'

rover3

July 15th, 2008, 02:02 AM

kala ko nung una si hillary clinton yung nanghahalik ng ibang babae

She's not into leather... but I hear MIchelle O. is into whips and chains. :lol:

anone

July 16th, 2008, 08:57 AM

Dapat maging super strikto ang gobyerno sa pagpapadala ng maid sa Saudi. Dahil sa totoo lang ay nalulungkot ako tuwing makakakita ako ng pinay na maid dito dahil marami akong nababalitaang ginagahasa ng amo. Dapat siguro hanggat hindi pa open ang bansang Saudi ay huwag munang magpadala ng maid.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080715-148631/RP-urged-to-lead-efforts-to-improve-OFWs-conditions-in-Saudi

RP urged to lead efforts to improve OFWs conditions in Saudi
By Oliver Teves
Associated Press
First Posted 17:24:00 07/15/2008

Close this MANILA, Philippines -- Human rights groups urged the Philippines on Tuesday to lead efforts to improve working conditions in Saudi Arabia for more than a million foreign women domestic workers.

Nisha Varia of US-based Human Rights Watch said the Philippines — a major source of foreign workers in the Middle East — can "take a lead role in pushing for reforms" to safeguard them in Saudi Arabia.

Varia said the Philippines and other major sources of labor — like Indonesia and Sri Lanka — would gain more for their citizens if they cooperate in a "multilateral approach" to seek changes in Saudi labor laws to protect foreign maids working in the kingdom.

"They would have great bargaining power" if they put up a common stand, she said.

Senior Philippine foreign affairs officials were not immediately available for comment.

William Gois, regional coordinator for Migrant Forum in Asia, a support group for overseas workers, said the Philippines is considered a "power broker" among labor-providing nations and should not be afraid of losing out on overseas labor markets by standing up for the rights of workers abroad.

He said the Philippines has shown it can lead human rights causes in international forums, citing Manila's loud voice in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations against abuses by Myanmar's junta.

Varia and Gois spoke at a forum in Manila on the 133-page report released last week by Human Rights Watch on domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.

The report said domestic workers there are often subjected to abuse that in some cases amounts to slavery, as well as sexual violence and lashings. Rather than receiving justice, domestic workers — mostly Asians — are more likely to face counteraccusations of "witchcraft," theft or adultery.

Suhaila Hammad of Saudi Arabia's National Society for Human Rights has dismissed the report as "unfair and one-sided," saying her country has been "unjustly portrayed and the crimes against us by the workers are never mentioned."

Saudi Arabia is home to 5.6 million foreign workers employed in a wide range of industries, including oil, business and engineering.

Varia said in Saudi Arabia there are an estimated 600,000 to 900,000 Indonesian domestic workers, 400,000 from Sri Lanka and about 200,000 from the Philippines.

She said those countries should collectively insist on reforming the sponsorship system under which working visas are given to applicants and which allows Saudi employers to control the lives of foreign workers.

"It really, from the very beginning, puts them at the risk of abuse," she said.

She said compared with other countries, the Philippines has given more protection and has demanded higher wages for its overseas workers, prompting other employers to look to other nations.

"That is why it is so important to have the multilateral cooperation, because if the Philippines improves protection only for Filipino workers, the host countries will just start employing the women from countries with weak protection," she said.

Victor Fernandez, president of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc., a group of job recruitment agencies, said a multilateral approach to seeking safeguards for overseas workers' welfare is harder than seeking bilateral agreements.

He said Saudi Arabia would feel that these countries were "ganging up" and it could "build bigger resistance" to their demands.

