PROPERTY PRICES in areas in Metro Manila that were hardest hit by floods triggered by Tropical Storm Ondoy are likely to fall, as developers and buyers reassess whether those locations are fit for their projects and their homes, respectively.
While analysts could not immediately say how much real estate prices in those areas — portions of Marikina City and Pasig City as well as several municipalities in Rizal province — would suffer, they were unanimous in saying that both buyers and developers would think twice before investing in those locations.
In a phone interview yesterday, Ramon Jose E. Aguirre, research manager at Colliers International, said people would likely prefer areas that are on higher ground after seeing what the rains did to those locations. "It would have negative impact not just on prices, but also the preference of peopleIt’s still vague how big the effect would be, but it’s obvious that the values of properties there are in danger [of dropping]...The new developments there could become hard sells."
Prince Christian R. Cruz, senior economist of online research house Global Property Guide, agreed that prices in those areas would suffer, but said it was still too early to say by how much.
Claro Cordero of Jones Lang La Salle, for his part, said property prices in Cainta and Marikina, which he placed at between P8,000 to P15,000 per square meter for commercial lots and P2,000 to P5,000 for residential lots, could dip by as much as 15%. "It won’t be immediate. Initially, it should be around 10% to 15% at most. That represents the bargaining power of the owner...He doesn’t have any option but to bring it down."
Mr. Cruz added that developers too could adopt a wait-and-see position, as the government could impose regulations for projects in flood-prone areas. "After the Cherry Hills [disaster in Antipolo] for example, government came out with stricter regulations for building foundation [for projects on sloped areas]...Now, [regulators might demand better] flood control systems," he said.
Mr. Cordero, meanwhile, said that those areas would be off the map for some investors for some time. "We were talking to some investors and, at this point, it was an eye-opener for them...It would eventually go back to normal. But in short term, they would take out Cainta and Marikina from their priorities," he said.
Officials of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations were not immediately available for comment.
Mr. Cruz said the government must also improve infrastructure, since developers’ investments would be for naught if flood waters could damage them as a result of poor drainage and sewerage systems.
Mr. Aguirre said property developments in hard-hit areas could slow as property firms review their options.
Now, they would think twice [before moving into these areas]...depende talaga sa movement ng government in uplifting sewerage and [flood control] infrastructure," he said.
In the immediate term, Mr. Cordero said developers and those looking to buy homes can be expected to shun the flood-prone eastern areas of Metro Manila and prefer the southern areas instead. "If you are looking for hotspots for property development, it’s southern vs eastern Metro Manila...The loss from the east side would benefit developers on the south side south since [projects there were] barely affected," he said.
Mr. Cruz, however, said that given the scarcity of space in Metro Manila, property developers and buyers would eventually come back to the eastern areas. "The problem is if you don’t want to live there, where do you go?" he said, pointing out that aside from Marikina, the other places that were submerged were not flood-prone before.
Architect Felino Palafox, Jr., part of the team that wrote a study back in 1977 that cited the Marikina Valley as one of the areas unsuitable to property development, said the recent calamity should goad the government to undertake better-designed preventive steps.
"It will happen again. This is not the first time and this would not be the last time. Maybe the intensity of rainfall was the first, but the floods happened before," he said. — Don Gil K. Carreon
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Story Location: http://www.bworldonline.com/BW093009/content.php?id=054
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Philippines Real estate Market Proves Resilient to Downturn
Posted by sblb
http://overseaspropertyworld.wordpress.com/
September 26, 2009
The Philippines property market has barely been affected by the downturn, and like most places demand began to pick up again in the second quarter, according to a market report from Colliers International. The company expects residential property prices to fall just 1% in the next 12 months.
The Philippines real estate market is in such good shape, because the economy is continuing to grow, albeit much slower than in previous years. A major contributor to economic growth is a 2.8% year-on-year growth in the year ending May. Worker remittances are responsible for 10% of Philippines’ GDP, so such a growth is great news for the economy.
More importantly the economic growth means that Filipinos are still spending, and this is keeping the retail sector strong. As a result, there are still plenty of foreigners in the country, staff of all the corporations who have set up operations in the low-cost environment the Philippines offers, which is keeping rents buoyant.
Another major factor in the health of the Philippines real estate market going forward is the fact that there is not much in the way of new-supply coming onto the market this year. This means, that, if the growth in sales recorded in Q2 continues, this will keep prices solid and may even bring some growth.
The Philippines property expcoming up in Abu Dhabi next week will be an excellent way to gauge international demand for Philippines property. I for one will be interested to see their sales figures.
http://overseaspropertyworld.wordpress.com/
September 26, 2009
The Philippines property market has barely been affected by the downturn, and like most places demand began to pick up again in the second quarter, according to a market report from Colliers International. The company expects residential property prices to fall just 1% in the next 12 months.
The Philippines real estate market is in such good shape, because the economy is continuing to grow, albeit much slower than in previous years. A major contributor to economic growth is a 2.8% year-on-year growth in the year ending May. Worker remittances are responsible for 10% of Philippines’ GDP, so such a growth is great news for the economy.
More importantly the economic growth means that Filipinos are still spending, and this is keeping the retail sector strong. As a result, there are still plenty of foreigners in the country, staff of all the corporations who have set up operations in the low-cost environment the Philippines offers, which is keeping rents buoyant.
Another major factor in the health of the Philippines real estate market going forward is the fact that there is not much in the way of new-supply coming onto the market this year. This means, that, if the growth in sales recorded in Q2 continues, this will keep prices solid and may even bring some growth.
The Philippines property expcoming up in Abu Dhabi next week will be an excellent way to gauge international demand for Philippines property. I for one will be interested to see their sales figures.
Women and Migration
Excerpt from Women and the crisis of civilisation
by Hall (Appeals Commission, Britain) and Philomena (IC, France)
http://internationalviewpoint.org
Over the past four decades, total numbers of international migrants have more than doubled, but the percentage of the world population migrating has remained fairly constant. There are now 175 million international migrants worldwide or approximately 3.5 per cent of the global population. About half this number is women, despite the common misconception that migrants are men. Most migration takes place to adjacent countries, and some takes place within countries as well as across continental borders.
In many countries of the south, remittances sent back by migrant workers play a crucial role in the economy. For the Philippines in 2008, annual remittances amounted to US$16.4 billion and in March 2009 alone, total remittances were US$1.47 billion. In seven Latin American and Caribbean countries, remittances even account for more than 10% of GDP and exceed the dollar flows for the largest export product.
As the crisis deepens, women’s migration will increase further for a number of reasons: women moving to work abroad because they cannot sell their labour power at home, or if they can, they cannot sustain their families on the income offered. For example, 4.5 million families in the Philippines cannot meet the minimum requirement for food.
In some situations, in fact, the majority of migrants are women: for example, from the Philippines 70% are women, employed mainly as undocumented domestic workers. The RMPP (Philippines section of the Fourth International) works in Europe to organise Filipina migrants and to try to win rights for undocumented workers.
Filipina women, like other women from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe, working as domestic workers are part of the global domestic care chain, where women in first world countries who want to be liberated from their domestic functions and pursue fulfilment in the public space by working have to find someone to replace them in their domestic functions. So, migration of domestic workers is a form of demand-based migration founded on the gender division of labour in receiving countries. This demand is met by Filipina women, many of whom have children of their own in the Philippines. Given the gendered division of labour in Philippine households, they cannot expect their husbands to take on their domestic workload in their absence. Furthermore, the husbands might themselves be migrant workers elsewhere (mainly in construction).
For migrant women, the solution to this problem is to in turn employ live-in domestic workers to care for their family while they are gone. In the non-migrant family, the absence of the mother creates a demand for care for her own children. Since they cannot afford to pay a domestic worker, this work is taken on by an elder daughter while the mother is at work.
At the end of the global care chain, this daughter assumes the role of mothering for her younger siblings, giving her less time to play, study, or work outside the home. Alternatively, the migrant’s mother cares for her children. Such grandparent fostering is a common constellation in societies of emigration. It takes pressure off the eldest children, but means that grandmothers can experience forty or fifty years of continuous child-rearing responsibility. While every woman in the chain feels she is doing the right thing for her family, hidden costs are passed along and eventually end up with the older daughter in the non-migrant household. As childcare work is passed down the chain, it diminishes in value and becomes unpaid at the end.
Migrant families are deprived of their mothers’ personal affection and care since they are already commoditized in the global market and traded internationally. This “new commodity” in the global market is well promoted and supported by the state. For example, the two women presidents of the Philippines (Aquino and Arroyo) made these migrant women “heroines” because they sacrifice their families in order for the Philippine nation to progress through remittances. President Arroyo promised the Middle East countries to send efficient and reliable domestic workers. They both called the migrant women workers the “new heroes” to pacify them in the face of the emotional distress of separation and exploitation.
The migrant women and their families are the sacrificial lambs of this neoliberal globalization. During global financial crisis, women migrants working in the domestic households are directly affected and cannot even claim severance pay when they lose their jobs because they are mostly undocumented.
Governments like that of the Philippines ignore their own legal obligations to protect migrant workers from their country (Republic Act 8042 (Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995). For example, since 2002, six Filipino migrant workers have been executed in Saudi Arabia including one woman, and a number of others have been held on death row for crimes they clearly did not commit. The violence (beatings, rapes, forced detention) meted out to women migrant domestic workers from Asia, Africa, and Latin America in the receiving countries has been well-documented.
Of course not all those who migrate become migrant workers. Men, women, and children are displaced in huge numbers as a result of wars —including civil wars— and by climate change, which makes the places they were living uninhabitable. People try to escape political persecution by leaving their country of origin. Women may run from violence within the family or from forced marriages. Many of these flee as refugees, hoping for a place of safety in the country to which they run. Unfortunately the lot of the majority is to be treated as outcasts and scroungers.
Trafficking in women has also increased. The most publicised form has been trafficking for sexual exploitation of women, particularly from Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia to Western Europe, creating a huge network of forced sex workers. But there is also an increase in women being sold within their own countries as domestic slaves: recently, Peruvian feminists’ research showed that the largest number of women in their country subjected to trafficking were actually indigenous women kidnapped and sent to work as servants in other towns inside Peru. This is a sign of deepening inequality within countries.
Women who are refugees and/or subject to trafficking have even fewer rights than migrant women workers. The majority of refugees remain within other countries of the south. The conditions of refugees in the advanced capitalist countries has become worse over recent years with the “development” of more repressive measures in North America, Europe, and Australasia to keep out refugees as much as possible. This has taken a number of different forms, from making it harder for people to cross borders in the first place, imprisoning many of those —including pregnant women and children of all ages— who do so in barbaric conditions, and making access to what welfare provision still exists in the "host" countries more and more difficult.
Not only the far right, but increasingly mainstream politicians scapegoat refugees for the economic crisis. In Italy, the passage of an emergency law on rape in February 2009 was a cynical attempt by Berlusconi to scapegoat refugees, particularly Roma, for violence against women, while at the same time giving the state more power in general.
* Against the informal economy. For the regularisation of migrant workers’ status
by Hall (Appeals Commission, Britain) and Philomena (IC, France)
http://internationalviewpoint.org
Over the past four decades, total numbers of international migrants have more than doubled, but the percentage of the world population migrating has remained fairly constant. There are now 175 million international migrants worldwide or approximately 3.5 per cent of the global population. About half this number is women, despite the common misconception that migrants are men. Most migration takes place to adjacent countries, and some takes place within countries as well as across continental borders.
In many countries of the south, remittances sent back by migrant workers play a crucial role in the economy. For the Philippines in 2008, annual remittances amounted to US$16.4 billion and in March 2009 alone, total remittances were US$1.47 billion. In seven Latin American and Caribbean countries, remittances even account for more than 10% of GDP and exceed the dollar flows for the largest export product.
As the crisis deepens, women’s migration will increase further for a number of reasons: women moving to work abroad because they cannot sell their labour power at home, or if they can, they cannot sustain their families on the income offered. For example, 4.5 million families in the Philippines cannot meet the minimum requirement for food.
In some situations, in fact, the majority of migrants are women: for example, from the Philippines 70% are women, employed mainly as undocumented domestic workers. The RMPP (Philippines section of the Fourth International) works in Europe to organise Filipina migrants and to try to win rights for undocumented workers.
Filipina women, like other women from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe, working as domestic workers are part of the global domestic care chain, where women in first world countries who want to be liberated from their domestic functions and pursue fulfilment in the public space by working have to find someone to replace them in their domestic functions. So, migration of domestic workers is a form of demand-based migration founded on the gender division of labour in receiving countries. This demand is met by Filipina women, many of whom have children of their own in the Philippines. Given the gendered division of labour in Philippine households, they cannot expect their husbands to take on their domestic workload in their absence. Furthermore, the husbands might themselves be migrant workers elsewhere (mainly in construction).
For migrant women, the solution to this problem is to in turn employ live-in domestic workers to care for their family while they are gone. In the non-migrant family, the absence of the mother creates a demand for care for her own children. Since they cannot afford to pay a domestic worker, this work is taken on by an elder daughter while the mother is at work.
At the end of the global care chain, this daughter assumes the role of mothering for her younger siblings, giving her less time to play, study, or work outside the home. Alternatively, the migrant’s mother cares for her children. Such grandparent fostering is a common constellation in societies of emigration. It takes pressure off the eldest children, but means that grandmothers can experience forty or fifty years of continuous child-rearing responsibility. While every woman in the chain feels she is doing the right thing for her family, hidden costs are passed along and eventually end up with the older daughter in the non-migrant household. As childcare work is passed down the chain, it diminishes in value and becomes unpaid at the end.
Migrant families are deprived of their mothers’ personal affection and care since they are already commoditized in the global market and traded internationally. This “new commodity” in the global market is well promoted and supported by the state. For example, the two women presidents of the Philippines (Aquino and Arroyo) made these migrant women “heroines” because they sacrifice their families in order for the Philippine nation to progress through remittances. President Arroyo promised the Middle East countries to send efficient and reliable domestic workers. They both called the migrant women workers the “new heroes” to pacify them in the face of the emotional distress of separation and exploitation.
The migrant women and their families are the sacrificial lambs of this neoliberal globalization. During global financial crisis, women migrants working in the domestic households are directly affected and cannot even claim severance pay when they lose their jobs because they are mostly undocumented.
Governments like that of the Philippines ignore their own legal obligations to protect migrant workers from their country (Republic Act 8042 (Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995). For example, since 2002, six Filipino migrant workers have been executed in Saudi Arabia including one woman, and a number of others have been held on death row for crimes they clearly did not commit. The violence (beatings, rapes, forced detention) meted out to women migrant domestic workers from Asia, Africa, and Latin America in the receiving countries has been well-documented.
Of course not all those who migrate become migrant workers. Men, women, and children are displaced in huge numbers as a result of wars —including civil wars— and by climate change, which makes the places they were living uninhabitable. People try to escape political persecution by leaving their country of origin. Women may run from violence within the family or from forced marriages. Many of these flee as refugees, hoping for a place of safety in the country to which they run. Unfortunately the lot of the majority is to be treated as outcasts and scroungers.
Trafficking in women has also increased. The most publicised form has been trafficking for sexual exploitation of women, particularly from Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia to Western Europe, creating a huge network of forced sex workers. But there is also an increase in women being sold within their own countries as domestic slaves: recently, Peruvian feminists’ research showed that the largest number of women in their country subjected to trafficking were actually indigenous women kidnapped and sent to work as servants in other towns inside Peru. This is a sign of deepening inequality within countries.
Women who are refugees and/or subject to trafficking have even fewer rights than migrant women workers. The majority of refugees remain within other countries of the south. The conditions of refugees in the advanced capitalist countries has become worse over recent years with the “development” of more repressive measures in North America, Europe, and Australasia to keep out refugees as much as possible. This has taken a number of different forms, from making it harder for people to cross borders in the first place, imprisoning many of those —including pregnant women and children of all ages— who do so in barbaric conditions, and making access to what welfare provision still exists in the "host" countries more and more difficult.
Not only the far right, but increasingly mainstream politicians scapegoat refugees for the economic crisis. In Italy, the passage of an emergency law on rape in February 2009 was a cynical attempt by Berlusconi to scapegoat refugees, particularly Roma, for violence against women, while at the same time giving the state more power in general.
* Against the informal economy. For the regularisation of migrant workers’ status
Out-Sourcing the Wife: The Chase
Mail-order brides lie and memorize fantasy love stories to pass immigration
(last in a three-part series)
By Carmela Fonbuena, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 09/22/2009 9:36 AM
Published on ABS-CBN News Online Beta (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com)
To join her husband in Korea, Aileen needed only a passport and a visa. Just a few days ago, she was married off to Ji-Wong, a Korean more than twice her age, only a day after she was picked among five women in a show-up tour arranged by a marriage broker.
To get a passport, she had to convince government officials that love for her husband was the only reason why she wanted to permanently settle in Korea.
Under the Department of Foreign Affairs Department Orders 28-94 and 11-97, Filipino spouses and other partners of foreign nationals are required to attend a guidance and counseling program—known as the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS), a prerequisite in the issuance of passports.
“PDOS is aimed to prepare Filipinos for the realities of cross-cultural marriages,” Regina Galias, head of the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) Migrant Integration and Education Division, told Newsbreak.
The PDOS had been devolved from the CFO to St. Mary Euphrasia Foundation—Center for Overseas Workers and the People's Reform Inititiative for Social Mobilization Inc (PRISM). After completing the counseling seminar, CFO issues the guidance and counseling certificate that will allow the applicants to get their passports. Then they can apply for a visa. After getting their visa, they need to return to the CFO again to be registered before they exit the country.
PDOS has proven to be a big thorn in the throat of marriage brokers, allowing the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) to catch violators of Republic Act 6995 or the Anti-Mail-Order Bride Law and Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
Republic Act 6955 prohibits matching Filipino women for marriage to foreign nationals on mail-order basis or personal introduction. To go around the law, recruitment agencies take time to coach the brides on what to say during the counseling.
To get the PDOS certificate, Aileen could not reveal that she auditioned to become Ji-Wong’s wife and married him only a day after they met. She also could not say that Ji-Wong promised to send financial support to her family in the Philippines.
