MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Embassy in Guam reiterates the "no recruitment fee" policy of the United States for foreign workers as it continues to receive reports that Filipino applicants paid manpower agencies substantial amounts for placement or recruitment fees.
Philippine Consul General Bayani Mercado, in a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs, said he met with US State Department Acting Fraud Prevention Manager Clay Allen to discuss joint measures to inform the general public about the US' no recruitment policy for workers under the H2-B classification bound for the United States and its territories.
Allen was accompanied by Reynaldo Beltran, Consular Investigations Assistant at the US embassy in Manila, and Douglas Carter of the Consular Security Service.
During the meeting, Allen reiterated that his office continues to process applicants bound for Guam who admit that they are paying manpower agencies placement or recruitment fees.
He added that Topline Manpower Services, a Philippine-based manpower agency, continues to operate as a labor recruitment agency despite the US embassy in Manila's notification to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.
Allen expressed his willingness to meet with Philippine government officials, including the Philippine media, for an information campaign on the US policy. He added that his office is looking closely at applications for H2-B workers.
The US Embassy's Anti-Fraud division has been working closely with the Guam Department of Labor and other federal agencies in Guam to ascertain that workers coming from the Philippines are employed in the jobs they were hired for, and at the salary scales stated in their applications.
INQUIRER.net
Posted date: August 22, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Manpower pool, website set up for Guam jobs
MANILA, Philippines—To prepare for the expected 15,000 jobs that would soon be available in Guam, Filipino recruiters have started “manpower pooling” and have put up a website for job applicants.
Licensed recruitment agencies have set up Work Abroad (Philippines), an online overseas job portal for Filipinos, as preparations begin for the construction of a major US military base on the Pacific island, according to recruitment industry consultant Emmanuel Geslani.
“Hundreds of positions from professionals like mechanical and electrical engineers, skilled positions from heavy duty and auto mechanics to plumbers, carpenters, electricians and many more can be sourced through Work Abroad,” Geslani said in a statement.
“It is also a Philippine manpower pooling site for the top domestic recruitment agencies accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). We are doing this because there are many illegal recruiters offering jobs for Guam,” he said.
Geslani said “manpower pooling” simply means compiling the resumés of workers for particular job openings in Guam that are accepted online for future job orders expected to be approved by early 2011.
He said the Guam-bound workers would not have to pay placement fees to their recruiters because both the POEA and the US government have banned the collection of such fees for temporary workers going to the island.
By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: August 24, 2010
Licensed recruitment agencies have set up Work Abroad (Philippines), an online overseas job portal for Filipinos, as preparations begin for the construction of a major US military base on the Pacific island, according to recruitment industry consultant Emmanuel Geslani.
“Hundreds of positions from professionals like mechanical and electrical engineers, skilled positions from heavy duty and auto mechanics to plumbers, carpenters, electricians and many more can be sourced through Work Abroad,” Geslani said in a statement.
“It is also a Philippine manpower pooling site for the top domestic recruitment agencies accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). We are doing this because there are many illegal recruiters offering jobs for Guam,” he said.
Geslani said “manpower pooling” simply means compiling the resumés of workers for particular job openings in Guam that are accepted online for future job orders expected to be approved by early 2011.
He said the Guam-bound workers would not have to pay placement fees to their recruiters because both the POEA and the US government have banned the collection of such fees for temporary workers going to the island.
By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Filipina Women’s Network in US marks glass-ceiling breakthroughs
SAN FRANCISCO, California, United States—Organization-image specialist Marily Mondejar was doing a pretty good job consulting for a mayoral candidate here several years ago.
Her team had been tasked to dig up dirt on the incumbent administration. One of the sitting mayor’s appointees had allegedly signed a construction contract for a crony. The media had a feeding frenzy that threatened to topple the Hizzoner.
“The name of the official sounded foreign,” she says, recalling the episode. “After further research, I found out she was a Filipina and I began to wonder why she was being hung out to dry.”