"The moment you feel people are ganging up on you, you ask them to leave," he said.

red_jasper

July 25th, 2008, 06:14 PM

Exploited overseas and missed at home: the Pinoy migrant worker

by Sophia Ann Torres - The role of more than eight million Filipino migrant workers often takes center stage when their remittances hit a record high: they reached USD 14.4 billion in 2007. Despite being called the country’s “new heroes,” they are subjected to various forms of abuses, exploitation and discrimination. Wide attention is generated when a hapless Filipino worker is sentenced to death in a distant land.

http://thepinoy.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/jesaznar_ofw_01-150x150.jpg
Photo: Filipinos at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration office in Manila show pictures of their relatives working abroad. There are 8.2 million Filipino migrants now, mostly working in the Middle East. JES AZNAR

Thousands of Filipinos sympathized with and mourned for domestic helper Flor Contemplacion when she was hanged in Singapore in 1995 after being found guilty of killing a fellow Filipino worker and her Singaporean ward. Her death moved the government to pass the Migrant Workers Act which seeks to protect the rights and welfare of Filipino workers abroad.

International pressure led to the Philippines abandoning the death penalty here, but the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is currently monitoring 29 cases of Filipinos facing execution overseas — 11 in Malaysia, nine in Saudi Arabia, four in China, three in Kuwait, one in Brunei and another in the United States.

Whereas Filipinos are facing death in Malaysia for drug crimes, most face the ultimate crime for murder in countries in the Gulf where abuse against migrant workers and domestic helpers in particular is rife.

The nearest to face capital punishment is 29-year-old May Vecina who was convicted to die by hanging in Kuwait after being found guilty of killing her 7-year-old ward in 2007.

According to DFA undersecretary for migrant workers affairs Esteban Conejos Jr., Vecina was convicted of killing her employer’s youngest son Salem Sulaiman Al-Otaib in January 6 last year. She also allegedly attempted to kill his 13-year-old brother Abdulla by slitting his throat and stabbing his 17-year-old sister Hajer.

Her death sentence became final on January 2008 and only needs to be signed by the Kuwait Emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al Sabah to take effect.

Despite two letters of appeal from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the Kuwaiti Emir has not so far responded. That said, the DFA remains cautiously optimistic about Vecina’s fate according to Conejos. As well as appealing directly to the Emir, the government is also said to be seeking high level interventions through the European Union and other influential groups to encourage the Kuwaiti leader to commute the sentence.

At her trial, Vecina alleged she suffered physical and mental abuse from her employer which led her to lose her mind.

Capital cases in the Middle East and elsewhere however only represent the tip of a massive problem which faces migrant workers overseas that cause some to commit crimes. Mostly however Filipinos overseas live and work peacefully despite their sometimes facing abusive, exploitative and sometimes inhumane practices and conditions.

Full story (http://thepinoy.net/?p=1629)

kiretoce

July 26th, 2008, 07:00 AM

Lili

July 26th, 2008, 07:19 AM

^^ punta ka, ang ganda, sulit..!! sakyan mo ung kingda ka, pakita mo samen picture mo...!:D

Di ba nakakatakot yung Kingda Ka?

pi_malejana

July 26th, 2008, 07:26 AM

^^ lol yeah it was, at first.. it's just the height (40+ floors i think), sobrang taas talaga, and straight down..:D

mas masakit pa ata sa pakiramdam yung el toro.. hehehe..

kiretoce

July 26th, 2008, 08:13 AM

wKrjzC9v5pk
Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKrjzC9v5pk)

diezelbenz

July 26th, 2008, 01:41 PM

Came across this vidclip on YouTube and it caught my interest. I want to discuss and delve further into this (for my benefit and others as well), if there's anyone out there that will indulge.

PjtVa1yvALI
Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjtVa1yvALI)

Kiretorce, very entertaining and interesting videos? Which video did you want to delve in? The first one on "what/who is a Filipno" is interestin. I think Pinoys make it hard on themselves. There is no reason for creating barriers between each other. To me, it does not matter whether you speak englis, cannot speak english, a Pinoy, an American, or reside in any other country. If you are a Filipino - then you are a Filipino. I think the biggest problem with the identity thing is that many Filipnos have trouble accepting who they are. ANd some Filipnos creat barriers against each other. I believe this is the root of disunity and lack of economic progress in the Philippines and elsewhere.