Aileen remembers her script. “They told me, if I go to the CFO for interview, I should change my answers. I should tell them I’ve known him for a long time. I was asked to memorize the marriage contract—the address and everything there. (Sinabihan nila ako, pag punta ka ng CFO, iinterviewhin ka. Ibahin mo. Sabihin mo sa kanila matagal mo na kilala. Kabisaduhin mo yung nasa marriage contract. Kung anong address mo. Lahat andyan sa marriage contract.)
A former PDOS counselor herself, Janet Ramos of the CFO anti-human trafficking task force said that some of the brides were very well rehearsed. The unknowing counselor may be easily fooled.
But experienced counselors are able to spot the tell-tale signs. The Guidance and Counseling Form, which spouses fill out before the PDOS, could give them away. The applicants may also slip during interviews.
The application form asks very specific questions on how and where they met their future spouse, if an agency was involved and if fees were collected, questions that can easily trip an uncoached applicant.
Below is a copy of the Guidance and Counseling Form.
How did you meet your present spouse?
( ) Place or work?
( ) Personal introduction
( ) pen-pal/phone pal referred by a relative/friend
( ) Pen-pal through periodicals/magazines/pen-pal column
( ) subscribed to pen-pal club
( ) thru marriage bureau
( ) thru internet
( ) thru other entities (e.g. Church groups)
*If Penpal Club/Marriage bureau/advertisement/Internet/Other Entities, pls specify.
Name of agency/web site _____________________
Address ___________________________________
Amount of fees collected _____________________
Answers in asterisk refer to violations of the anti-Mail Order Bride law
“The PDOS is like marital counseling. Normally, you would discuss about love and your responsibilities as a foreigner's spouse. It's easy to tell when the person is truly in love with the spouse. They can tell you about their first meeting, the first kiss, and even their sex lives,” Ramos said.
“Others just sound rehearsed. When you try another topic, they wouldn't be able to answer it anymore. Even when the questions are just basic,” Ramos added.
Counselor: Ano trabaho ng asawa mo?
Applicant: Salary man po.
Counselor: Ano yung salary man?
Applicant: Basta po may salary sya.
“Others don't even know their husband's surnames, where they live, and his phone number. It means they haven't really known each other that long. It doesn't really tell us that she is a mail order bride right away. It tells us that we need to spend more time on her,” Ramos said.
There are also the buzzwords that slip up during interviews---“manager,” “broker,” “show-up”, and “recruiter,” among others.
Sometimes, the family has to be called to the counseling session.
“We encounter cases where parents don't know about their daughter's marriage to foreign nationals. We witness their confrontations. Others parents are obviously in cahoots with the marriage brokers. They admit that they have been paid,” said Galias.
“They say, ‘Okay na po yun kesa naman nandito lang sa Pilipinas.’ We know their rights. It's a personal choice. But we have to make them understand the realities. What can happen to them? Even when the parents or the mail order bride say they are willing to risk it, our responsibilities don't stop there. We cannot just grant you the certificate if we still don't believe you are ready to settle abroad,” added Galias.
For denying spouses these certificates, CFO officials had been threatened many times. Cops had been brought to their office. They have been threatened with legal cases, too. Once, Galias and Ramos said they were accused of extorting P150,000 from an applicant.
It can get frustrating, they said. “We cannot help them if they don't want us to help them,” Galias said.
When they cannot get around the CFO, marriage brokers present fake certificates to the DFA to get the passports.
“It's been done. We were able to catch one,” said Ramos.
Reluctant from the beginning, Aileen got worried when she saw that they falsified her information in the marriage certificate. “I wondered why I needed to memorize my own address. I knew where I lived. When I looked at the marriage contract, it said I lived in San Juan. But I didn’t live there. Even Ji-Wong’s address was wrong,” said Aileen. (Sabi ko, bakit? Alam ko naman address ko. Yung address ko saka address ng koreano e pagtingin ko sa marriage contract, iba pala. San Juan daw. Hindi naman ako nakatira dun.)
“I got scared. If something happened to me in Korea, my relatives wouldn’t know how to help me (Nung nakita ko yung marriage contract ko na iba, sabi ko, nakakatakot to a. Naisip ko, kapag may nangyari sa akin sa ibang bansa, walang habol mga kamag-anak ko dito),” she added.
Regretting her decision to marry Ji-Wong, Aileen confessed to her counselors that she is a mail order bride. She was immediately referred to Ramos.
With the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Aileen’s recruiters were arrested in an entrapment operation in May 2008.
CFO wanted to file trafficking cases against the recruiters for operating a show-up tour, a clear case of exploitation with the intent eventually to commit trafficking but the NBI downgraded it to a mail order bride case.
“There is no exploitation yet. She was able to escape before she was brought abroad and any exploitation was committed against her,” said agent Roland Demetria of the NBI’s Anti-Human Trafficking Division. But Demetria said they have a strong case against her recruiters for violating the anti-Mail Order Bride Law.
Aileen has been approached by the marriage brokers to settle the case. She told Newsbreak she has no plans to give up but her CFO handler, Ivy Miravales, is worried as the case continues to drag at the regional trial court.
Over a year since the case was filed, there have been three scheduled hearings on Aileen’s case. All of them have been postponed for various reasons. The suspects have yet to be arraigned. They are also trying to talk to Aileen to agree to settle the case.
To this day, Aileen’s case is the only case undergoing trial in Philippine courts on the Anti-Mail Order Bride Law and none against mail-order bride operators on RA 9208. Even as matching websites and “show up” tours continue to operate with impunity, the Philippines still has no known conviction under R.A. 6995.
As long as matching remains legal in other countries, it is almost impossible to get these web sites shut down. Laws governing cyberspace remain muddy. Local marriage brokers can use a web host based abroad and argue that Philippine laws do not cover them.
The women are not too willing to file cases against their brokers either. "If we are able to convince them, it’s also difficult to prove that a profit was made by marriage brokers unless you hold an entrapment operation," said Galias.
Getting Filipino mail order brides to understand their predicament and cooperate with the government to arrest their recruiters has proven to be an uphill battle for law enforcers.
“These are innocent girls. They don’t understand what they are putting themselves in. It’s not easy telling them how many mail order brides have been exploited. They thought they can get themselves out of poverty,” Galias said.
In the Philippine context, the mail order bride phenomenon cannot be discussed without touching on the Filipinos’ inclination to equate marrying a foreigner with economic salvation.
"Their desire for economic improvement at all costs leads to the erosion of values regarding marriage and family including the self worth of women. This is exacerbated by the colonial mentality among Filipinos which make them regard foreign lands as the center of golden opportunities," Renato Luz of the Stop Trafficking of Pilipinos (STOP) said.
Then and now, Filipino mail-order brides would try to convince CFO counselors that they are marrying for love. But in the counseling, they will often admit that it is pure and simple economics.
“When you ask them why they married the foreigners, they’d tell you they want to be able to send back money to their families. Most of them are breadwinners," Galias said.
Relationships expert Margie Holmes has words of caution for prospective mail-order brides. "Going to an agent who may not really know the girl and whose only business is to try to facilitate as many relationships as possible is not the way to go," said Holmes.
"Mutual respect is important in a marriage. I think the respect is lost if the man feels that all he has to do is give money and the woman will be his. The woman should not be too desperate. She should also look at his qualities first before she says yes," Holmes said.
Interracial marriages, no matter how long the man and the woman have known each other, are difficult as they already are, she added. The language barrier is usually the initial challenge but later on other racial, cultural and religious disparities becomes issues, too.
“There is always a big potential that our women are abused. The families of the brides are paid, too. That is why they are treated like commodities," she added.
Nevertheless, Holmes acknowledges that that there are happy stories. "The men may be genuinely lonely. Some may also have a friend who had a very happy relationship with a Filipina. I’m sure it’s possible that they fall in love when they come here. I mean most of us are very charming, attractive, and nice. It’s perfectly understandable that in addition to the more suspicious motives, there are actually ideal motives based on love, loneliness, wanting to have a good life and partner," Holmes said.
Understanding and capitalizing on the appeal of the Filipino woman is the main reason many local marriage brokers are able to lure many a hundred foreign men to small Philippine towns to look for future partners.
To the lucky couples, the money was well spent and the risks were worth it. "I think if your intention is right, you can find a good match," said Galias.
“Unfortunately, no matter what scary stories you hear, the story that you believe most is the story that you have personal knowledge of. No matter what stories are in the papers, or what you see on TV, but if you have a friend who’s very happy in a foreign marriage, you tend to believe that more. And it works vice versa. If you have a friend who had a very unpleasant experience that’s what you tend to believe more than the advertisements or whatever that you see in the papers," Holmes explained.
Reports on the success of mail order marriages in the US are varied. According to the 1997 report of the US Immigration and Naturalization Office, "marriages arranged through these services would appear to have a lower divorce rate than the nation as a whole, fully 80 percent of these marriages having lasted over the years."
The percentage was based on data provided by the agencies.
The Purple Rose Campaign paints a different picture. According to its web site, 70 percent of the mail order marriages involving Filipinas in the US resulted in divorce. – Carmela Fonbuena with Victoria Camille Tulad, Newsbreak
Disclaimer: This article was made possible with the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat trafficking in Persons and The Asia Foundation. The contents are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Department of State of the United States or The Asia Foundation.
(last in a three-part series)
By Carmela Fonbuena, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 09/22/2009 9:36 AM
Published on ABS-CBN News Online Beta (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com)
To join her husband in Korea, Aileen needed only a passport and a visa. Just a few days ago, she was married off to Ji-Wong, a Korean more than twice her age, only a day after she was picked among five women in a show-up tour arranged by a marriage broker.
To get a passport, she had to convince government officials that love for her husband was the only reason why she wanted to permanently settle in Korea.
Under the Department of Foreign Affairs Department Orders 28-94 and 11-97, Filipino spouses and other partners of foreign nationals are required to attend a guidance and counseling program—known as the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS), a prerequisite in the issuance of passports.
“PDOS is aimed to prepare Filipinos for the realities of cross-cultural marriages,” Regina Galias, head of the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) Migrant Integration and Education Division, told Newsbreak.
The PDOS had been devolved from the CFO to St. Mary Euphrasia Foundation—Center for Overseas Workers and the People's Reform Inititiative for Social Mobilization Inc (PRISM). After completing the counseling seminar, CFO issues the guidance and counseling certificate that will allow the applicants to get their passports. Then they can apply for a visa. After getting their visa, they need to return to the CFO again to be registered before they exit the country.
PDOS has proven to be a big thorn in the throat of marriage brokers, allowing the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) to catch violators of Republic Act 6995 or the Anti-Mail-Order Bride Law and Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
Republic Act 6955 prohibits matching Filipino women for marriage to foreign nationals on mail-order basis or personal introduction. To go around the law, recruitment agencies take time to coach the brides on what to say during the counseling.
To get the PDOS certificate, Aileen could not reveal that she auditioned to become Ji-Wong’s wife and married him only a day after they met. She also could not say that Ji-Wong promised to send financial support to her family in the Philippines.
Aileen remembers her script. “They told me, if I go to the CFO for interview, I should change my answers. I should tell them I’ve known him for a long time. I was asked to memorize the marriage contract—the address and everything there. (Sinabihan nila ako, pag punta ka ng CFO, iinterviewhin ka. Ibahin mo. Sabihin mo sa kanila matagal mo na kilala. Kabisaduhin mo yung nasa marriage contract. Kung anong address mo. Lahat andyan sa marriage contract.)
A former PDOS counselor herself, Janet Ramos of the CFO anti-human trafficking task force said that some of the brides were very well rehearsed. The unknowing counselor may be easily fooled.
But experienced counselors are able to spot the tell-tale signs. The Guidance and Counseling Form, which spouses fill out before the PDOS, could give them away. The applicants may also slip during interviews.
The application form asks very specific questions on how and where they met their future spouse, if an agency was involved and if fees were collected, questions that can easily trip an uncoached applicant.
Below is a copy of the Guidance and Counseling Form.
How did you meet your present spouse?
( ) Place or work?
( ) Personal introduction
( ) pen-pal/phone pal referred by a relative/friend
( ) Pen-pal through periodicals/magazines/pen-pal column
( ) subscribed to pen-pal club
( ) thru marriage bureau
( ) thru internet
( ) thru other entities (e.g. Church groups)
*If Penpal Club/Marriage bureau/advertisement/Internet/Other Entities, pls specify.
Name of agency/web site _____________________
Address ___________________________________
Amount of fees collected _____________________
Answers in asterisk refer to violations of the anti-Mail Order Bride law
“The PDOS is like marital counseling. Normally, you would discuss about love and your responsibilities as a foreigner's spouse. It's easy to tell when the person is truly in love with the spouse. They can tell you about their first meeting, the first kiss, and even their sex lives,” Ramos said.
“Others just sound rehearsed. When you try another topic, they wouldn't be able to answer it anymore. Even when the questions are just basic,” Ramos added.
Counselor: Ano trabaho ng asawa mo?
Applicant: Salary man po.
Counselor: Ano yung salary man?
Applicant: Basta po may salary sya.
“Others don't even know their husband's surnames, where they live, and his phone number. It means they haven't really known each other that long. It doesn't really tell us that she is a mail order bride right away. It tells us that we need to spend more time on her,” Ramos said.
There are also the buzzwords that slip up during interviews---“manager,” “broker,” “show-up”, and “recruiter,” among others.
Sometimes, the family has to be called to the counseling session.
“We encounter cases where parents don't know about their daughter's marriage to foreign nationals. We witness their confrontations. Others parents are obviously in cahoots with the marriage brokers. They admit that they have been paid,” said Galias.
“They say, ‘Okay na po yun kesa naman nandito lang sa Pilipinas.’ We know their rights. It's a personal choice. But we have to make them understand the realities. What can happen to them? Even when the parents or the mail order bride say they are willing to risk it, our responsibilities don't stop there. We cannot just grant you the certificate if we still don't believe you are ready to settle abroad,” added Galias.
For denying spouses these certificates, CFO officials had been threatened many times. Cops had been brought to their office. They have been threatened with legal cases, too. Once, Galias and Ramos said they were accused of extorting P150,000 from an applicant.
It can get frustrating, they said. “We cannot help them if they don't want us to help them,” Galias said.
When they cannot get around the CFO, marriage brokers present fake certificates to the DFA to get the passports.
“It's been done. We were able to catch one,” said Ramos.
Reluctant from the beginning, Aileen got worried when she saw that they falsified her information in the marriage certificate. “I wondered why I needed to memorize my own address. I knew where I lived. When I looked at the marriage contract, it said I lived in San Juan. But I didn’t live there. Even Ji-Wong’s address was wrong,” said Aileen. (Sabi ko, bakit? Alam ko naman address ko. Yung address ko saka address ng koreano e pagtingin ko sa marriage contract, iba pala. San Juan daw. Hindi naman ako nakatira dun.)
“I got scared. If something happened to me in Korea, my relatives wouldn’t know how to help me (Nung nakita ko yung marriage contract ko na iba, sabi ko, nakakatakot to a. Naisip ko, kapag may nangyari sa akin sa ibang bansa, walang habol mga kamag-anak ko dito),” she added.
Regretting her decision to marry Ji-Wong, Aileen confessed to her counselors that she is a mail order bride. She was immediately referred to Ramos.
With the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Aileen’s recruiters were arrested in an entrapment operation in May 2008.
CFO wanted to file trafficking cases against the recruiters for operating a show-up tour, a clear case of exploitation with the intent eventually to commit trafficking but the NBI downgraded it to a mail order bride case.
“There is no exploitation yet. She was able to escape before she was brought abroad and any exploitation was committed against her,” said agent Roland Demetria of the NBI’s Anti-Human Trafficking Division. But Demetria said they have a strong case against her recruiters for violating the anti-Mail Order Bride Law.
Aileen has been approached by the marriage brokers to settle the case. She told Newsbreak she has no plans to give up but her CFO handler, Ivy Miravales, is worried as the case continues to drag at the regional trial court.
Over a year since the case was filed, there have been three scheduled hearings on Aileen’s case. All of them have been postponed for various reasons. The suspects have yet to be arraigned. They are also trying to talk to Aileen to agree to settle the case.
To this day, Aileen’s case is the only case undergoing trial in Philippine courts on the Anti-Mail Order Bride Law and none against mail-order bride operators on RA 9208. Even as matching websites and “show up” tours continue to operate with impunity, the Philippines still has no known conviction under R.A. 6995.
As long as matching remains legal in other countries, it is almost impossible to get these web sites shut down. Laws governing cyberspace remain muddy. Local marriage brokers can use a web host based abroad and argue that Philippine laws do not cover them.
The women are not too willing to file cases against their brokers either. "If we are able to convince them, it’s also difficult to prove that a profit was made by marriage brokers unless you hold an entrapment operation," said Galias.
Getting Filipino mail order brides to understand their predicament and cooperate with the government to arrest their recruiters has proven to be an uphill battle for law enforcers.
“These are innocent girls. They don’t understand what they are putting themselves in. It’s not easy telling them how many mail order brides have been exploited. They thought they can get themselves out of poverty,” Galias said.
In the Philippine context, the mail order bride phenomenon cannot be discussed without touching on the Filipinos’ inclination to equate marrying a foreigner with economic salvation.
"Their desire for economic improvement at all costs leads to the erosion of values regarding marriage and family including the self worth of women. This is exacerbated by the colonial mentality among Filipinos which make them regard foreign lands as the center of golden opportunities," Renato Luz of the Stop Trafficking of Pilipinos (STOP) said.
Then and now, Filipino mail-order brides would try to convince CFO counselors that they are marrying for love. But in the counseling, they will often admit that it is pure and simple economics.
“When you ask them why they married the foreigners, they’d tell you they want to be able to send back money to their families. Most of them are breadwinners," Galias said.
Relationships expert Margie Holmes has words of caution for prospective mail-order brides. "Going to an agent who may not really know the girl and whose only business is to try to facilitate as many relationships as possible is not the way to go," said Holmes.
"Mutual respect is important in a marriage. I think the respect is lost if the man feels that all he has to do is give money and the woman will be his. The woman should not be too desperate. She should also look at his qualities first before she says yes," Holmes said.