The mayor would be re-elected, but at the cost of the job of this Filipina official. Mondejar was appalled, not because her candidate lost, but because she felt the official had been thrown under the bus to redeem the re-electionist’s image. She named the official but requested anonymity for her.
“Very few came to her defense,” Mondejar says.
A support group
Thus, it became the mission of the Filipina Women’s Network (FWN), a volunteer, non-profit organization to “level the professional and business playing field for Filipinas across America.”
FWN was conceived in 2001 over lunch organized by Cora Tellez, then chief executive officer of one of America’s biggest health-care providers, Healthnet. Many in her circle of friends were in management positions themselves—Mondejar, who had taken on image consultancy work for a giant Mexican cement maker, and Virna Tintiangco, then a college student.
Tintiangco was FWN’s first president but when she moved to Oregon in 2003, Mondejar took over.
“We want to open doors,” says Mondejar, 59. “We want to let America know that Filipinas have the skills to compete at all levels in all areas.” She enlisted Filipinas who had proven their mettle in the upper reaches of the different branches of government as well as the private sector.
Successful women
Today FWN has some 800 active members. Its success can also be gleaned in the names of more than 400 people who have signified their intention to attend the 7th Filipina Leadership Summit in Las Vegas in October. Among them: former White House physician, retired Rear Admiral Connie Mariano; California Appeals Court Judge Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, who has been nominated by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be chief justice of the state Supreme Court; California Lieutenant Governor Mona Pasquil; Nevada Judge Cheryl Moss; Davis, California Mayor Dr. Ruth Asmundson; and information technology tycoon Zeny Cunanan.
Over the years, FWN has been associated with such social issues as domestic violence.
Mondejar said major impediments for women seeking to move their careers forward are issues at home, particularly violence inflicted by spouses or partners.
It is an issue close to Mondejar’s heart, having herself been a victim of domestic violence. In fact, the reason she came to America in 1981 was to seek a divorce from her abusive husband. Her tale of woe is typical. When she told her friends about what her husband was doing to her, she would be told: “It is your fate,” and “Try not to make him angry.”
Marily’s own struggle
She initially brought her two sons to the US, but since she could not afford to support them yet, she brought them back home to live with her mother for a few years or until she became financially stable. She recalls the pain the divorce inflicted on her children, one of whom blamed her for not sticking it out. She says it took some doing to make them understand. Now she says she has “a great relationship” with them.
In California, Mondejar found her feet. She got bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Humanities, and is finishing her thesis for a doctorate in Organizational Psychology. After 13 years as an image builder for the cement company, she eventually resigned to run FWN as a full-time career.
It is important for women, Mondejar says, to understand the cycle of domestic violence. “It took me years to understand that,” she adds. “I kept getting into abusive situations and did not know how to break the cycle and seek help.”
FWN has also become known for its women’s rights activities as part of its business networking agenda. Its most popular program is its adoption of “The Vagina Monologues,” the off-Broadway stage phenomenon going into its 15th year, whose theme—the vagina as a tool for female empowerment—has become a rallying point of women the world over. It has been translated into 45 languages and when its Tagalog version, “Usapang Puki,” was staged in Manila in 2002, church groups raised a howl, which helped ensure its success, she said.
FWN will present it again during its Vegas summit in October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
FWN itself does not provide logistical support for abuse victims. What it offers is education and moral support.
For instance, FWN members were at the murder trial of William Corpuz, who was convicted by a jury of murder for slitting his wife’s throat.
Mondejar says she is also mobilizing her members to support the confirmation of Cantil Sakauye, who would, if elected in November, be the first Asian-American Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. Sakauye is an FWN member.
Not mail-order brides
Despite the number of high-caliber women in FWN’s roster, Mondejar acknowledges that Filipinas have a long way to go in breaking the glass ceiling.
Google “Filipina” and most of the 3.77 million results are links to matchmaking, dating, and adult-entertainment sites.