I personally look at every Filipino the same way. I believe this bothers some Filipinos. I think some expect to be treated according to their status in life.

kiretoce

July 26th, 2008, 04:19 PM

tigidig14

July 26th, 2008, 04:47 PM

fob, fresh off the boeing

diezelbenz

July 26th, 2008, 06:34 PM

^^ All the vidclips I posted in this section of SSC-Philippines is worth discussing. I think the basis of the confusion for some Fil-Ams is "where do I belong?" We're caught in between two spheres of influence, since we identify with both. It's that "having to choose" factor that's dealing us a huge and significant blow to our identity since we can't really say that we're Filipino enough to be an authentic Filipino and American enough to be an authentic American.

IMHO, should be no reason to identify with anything but just being a Filipino if one wishes to do so. I don't think anyone is forcing a Filipino to indentify themselves to be Filipino. I believe this is a choice a person makes. Just because a Filipino is a Fil-Am should not mean that the Fiipino identity should also be lost or affected. However, it is only natural and expected for people to change based on the environment they are immersed in. But that does not mean that it takes away their identity. Rather than get caught up in this identity thing, Filipinos should focus on more relevant matters such as how to better themselves in whatever they do and wherever they live, be involved and participate in their community, be proud of who they are. This identity issue should not be an issue.

rover3

July 28th, 2008, 03:06 PM

and what taxes would those be?

Property taxes. And not everyone is a 'tax evader' either.

rover3

July 28th, 2008, 03:13 PM

actually, the US recognizes 'dual citizenships' with countries it has bi-lateral treaties recognizing that fact. Many years ago, and it was not a widely known fact, I know that the US had said bilateral treaties re dual-passport holders w/ the Netherlands and Israel. (And this had to do with Americans w/ Jewish names, etc., and the difficulties imposed upon Jewish-named or Jewish-sounding named peoples.)

But as some posters here have already said, you can easily retain/reacquire Phil citizenship w/o having Uncle Sam know about it. Just be judicious in your use of your 2 passports.

And to have 3 passports, unless it makes you feel good to be a 'citizen of the world,' or fancy yourself becoming some sort of James Bond or Jason Bourne, it's really quite ridiculous to carry and maintain 3 passports or more. Just more to lose or get stolen.

hecky12

July 29th, 2008, 10:39 AM

masyadong complikado kung ilalagay ko yung text... better visit the site na lang at kayo na ang magbasa.. para mas malinawan kayo maige.

http://www.gov.ph/faqs/dualcitizenship.asp

kiretoce

July 31st, 2008, 11:29 PM

Working abroad still most Filipinos' choice to cope with difficult times (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=126981)

Several economic crises have swept over the country and Filipinos time and again fought and emerged survivors.

But unlike two decades ago when they took to the streets in desperation because of the twin impact of soaring inflation and shrinking growth, Filipinos, who are now faced with a similar situation, have become more forbearing.

"We've gone through a worse crisis before. People are calmer because even if they're digging deeper into their pockets, it's not as extensively as before," Pulse Asia executive director Anna Maria Tabunda told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

Tabunda noted that in 1984, inflation hit a high of 50 percent while the peso was devalued by over 20 percent and the economy contracted deeply.

The country back then, she further explained, was bankrupt and plagued by job layoffs, with the people having the lowest morale until the run up to the 1986 People Power Revolution which saw the demise of the Marcos tyranny.

She reiterated, "The inflation we have now is far subdued. People are seeking other ways, more practical ones that would give them food on the table."

Inflation, at present, is running at double-digit levels due to skyrocketing food and fuel prices. It is expected to peak at over 12 percent before easing slightly by the end of the year to single digits in mid-2009.

Tabunda cited recent surveys conducted by her agency. She said that in 2006, only about 9 percent of poor Filipinos were willing to join protest rallies. This 2008, even as the poor bear the brunt of high prices, "the number still hasn't changed."