Interracial marriages, no matter how long the man and the woman have known each other, are difficult as they already are, she added. The language barrier is usually the initial challenge but later on other racial, cultural and religious disparities becomes issues, too.
“There is always a big potential that our women are abused. The families of the brides are paid, too. That is why they are treated like commodities," she added.
Nevertheless, Holmes acknowledges that that there are happy stories. "The men may be genuinely lonely. Some may also have a friend who had a very happy relationship with a Filipina. I’m sure it’s possible that they fall in love when they come here. I mean most of us are very charming, attractive, and nice. It’s perfectly understandable that in addition to the more suspicious motives, there are actually ideal motives based on love, loneliness, wanting to have a good life and partner," Holmes said.
Understanding and capitalizing on the appeal of the Filipino woman is the main reason many local marriage brokers are able to lure many a hundred foreign men to small Philippine towns to look for future partners.
To the lucky couples, the money was well spent and the risks were worth it. "I think if your intention is right, you can find a good match," said Galias.
“Unfortunately, no matter what scary stories you hear, the story that you believe most is the story that you have personal knowledge of. No matter what stories are in the papers, or what you see on TV, but if you have a friend who’s very happy in a foreign marriage, you tend to believe that more. And it works vice versa. If you have a friend who had a very unpleasant experience that’s what you tend to believe more than the advertisements or whatever that you see in the papers," Holmes explained.
Reports on the success of mail order marriages in the US are varied. According to the 1997 report of the US Immigration and Naturalization Office, "marriages arranged through these services would appear to have a lower divorce rate than the nation as a whole, fully 80 percent of these marriages having lasted over the years."
The percentage was based on data provided by the agencies.
The Purple Rose Campaign paints a different picture. According to its web site, 70 percent of the mail order marriages involving Filipinas in the US resulted in divorce. – Carmela Fonbuena with Victoria Camille Tulad, Newsbreak
Disclaimer: This article was made possible with the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat trafficking in Persons and The Asia Foundation. The contents are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Department of State of the United States or The Asia Foundation.
Out-Sourcing the Wife: Dreams turned Sour
Mail-order schemes used to traffic and abuse Filipino women
(second of three parts)
Carmela Fonbuena, Newsbreak | 09/17/2009 9:52 PM
Published on ABS-CBN News Online Beta (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com)
Ludy Omamen imagined a fairy tale wedding when she left the Philippines for Sweden in 1988 to join her pen pal of two years Nathaniel Hultmen. She stepped on foreign soil clutching a photo of a handsome 34-year-old fiancé who paid for the one-way plane ticket.
But instead of the man in the photo, a limping 69-year old man met her and introduced himself as her pen pal. She was 27 years old.
Not too long after she arrived in Hultmen’s home in Scaltura country—86 kilometers from Stockholm—Omamen met a neighbor who warned her that many women had been seen coming to the house only to disappear suddenly.
Omamen remembered hearing a woman crying on her first night there. The two decided to investigate while Hultmen was out to file a week-long leave from the factory where he was working.
"Behind a painting, on closer scrutiny, they discovered 14 jars all in one row each containing a preserved head of a woman. There is a fifteenth jar which was empty but above it has a photo of Ludy with her name and address," Renato Luz of the STOP Trafficking Office narrated in a 1990 hearing of the House committee on social services.
Five years later, the sensational murder of Filipino mail order bride Susana Remarata by her husband in 1995 stands for the deadly risks that Filipino women, married off to men they hardly know, face in a strange land.
After 18 months of correspondence by mail, US national Timothy Blackwell flew to the Philippines in March 1993 and stayed for six weeks to marry Remarata. It took another year for Remarata to be able join Blackwell in the US in February 1994.
After only 13 days of marriage, Remarata fled after Blackwell allegedly choked her and push her head into the sink.
To get back at her, Blackwell immediately filed for an annulment to make sure she gets deported back to the Philippines. But Remarata’s lawyers used the battered-wife clause to make sure she’d be allowed to stay in the US.
On March 2, 1995, Blackwell shot and killed Remarata inside the King County Courthouse shortly before the closing arguments on the annulment trial.
Omamen and Remarata’s stories were the most shocking of all the stories told of which there are many. Fortunately, Omamen was able to escape. According to Luz, Omamen went to the police and accompanied them to Hultmen’s house to verify the incident.
Her story inspired Republic Act 6995 or the Anti-Mail Order Bride Law of 1990—criminalizing businesses that match Filipino women to foreigners.
National embarrassment
During the 80s, the growing number of Filipino women leaving the country as "mail- order brides" was turning into a big national embarrassment. (See: Trends and patterns of marriage migration from the Philippines)
"Operated by unscrupulous and heartless individuals, the practice has not only cast shame on our women in the international community, but have also exposed thousands of impoverished Filipinas into further misery in the hands of their foreign spouses," then Pasay Rep. Lorna Vernao Yap, main sponsor of the House bill, told the plenary when she was seeking her colleagues vote for the bill.
She compared the mail-order business to prostitution where Filipino women are treated as "mere commodities to be packaged and mailed for the right price."
"I’d like to make it a point here that whether some are happy or some are not happy, it’s the entire practice that we are concerned about. They are treated like cattle. When you really come down to it, it’s like prostitution," she added.
Republic Act 6995 was signed into law in June 1990. It does not prohibit the inter-marriage between foreign nationals and Filipino women but it prohibits the practice of profiteering from match-making—including the practice of newspapers and magazines to publish columns of ads of foreigners seeking Filipino wives.
US-based Filipino group Purple Rose Campaign has long been lobbying to the US Congress to declare mail-order bride schemes as illegal in the US too. "US legislators of Philippine ancestry focus largely on whether the women should be called "mail-order brides," the agencies "mail-order agencies," for some other term which would effectively hide the fact that women are being sold," a group statement said.
The industry in the US prefers to call it "international correspondence service."
Gone underground
Two decades later, Omamen’s story and the law it inspired hardly helped in stopping Filipino women from allowing themselves—even praying—to be peddled as mail-order brides.
"The move simply drove the mail order business underground without significantly affecting the international trade," said Carmelita Nuqui, president of the Philippine Migrants’ Rights Watch (PMRW).
The controversial joke made in May 2009 by Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin on The Late Show with David Letterman underscored the failure of the law to stop the business.
"I’d love to have more kids. I think about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point, or a Russian one. I don’t care. I’m 51," he told Letterman in jest when asked if he wanted a big family.
Letterman replied, "Can you do that? Get one for me for later." And then the two burst into laughter.
Feminist groups worldwide assailed the actor for the "insensitive" joke. In the Philippines, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., a former action movie star, threatened to beat Baldwin if he came to the Philippines. The Bureau of Immigration also blacklisted the actor.
While Baldwin later apologized for the joke, not all Internet users—Filipinos among them—sympathized with the Philippines.
"The fact is that a lot of Filipino women have sold themselves out as mail-order brides. Maybe the minister (referring to Revilla) should ask himself why so many women in his country want to leave it so badly that they’ll sell themselves to unattractive Westerners just to get away, because it still goes on," retorted "Embertine" in a comment to a story on the joke posted on Hollywood gossip site celebitchy.com.
"Mr. Bong, I would suggest that you Google that title "Filipina mail-order brides" and you will find hundreds of sites advertising the mail-order Filipinas. So the Filipinas don’t think it is "Illegal"!!," wrote "Dennis" in another comment posted on site abs-cbnNEWS.com.
In 2007, two years before Baldwin’s joke, Senator Manuel Villar had found the situation alarming that he sought for a Senate inquiry on the "non-implementation" R.A. 6995.
"An assessment and revisiting of our policies and laws must be conducted to protect our women," Villar said in the resolution. But an inquiry is yet to be convened.
Despite the world-wide phenomenon of the country exporting more wives than probably any country in the world, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) only has three active cases against marriage brokers. Two of the Filipinas were married to Koreans. One was married to a Japanese.
“We have a number of suspected cases. They were recruited by the same people. We put them in the watch list. But only a number of them admit that they are mail-order brides and they don’t want to pursue cases,” Regina Galias, head of the CFO Migrant Integration and Education Division, told Newsbreak.
All Filipinos marrying foreign nationals go through the CFO for pre-departure orientation seminar (PDOS), a counseling session aimed to prepare Filipinos for the realities of cross-cultural challenges. But the procedure also enables the CFO to prevent trafficking and catch mail-order brides.
Trafficking Tool
The Philippine government joins feminist groups in expressing concern over the way the mail-order bride is being used to traffic women.
With its strategic responsibilities, the CFO is one of the key government agencies in the battle against human trafficking. Since the enactment of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in 2003 up to 2007, CFO's dedicated group Task Force against Human Trafficking has intercepted a total of 191 cases of violations.(See table.)
Strangely, CFO has not reported a single case of violation of Republic Act 6955 or the Anti-Mail Order Bride law of 1990 from 2003 to 2007. The three cases of Filipinas who were married to their spouses in 2007 were only intercepted in 2008 when they underwent the counseling sessions. Only one of these cases is undergoing trial.
There is no record on cases of violations of RA 6955 that were filed privately. There is no known conviction under R.A. 6995.
According to Philippine laws, the mail-order bride scheme is not considered a form of trafficking per se. Proof that there is exploitation is crucial for a case to fall under Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
The CFO asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to help them charge Aileen’s marriage brokers for violating R.A 6995 for profiteering out of her marriage and and RA 9208 for forcing her into the show up tours despite Aileen’s decision to abandon earlier plans to be married off. (See Out-Sourcing the Wife, Part 1)
But the NBI said it’s hard to prove exploitation because Aileen was able to escape. The NBI did not pursue the trafficking case, but held an entrapment operation against the marriage brokers.
The deterrent for the marriage broker operating the show-up tour where Aileen participated is diminished because the maximum sentence for traffickers under RA 9208 can be life imprisonment and only eight years under RA 6955.
Yet the mail order bride industry has been used for so long to traffic Filipinos outside the country, said Janet Ramos, head of the CFO’s anti-trafficking unit.
“The problem when they have left the country, it becomes very difficult for the government to help them even if they find ways to report the abuses to their families in the Philippines. That is why it's best if we can prevent them from leaving the country,” Ramos said.
Processing an average of 2,000 spouses every month, it's not easy spotting trafficking victims and mail order brides among groups of spouses when at the same time they are being prepared for the possible cultural shocks abroad.
“The mail-order brides can be well trained. Marriage brokers rehearse them on what to say. An unknowing counselor can be easily fooled,” said Ramos, who was a former counselor herself until the function was devolved from the CFO in 2005.
When does the crime on mail-order brides become trafficking?
"It becomes trafficking when, for instance, they are forced to become prostitutes abroad. Or she becomes a laborer. We learned about a case where the woman was made to work as a domestic helper. All her income was deposited in an account that the husband controlled. He didn’t have to work because the wife supported her," said Ramos.
Many of the mail-order brides find themselves working in bars. Ramos recalls an old case of a Filipina who married a foreigner in Australia who was sexually-exploited. “Everytime her husband leaves the house, she is rented out to other men.”
The Philippine experience shows that many Filipino mail order brides suffer various forms of abuses here and abroad. But when a woman has left the country, the help that the Philippine government can offer is limited.
In July, Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral raised concerns about sick foreigners marrying Filipino women to harvest their kidney. It was prompted by a Saudi national who went to the National Kidney Institute who wanted to schedule a kidney transplant. The donor was his new Filipino wife. Seeing through the scam, the NKI disapproved the application.
"We have partners in several countries. We send the counselors to the women who are abused or they call them. They guide them. ‘You stay home for now but do this tomorrow. If you have to leave home, go to this place,’" said Galias.
"We try our best. It’s not always easy to intervene into domestic problems," she added.
Since the trafficking law in 2003, CFO is yet to discover and develop a trafficking case against husbands of exploited mail-order brides.
The most recent documented case of trafficking involving a Filipino mail-order bride involves Lorelei Loseo, a Cebu-based 26-year-old mother of two who flew to the US in November 2002 to marry New Jersey resident Craig Staskewicz, 43.
According to a case profile by Gabriela, Loseo’s fiancé allegedly told her to help pay the bills by working in a local strip bar. Staskewicz also beat her, it said.
Loseo was able to escape her fiancé and then sought the help of a Filipino-American family, who gave her a room to temporarily stay in.
But when Staskewicz hunted her down, no help came anymore. "Staskewicz apparently parked outside of the strip club waiting for Lorelei. When she came out, he allegedly forced her in the car back to their apartment, where he repeatedly stabbed her to death with a hunting knife," the case profile said. (Newsbreak)
Next:
Out-Sourcing the Wife: The Chase (Conclusion)
Related story:
Part1: Outsourcing the wife
============
Disclaimer: This article was made possible with the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat trafficking in Persons and The Asia Foundation. The contents are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Department of State of the United States or The Asia Foundation .
(second of three parts)
Carmela Fonbuena, Newsbreak | 09/17/2009 9:52 PM
Published on ABS-CBN News Online Beta (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com)
Ludy Omamen imagined a fairy tale wedding when she left the Philippines for Sweden in 1988 to join her pen pal of two years Nathaniel Hultmen. She stepped on foreign soil clutching a photo of a handsome 34-year-old fiancé who paid for the one-way plane ticket.
But instead of the man in the photo, a limping 69-year old man met her and introduced himself as her pen pal. She was 27 years old.
Not too long after she arrived in Hultmen’s home in Scaltura country—86 kilometers from Stockholm—Omamen met a neighbor who warned her that many women had been seen coming to the house only to disappear suddenly.
Omamen remembered hearing a woman crying on her first night there. The two decided to investigate while Hultmen was out to file a week-long leave from the factory where he was working.
"Behind a painting, on closer scrutiny, they discovered 14 jars all in one row each containing a preserved head of a woman. There is a fifteenth jar which was empty but above it has a photo of Ludy with her name and address," Renato Luz of the STOP Trafficking Office narrated in a 1990 hearing of the House committee on social services.
Five years later, the sensational murder of Filipino mail order bride Susana Remarata by her husband in 1995 stands for the deadly risks that Filipino women, married off to men they hardly know, face in a strange land.
After 18 months of correspondence by mail, US national Timothy Blackwell flew to the Philippines in March 1993 and stayed for six weeks to marry Remarata. It took another year for Remarata to be able join Blackwell in the US in February 1994.
After only 13 days of marriage, Remarata fled after Blackwell allegedly choked her and push her head into the sink.
To get back at her, Blackwell immediately filed for an annulment to make sure she gets deported back to the Philippines. But Remarata’s lawyers used the battered-wife clause to make sure she’d be allowed to stay in the US.
On March 2, 1995, Blackwell shot and killed Remarata inside the King County Courthouse shortly before the closing arguments on the annulment trial.
Omamen and Remarata’s stories were the most shocking of all the stories told of which there are many. Fortunately, Omamen was able to escape. According to Luz, Omamen went to the police and accompanied them to Hultmen’s house to verify the incident.
Her story inspired Republic Act 6995 or the Anti-Mail Order Bride Law of 1990—criminalizing businesses that match Filipino women to foreigners.
National embarrassment
During the 80s, the growing number of Filipino women leaving the country as "mail- order brides" was turning into a big national embarrassment. (See: Trends and patterns of marriage migration from the Philippines)
"Operated by unscrupulous and heartless individuals, the practice has not only cast shame on our women in the international community, but have also exposed thousands of impoverished Filipinas into further misery in the hands of their foreign spouses," then Pasay Rep. Lorna Vernao Yap, main sponsor of the House bill, told the plenary when she was seeking her colleagues vote for the bill.
She compared the mail-order business to prostitution where Filipino women are treated as "mere commodities to be packaged and mailed for the right price."
"I’d like to make it a point here that whether some are happy or some are not happy, it’s the entire practice that we are concerned about. They are treated like cattle. When you really come down to it, it’s like prostitution," she added.
Republic Act 6995 was signed into law in June 1990. It does not prohibit the inter-marriage between foreign nationals and Filipino women but it prohibits the practice of profiteering from match-making—including the practice of newspapers and magazines to publish columns of ads of foreigners seeking Filipino wives.
US-based Filipino group Purple Rose Campaign has long been lobbying to the US Congress to declare mail-order bride schemes as illegal in the US too. "US legislators of Philippine ancestry focus largely on whether the women should be called "mail-order brides," the agencies "mail-order agencies," for some other term which would effectively hide the fact that women are being sold," a group statement said.
The industry in the US prefers to call it "international correspondence service."
Gone underground
Two decades later, Omamen’s story and the law it inspired hardly helped in stopping Filipino women from allowing themselves—even praying—to be peddled as mail-order brides.
"The move simply drove the mail order business underground without significantly affecting the international trade," said Carmelita Nuqui, president of the Philippine Migrants’ Rights Watch (PMRW).
The controversial joke made in May 2009 by Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin on The Late Show with David Letterman underscored the failure of the law to stop the business.
"I’d love to have more kids. I think about getting a Filipino mail-order bride at this point, or a Russian one. I don’t care. I’m 51," he told Letterman in jest when asked if he wanted a big family.
Letterman replied, "Can you do that? Get one for me for later." And then the two burst into laughter.
Feminist groups worldwide assailed the actor for the "insensitive" joke. In the Philippines, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., a former action movie star, threatened to beat Baldwin if he came to the Philippines. The Bureau of Immigration also blacklisted the actor.
While Baldwin later apologized for the joke, not all Internet users—Filipinos among them—sympathized with the Philippines.
"The fact is that a lot of Filipino women have sold themselves out as mail-order brides. Maybe the minister (referring to Revilla) should ask himself why so many women in his country want to leave it so badly that they’ll sell themselves to unattractive Westerners just to get away, because it still goes on," retorted "Embertine" in a comment to a story on the joke posted on Hollywood gossip site celebitchy.com.
"Mr. Bong, I would suggest that you Google that title "Filipina mail-order brides" and you will find hundreds of sites advertising the mail-order Filipinas. So the Filipinas don’t think it is "Illegal"!!," wrote "Dennis" in another comment posted on site abs-cbnNEWS.com.
In 2007, two years before Baldwin’s joke, Senator Manuel Villar had found the situation alarming that he sought for a Senate inquiry on the "non-implementation" R.A. 6995.