“Initially, American men thought we were some kind of mail-order-bride organization and we would get requests to meet Filipina women,” Mondejar says. In fact, she adds, “many mail-order-bride and matchmaking groups still link to our website and we would have to back-trace them and remove their links.”
This was why FWN launched its “Shaping the Filipina image” campaign, which, she says, is just another step to create a positive image and open up leadership opportunities for Filipinas in the US.
100 Most Influential Pinays
During the Vegas gathering, Mondejar says she will push FWN’s “womentoring” and leadership program, and the selection of the “100 Most Influential Filipinas in the US.”
She hopes each of the 200 “most influential” Filipino women selected in 2007 and 2009 would take at least one Filipina under her wing and teach her what it takes to make it in the American workplace.
“Can you imagine?” she says rhetorically. “By 2012 (in time for a planned Pinay Power reunion) we’d have 600 more successful Filipinas after the final FWN 100 are selected next year.”
To be sure, FWN faces many challenges. For one, “funding and keeping the FWN mission alive,” she says.
But she draws her energy from FWN’s members and what they have so far achieved. She still remembers the first summit in 2001 when she was selling the idea to a group of women in San Francisco. After her spiel, one of them stood up, saying: “I’m in. I want to be part of this group. I have never been in the same room with so many accomplished women. Here’s my check!”
Then just about everybody else took out their check books and signed up.
By Lito Gutierrez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: August 23, 2010
Her team had been tasked to dig up dirt on the incumbent administration. One of the sitting mayor’s appointees had allegedly signed a construction contract for a crony. The media had a feeding frenzy that threatened to topple the Hizzoner.
“The name of the official sounded foreign,” she says, recalling the episode. “After further research, I found out she was a Filipina and I began to wonder why she was being hung out to dry.”
The mayor would be re-elected, but at the cost of the job of this Filipina official. Mondejar was appalled, not because her candidate lost, but because she felt the official had been thrown under the bus to redeem the re-electionist’s image. She named the official but requested anonymity for her.
“Very few came to her defense,” Mondejar says.
A support group
Thus, it became the mission of the Filipina Women’s Network (FWN), a volunteer, non-profit organization to “level the professional and business playing field for Filipinas across America.”
FWN was conceived in 2001 over lunch organized by Cora Tellez, then chief executive officer of one of America’s biggest health-care providers, Healthnet. Many in her circle of friends were in management positions themselves—Mondejar, who had taken on image consultancy work for a giant Mexican cement maker, and Virna Tintiangco, then a college student.
Tintiangco was FWN’s first president but when she moved to Oregon in 2003, Mondejar took over.
“We want to open doors,” says Mondejar, 59. “We want to let America know that Filipinas have the skills to compete at all levels in all areas.” She enlisted Filipinas who had proven their mettle in the upper reaches of the different branches of government as well as the private sector.
Successful women
Today FWN has some 800 active members. Its success can also be gleaned in the names of more than 400 people who have signified their intention to attend the 7th Filipina Leadership Summit in Las Vegas in October. Among them: former White House physician, retired Rear Admiral Connie Mariano; California Appeals Court Judge Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, who has been nominated by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be chief justice of the state Supreme Court; California Lieutenant Governor Mona Pasquil; Nevada Judge Cheryl Moss; Davis, California Mayor Dr. Ruth Asmundson; and information technology tycoon Zeny Cunanan.
Over the years, FWN has been associated with such social issues as domestic violence.
Mondejar said major impediments for women seeking to move their careers forward are issues at home, particularly violence inflicted by spouses or partners.
It is an issue close to Mondejar’s heart, having herself been a victim of domestic violence. In fact, the reason she came to America in 1981 was to seek a divorce from her abusive husband. Her tale of woe is typical. When she told her friends about what her husband was doing to her, she would be told: “It is your fate,” and “Try not to make him angry.”
Marily’s own struggle
She initially brought her two sons to the US, but since she could not afford to support them yet, she brought them back home to live with her mother for a few years or until she became financially stable. She recalls the pain the divorce inflicted on her children, one of whom blamed her for not sticking it out. She says it took some doing to make them understand. Now she says she has “a great relationship” with them.