Tabunda also said the recent crisis has not stirred massive violent reaction from the public, majority of which, as a new survey showed, still do not trust and approve of the Arroyo government and its social services programs.

The question now lies in what action people would rather take.

Tabunda said the bulk or 32 percent of Filipinos in 2006 said they would rather get busy looking for a job abroad to support their needs while the rest said they would try their luck with betting games (13%). A small percentage (7%) said they planned on engaging in illegal livelihood such as stealing.

Those in the lowest income bracket stick to the basics of reducing consumption of non-food products like electricity or cellular phone credits to be able to eat three complete meals a day. The poorest, who are left with no other choice, crimp on their food spending.

Overseas work

Ultimately, Tabunda said, "Working overseas is the most popular coping strategy today."

She noted the number of those seeking greener pastures in other countries has consistently grown. She said at present, 44 percent of Filipinos, most of which belong to the middle and lower classes (See above table), now see this as a major option.

"They want to fly overseas because they think the quality of life in the country has deteriorated. And there are better opportunities outside," she remarked.

Tabunda said more Filipinos are saying their personal and the national quality of life have gotten worse. In the first quarter of the year, she said two out of three Filipinos said they think the national economy was worse than its state three years ago. By July, the figure went up by 20 percentage points. About 80 percent or four out of five said they strongly feel the deterioration of the economy.

Remittances and GDP

Citing more data, Tabunda said about 24 percent of the country's households actually receive financial support from abroad. They derive, on the average, 28 percent of their incomes from these remittances.

"These are significant numbers. They show how dependent the country is on remittances," she noted.

True enough, money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) fueled personal consumption last year, thus, helped the economy achieve a growth of 7.3 percent, the best in 31 years.

There are more than eight million OFWs working as doctors, nurses, maids, seamen and entertainers in various parts of the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, the Middle East and the rest of Asia. Their remittances account for 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product or GDP.

These OFWs, whom the government dubbed as "mga bagong bayani ng bayan" (new heroes of the country), sent an unprecedented amount of $14.45 billion through banks in 2007, a record high, and exceeding the central bank's target by $100 million.

Aside from buoying the economy, these remittance inflows also provided support for the peso, which was Asia's best performing currency last year after gaining 19 percent against the dollar.

For the first five months of 2008, OFW remittances rose 14.7 percent to $6.8 billion owing to the steady demand for Filipino labor. Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed there were 533,945 OFWs during the period, up 39.5 percent year-on-year.

OFW funds to support economy

"The country has more legs now compared to the mid-1980s when overseas workers were not yet the phenomenal force or overseas work the escape valve that it has become today," said Tabunda.

Therefore, she added, OFW remittances would remain a major driver of the local economy.

Taking into account a global downturn this year, remittances are projected to grow by 10 percent, lower than last year's 12.3 percent. "But you can still consider that a strong growth considering we're experiencing really tough times."

Tabunda also echoed what the central bank earlier said about inflows being boosted by higher demand for OFWs in the Middle East where oil companies have been expanding to meet global demand for crude.

Meanwhile, Cayetano Paderanga Jr., chairman of the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis or IDEA, said personal consumption, though slowing, would contribute largely to economic growth. It was earlier discussed that OFW remittances drove consumption a year ago and Paderanga sees them as the "ultimate savior" this year.

"OFW remittances will give firm support especially in the services sector," he said.

The former socioeconomic planning secretary expects personal spending to expand by 5.1-5.4 percent in 2008 and 4.9-5.3 percent in 2009 from 5.8 percent in 2007.

Growth of other expenditures, on the other hand, will decline sharply.

He said capital formation would decelerate from a high of 11.2 percent last year to 0.1-3 percent for this year. Government consumption will sag to 1.4-4 percent from 8.3 percent while exports will drop to between 0.4 percent and 2.7 percent from 5.6 percent.