"An assessment and revisiting of our policies and laws must be conducted to protect our women," Villar said in the resolution. But an inquiry is yet to be convened.
Despite the world-wide phenomenon of the country exporting more wives than probably any country in the world, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) only has three active cases against marriage brokers. Two of the Filipinas were married to Koreans. One was married to a Japanese.
“We have a number of suspected cases. They were recruited by the same people. We put them in the watch list. But only a number of them admit that they are mail-order brides and they don’t want to pursue cases,” Regina Galias, head of the CFO Migrant Integration and Education Division, told Newsbreak.
All Filipinos marrying foreign nationals go through the CFO for pre-departure orientation seminar (PDOS), a counseling session aimed to prepare Filipinos for the realities of cross-cultural challenges. But the procedure also enables the CFO to prevent trafficking and catch mail-order brides.
Trafficking Tool
The Philippine government joins feminist groups in expressing concern over the way the mail-order bride is being used to traffic women.
With its strategic responsibilities, the CFO is one of the key government agencies in the battle against human trafficking. Since the enactment of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in 2003 up to 2007, CFO's dedicated group Task Force against Human Trafficking has intercepted a total of 191 cases of violations.(See table.)
Strangely, CFO has not reported a single case of violation of Republic Act 6955 or the Anti-Mail Order Bride law of 1990 from 2003 to 2007. The three cases of Filipinas who were married to their spouses in 2007 were only intercepted in 2008 when they underwent the counseling sessions. Only one of these cases is undergoing trial.
There is no record on cases of violations of RA 6955 that were filed privately. There is no known conviction under R.A. 6995.
According to Philippine laws, the mail-order bride scheme is not considered a form of trafficking per se. Proof that there is exploitation is crucial for a case to fall under Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
The CFO asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to help them charge Aileen’s marriage brokers for violating R.A 6995 for profiteering out of her marriage and and RA 9208 for forcing her into the show up tours despite Aileen’s decision to abandon earlier plans to be married off. (See Out-Sourcing the Wife, Part 1)
But the NBI said it’s hard to prove exploitation because Aileen was able to escape. The NBI did not pursue the trafficking case, but held an entrapment operation against the marriage brokers.
The deterrent for the marriage broker operating the show-up tour where Aileen participated is diminished because the maximum sentence for traffickers under RA 9208 can be life imprisonment and only eight years under RA 6955.
Yet the mail order bride industry has been used for so long to traffic Filipinos outside the country, said Janet Ramos, head of the CFO’s anti-trafficking unit.
“The problem when they have left the country, it becomes very difficult for the government to help them even if they find ways to report the abuses to their families in the Philippines. That is why it's best if we can prevent them from leaving the country,” Ramos said.
Processing an average of 2,000 spouses every month, it's not easy spotting trafficking victims and mail order brides among groups of spouses when at the same time they are being prepared for the possible cultural shocks abroad.
“The mail-order brides can be well trained. Marriage brokers rehearse them on what to say. An unknowing counselor can be easily fooled,” said Ramos, who was a former counselor herself until the function was devolved from the CFO in 2005.
When does the crime on mail-order brides become trafficking?
"It becomes trafficking when, for instance, they are forced to become prostitutes abroad. Or she becomes a laborer. We learned about a case where the woman was made to work as a domestic helper. All her income was deposited in an account that the husband controlled. He didn’t have to work because the wife supported her," said Ramos.
Many of the mail-order brides find themselves working in bars. Ramos recalls an old case of a Filipina who married a foreigner in Australia who was sexually-exploited. “Everytime her husband leaves the house, she is rented out to other men.”
The Philippine experience shows that many Filipino mail order brides suffer various forms of abuses here and abroad. But when a woman has left the country, the help that the Philippine government can offer is limited.
In July, Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral raised concerns about sick foreigners marrying Filipino women to harvest their kidney. It was prompted by a Saudi national who went to the National Kidney Institute who wanted to schedule a kidney transplant. The donor was his new Filipino wife. Seeing through the scam, the NKI disapproved the application.
"We have partners in several countries. We send the counselors to the women who are abused or they call them. They guide them. ‘You stay home for now but do this tomorrow. If you have to leave home, go to this place,’" said Galias.
"We try our best. It’s not always easy to intervene into domestic problems," she added.
Since the trafficking law in 2003, CFO is yet to discover and develop a trafficking case against husbands of exploited mail-order brides.
The most recent documented case of trafficking involving a Filipino mail-order bride involves Lorelei Loseo, a Cebu-based 26-year-old mother of two who flew to the US in November 2002 to marry New Jersey resident Craig Staskewicz, 43.
According to a case profile by Gabriela, Loseo’s fiancé allegedly told her to help pay the bills by working in a local strip bar. Staskewicz also beat her, it said.
Loseo was able to escape her fiancé and then sought the help of a Filipino-American family, who gave her a room to temporarily stay in.
But when Staskewicz hunted her down, no help came anymore. "Staskewicz apparently parked outside of the strip club waiting for Lorelei. When she came out, he allegedly forced her in the car back to their apartment, where he repeatedly stabbed her to death with a hunting knife," the case profile said. (Newsbreak)
Next:
Out-Sourcing the Wife: The Chase (Conclusion)
Related story:
Part1: Outsourcing the wife
============
Disclaimer: This article was made possible with the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat trafficking in Persons and The Asia Foundation. The contents are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Department of State of the United States or The Asia Foundation .
Friday, September 25, 2009
Manufactured homes
By Marcos de Guzman Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: February 10, 2009
MANILA, Philippines -- In property development lingo, we encounter words such as “affordable homes,” “low-cost projects,” and “mass housing.” By their names we create a general idea of what they claim to provide. But do we really? Affordable houses: but affordable for whom? If you quote a low-cost unit of P750,000, how many of the masses could afford it?
While it is true that P750,000 falls within the range of some loans offered by the National Housing & Mortgage Fund, undoubtedly, it would be better if developers could offer even much lower-priced products. Unfortunately, though, when we say low cost, it often connotes low quality. From that point, therefore, is where we must boost our effort toward improvement and innovation.
One way of creating quality low-cost homes is by mass producing homes in factories, then delivering them, and assembling on site. These are called manufactured homes.
Prefabricated shells
Manufactured homes, as culled from online sources, are the prefabricated shells or external walls with standard measurements and fixtures, transported to the place where they will be occupied, significantly shortening the completion time of home building. Because the shells are transportable, they are necessarily lightweight.
However, they can be set with masonry or steel bars at base to make them structurally sturdy. They can also be permanently anchored to a prepared foundation, including sewage and plumbing systems. Then, it is a simple matter to lay out the desired flooring, connect electrical cabling, and put in the optional details identified by the homeowner, such as moldings, light fixtures, cabinetry, and additional painting.
However, these have not yet been used extensively here in our country, but it could turn out to be a good idea. According to mobile homes specialist and marketer, Mike Debler, one out of five houses in the United States is, basically, a manufactured home. He claims that there are several kinds and models from which to choose, available in a variety of sizes, from 900 sq ft to over 2,000 sq ft. There are even two-story models to consider. What makes it so popular, of course, is that there is always a particular type that can fit anyone’s budget.
Some of the most common constraints to building your own home, aside from the prohibitive cost of materials and labor, are the protracted project period and the time-consuming details to attend to all throughout construction. Do you not wonder how builders abroad can put up a regular house with just a small construction crew and merely a few weeks of work? That is one other advantage about which manufactured homes can boast.
Can be relocated
Debler attests that it just takes a few days between choosing from among the model homes and delivering the product ready for assembly. Another plus is that manufactured homes can be relocated. In the United States, they merely have to attach wheels to the axles on the frame and tow to the site. This scenario brings to mind the Filipino image of “bayanihan,” wherein the village folk would carry a house on their shoulders to move it elsewhere.
By necessity, then, manufactured homes are initially made of lightweight materials, wood, and dry wall, but based on US standards, these still have to be able to withstand winds up to 130 mph. But this likewise means that these are not as structurally strong as our regularly built houses. In addition, this type of houses does not appreciate in value; only the lot on which it stands does.
On the other hand, since the main components of the house are factory made and done in a controlled environment, quality can be assured. The manufacturer will hire specialty subcontractors or workers who can master their phase of the job, ensuring efficiency and quality. The purchase of building materials is centralized, done in bulk, and therefore, cheaper.
The downside is that it promotes a cookie cutter concept. One house could look exactly like the next. However, nowadays, this is not an issue anymore. Many of the regular developments have row upon row of houses with identical shapes, color, roofs, and finishes. It only takes some imagination and personal styling to turn these manufactured homes into lovely and unique ones.
Trailer homes and mobile homes are classified under manufactured homes. Sadly, a lot of movies show trailer parks in a bad light, somewhat like our slum areas. But in spite of the negative publicity, a well-designed manufactured home can be the better answer to the huge demand for low-cost homes. With creativity, these may change our mass housing areas favorably. With careful study, these can be fortified to withstand our local conditions. With proper administration, manufactured homes can be many of our countrymen’s dream homes come true.
For your comments and questions, please send e-mail to marcosdeguzman@yahoo.com.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: February 10, 2009
MANILA, Philippines -- In property development lingo, we encounter words such as “affordable homes,” “low-cost projects,” and “mass housing.” By their names we create a general idea of what they claim to provide. But do we really? Affordable houses: but affordable for whom? If you quote a low-cost unit of P750,000, how many of the masses could afford it?
While it is true that P750,000 falls within the range of some loans offered by the National Housing & Mortgage Fund, undoubtedly, it would be better if developers could offer even much lower-priced products. Unfortunately, though, when we say low cost, it often connotes low quality. From that point, therefore, is where we must boost our effort toward improvement and innovation.
One way of creating quality low-cost homes is by mass producing homes in factories, then delivering them, and assembling on site. These are called manufactured homes.
Prefabricated shells
Manufactured homes, as culled from online sources, are the prefabricated shells or external walls with standard measurements and fixtures, transported to the place where they will be occupied, significantly shortening the completion time of home building. Because the shells are transportable, they are necessarily lightweight.
However, they can be set with masonry or steel bars at base to make them structurally sturdy. They can also be permanently anchored to a prepared foundation, including sewage and plumbing systems. Then, it is a simple matter to lay out the desired flooring, connect electrical cabling, and put in the optional details identified by the homeowner, such as moldings, light fixtures, cabinetry, and additional painting.
However, these have not yet been used extensively here in our country, but it could turn out to be a good idea. According to mobile homes specialist and marketer, Mike Debler, one out of five houses in the United States is, basically, a manufactured home. He claims that there are several kinds and models from which to choose, available in a variety of sizes, from 900 sq ft to over 2,000 sq ft. There are even two-story models to consider. What makes it so popular, of course, is that there is always a particular type that can fit anyone’s budget.
Some of the most common constraints to building your own home, aside from the prohibitive cost of materials and labor, are the protracted project period and the time-consuming details to attend to all throughout construction. Do you not wonder how builders abroad can put up a regular house with just a small construction crew and merely a few weeks of work? That is one other advantage about which manufactured homes can boast.
Can be relocated
Debler attests that it just takes a few days between choosing from among the model homes and delivering the product ready for assembly. Another plus is that manufactured homes can be relocated. In the United States, they merely have to attach wheels to the axles on the frame and tow to the site. This scenario brings to mind the Filipino image of “bayanihan,” wherein the village folk would carry a house on their shoulders to move it elsewhere.
By necessity, then, manufactured homes are initially made of lightweight materials, wood, and dry wall, but based on US standards, these still have to be able to withstand winds up to 130 mph. But this likewise means that these are not as structurally strong as our regularly built houses. In addition, this type of houses does not appreciate in value; only the lot on which it stands does.
On the other hand, since the main components of the house are factory made and done in a controlled environment, quality can be assured. The manufacturer will hire specialty subcontractors or workers who can master their phase of the job, ensuring efficiency and quality. The purchase of building materials is centralized, done in bulk, and therefore, cheaper.
The downside is that it promotes a cookie cutter concept. One house could look exactly like the next. However, nowadays, this is not an issue anymore. Many of the regular developments have row upon row of houses with identical shapes, color, roofs, and finishes. It only takes some imagination and personal styling to turn these manufactured homes into lovely and unique ones.
Trailer homes and mobile homes are classified under manufactured homes. Sadly, a lot of movies show trailer parks in a bad light, somewhat like our slum areas. But in spite of the negative publicity, a well-designed manufactured home can be the better answer to the huge demand for low-cost homes. With creativity, these may change our mass housing areas favorably. With careful study, these can be fortified to withstand our local conditions. With proper administration, manufactured homes can be many of our countrymen’s dream homes come true.
For your comments and questions, please send e-mail to marcosdeguzman@yahoo.com.
Legal Pinoys safe from UK crackdown say Philippine Embassy
BY CHARLES KELLY ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2009
http://www.immigrationmatters.co.uk
Manila. GMA News reports that the Philippine Embassy in London has responded fears that undocumented Filipinos in the United Kingdom are targeted by British immigration authorities for arrest and detention.
In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on Thursday, the embassy clarified that Filipinos in the UK are “generally law-abiding” and have not been affected by the anti-illegal migrants drive in that country.
“The target of the campaign involves nationals without appropriate work permits or other documentation, from Eastern European countries outside of the European Union, as well as those from Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa,” the embassy said.
Last May, Migrante International, an overseas Filipino workers’ advocacy group, said Manila needs to act with dispatch in view of the allegedly increasing cases of detention, inhumane treatment and deportation of arrested undocumented workers.
”We call upon the Philippine government and its satellite consulate here to address the needs of its people abroad and play a part in the lobbying efforts for regularization,” Migrante-UK secretary-general Jamima Fagta said.
The Philippine Embassy in Britain said that since 2007, it has proposed to the UK Home Office to conduct regular and official consultations on immigration concerns involving Filipinos.
There are more than 200,000 Filipinos living and working in the UK. Filipinos are often employed there as nurses and caregivers. Source: GMANews.TV.
Immigration Matters Comment
The Philippine Embassy in London has a good relationship with the Home Office and British Government. In recent years embassy staff worked closely with the British authorities to secure the rights of Filipino Domestic Workers and Senior Carers affected by changes in the points based system.
The crackdown on illegal immigration and employers hiring illegal workers is not targeted at Filipino’s or for that matter any particular nationality.
However, the UK Border Agency has employed hundreds of additional officers to carry out raids on employers and stop suspected illegal immigrants at tube stations and public areas. The message they want to convey is that if you are an overstayer and working illegally you do have a far greater chance of being caught and deported that at any time in the past.
Immigration authorities in the US, Canada and Australia have similar programmes.
The UK has an estimated 500,000 - 750,000 illegal workers, and leading think tank, ippr, says it would take 20 years and £5 billion to remove them.
The London School of Economics said in a recently published a report that granting amnesty to long-term illegal immigrants in the UK, could add up to £3bn to the economy. The LSE report added that an amnesty would not lead to a rise in migration but would raise spending on welfare services and housing.
But in the current climate, where a recent ‘Yougov’ poll revealed that immigration is the second most important issue to voter, a full scale amnesty is unlikely.
Employers are not always fully aware of the range documentation and the process required to check a workers entitlement to work. Indeed, even the Government’s top legal adviser Attorney General Baroness Scotland did not seem to be aware of the law she helped create when she employed an illegal housekeeper.
In a statement the attorney general’s office said: “[Lady] Scotland has never knowingly employed an illegal immigrant. She hired Ms Tapui in good faith and saw documents which led her to believe that Ms Tapui was entitled to work in this country.
“Ms Tapui lives locally and is understood to be married to a British national. Prior to being hired by Lady Scotland she was in registered employment. She is registered for tax and insurance.
The fact that someone “lives locally” or is “understood to be married to a British national” has no bearing on whether or not they are legally entitled to work.
National Insurance number no defence
Baroness Scotland was part of the Home Office legal team which drafted rules to punish employers with new civil (which means there is a lower burden of proof and therefore easier to impose) penalties for failing to carry out proper checks before employing non EU workers.
The Home Office said at the time that an employer could not rely on the fact that an overseas worker has a National Insurance number and said that such evidence would not provide a “statutory defence”.
http://www.immigrationmatters.co.uk
Manila. GMA News reports that the Philippine Embassy in London has responded fears that undocumented Filipinos in the United Kingdom are targeted by British immigration authorities for arrest and detention.
In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on Thursday, the embassy clarified that Filipinos in the UK are “generally law-abiding” and have not been affected by the anti-illegal migrants drive in that country.
“The target of the campaign involves nationals without appropriate work permits or other documentation, from Eastern European countries outside of the European Union, as well as those from Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa,” the embassy said.
Last May, Migrante International, an overseas Filipino workers’ advocacy group, said Manila needs to act with dispatch in view of the allegedly increasing cases of detention, inhumane treatment and deportation of arrested undocumented workers.
”We call upon the Philippine government and its satellite consulate here to address the needs of its people abroad and play a part in the lobbying efforts for regularization,” Migrante-UK secretary-general Jamima Fagta said.
The Philippine Embassy in Britain said that since 2007, it has proposed to the UK Home Office to conduct regular and official consultations on immigration concerns involving Filipinos.
There are more than 200,000 Filipinos living and working in the UK. Filipinos are often employed there as nurses and caregivers. Source: GMANews.TV.
Immigration Matters Comment
The Philippine Embassy in London has a good relationship with the Home Office and British Government. In recent years embassy staff worked closely with the British authorities to secure the rights of Filipino Domestic Workers and Senior Carers affected by changes in the points based system.
The crackdown on illegal immigration and employers hiring illegal workers is not targeted at Filipino’s or for that matter any particular nationality.
However, the UK Border Agency has employed hundreds of additional officers to carry out raids on employers and stop suspected illegal immigrants at tube stations and public areas. The message they want to convey is that if you are an overstayer and working illegally you do have a far greater chance of being caught and deported that at any time in the past.
Immigration authorities in the US, Canada and Australia have similar programmes.
The UK has an estimated 500,000 - 750,000 illegal workers, and leading think tank, ippr, says it would take 20 years and £5 billion to remove them.
The London School of Economics said in a recently published a report that granting amnesty to long-term illegal immigrants in the UK, could add up to £3bn to the economy. The LSE report added that an amnesty would not lead to a rise in migration but would raise spending on welfare services and housing.