In California, Mondejar found her feet. She got bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Humanities, and is finishing her thesis for a doctorate in Organizational Psychology. After 13 years as an image builder for the cement company, she eventually resigned to run FWN as a full-time career.
It is important for women, Mondejar says, to understand the cycle of domestic violence. “It took me years to understand that,” she adds. “I kept getting into abusive situations and did not know how to break the cycle and seek help.”
FWN has also become known for its women’s rights activities as part of its business networking agenda. Its most popular program is its adoption of “The Vagina Monologues,” the off-Broadway stage phenomenon going into its 15th year, whose theme—the vagina as a tool for female empowerment—has become a rallying point of women the world over. It has been translated into 45 languages and when its Tagalog version, “Usapang Puki,” was staged in Manila in 2002, church groups raised a howl, which helped ensure its success, she said.
FWN will present it again during its Vegas summit in October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
FWN itself does not provide logistical support for abuse victims. What it offers is education and moral support.
For instance, FWN members were at the murder trial of William Corpuz, who was convicted by a jury of murder for slitting his wife’s throat.
Mondejar says she is also mobilizing her members to support the confirmation of Cantil Sakauye, who would, if elected in November, be the first Asian-American Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. Sakauye is an FWN member.
Not mail-order brides
Despite the number of high-caliber women in FWN’s roster, Mondejar acknowledges that Filipinas have a long way to go in breaking the glass ceiling.
Google “Filipina” and most of the 3.77 million results are links to matchmaking, dating, and adult-entertainment sites.
“Initially, American men thought we were some kind of mail-order-bride organization and we would get requests to meet Filipina women,” Mondejar says. In fact, she adds, “many mail-order-bride and matchmaking groups still link to our website and we would have to back-trace them and remove their links.”
This was why FWN launched its “Shaping the Filipina image” campaign, which, she says, is just another step to create a positive image and open up leadership opportunities for Filipinas in the US.
100 Most Influential Pinays
During the Vegas gathering, Mondejar says she will push FWN’s “womentoring” and leadership program, and the selection of the “100 Most Influential Filipinas in the US.”
She hopes each of the 200 “most influential” Filipino women selected in 2007 and 2009 would take at least one Filipina under her wing and teach her what it takes to make it in the American workplace.
“Can you imagine?” she says rhetorically. “By 2012 (in time for a planned Pinay Power reunion) we’d have 600 more successful Filipinas after the final FWN 100 are selected next year.”
To be sure, FWN faces many challenges. For one, “funding and keeping the FWN mission alive,” she says.
But she draws her energy from FWN’s members and what they have so far achieved. She still remembers the first summit in 2001 when she was selling the idea to a group of women in San Francisco. After her spiel, one of them stood up, saying: “I’m in. I want to be part of this group. I have never been in the same room with so many accomplished women. Here’s my check!”
Then just about everybody else took out their check books and signed up.
By Lito Gutierrez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: August 23, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Handicapped Filipina pilot inspires Obama
PRESIDENT Barrack Obama unveiled a package of measures to help Americans with disabilities to mark the passage of the landmark American with Disabilities Act 20 years ago.
One in six, about 54 million Americans suffer from some kind of disability. Despite the high numbers, the law still faced stiff opposition in Congress 20 years ago.
“It grew when you realized you were not alone, it became a massive wave of bottom-up change that swept across the country as you refused to accept the world as it was and when you were told don’t try, you can’t, you responded with that age-old American creed,’ Yes we can!‘” Obama said.
A large crowd gathered at the White House south lawn that included movie star Marlee Matlin and diva Patty Labelle.
Filipino-American Jessica Cox was with a smaller group who got a private audience with Obama earlier in the day.
“He said thank you for being an inspiration and I said thank you, it’s an honor to meet you,” Cox said.
Cox was born without arms. It didn’t prove to be an obstacle to earning her pilot’s wings.
“In reality, for me to be able to drive, to fly a plane when I really wanted to, just hop into an airplane with my sports pilot certificate and to be able to have that, I realized the ADA has an effect,” Cox added.
Cox also works as a motivational speaker. She was off to catch a big air show in Wisconsin after meeting with President Obama.
“I’ll be there giving presentations and meeting celebrities like Harrison Ford and (Captain Chesley) “Sully” Sullenberger and John Travolta whose first airplane he ever owned was an Air Coupe, which is the airplane I fly, so I’m looking forward to meeting him,” said Cox.
Cox and people with disabilities continue to fight for their rights. Her story shows that not having arms did not deter her from fighting on with courage and determination. (Story courtesy of Balitang America) - GoodNews Pilipinas/Inquirer.Net, Posted date: August 14, 2010
For more, visit GoodNews Pilipinas
One in six, about 54 million Americans suffer from some kind of disability. Despite the high numbers, the law still faced stiff opposition in Congress 20 years ago.
“It grew when you realized you were not alone, it became a massive wave of bottom-up change that swept across the country as you refused to accept the world as it was and when you were told don’t try, you can’t, you responded with that age-old American creed,’ Yes we can!‘” Obama said.
A large crowd gathered at the White House south lawn that included movie star Marlee Matlin and diva Patty Labelle.
Filipino-American Jessica Cox was with a smaller group who got a private audience with Obama earlier in the day.
“He said thank you for being an inspiration and I said thank you, it’s an honor to meet you,” Cox said.
Cox was born without arms. It didn’t prove to be an obstacle to earning her pilot’s wings.
“In reality, for me to be able to drive, to fly a plane when I really wanted to, just hop into an airplane with my sports pilot certificate and to be able to have that, I realized the ADA has an effect,” Cox added.
Cox also works as a motivational speaker. She was off to catch a big air show in Wisconsin after meeting with President Obama.
“I’ll be there giving presentations and meeting celebrities like Harrison Ford and (Captain Chesley) “Sully” Sullenberger and John Travolta whose first airplane he ever owned was an Air Coupe, which is the airplane I fly, so I’m looking forward to meeting him,” said Cox.
Cox and people with disabilities continue to fight for their rights. Her story shows that not having arms did not deter her from fighting on with courage and determination. (Story courtesy of Balitang America) - GoodNews Pilipinas/Inquirer.Net, Posted date: August 14, 2010
For more, visit GoodNews Pilipinas
A Day without Filipinos
Let's imagine not just California, but the entire world, waking up one day to discover Filipinos have disappeared. I'm talking here about the six or seven million Filipinos currently working overseas in countries with names that run through the entire alphabet from Angola to Zimbabwe.
Let's not worry first about why or how the Filipinos disappeared; in fact, it becomes academic whether it's a day or a week. Just imagine a world without Filipinos.
Think of all the homes dependent on Filipino housekeepers, nannies and caregivers. Those homes would be chaotic as kids cry out for their nannies. Hong Kong and Singaporean and Taiwanese yuppie couples are now forced to stay home realizing, goodness, there's so much of housework that has to be done, how demanding their kids can be and hey, what's this strange language they're babbling in?
It's not just the children that are affected. The problems are even more serious with the elderly in homes and nursing institutions, because Filipino caregivers have provided so much of the critical services they need. When temporary contractual workers are brought in from among non-Filipinos, the elderly complain. They want their Filipino caregivers back because they have that special touch, that extra patience and willingness to stay an hour more when needed.
Hospitals, too, are adversely affected because so many of the disappeared Filipinos were physicians, nurses and other health professionals. All appointments for rehabilitation services, from children with speech problems to stroke survivors, are indefinitely postponed because of disappeared speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists!
Eventually, the hospital administrators announce they won't take in any more patients unless their conditions are serious. Patients are told to follow their doctors' written orders and, if they have questions, to seek advice on several Internet medical sites. But within two days, the hospitals are swamped with new complaints. The web sites aren't working because of missing Filipino web designers and web site managers.