But in the current climate, where a recent ‘Yougov’ poll revealed that immigration is the second most important issue to voter, a full scale amnesty is unlikely.
Employers are not always fully aware of the range documentation and the process required to check a workers entitlement to work. Indeed, even the Government’s top legal adviser Attorney General Baroness Scotland did not seem to be aware of the law she helped create when she employed an illegal housekeeper.
In a statement the attorney general’s office said: “[Lady] Scotland has never knowingly employed an illegal immigrant. She hired Ms Tapui in good faith and saw documents which led her to believe that Ms Tapui was entitled to work in this country.
“Ms Tapui lives locally and is understood to be married to a British national. Prior to being hired by Lady Scotland she was in registered employment. She is registered for tax and insurance.
The fact that someone “lives locally” or is “understood to be married to a British national” has no bearing on whether or not they are legally entitled to work.
National Insurance number no defence
Baroness Scotland was part of the Home Office legal team which drafted rules to punish employers with new civil (which means there is a lower burden of proof and therefore easier to impose) penalties for failing to carry out proper checks before employing non EU workers.
The Home Office said at the time that an employer could not rely on the fact that an overseas worker has a National Insurance number and said that such evidence would not provide a “statutory defence”.
The price of economic exodus
Perspective
Written by John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times
MONDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2009 18:15
SANTA BARBARA—Looking down the main drag of this farm town, Police Chief Eric Noble marvels at the modern conveniences — by products of the fierce ties binding Philippine families. Sturdy houses with concrete foundations now replace the thatched huts of a generation ago.
There are new cars, washing machines, children attending private schools and former sharecroppers who have purchased the farms where they once worked as lowly laborers.
Such economic progress has come from remittances, the staggering $1 billion sent to families nationwide each month by Filipinos working overseas in an attempt to overcome extreme poverty and joblessness in their native land.
Since they began leaving their island nation in droves in the early 1980s, Philippine workers have become a staple in other nations worldwide, with the money they send home in many cases remaining steady despite the worldwide financial crisis.
Filipinos sent a record $1.5 billion home in June as more sought work abroad. Remittances for the first six months of 2009 reached nearly $8.5 billion, a 2.9-percent increase over the same period last year.
In her annual state of the nation address in July, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo hailed remittances as a driving force behind the economy. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque separately described the remittance system as a source of pride.
MOTORCYCLISTS (top left) rush past a public market in Santa Barbara, Philippines. The market was built with remittances from the city’s many residents who work abroad. EDGAR DORIA, right, and his wife, Janet, right, want to leave their home in the Philippine city of Santa Barbara to seek work in Canada. They plan to leave with relatives their infant daughter, seen here, and two nephews they have been looking after whose parents already work abroad. LOS ANGELES TIMES PHOTO BY LUIS SINCO
“The flow of overseas worker money in an unstable global economy demonstrates the resiliency of the Filipino people,” Roque said. “Under the worst circumstances, our workers are getting jobs and sending home more money than ever. They are keeping the boat stable.”
But some critics say the money comes at a continued social cost. The poverty-stricken nation of 90 million has seen 10 million workers—more than 10 percent of its population—join the overseas labor force.
The exodus of trained teachers, health professionals and engineers, some say, has done the Philippines more harm than good as those much-needed services go elsewhere.
There are also distinct social problems that arise when heads of households leave for greener economic pastures, officials say.
Although Noble, the police chief, praises the financial boost remittances give his town, he said the system is draining the Philippines of a prized resource: its people.
“Every day you look and shake your head,” he says, “to see that someone else is gone.”
Many Santa Barbara residents realize they must leave their isolated town to achieve a better life. But with millions of the poor living atop garbage dumps and under bridges in Manila, they know their nation’s capital is not the solution.
And so they go abroad: One in 10 of Santa Barbara’s 80,000 residents work in places such as Italy, Taiwan, Singapore and the US.
But recent months have hit hard. Since last fall, when the global financial crisis struck, many overseas workers have been forced to secure second and even third jobs to keep the remittance flow constant.
About 200,000 overseas Filipinos have lost their jobs since then, economists say. Many have returned to the Philippines, where, accustomed to the better salaries and working conditions abroad, they often do not want to take any available jobs.
Others are hounded by job placement businesses to repay hefty travel and work setup fees the agencies have laid out in advance of workers leaving the Philippines. “They’re stalked by loan sharks who threaten their lives if they do not pay,” said Garry Martinez, chairman of Migrante International, a watchdog group.
The remittance system has also altered the lives of the stay-at-home families of overseas workers.
A recent International Monetary Fund study found that many extended families of overseas Philippine workers are refusing to pursue jobs at home that they consider too low-paying, preferring to rely on their monthly remittance cut.
There are social problems as well.
As parents leave home, children get left with relatives or friends who may not provide adequate supervision, which can lead to substance abuse and gang membership, says Tony Sarmiento, a Santa Barbara city official in charge of monitoring the overseas worker program.
“The worst part of this human export policy is that [the government doesn’t] make the hard choices back home,” said Benjamin Diokno, a professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics.
Some analysts say the Philippines must find ways to raise salaries to keep trained professionals from leaving the country. Statistics show US salaries for some professions are more than 10 times higher than in the Philippines.
Teachers and nurses can make $25,000 to $45,000 in the US doing work that pays about $3,600 a year in the Philippines, according to professional associations.
“We don’t work toward a dynamic economy that would create more jobs,” Diokno said. “Instead we rely on that paycheck from abroad.”
Far from home, Lenin Posario is busing tables in Alberta, Canada, and mowing lawns to make ends meet.
He has made twice the salary he was making as a banker in Santa Barbara, enough to put his two oldest children in private school. But the loneliness sometimes threatens to drive him mad.
His wife, Ruth, was six months pregnant with their third child when he left nearly two years ago. He was headed for Canada to provide the family with a better life. Still, she felt abandoned.
“I was pregnant and emotionally unstable and suddenly a single mother,” she recalled. “I couldn’t stop crying.”
“It’s the price we have to pay, or our families will suffer,” he said, sitting in his living room on a visit to Santa Barbara.
Maryann Bollesar also knows the anguish of missing her family. Two years ago, she joined her husband in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where the former teacher works as a helper in a real-estate office.
She left her two young sons with her younger brother in Santa Barbara. Each Friday, she talks to them over the Internet, able to see them via remote camera.
“I see how much they’ve grown without me, and I want to burst into tears; I miss them so much,” Bollesar said. “But I try not to cry in front of them.”
Her son Francis Ivan, now 6, a boy who likes basketball and hamburgers, stood in the living room of his uncle’s home and talked about a mother he hasn’t seen in two years.
“I want to hug her,” he said, staring at the floor. “Every week, I ask her, ‘Mommy, when are you coming home?’”
But the boy’s life is about to take another lonely turn.
The uncle he lives with, Edward Doria, wants to move to Canada. He and his wife plan to leave their own newborn daughter, along with their two nephews, behind with other family members.
Doria said he tries not to feel guilty.
“It’s a toxic choice, but we have to go,” he said. “We’re leaving the Philippines for the sake of the people we love.” - http://businessmirror.com.ph
Written by John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times
MONDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2009 18:15
SANTA BARBARA—Looking down the main drag of this farm town, Police Chief Eric Noble marvels at the modern conveniences — by products of the fierce ties binding Philippine families. Sturdy houses with concrete foundations now replace the thatched huts of a generation ago.
There are new cars, washing machines, children attending private schools and former sharecroppers who have purchased the farms where they once worked as lowly laborers.
Such economic progress has come from remittances, the staggering $1 billion sent to families nationwide each month by Filipinos working overseas in an attempt to overcome extreme poverty and joblessness in their native land.
Since they began leaving their island nation in droves in the early 1980s, Philippine workers have become a staple in other nations worldwide, with the money they send home in many cases remaining steady despite the worldwide financial crisis.
Filipinos sent a record $1.5 billion home in June as more sought work abroad. Remittances for the first six months of 2009 reached nearly $8.5 billion, a 2.9-percent increase over the same period last year.
In her annual state of the nation address in July, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo hailed remittances as a driving force behind the economy. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque separately described the remittance system as a source of pride.
MOTORCYCLISTS (top left) rush past a public market in Santa Barbara, Philippines. The market was built with remittances from the city’s many residents who work abroad. EDGAR DORIA, right, and his wife, Janet, right, want to leave their home in the Philippine city of Santa Barbara to seek work in Canada. They plan to leave with relatives their infant daughter, seen here, and two nephews they have been looking after whose parents already work abroad. LOS ANGELES TIMES PHOTO BY LUIS SINCO
“The flow of overseas worker money in an unstable global economy demonstrates the resiliency of the Filipino people,” Roque said. “Under the worst circumstances, our workers are getting jobs and sending home more money than ever. They are keeping the boat stable.”
But some critics say the money comes at a continued social cost. The poverty-stricken nation of 90 million has seen 10 million workers—more than 10 percent of its population—join the overseas labor force.
The exodus of trained teachers, health professionals and engineers, some say, has done the Philippines more harm than good as those much-needed services go elsewhere.
There are also distinct social problems that arise when heads of households leave for greener economic pastures, officials say.
Although Noble, the police chief, praises the financial boost remittances give his town, he said the system is draining the Philippines of a prized resource: its people.
“Every day you look and shake your head,” he says, “to see that someone else is gone.”
Many Santa Barbara residents realize they must leave their isolated town to achieve a better life. But with millions of the poor living atop garbage dumps and under bridges in Manila, they know their nation’s capital is not the solution.
And so they go abroad: One in 10 of Santa Barbara’s 80,000 residents work in places such as Italy, Taiwan, Singapore and the US.
But recent months have hit hard. Since last fall, when the global financial crisis struck, many overseas workers have been forced to secure second and even third jobs to keep the remittance flow constant.
About 200,000 overseas Filipinos have lost their jobs since then, economists say. Many have returned to the Philippines, where, accustomed to the better salaries and working conditions abroad, they often do not want to take any available jobs.
Others are hounded by job placement businesses to repay hefty travel and work setup fees the agencies have laid out in advance of workers leaving the Philippines. “They’re stalked by loan sharks who threaten their lives if they do not pay,” said Garry Martinez, chairman of Migrante International, a watchdog group.
The remittance system has also altered the lives of the stay-at-home families of overseas workers.
A recent International Monetary Fund study found that many extended families of overseas Philippine workers are refusing to pursue jobs at home that they consider too low-paying, preferring to rely on their monthly remittance cut.
There are social problems as well.
As parents leave home, children get left with relatives or friends who may not provide adequate supervision, which can lead to substance abuse and gang membership, says Tony Sarmiento, a Santa Barbara city official in charge of monitoring the overseas worker program.
“The worst part of this human export policy is that [the government doesn’t] make the hard choices back home,” said Benjamin Diokno, a professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics.
Some analysts say the Philippines must find ways to raise salaries to keep trained professionals from leaving the country. Statistics show US salaries for some professions are more than 10 times higher than in the Philippines.
Teachers and nurses can make $25,000 to $45,000 in the US doing work that pays about $3,600 a year in the Philippines, according to professional associations.
“We don’t work toward a dynamic economy that would create more jobs,” Diokno said. “Instead we rely on that paycheck from abroad.”
Far from home, Lenin Posario is busing tables in Alberta, Canada, and mowing lawns to make ends meet.
He has made twice the salary he was making as a banker in Santa Barbara, enough to put his two oldest children in private school. But the loneliness sometimes threatens to drive him mad.
His wife, Ruth, was six months pregnant with their third child when he left nearly two years ago. He was headed for Canada to provide the family with a better life. Still, she felt abandoned.
“I was pregnant and emotionally unstable and suddenly a single mother,” she recalled. “I couldn’t stop crying.”
“It’s the price we have to pay, or our families will suffer,” he said, sitting in his living room on a visit to Santa Barbara.
Maryann Bollesar also knows the anguish of missing her family. Two years ago, she joined her husband in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where the former teacher works as a helper in a real-estate office.
She left her two young sons with her younger brother in Santa Barbara. Each Friday, she talks to them over the Internet, able to see them via remote camera.
“I see how much they’ve grown without me, and I want to burst into tears; I miss them so much,” Bollesar said. “But I try not to cry in front of them.”
Her son Francis Ivan, now 6, a boy who likes basketball and hamburgers, stood in the living room of his uncle’s home and talked about a mother he hasn’t seen in two years.
“I want to hug her,” he said, staring at the floor. “Every week, I ask her, ‘Mommy, when are you coming home?’”
But the boy’s life is about to take another lonely turn.
The uncle he lives with, Edward Doria, wants to move to Canada. He and his wife plan to leave their own newborn daughter, along with their two nephews, behind with other family members.
Doria said he tries not to feel guilty.
“It’s a toxic choice, but we have to go,” he said. “We’re leaving the Philippines for the sake of the people we love.” - http://businessmirror.com.ph
Anvaya Cove, only Asian nominee for HD sustainability award
http://businessmirror.com.ph
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 20:39
ONE of the Philippines’ prized stretches of virgin coast lies on the northern tip of Manila, in Bataan—a lush sprawl of thick greens, cobalt waters, fine sand and sloping terrains.
“When we started planning Anvaya, we knew we were working with a special piece of land in a unique, lush and delicate natural setting.
From the beginning, there was already a great sense of responsibility to deliver a project that would not only preserve the natural surroundings, but enhance it by building a vibrant seaside community for families to enjoy. From its inception, respect for and sensitivity to the environment have been ingrained into the vision for Anvaya Cove,” shares Bobby Dy, Ayala Land Premier’s senior vice president and head of Residential Business Group.
At first glance, Anvaya Cove already exemplifies the ideal confluence of luxe elegance and environmental respect. However, it takes grassroots know-how and a sincere reverence for the concept of sustainability to be successful at such a scale—and Ayala Land Premier has mastered the art of green real-estate master-planning. As a testament to their commitment to members, residents and the environment, the resort community recently celebrated their nomination as a finalist for the HD Magazine award, under the Green and Sustainable Category.
“The design and planning of Anvaya Cove followed sustainable principles in order to create an eco-resort like residential development that was within easy reach of Manila,” says senior architect for Anvaya Cove Manny Illana. “At the onset of this project, the development team agreed that emphasis needed to be placed on protecting and enhancing the physical attributes and habitats of the site. This meant designing roadways that curved around to avoid mature trees, choosing lighting fixtures that would not disorient pawikan as they came home to Anvaya Cove to nest, and creating amenities like the Nature Camp that would be a venue for interacting with nature as well as promote conservation.”
As one of the most coveted recognitions in real-estate development, Anvaya Cove is the only Asian entry recognized by the prestigious HD Magazine award, allowing the development to join the ranks of an elite group of internationally renowned properties like the Auberge Chain in California, Mandarin Oriental Riveria Maya and The Venetian Macau.
The sublime beauty of Anvaya Cove exemplifies the seamless coexistence between the intrinsic allure of nature and the comfort of having access to lifestyle options, anchored on eco-sustainability. And to underscore these essential features, guests were treated to a fashion show featuring exclusively designed pieces from Jun Escario, Randy Ortiz, Arleen Sipat and Martin Bautista that highlighted the different sustainable features inherent to the development.
These included the use of locally available materials, employing passive solar-energy features, efficient lighting designs, generous setbacks and open spaces between homes, and building footprints limited only to 35 percent of the total lot area to ensure that the environmental and aesthetic benefits of natural greens are preserved and appreciated.
“These features are, of course, present in the eco-resort’s most recent additions: Anvaya Cove’s Seascape Ridge, which dedicates 85 percent of the entire are to open space to ensure a sprawling, airy tropical ambiance and a low-impact development, as the well as The Vistas at Mango Grove, which was designed to offer unparalleled privacy for its future residents,” asserts Illana.
Notably, the development, in its commitment to follow through on its long-term sustainability goals, has banded together to create the Anvaya Environmental Foundation Inc.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 20:39
ONE of the Philippines’ prized stretches of virgin coast lies on the northern tip of Manila, in Bataan—a lush sprawl of thick greens, cobalt waters, fine sand and sloping terrains.
“When we started planning Anvaya, we knew we were working with a special piece of land in a unique, lush and delicate natural setting.
From the beginning, there was already a great sense of responsibility to deliver a project that would not only preserve the natural surroundings, but enhance it by building a vibrant seaside community for families to enjoy. From its inception, respect for and sensitivity to the environment have been ingrained into the vision for Anvaya Cove,” shares Bobby Dy, Ayala Land Premier’s senior vice president and head of Residential Business Group.
At first glance, Anvaya Cove already exemplifies the ideal confluence of luxe elegance and environmental respect. However, it takes grassroots know-how and a sincere reverence for the concept of sustainability to be successful at such a scale—and Ayala Land Premier has mastered the art of green real-estate master-planning. As a testament to their commitment to members, residents and the environment, the resort community recently celebrated their nomination as a finalist for the HD Magazine award, under the Green and Sustainable Category.
“The design and planning of Anvaya Cove followed sustainable principles in order to create an eco-resort like residential development that was within easy reach of Manila,” says senior architect for Anvaya Cove Manny Illana. “At the onset of this project, the development team agreed that emphasis needed to be placed on protecting and enhancing the physical attributes and habitats of the site. This meant designing roadways that curved around to avoid mature trees, choosing lighting fixtures that would not disorient pawikan as they came home to Anvaya Cove to nest, and creating amenities like the Nature Camp that would be a venue for interacting with nature as well as promote conservation.”
As one of the most coveted recognitions in real-estate development, Anvaya Cove is the only Asian entry recognized by the prestigious HD Magazine award, allowing the development to join the ranks of an elite group of internationally renowned properties like the Auberge Chain in California, Mandarin Oriental Riveria Maya and The Venetian Macau.
The sublime beauty of Anvaya Cove exemplifies the seamless coexistence between the intrinsic allure of nature and the comfort of having access to lifestyle options, anchored on eco-sustainability. And to underscore these essential features, guests were treated to a fashion show featuring exclusively designed pieces from Jun Escario, Randy Ortiz, Arleen Sipat and Martin Bautista that highlighted the different sustainable features inherent to the development.
These included the use of locally available materials, employing passive solar-energy features, efficient lighting designs, generous setbacks and open spaces between homes, and building footprints limited only to 35 percent of the total lot area to ensure that the environmental and aesthetic benefits of natural greens are preserved and appreciated.
“These features are, of course, present in the eco-resort’s most recent additions: Anvaya Cove’s Seascape Ridge, which dedicates 85 percent of the entire are to open space to ensure a sprawling, airy tropical ambiance and a low-impact development, as the well as The Vistas at Mango Grove, which was designed to offer unparalleled privacy for its future residents,” asserts Illana.
Notably, the development, in its commitment to follow through on its long-term sustainability goals, has banded together to create the Anvaya Environmental Foundation Inc.
Buying Real Estate Property in the Philippines: 3 Steps
http://www.article-database.com
16.09.2009 | Author: manilahouses
You can never be too sure when buying a Philippine Real Estate Property. Whether it’s a house or lot, condominium unit, apartment – there are thousands of sob stories to tell (including ours, unfortunately), of broken dreams, piled up cases in court and millions of pesos lost. This is your hard-earned money we’re talking about – and it doesn’t hurt to be extra careful, or at least know what to check before you buy a property, especially here in the Philippines.
On the first part of this series, we’ll be tackling what you – as a buyer – need to know when making your first purchase of a Philippine Real Estate Property.
1. License to Sell – does the real estate property have a license to sell? Ask your broker if the project is registered and has license to sell issued by HLURB. You can verify this information thru the List of Projects with Approved Certificate of Registration and License to Sell on the HLURB site. You can also visit your nearest HLURB Regional office.
2. Inspect, Inspect, Inspect. Always conduct a personal visit to the subdivision/condo unit. Don’t ask someone to inspect it for you and then be left disappointed when the unit is turned over. Inspect every nook and cranny – from the foundation, wiring, the lot, especially the neighborhood. You don’t want to be raising your kid in a dangerous area, nor do you want to lose sleep if you’ve bought a property in the noisy part of the village.
3. Contract to Sell. So let’s say you’ve made the decision to buy and the project has a license to sell. You are about to enter into a Contract to Sell with the owner/developer. BUT just a few things you should check just to be certain:
a. Date of completion of the project as indicated in the license to sell
b. Clearance to Mortgage from HLURB if the property is mortgaged
c. If the amenities and facilities presented in the ads/flyers/brochures are in accordance with the approved subdivision and condominium plan on file with the HLURB.
Buying a real estate property shouldn’t be too difficult, especially if you’ve acquired the services of a professional and honest real estate broker/agent. Know AND understand the facts, and you’ll soon be one of the more than satisfied owners of a beautiful house and lot – growing your family – or a sophisticated condominium unit here in the Philippines(and having it all!).
It helps if you consult with a licensed real estate broker – the Philippines has recently increased the penalty for scrupulous real estate agents and there had been so many bad stories about them that acquiring the services of a real estate broker is a must – especially if you’re unsure of the authenticity of a Philippine Real Estate Property. They can help you from start to finish – and even after sales.
If you’ve satisfied the requirements above, then it’s time to take it to Part 2. It doesn’t end here!
Vir Santos is a licensed real estate broker dealing with Houses for Sale in the Philippines, as well as other Philippine Real Estate Properties.
16.09.2009 | Author: manilahouses
You can never be too sure when buying a Philippine Real Estate Property. Whether it’s a house or lot, condominium unit, apartment – there are thousands of sob stories to tell (including ours, unfortunately), of broken dreams, piled up cases in court and millions of pesos lost. This is your hard-earned money we’re talking about – and it doesn’t hurt to be extra careful, or at least know what to check before you buy a property, especially here in the Philippines.
On the first part of this series, we’ll be tackling what you – as a buyer – need to know when making your first purchase of a Philippine Real Estate Property.
1. License to Sell – does the real estate property have a license to sell? Ask your broker if the project is registered and has license to sell issued by HLURB. You can verify this information thru the List of Projects with Approved Certificate of Registration and License to Sell on the HLURB site. You can also visit your nearest HLURB Regional office.
2. Inspect, Inspect, Inspect. Always conduct a personal visit to the subdivision/condo unit. Don’t ask someone to inspect it for you and then be left disappointed when the unit is turned over. Inspect every nook and cranny – from the foundation, wiring, the lot, especially the neighborhood. You don’t want to be raising your kid in a dangerous area, nor do you want to lose sleep if you’ve bought a property in the noisy part of the village.
3. Contract to Sell. So let’s say you’ve made the decision to buy and the project has a license to sell. You are about to enter into a Contract to Sell with the owner/developer. BUT just a few things you should check just to be certain:
a. Date of completion of the project as indicated in the license to sell
b. Clearance to Mortgage from HLURB if the property is mortgaged
c. If the amenities and facilities presented in the ads/flyers/brochures are in accordance with the approved subdivision and condominium plan on file with the HLURB.
Buying a real estate property shouldn’t be too difficult, especially if you’ve acquired the services of a professional and honest real estate broker/agent. Know AND understand the facts, and you’ll soon be one of the more than satisfied owners of a beautiful house and lot – growing your family – or a sophisticated condominium unit here in the Philippines(and having it all!).
It helps if you consult with a licensed real estate broker – the Philippines has recently increased the penalty for scrupulous real estate agents and there had been so many bad stories about them that acquiring the services of a real estate broker is a must – especially if you’re unsure of the authenticity of a Philippine Real Estate Property. They can help you from start to finish – and even after sales.
If you’ve satisfied the requirements above, then it’s time to take it to Part 2. It doesn’t end here!
Vir Santos is a licensed real estate broker dealing with Houses for Sale in the Philippines, as well as other Philippine Real Estate Properties.
Philippine Real Estate Market Buoyant Despite Global Crisis
Olivia Olarte
Khaleej Times Online, http://www.khaleejtimes.com
25 September 2009
ABU DHABI — In spite of the global property slump, the Philippine real estate market remains buoyant, with list prices for off-plan properties in that country rising by an annual average of 10 per cent, an industry consultant says.
The Philippine property market remains stable because most of the buyers are end-users or home buyers and not speculators, said Jovy Tuano, Managing Director of Asia Gulf LLC, an Abu Dhabi-based property brokerage and management firm. In contrast to the firm prices there, properties in many neighbouring Asian states have lost value, he said. “The Philippine real estate market has experienced a nominal year-on-year growth of 10 per cent for the last five years, despite recent events affecting the global property market, he said. Tuano, who is also the chairman of the Philippine Business Council, Abu Dhabi, spoke to Khaleej Times ahead of next weekend’s Philippine Property Show, which is being held for the first time in Abu Dhabi.
The first edition of the show, held in Dubai last September, generated around Dh38 million (500 million pesos) in investments. Tuano, the project director for next week’s event, said he was optimistic that the Abu Dhabi show would generate serious buyers too.
“Abu Dhabi has managed to withstand the unfavourable global situation and is stable in terms of economic fundamentals. That is why we’re holding the second edition of the show here.”
According to Tuano, Filipino expatriates comprise 11 per cent of property sales in the country, with Filipinos employed in the Middle East accounting for almost half of that number. But the Philippines has seen an increase in foreign property investors, with some opting to live in the country.
The Philippine law on foreign ownership states that foreigners can wholly own a condominium with the same titles and rights accorded to a Filipino citizen, while those who want to retire in the country can, with a residence visa, fully own a house and lot measuring up to 1,000 square metres. Institutional investors can own up to 40 per cent of a building, Tuano said. At last year’s show, 20 per cent of the buyers were foreigners, the majority of whom were married to Filipinos, plus a few institutional investors. Some Emiratis have also expressed interest in investing in the Philippines.
Buyers at next week’s event can select from condominiums and house and lot projects showcased by major property developers in the Philippines, including Megaworld, SM Development Corporation, AboitizLand, AyalaLand, Alveo, Avida and Hamilo Coast. - olivia@khaleejtimes.ae
Khaleej Times Online, http://www.khaleejtimes.com
25 September 2009
ABU DHABI — In spite of the global property slump, the Philippine real estate market remains buoyant, with list prices for off-plan properties in that country rising by an annual average of 10 per cent, an industry consultant says.
The Philippine property market remains stable because most of the buyers are end-users or home buyers and not speculators, said Jovy Tuano, Managing Director of Asia Gulf LLC, an Abu Dhabi-based property brokerage and management firm. In contrast to the firm prices there, properties in many neighbouring Asian states have lost value, he said. “The Philippine real estate market has experienced a nominal year-on-year growth of 10 per cent for the last five years, despite recent events affecting the global property market, he said. Tuano, who is also the chairman of the Philippine Business Council, Abu Dhabi, spoke to Khaleej Times ahead of next weekend’s Philippine Property Show, which is being held for the first time in Abu Dhabi.
The first edition of the show, held in Dubai last September, generated around Dh38 million (500 million pesos) in investments. Tuano, the project director for next week’s event, said he was optimistic that the Abu Dhabi show would generate serious buyers too.
“Abu Dhabi has managed to withstand the unfavourable global situation and is stable in terms of economic fundamentals. That is why we’re holding the second edition of the show here.”
According to Tuano, Filipino expatriates comprise 11 per cent of property sales in the country, with Filipinos employed in the Middle East accounting for almost half of that number. But the Philippines has seen an increase in foreign property investors, with some opting to live in the country.
The Philippine law on foreign ownership states that foreigners can wholly own a condominium with the same titles and rights accorded to a Filipino citizen, while those who want to retire in the country can, with a residence visa, fully own a house and lot measuring up to 1,000 square metres. Institutional investors can own up to 40 per cent of a building, Tuano said. At last year’s show, 20 per cent of the buyers were foreigners, the majority of whom were married to Filipinos, plus a few institutional investors. Some Emiratis have also expressed interest in investing in the Philippines.
Buyers at next week’s event can select from condominiums and house and lot projects showcased by major property developers in the Philippines, including Megaworld, SM Development Corporation, AboitizLand, AyalaLand, Alveo, Avida and Hamilo Coast. - olivia@khaleejtimes.ae
Korean firm to finish 17-storey tower by 2010
http://www.bloggen.be/philippinenews
24-09-2009
SUBIC BAY Freeport -- Subic's tourism will be boosted again once a Korean firm completes the 17-storey residential and commercial units here by the end of 2010.
KT Global, the developer of Ampelos Tower, said in a statement that its 490 residential units and 220 condotel units will be finished by the end of 2010, infusing in more $135 million in investment for Subic Freeport.
KT Global president Hong Shik Kim said: "Subic Bay Freeport Zone, with its tax-free trading trend has been a home for millions of tourists who enjoy the zone's offer of comfortable and cozy ambience of leisure, tours and relaxation havens."
The tower will be the first highest tower in the Freeport zone and is expected to dwarf existing buildings in the area and boost tourism industry.
He added that KT Global believe in the capacity of Subic Bay Freeport Zone not only in marketing products and services but also offers a wide range of opportunities.
Kim said it has now sold almost 50 percent of its total project and is now on its pre-selling of the remaining units
Ampelos Tower is the pioneer in new and modern lifestyles in Subic with its sophisticated and classy architectural designs of residential units complete with advanced home security devices.
KT Global is the first to offer this kind of revolutionary way in real estate especially in the residential market in Subic.
"When finished, it (Ampelos tower) will be the landmark of Subic," he added.
24-09-2009
SUBIC BAY Freeport -- Subic's tourism will be boosted again once a Korean firm completes the 17-storey residential and commercial units here by the end of 2010.
KT Global, the developer of Ampelos Tower, said in a statement that its 490 residential units and 220 condotel units will be finished by the end of 2010, infusing in more $135 million in investment for Subic Freeport.
KT Global president Hong Shik Kim said: "Subic Bay Freeport Zone, with its tax-free trading trend has been a home for millions of tourists who enjoy the zone's offer of comfortable and cozy ambience of leisure, tours and relaxation havens."
The tower will be the first highest tower in the Freeport zone and is expected to dwarf existing buildings in the area and boost tourism industry.
He added that KT Global believe in the capacity of Subic Bay Freeport Zone not only in marketing products and services but also offers a wide range of opportunities.
Kim said it has now sold almost 50 percent of its total project and is now on its pre-selling of the remaining units
Ampelos Tower is the pioneer in new and modern lifestyles in Subic with its sophisticated and classy architectural designs of residential units complete with advanced home security devices.
KT Global is the first to offer this kind of revolutionary way in real estate especially in the residential market in Subic.
"When finished, it (Ampelos tower) will be the landmark of Subic," he added.
The SHOW-UP
Published on ABS-CBN News Online Beta (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com)
by Carmela Fonbuena, Newsbreak
with research assistance from
Victoria Camille Tulad, Newsbreak
09/14/2009 7:56 PM
Aileen was chosen from a bevy of young girls who showed up in a hotel and was married off to a Korean, more than twice her age, the next day.
It was Lovi, a co-worker in a cheese stick factory in Fairview, Quezon City (Where is this factory?) who introduced 19-year old Aileen to Annie, a marriage broker.
As a single mother, Aileen was at her wits’ end trying to raise a son who was born out of wedlock from a rape committed by a former co-worker. Her weekly income of P700 at the cheese sticks factory was hardly enough for herself, much less for her son and her grandmother.
Aileen, who hails from a province in southern Luzon, comes from family a of 16 children, so poor and destitute that when she was six months old, her parents gave her up to an aunt who has no family. Three other siblings live with relatives in Laguna. Four others died young.
Like many Filipinos, she dreamt of working abroad to help her family and provide her son a good future.
“Lovie talked to me. She offered me a job abroad, in Korea. I asked, 'What kind of job?' She said it's factory work. The salary is good but before I can go to Korea, I should marry a Korean,” she said.
Aileen dismissed the idea, but Lovie persuaded her and other co-workers at the factory to give it a try.
Aileen recognized an opportunity to get her family out of poverty and eventually gave in to Lovie’s urgings. In November 2007, she was introduced to Annie and appeared in her first show-up. She was not chosen.
But a few weeks later, Annie called her again for another show-up. Apparently, a Korean wanted to marry her after viewing her video in the Internet. Aileen remembered the video was taken when she was inside the van on her way to the show up.
She told Annie she was no longer interested to be matched, but she wouldn't hear any of it. When she didn't appear at the show-up―and the Korean had to choose among the women present―Annie was furious. Annie stormed her house and pressured her and her family to pay for what they had already spent on her. She threatened to call her police contacts if she didn’t.
“She was telling my grandmother to tell me to appear in the show-up because they’ve spent so much on me. My grandmother said to me, ‘What can you do? They spent on you. I said, ‘I don’t know. Let’s just see. (Sabi ng lola ko, e ano magagawa mo dyan e marami ka na raw nagastos sa kanila. Sabi ko, bahala na. Gumanon na lang ako).”
On December 15, Aileen was persuaded to appear in another show up. It was there that she met Ji-Wong.
“Put on some make up, Aileen. How will you get picked? Make yourself beautiful,.”Annie told her during the show-up in a hotel in Cubao, Quezon City..
Annie called a girl to work on Aileen's face with powder, blush and lipstick. In a short while, she and five other young girls paraded before Ji-Wong and Mr. Soon and answered the Koreans’ questions.
All five girls, simply dressed in jeans and shirts, were either high school graduates or college dropouts.
“I felt a bit like a prostitute. I don’t like wearing make up,” Aileen told Newsbreak
“The other girls were all so pretty. They really looked like sales ladies. They were so excited,” she added. But Ji-Wong had his eyes on the simple and reluctant Aileen and chose her.
How did it feel knowing she was going to marry Ji-Wong? “I planned to escape. But I said, never mind. (Balak ko tumakas. Pero sabi ko, bahala na nga),” she related.
The following day, Dec. 16, 2007, they were wed in a restaurant. Aileen's grandmother, her uncle, and her cousin stood as witnesses to their wedding vows and first kiss.
Also present at the wedding were two people who played important roles in the lives of the new couple—Mr. Lee, the Korean contact and translator and Annie, his Filipino counterpart who made sure that Aileen would behave appropriately
“You are very lucky, Aileen,” a delighted Annie kept repeating to Aileen on her wedding day. Lucky because Ji-Wong, according to the business card he gave Aileen, is a “manager.”
They didn't know what business he was engaged in but “manager” sounded good enough for them. Annie promised her he would agree to regularly send money to her family in the Philippines.
But Aileen couldn’t stand Ji-Wong. “Ayoko nga mapasubo dyan kasi ang baho ng hininga. Sabi ko, parang hindi ako natunawan a. Sana umuwi na sila.” (His breath smelled so bad, I just wanted him to go home.)
“Sabi sa amin ni Ate Celia, pag mag-asawa na kayo wala na kayong magagawa. Pumayag na kayo kasi wala namang mawawala. Asawa mo naman e. Sabi ko, kahit na may anak ako. Iba pa rin yun.),” Aileen said. ( My Ate Celia told me that I cannot do anything anymore because he is already my husband. I know I already have a son but this just did not feel right.)
She played along anyway. It didn't matter how she felt for Ji-Wong. Annie had her by the throat. If she escaped, she knew Annie would not stop hounding her.
Besides, she did want the money. With the promise of regular remittances to her family, she resigned herself to her fate.
Ji-Wong returned to Korea four days after the wedding. Mr. Lee promised him Aileen would soon join him there. But Aileen reported Annie’s operations to the Commission on Overseas Filipinos (CFC). The case is now pending at the Quezon City regional Trial Court.
Aileen admitted she still thinks of her husband Ji-Wong, who continues to wait for her in Korea. Aileen said Ji-Wong doesn’t know about the legal case in the Philippines because Mr. Lee, the Korean recruiter, is supposedly telling him the paperwork is delaying her departure.
Aileen said she is thankful that CFO saved her. “I could have been killed and brought home in a coffin (Baka mapatay na lang ako dun tapos pag-uwi, kabaong na),” she told Newsbreak.
But Aileen continues to live in fear. Since the case, Aileen had left her home in Quezon City for fear that the recruiters would continue to hound her and her family, who had blamed her for dragging them in her problems. Her aunt refuses to give up her son. They wouldn’t even let her talk to him anymore.
“Maybe when I find a good job and be able to help them, they will welcome me again,” she lamented.
While Ji-Wong remains to be her husband, Aileen has started a new life with another man with whom she already has a second son. “He’s a nice guy. He takes care of me,” Aileen said.
At the same time, she feels sorry for Ji-Wong and thinks of him as a victim of the recruiters.
“Sometimes I want to call him. But I am always overtaken by fear. I want to call him right now (Balak ko nga tawagan na lang sya. Pero nauunahan ako ng takot. Sabi ko, wag na lang. Gusto ko nga tawagan ngayon e).” – Newsbreak
by Carmela Fonbuena, Newsbreak
with research assistance from
Victoria Camille Tulad, Newsbreak
09/14/2009 7:56 PM
Aileen was chosen from a bevy of young girls who showed up in a hotel and was married off to a Korean, more than twice her age, the next day.
It was Lovi, a co-worker in a cheese stick factory in Fairview, Quezon City (Where is this factory?) who introduced 19-year old Aileen to Annie, a marriage broker.
As a single mother, Aileen was at her wits’ end trying to raise a son who was born out of wedlock from a rape committed by a former co-worker. Her weekly income of P700 at the cheese sticks factory was hardly enough for herself, much less for her son and her grandmother.
Aileen, who hails from a province in southern Luzon, comes from family a of 16 children, so poor and destitute that when she was six months old, her parents gave her up to an aunt who has no family. Three other siblings live with relatives in Laguna. Four others died young.
Like many Filipinos, she dreamt of working abroad to help her family and provide her son a good future.
“Lovie talked to me. She offered me a job abroad, in Korea. I asked, 'What kind of job?' She said it's factory work. The salary is good but before I can go to Korea, I should marry a Korean,” she said.
Aileen dismissed the idea, but Lovie persuaded her and other co-workers at the factory to give it a try.
Aileen recognized an opportunity to get her family out of poverty and eventually gave in to Lovie’s urgings. In November 2007, she was introduced to Annie and appeared in her first show-up. She was not chosen.
But a few weeks later, Annie called her again for another show-up. Apparently, a Korean wanted to marry her after viewing her video in the Internet. Aileen remembered the video was taken when she was inside the van on her way to the show up.
She told Annie she was no longer interested to be matched, but she wouldn't hear any of it. When she didn't appear at the show-up―and the Korean had to choose among the women present―Annie was furious. Annie stormed her house and pressured her and her family to pay for what they had already spent on her. She threatened to call her police contacts if she didn’t.
“She was telling my grandmother to tell me to appear in the show-up because they’ve spent so much on me. My grandmother said to me, ‘What can you do? They spent on you. I said, ‘I don’t know. Let’s just see. (Sabi ng lola ko, e ano magagawa mo dyan e marami ka na raw nagastos sa kanila. Sabi ko, bahala na. Gumanon na lang ako).”
On December 15, Aileen was persuaded to appear in another show up. It was there that she met Ji-Wong.
“Put on some make up, Aileen. How will you get picked? Make yourself beautiful,.”Annie told her during the show-up in a hotel in Cubao, Quezon City..
Annie called a girl to work on Aileen's face with powder, blush and lipstick. In a short while, she and five other young girls paraded before Ji-Wong and Mr. Soon and answered the Koreans’ questions.
All five girls, simply dressed in jeans and shirts, were either high school graduates or college dropouts.
“I felt a bit like a prostitute. I don’t like wearing make up,” Aileen told Newsbreak
“The other girls were all so pretty. They really looked like sales ladies. They were so excited,” she added. But Ji-Wong had his eyes on the simple and reluctant Aileen and chose her.
How did it feel knowing she was going to marry Ji-Wong? “I planned to escape. But I said, never mind. (Balak ko tumakas. Pero sabi ko, bahala na nga),” she related.
The following day, Dec. 16, 2007, they were wed in a restaurant. Aileen's grandmother, her uncle, and her cousin stood as witnesses to their wedding vows and first kiss.
Also present at the wedding were two people who played important roles in the lives of the new couple—Mr. Lee, the Korean contact and translator and Annie, his Filipino counterpart who made sure that Aileen would behave appropriately
“You are very lucky, Aileen,” a delighted Annie kept repeating to Aileen on her wedding day. Lucky because Ji-Wong, according to the business card he gave Aileen, is a “manager.”
They didn't know what business he was engaged in but “manager” sounded good enough for them. Annie promised her he would agree to regularly send money to her family in the Philippines.
But Aileen couldn’t stand Ji-Wong. “Ayoko nga mapasubo dyan kasi ang baho ng hininga. Sabi ko, parang hindi ako natunawan a. Sana umuwi na sila.” (His breath smelled so bad, I just wanted him to go home.)
“Sabi sa amin ni Ate Celia, pag mag-asawa na kayo wala na kayong magagawa. Pumayag na kayo kasi wala namang mawawala. Asawa mo naman e. Sabi ko, kahit na may anak ako. Iba pa rin yun.),” Aileen said. ( My Ate Celia told me that I cannot do anything anymore because he is already my husband. I know I already have a son but this just did not feel right.)
She played along anyway. It didn't matter how she felt for Ji-Wong. Annie had her by the throat. If she escaped, she knew Annie would not stop hounding her.
Besides, she did want the money. With the promise of regular remittances to her family, she resigned herself to her fate.
Ji-Wong returned to Korea four days after the wedding. Mr. Lee promised him Aileen would soon join him there. But Aileen reported Annie’s operations to the Commission on Overseas Filipinos (CFC). The case is now pending at the Quezon City regional Trial Court.
Aileen admitted she still thinks of her husband Ji-Wong, who continues to wait for her in Korea. Aileen said Ji-Wong doesn’t know about the legal case in the Philippines because Mr. Lee, the Korean recruiter, is supposedly telling him the paperwork is delaying her departure.
Aileen said she is thankful that CFO saved her. “I could have been killed and brought home in a coffin (Baka mapatay na lang ako dun tapos pag-uwi, kabaong na),” she told Newsbreak.
But Aileen continues to live in fear. Since the case, Aileen had left her home in Quezon City for fear that the recruiters would continue to hound her and her family, who had blamed her for dragging them in her problems. Her aunt refuses to give up her son. They wouldn’t even let her talk to him anymore.
“Maybe when I find a good job and be able to help them, they will welcome me again,” she lamented.
While Ji-Wong remains to be her husband, Aileen has started a new life with another man with whom she already has a second son. “He’s a nice guy. He takes care of me,” Aileen said.
At the same time, she feels sorry for Ji-Wong and thinks of him as a victim of the recruiters.
“Sometimes I want to call him. But I am always overtaken by fear. I want to call him right now (Balak ko nga tawagan na lang sya. Pero nauunahan ako ng takot. Sabi ko, wag na lang. Gusto ko nga tawagan ngayon e).” – Newsbreak
Out-Sourcing the Wife
Published on ABS-CBN News Online Beta (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com)
By Carmela Fonbuena, Newsbreak
with research assistance from
Victoria Camille Tulad, Newsbreak
09/14/2009 8:40 PM
(First of three parts)
With her slim build, long hair, fair skin and almond eyes, 20-year old Aileen, along with five other girls, sat before Mr. Ji-Wong and Mr. Soon, looking every bit like the fantasy woman Koreans are looking for in their future wives. But this is no ordinary search for a wife or a husband. The search had been outsourced to an international matching organization that brought together the interested parties for a fee and the complexities of love, chemistry, commitment reduced to a short, half-hour interview in a seedy hotel in Cubao, Quezon City.
The SHOW-UP
Aileen was chosen from a bevy of young girls who showed up in a hotel and was married off to a Korean, more than twice her age, the next day.
It was Lovi, a co-worker in a cheese stick factory in Fairview, Quezon City (Where is this factory?) who introduced 19-year old Aileen to Annie, a marriage broker.
As a single mother, Aileen was at her wits’ end trying to raise a son who was born out of wedlock from a rape committed by a former co-worker. Her weekly income of P700 at the cheese sticks factory was hardly enough for herself, much less for her son and her grandmother.
read more...
Inside the hotel, Aileen learned that Mr. Soon had already chosen Jenny after seeing her video in the internet. Aileen and the rest of the girls competed for Mr. Ji-Wong, who was 45, divorced and spoke very little English. As Mr. Soon proceeded to get to know Jenny, the rest of the girls were seated on a couch and were each asked to write their names and the color of their shirts on a sheet of paper. Aileen wrote “white” and “red” under her name.
Ji-Wong asked her, “How old are you? Where do you live? What is your name?” It was apparent he was smitten and with the help of Mr. Lee, who also doubled as translator, Ji-Wong focused his questions on her.
Aileen, who did not like the Korean and wishing not to be chosen, answered rudely. She told him she had a bad temper, that she was a bad cook and that she did not know how to take care of a husband. She also told him she had a son. “Don’t blame me if you suffer,” she warned him.
But the effort to steer his attention to the other girls back-fired. He found her tantrums charming and chose her in the end. After the other girls were whisked away, Aileen was immediately treated to a shopping spree by her recruiters. They bought her a wedding dress and a wedding ring.
The following day, she was wed. The wedding was witnessed by her grandmother, her uncle, her cousin, Mr. Lee and Annie, the Filipino counterpart in the mail-order bride syndicate who promised Ji-Wong an instant bride and a wedding that will transpire without a hitch.
Until Aileen turned on him and reported the incident to authorities, Ji-Wong thought he got exactly what he paid for.
Show-up Tours
"Mail order bride" was a term coined in the 19th century to refer to the way American soldiers literally ordered brides to join them in areas they were assigned. Today, it has acquired a different connotation as technological leaps and bounds have become easier for men to “order” their wives from the net in much the same way they do their shopping online.
Mail order sites, masquerading as nothing more than match-making agencies, generally use two ways to peddle women as mail order brides. They offer names and addresses of prospective brides for a fee or they arrange "show-up" tours where they can meet the women, select from them and bring home a bride in the two weeks vacation time their work usually allows them to.
As travel costs continue to go down, more and more foreign men seeking Filipina wives are lured to fly to the Philippines to join "show-up" tours arranged for a fee by marriage brokers.
The web site charges US $385 for a four-day "tour" in the Philippines. This amount does not include the airfare and accommodations.
One website checked out by Newsbreak www.charmingfilipinas.com [14] charges US$300 for a four day tour in the Philippines. This amount does not include the airfare, the accommodations and the booking fee of $85.
In the Philippines, mail-order bride syndicates charge each foreigner up to half a million pesos depending on how long he wants to stay in the Philippines and his preferred accommodations.
One- day Courtships
One web site in Digos City, a small city in Mindanao about two hours from Mindanao, for instance holds two show up tours every week. Another site in Cebu has a show tour once a week.
In these tours, the foreigners, alone or in groups, are booked for flights and billeted in hotels where prospective brides are paraded before them usually with a translator to guide them through the interviews and difficulties of language and cultural barriers.
The foreigners choose their bride and the new couple are usually married the following day. He stays for a few weeks of honeymoon and then goes back to his country while his bride takes care of the necessary documents to join him.
Newsbreak’s random survey of web sites organizing such tours shows a high demand for this kind of service both from men who want a bride in a snap and women who are eager for adventure and a chance to change their lives.
"You have a population which is accustomed to a non-materialistic way of life, raised with less of a value put on possessions. Many of the residents are lower income, but they still attend college locally, work and dress nicely in site of the financial challenges. They have old-fashioned values and generally offer sincere interest in the man, rather than his wallet and are overall low maintenance. Country girls who don’t believe in divorce, that pretty much describes the kind of girl you’ll find here," goes a locally operated mail order web site inviting those seeking for wives in Digos.
The web site tells the men not to worry about terrorists only the "insincere motives" of Manila girls.
But in many of the photos advertised in the website, the desire to be saved from their lives and financial ruin is still the basic drift.
At 55, "lonely" widow "Corazon" wants another shot at marriage. Catalogued as ID#1P10, Corazon’s profile says she’s 5’ 2" tall and 120 pounds. She says she loves gardening, cooking, and sewing clothes. She says she has no children and would want a lifetime friend to spend the rest of her life with.
"I would like to meet men who are sincere, honest, and loving ages 50 years old and above who are interested in communication, friendship, love and marriage. I will answer all letters," she wrote.
Single mother "merlitapiga," 38, who lives in Manila with her three daughters, is forthright in her profile in one matching web site.
"(Sic) I like to meet someone to love me and my partner for life, and help me to my financial problem. A good man and real and responsible," she wrote.
The wide age differences and discrepancies in the backgrounds of many couples married off through mail order bride schemes, particularly in the show-up tours, makes the motivations of all players suspicious, Regina Galias, head of the CFO Migrant Integration and Education Division told Newsbreak.
The Filipino mail order brides are mostly under 30 who have never been married. And yet too many of them agree to wed divorced men twice their age.
"Normally, men and women in marriages outside the mail order bride scheme are about the same age range," said Galias.
Other than age, Galias said the foreign men are more specific when they place orders to marriage brokers.
"Most of them set requirements. They want the brides with long hairs and morena. They want nurses or teachers,”says Galias.
Billion-Dollar industry
Judging by the proliferation of websites peddling Filipino women in the web, the local mail order bride industry could be worth billions.
In the past 20 years, over 300,000 Filipinos have been married to foreign nationals, figures from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) show. The number grows every year from less than eight thousand in 1989 to over 20,000 in 2007. About 25 percent of these marriages were arranged by mail-order bride syndicates.
Majority of mail order brides come from Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union. The number of women coming from the Philippines and Russia stand out compared to their neighbors.
A 1997 report on the mail order bride industry funded by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service cited Cherry Blossoms—the largest and oldest matching agency— back then as having over 6,000 women at any one time. Out of this number, 3,050 already came from the Philippines and 1,700 from Russia and Ukraine.
The Philippine Migrants’ Rights Watch puts the total number of Filipino women who have signed up in matching web sites to 100,000. The group’s survey of 200 web sites also showed that about 70 percent of the women listed as Southeast Asian women were Filipino. Filipinas who have been married to foreign nationals are spread out in over 20 countries but majority of them—three-fourths—are married to US nationals (nearly 150,000) and Japanese (100,000).
The statistics vary on how many of these spouses—mostly women—are mail order brides. According to the Philippine Migrants’ Rights Watch, there have been 55,000 in the US and Japan since 1986 to 2005.The US-based Purple Rose Campaign estimates that there are 5,000 mail-order brides going to the US and Japan annually.
Benefits
Assailed and demonized by feminist groups worldwide, founders of matching web sites proclaim the benefits of their services.
"Women who seek husbands across the world are like women who seek husbands across the street. If a woman is prepared to seek a good husband outside her own country, she is a smart shopper, availing herself of millions of choices," Fred Wahl, founder of the US-based Heart of Asia Romance Network, wrote in the web site.
"Using the Internet to widen your search beyond the borders of your own country is a Win-Win for both men and women. It gives you the chance to search a wider pool of prospective mates that you could hope to meet otherwise," he added.
Business is brisk as men of First World countries grow increasingly disappointed with their women who are not so willing to take on the traditional responsibilities of the household. The increasing tendency among First World women to seek higher education also makes the lower-educated men insecure.
These men look to Asian women as ideal wives because of their image as traditional, subservient and intellectually and sexually submissive.
"Women from the Philippines mostly seem to be very humble and do not feel as if the world lives for them and it’s hard to find a woman from the USA that way," said one subscriber of Wahl’s web site.
Filipino mail order bride Wenalyn couldn’t be happier, according to a comment she posted on the web site where she met her husband. "(Sic) I’m very thankful to the staff of Heart of Asia because your job is amazing, if without u I can’t find my soul mate. We got married J an. 2006. I arrived here at the US last April 2007. This is the first winter that I experience and first time to see snow. We plan after my US citizenship we visit to my family at the Philippines."
American national James says his mail order bride was God-sent. "I am thankful that with your service after visiting Cebu, Philippines, I received confirmation from God that Emerita was the woman made just for me. We were married here in Chesapeake, Virginia on September 9th of 2006. We are very happy with God's blessing," he says in the same web site.
In several cases, the Filipina mail order brides, once they are settled abroad, also link their friends and neighbors in the Philippines to their husband's friends. There are those who become full-fledged marriage brokers, too.
The prohibition of matching under Republic Act 6955 or the Anti-Mail Order Bride Law is actually unique to the Philippines. In the US, it is regulated and it is also legal in Japan, Korea, Australia and Canada.
Despite the happy stories of Filipinas ending up in happy marriages, however, authorities and agencies working to prevent the exploitation of women in mail-order situations declare that the potential for abuse is so great and the examples so many to justify the ban.
Janet Ramos, head of the CFO’s anti-trafficking unit, said the mail order bride industry has been used for so long to traffic Filipinos outside the country.
The problem when they have left the country is that it becomes very difficult to report the abuses to their families in the Philippines.
(Next part-- Dreams Turned Sour: Mail-order schemes used to traffic and abuse Filipino women
By Carmela Fonbuena, Newsbreak
with research assistance from
Victoria Camille Tulad, Newsbreak
09/14/2009 8:40 PM
(First of three parts)
With her slim build, long hair, fair skin and almond eyes, 20-year old Aileen, along with five other girls, sat before Mr. Ji-Wong and Mr. Soon, looking every bit like the fantasy woman Koreans are looking for in their future wives. But this is no ordinary search for a wife or a husband. The search had been outsourced to an international matching organization that brought together the interested parties for a fee and the complexities of love, chemistry, commitment reduced to a short, half-hour interview in a seedy hotel in Cubao, Quezon City.
The SHOW-UP
Aileen was chosen from a bevy of young girls who showed up in a hotel and was married off to a Korean, more than twice her age, the next day.
It was Lovi, a co-worker in a cheese stick factory in Fairview, Quezon City (Where is this factory?) who introduced 19-year old Aileen to Annie, a marriage broker.
As a single mother, Aileen was at her wits’ end trying to raise a son who was born out of wedlock from a rape committed by a former co-worker. Her weekly income of P700 at the cheese sticks factory was hardly enough for herself, much less for her son and her grandmother.
read more...
Inside the hotel, Aileen learned that Mr. Soon had already chosen Jenny after seeing her video in the internet. Aileen and the rest of the girls competed for Mr. Ji-Wong, who was 45, divorced and spoke very little English. As Mr. Soon proceeded to get to know Jenny, the rest of the girls were seated on a couch and were each asked to write their names and the color of their shirts on a sheet of paper. Aileen wrote “white” and “red” under her name.
Ji-Wong asked her, “How old are you? Where do you live? What is your name?” It was apparent he was smitten and with the help of Mr. Lee, who also doubled as translator, Ji-Wong focused his questions on her.
Aileen, who did not like the Korean and wishing not to be chosen, answered rudely. She told him she had a bad temper, that she was a bad cook and that she did not know how to take care of a husband. She also told him she had a son. “Don’t blame me if you suffer,” she warned him.
But the effort to steer his attention to the other girls back-fired. He found her tantrums charming and chose her in the end. After the other girls were whisked away, Aileen was immediately treated to a shopping spree by her recruiters. They bought her a wedding dress and a wedding ring.
The following day, she was wed. The wedding was witnessed by her grandmother, her uncle, her cousin, Mr. Lee and Annie, the Filipino counterpart in the mail-order bride syndicate who promised Ji-Wong an instant bride and a wedding that will transpire without a hitch.
Until Aileen turned on him and reported the incident to authorities, Ji-Wong thought he got exactly what he paid for.
Show-up Tours
"Mail order bride" was a term coined in the 19th century to refer to the way American soldiers literally ordered brides to join them in areas they were assigned. Today, it has acquired a different connotation as technological leaps and bounds have become easier for men to “order” their wives from the net in much the same way they do their shopping online.
Mail order sites, masquerading as nothing more than match-making agencies, generally use two ways to peddle women as mail order brides. They offer names and addresses of prospective brides for a fee or they arrange "show-up" tours where they can meet the women, select from them and bring home a bride in the two weeks vacation time their work usually allows them to.
As travel costs continue to go down, more and more foreign men seeking Filipina wives are lured to fly to the Philippines to join "show-up" tours arranged for a fee by marriage brokers.
The web site charges US $385 for a four-day "tour" in the Philippines. This amount does not include the airfare and accommodations.
One website checked out by Newsbreak www.charmingfilipinas.com [14] charges US$300 for a four day tour in the Philippines. This amount does not include the airfare, the accommodations and the booking fee of $85.
In the Philippines, mail-order bride syndicates charge each foreigner up to half a million pesos depending on how long he wants to stay in the Philippines and his preferred accommodations.
One- day Courtships
One web site in Digos City, a small city in Mindanao about two hours from Mindanao, for instance holds two show up tours every week. Another site in Cebu has a show tour once a week.
In these tours, the foreigners, alone or in groups, are booked for flights and billeted in hotels where prospective brides are paraded before them usually with a translator to guide them through the interviews and difficulties of language and cultural barriers.
The foreigners choose their bride and the new couple are usually married the following day. He stays for a few weeks of honeymoon and then goes back to his country while his bride takes care of the necessary documents to join him.
Newsbreak’s random survey of web sites organizing such tours shows a high demand for this kind of service both from men who want a bride in a snap and women who are eager for adventure and a chance to change their lives.
"You have a population which is accustomed to a non-materialistic way of life, raised with less of a value put on possessions. Many of the residents are lower income, but they still attend college locally, work and dress nicely in site of the financial challenges. They have old-fashioned values and generally offer sincere interest in the man, rather than his wallet and are overall low maintenance. Country girls who don’t believe in divorce, that pretty much describes the kind of girl you’ll find here," goes a locally operated mail order web site inviting those seeking for wives in Digos.
The web site tells the men not to worry about terrorists only the "insincere motives" of Manila girls.
But in many of the photos advertised in the website, the desire to be saved from their lives and financial ruin is still the basic drift.
At 55, "lonely" widow "Corazon" wants another shot at marriage. Catalogued as ID#1P10, Corazon’s profile says she’s 5’ 2" tall and 120 pounds. She says she loves gardening, cooking, and sewing clothes. She says she has no children and would want a lifetime friend to spend the rest of her life with.
"I would like to meet men who are sincere, honest, and loving ages 50 years old and above who are interested in communication, friendship, love and marriage. I will answer all letters," she wrote.
Single mother "merlitapiga," 38, who lives in Manila with her three daughters, is forthright in her profile in one matching web site.
"(Sic) I like to meet someone to love me and my partner for life, and help me to my financial problem. A good man and real and responsible," she wrote.
The wide age differences and discrepancies in the backgrounds of many couples married off through mail order bride schemes, particularly in the show-up tours, makes the motivations of all players suspicious, Regina Galias, head of the CFO Migrant Integration and Education Division told Newsbreak.
The Filipino mail order brides are mostly under 30 who have never been married. And yet too many of them agree to wed divorced men twice their age.
"Normally, men and women in marriages outside the mail order bride scheme are about the same age range," said Galias.
Other than age, Galias said the foreign men are more specific when they place orders to marriage brokers.
"Most of them set requirements. They want the brides with long hairs and morena. They want nurses or teachers,”says Galias.
Billion-Dollar industry
Judging by the proliferation of websites peddling Filipino women in the web, the local mail order bride industry could be worth billions.
In the past 20 years, over 300,000 Filipinos have been married to foreign nationals, figures from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) show. The number grows every year from less than eight thousand in 1989 to over 20,000 in 2007. About 25 percent of these marriages were arranged by mail-order bride syndicates.
Majority of mail order brides come from Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union. The number of women coming from the Philippines and Russia stand out compared to their neighbors.
A 1997 report on the mail order bride industry funded by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service cited Cherry Blossoms—the largest and oldest matching agency— back then as having over 6,000 women at any one time. Out of this number, 3,050 already came from the Philippines and 1,700 from Russia and Ukraine.
The Philippine Migrants’ Rights Watch puts the total number of Filipino women who have signed up in matching web sites to 100,000. The group’s survey of 200 web sites also showed that about 70 percent of the women listed as Southeast Asian women were Filipino. Filipinas who have been married to foreign nationals are spread out in over 20 countries but majority of them—three-fourths—are married to US nationals (nearly 150,000) and Japanese (100,000).
The statistics vary on how many of these spouses—mostly women—are mail order brides. According to the Philippine Migrants’ Rights Watch, there have been 55,000 in the US and Japan since 1986 to 2005.The US-based Purple Rose Campaign estimates that there are 5,000 mail-order brides going to the US and Japan annually.
Benefits
Assailed and demonized by feminist groups worldwide, founders of matching web sites proclaim the benefits of their services.
"Women who seek husbands across the world are like women who seek husbands across the street. If a woman is prepared to seek a good husband outside her own country, she is a smart shopper, availing herself of millions of choices," Fred Wahl, founder of the US-based Heart of Asia Romance Network, wrote in the web site.
"Using the Internet to widen your search beyond the borders of your own country is a Win-Win for both men and women. It gives you the chance to search a wider pool of prospective mates that you could hope to meet otherwise," he added.
Business is brisk as men of First World countries grow increasingly disappointed with their women who are not so willing to take on the traditional responsibilities of the household. The increasing tendency among First World women to seek higher education also makes the lower-educated men insecure.
These men look to Asian women as ideal wives because of their image as traditional, subservient and intellectually and sexually submissive.
"Women from the Philippines mostly seem to be very humble and do not feel as if the world lives for them and it’s hard to find a woman from the USA that way," said one subscriber of Wahl’s web site.
Filipino mail order bride Wenalyn couldn’t be happier, according to a comment she posted on the web site where she met her husband. "(Sic) I’m very thankful to the staff of Heart of Asia because your job is amazing, if without u I can’t find my soul mate. We got married J an. 2006. I arrived here at the US last April 2007. This is the first winter that I experience and first time to see snow. We plan after my US citizenship we visit to my family at the Philippines."
American national James says his mail order bride was God-sent. "I am thankful that with your service after visiting Cebu, Philippines, I received confirmation from God that Emerita was the woman made just for me. We were married here in Chesapeake, Virginia on September 9th of 2006. We are very happy with God's blessing," he says in the same web site.
In several cases, the Filipina mail order brides, once they are settled abroad, also link their friends and neighbors in the Philippines to their husband's friends. There are those who become full-fledged marriage brokers, too.
The prohibition of matching under Republic Act 6955 or the Anti-Mail Order Bride Law is actually unique to the Philippines. In the US, it is regulated and it is also legal in Japan, Korea, Australia and Canada.
Despite the happy stories of Filipinas ending up in happy marriages, however, authorities and agencies working to prevent the exploitation of women in mail-order situations declare that the potential for abuse is so great and the examples so many to justify the ban.
Janet Ramos, head of the CFO’s anti-trafficking unit, said the mail order bride industry has been used for so long to traffic Filipinos outside the country.
The problem when they have left the country is that it becomes very difficult to report the abuses to their families in the Philippines.
(Next part-- Dreams Turned Sour: Mail-order schemes used to traffic and abuse Filipino women
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
REITs bill okayed by bicam panel
Business World Online
September 23, 2009
A BICAMERAL PANEL yesterday approved a bill allowing the establishment of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which would give investors a new means of making money.
Legislators said the measure — a consolidation of Senate Bill 2639 and House Bill 6379 — could be ratified by Congress as early as Monday next week.
Its signing into law, they said, could happen before lawmakers go on an October 17 to November 8 break.
"I can schedule its ratification on Monday [next week]. This is a historic and landmark measure," Senator Edgardo J. Angara said.
Cebu Rep. Ramon "Red" H. Durano IV said he was looking to "schedule it in the committee on rules for ratification on Monday."
Legislators yielded to calls by the Finance department to limit incentives, dropping a preferential corporate income tax rate of 25% in favor of the regular 30% which will be applied to the taxable 10% income of REITs.
REITs — corporations that pool investors’ funds and invests these in real estate ventures — must distribute at least 90% of its income to investors. This 90% is exempt from income tax.
Lawmakers also dropped proposed value-added, creditable withholding (CWT), and documentary stamp tax (DST) exemptions, settling on a 1% CWT and half the applicable DST.
Overseas Filipino workers were exempted from paying the dividend tax for seven years.
Lawmakers compromised on a P300 million minimum paid-up capital requirement for REITs. The Senate version had set this at P100 million while the House put the figure at P1 billion.
Philippine Stock Exchange President Francis Ed. Lim welcomed the bill’s approval, saying "The Philippines is already behind the REIT industry by almost 10 years and we don’t have a share in the global REIT market."
"The question is how to really jumpstart this industry in a way to attract international investors," he added.
CB Richard Ellis Philippines, Inc. Director Victor J. Asuncion said he expects the reception of REIT products to be positive given reduced risks and guaranteed returns.
"This will open investors to more investment avenues where they can put their money. This will likely invite the retail investors because of its lucrative compensation," he said.
Claro G. Cordero, Jr. of Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu also welcomed the bill’s approval, saying REITs will be a good way to balance the investment climate.
"It should be able to attract new property players while existing ones will be challenged to keep up to the competition," he said. — B. U. Allauigan and K. J. R. Liu
September 23, 2009
A BICAMERAL PANEL yesterday approved a bill allowing the establishment of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which would give investors a new means of making money.
Legislators said the measure — a consolidation of Senate Bill 2639 and House Bill 6379 — could be ratified by Congress as early as Monday next week.
Its signing into law, they said, could happen before lawmakers go on an October 17 to November 8 break.
"I can schedule its ratification on Monday [next week]. This is a historic and landmark measure," Senator Edgardo J. Angara said.
Cebu Rep. Ramon "Red" H. Durano IV said he was looking to "schedule it in the committee on rules for ratification on Monday."
Legislators yielded to calls by the Finance department to limit incentives, dropping a preferential corporate income tax rate of 25% in favor of the regular 30% which will be applied to the taxable 10% income of REITs.
REITs — corporations that pool investors’ funds and invests these in real estate ventures — must distribute at least 90% of its income to investors. This 90% is exempt from income tax.
Lawmakers also dropped proposed value-added, creditable withholding (CWT), and documentary stamp tax (DST) exemptions, settling on a 1% CWT and half the applicable DST.
Overseas Filipino workers were exempted from paying the dividend tax for seven years.
Lawmakers compromised on a P300 million minimum paid-up capital requirement for REITs. The Senate version had set this at P100 million while the House put the figure at P1 billion.
Philippine Stock Exchange President Francis Ed. Lim welcomed the bill’s approval, saying "The Philippines is already behind the REIT industry by almost 10 years and we don’t have a share in the global REIT market."
"The question is how to really jumpstart this industry in a way to attract international investors," he added.
CB Richard Ellis Philippines, Inc. Director Victor J. Asuncion said he expects the reception of REIT products to be positive given reduced risks and guaranteed returns.
"This will open investors to more investment avenues where they can put their money. This will likely invite the retail investors because of its lucrative compensation," he said.
Claro G. Cordero, Jr. of Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu also welcomed the bill’s approval, saying REITs will be a good way to balance the investment climate.
"It should be able to attract new property players while existing ones will be challenged to keep up to the competition," he said. — B. U. Allauigan and K. J. R. Liu
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Hiring of OFWs to UK slows down -- expert
Due to migration from EU countries
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Posted date: June 26, 2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The hiring of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the United Kingdom has slowed down due to the increase of migrants from new member-countries of the European Union, a recruitment expert said Monday.
However, Emmanuel Geslani, a consultant to various recruitment agencies and organizations, said Filipinos, particularly nurses and caregivers, are still preferred by UK employers.
“The employment outlook for Filipino health care workers in the United Kingdom still remains upbeat despite the slow issuance of work permit visas these past months,” Geslani said.
Citing records of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, he said OFW deployment to the UK went down by eight percent from 18,347 in 2004 to 16,799 in 2005.
From 8,000 nurses and “senior carers” (usually midwives and nurses who have not yet taken or passed the board) deployed in 2004, he said, the deployment dropped to 6,000 in 2005 and 4,000 in 2006.
Mark Date, entry clearance manager of the UK embassy in Manila, confirmed both of Geslani’s observations.
Date said with the expansion of the European Economic Area to include Estonia, Latvia, and other developing east European countries, more qualified workers from these countries are entering the UK.
He said this effectively reduces the hiring of workers from non-EU countries, including the Philippines. “This affects all the nationals of non-EU countries, not just the Philippines,” he pointed out.
The UK official also confirmed the preference for Filipino workers, noting this is manifest in the UK’s recognition of the Philippine government’s nurse’s license.
At the same time, Date said a new point-based system (PBS) on immigration, similar to the one used in Australia and Canada, will start to be implemented starting early 2008. He said it is part of the overhaul of UK’s immigration policy “to service the needs of the British public.”
Date clarified, however, that the PBS does not include quotas for the hiring of working. “There is nothing currently with regards to quotas (in PBS),” he said, adding that quotas are only for those in the hospitality industry.
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Posted date: June 26, 2007
MANILA, Philippines -- The hiring of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the United Kingdom has slowed down due to the increase of migrants from new member-countries of the European Union, a recruitment expert said Monday.
However, Emmanuel Geslani, a consultant to various recruitment agencies and organizations, said Filipinos, particularly nurses and caregivers, are still preferred by UK employers.
“The employment outlook for Filipino health care workers in the United Kingdom still remains upbeat despite the slow issuance of work permit visas these past months,” Geslani said.
Citing records of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, he said OFW deployment to the UK went down by eight percent from 18,347 in 2004 to 16,799 in 2005.
From 8,000 nurses and “senior carers” (usually midwives and nurses who have not yet taken or passed the board) deployed in 2004, he said, the deployment dropped to 6,000 in 2005 and 4,000 in 2006.
Mark Date, entry clearance manager of the UK embassy in Manila, confirmed both of Geslani’s observations.
Date said with the expansion of the European Economic Area to include Estonia, Latvia, and other developing east European countries, more qualified workers from these countries are entering the UK.
He said this effectively reduces the hiring of workers from non-EU countries, including the Philippines. “This affects all the nationals of non-EU countries, not just the Philippines,” he pointed out.
The UK official also confirmed the preference for Filipino workers, noting this is manifest in the UK’s recognition of the Philippine government’s nurse’s license.
At the same time, Date said a new point-based system (PBS) on immigration, similar to the one used in Australia and Canada, will start to be implemented starting early 2008. He said it is part of the overhaul of UK’s immigration policy “to service the needs of the British public.”
Date clarified, however, that the PBS does not include quotas for the hiring of working. “There is nothing currently with regards to quotas (in PBS),” he said, adding that quotas are only for those in the hospitality industry.
Filipinos warned on illegal recruitment
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: February 26, 2009
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has warned Filipinos against recruiters who promise them quick entry to United Kingdom, using student visas.
In a statement on Thursday, the POEA said the Philippine Embassy in London recently received reports of 34 Filipino students being victimized by London-based illegal recruiters who lured them with jobs and scholarships to the British capital.
The students were supposed to be attending the London School of Health & Management Studies (LSHMS), but UK authorities said the school had no nursing courses as advertised to its recruits. The POEA said the London police raided the school recently after complaints came to light.
According to the POEA, the victims paid the recruiters 2,500 - 3,500 British pounds or some US$5,000 – US$7,000 for tuition and student visa fees.
The victims also paid additional 150 British pounds for transportation expenses upon arrival in the United Kingdom.
Not only did the recruiters promise the victims that they could enter the institution, they also told the recruits that they would be given work in nursing homes, which would be credited to their school work.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: February 26, 2009
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has warned Filipinos against recruiters who promise them quick entry to United Kingdom, using student visas.
In a statement on Thursday, the POEA said the Philippine Embassy in London recently received reports of 34 Filipino students being victimized by London-based illegal recruiters who lured them with jobs and scholarships to the British capital.
The students were supposed to be attending the London School of Health & Management Studies (LSHMS), but UK authorities said the school had no nursing courses as advertised to its recruits. The POEA said the London police raided the school recently after complaints came to light.
According to the POEA, the victims paid the recruiters 2,500 - 3,500 British pounds or some US$5,000 – US$7,000 for tuition and student visa fees.
The victims also paid additional 150 British pounds for transportation expenses upon arrival in the United Kingdom.
Not only did the recruiters promise the victims that they could enter the institution, they also told the recruits that they would be given work in nursing homes, which would be credited to their school work.
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