Service establishments throughout the world -- restaurants, supermarkets, hotels -- all close down because of their missing key staff involved in management and maintenance. In Asia, hotels complain about the missing bands and singers.
In the United States, many commercial establishments have to close shop, not just because of the missing Filipino sales staff but because their suppliers have all been sending in notices about delays in shipments. Yup, the shipping industry has gone into a crisis too because of missing Filipino seafarers.
Shipping firms begin to look into the emergency recruitment of non-Filipino seafarers but then declare another crisis: They're running out of supplies of oil for their ships because the Middle Eastern countries have come to a standstill without their Filipino workers, including quite a few working for the oil industry.
Frantic presidents and prime ministers call on the United Nations to convene a special session of the Security Council but the Secretary General says he can't do that with the UN system itself on the edge, with so many of their secretarial and clerical staff, as well as translators, who have disappeared from their main headquarters in New York and Geneva, as well as their regional offices throughout the world. Quite a number of UN services, especially refugee camps, are also in danger of closing down because of missing Filipino health professionals and teachers.
The Secretary General also explains that he can't convene UN meetings because the airports in New York, Washington and other major US cities have been shut down. The reason? The disappeared Filipinos included quite a few airport security personnel who used to check passengers and their baggage.
The Sec Gen calls on the World Bank and international private foundations for assistance but they're crippled, too, because their Filipino consultants and staff are nowhere to be seen. Funds can't be remitted and projects can't run without the technical assistance provided for by Filipinos.
An exasperated UN Secretary General calls on religious leaders to pray, and pray hard. But when he phones the Pope, he is told the Catholic Church, too, is in crisis because the disappeared include the many Filipino priests and nuns in Rome who help run day-to-day activities, as well as missionaries in the front lines of remote posts, often the only ones providing basic social services.
As they converse, Pope and the Sec Gen agree on one thing: the world has become a quieter place since the Filipinos disappeared. It isn't just the silencing of work and office equipment formerly handled by Filipinos; no, it seems there's much less laughter now that the Filipinos aren't around, the laughter not only of the Filipinos but those they served.
I know, I know, I'm exaggerating the contributions of Filipinos to the world but I'm doing what the producers of "A Day without Mexicans" had in mind: using a bit of hyperbole to shake people up.
The blurb for their film goes: "How do you make the invisible, visible? Make them invisible."
As I wrote this column, I did realize I was doing this not so much for the Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese and Singaporeans and Americans who don't appreciate us enough, than for us Filipinos are pretty good at putting ourselves down, at making ourselves invisible. - Fr. Jess E. Briones, SVD, INQUIRER.net, Posted date: May 29, 2007
Article e-mailed by Ding Avecilla
Let's not worry first about why or how the Filipinos disappeared; in fact, it becomes academic whether it's a day or a week. Just imagine a world without Filipinos.
Think of all the homes dependent on Filipino housekeepers, nannies and caregivers. Those homes would be chaotic as kids cry out for their nannies. Hong Kong and Singaporean and Taiwanese yuppie couples are now forced to stay home realizing, goodness, there's so much of housework that has to be done, how demanding their kids can be and hey, what's this strange language they're babbling in?
It's not just the children that are affected. The problems are even more serious with the elderly in homes and nursing institutions, because Filipino caregivers have provided so much of the critical services they need. When temporary contractual workers are brought in from among non-Filipinos, the elderly complain. They want their Filipino caregivers back because they have that special touch, that extra patience and willingness to stay an hour more when needed.
Hospitals, too, are adversely affected because so many of the disappeared Filipinos were physicians, nurses and other health professionals. All appointments for rehabilitation services, from children with speech problems to stroke survivors, are indefinitely postponed because of disappeared speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists!
Eventually, the hospital administrators announce they won't take in any more patients unless their conditions are serious. Patients are told to follow their doctors' written orders and, if they have questions, to seek advice on several Internet medical sites. But within two days, the hospitals are swamped with new complaints. The web sites aren't working because of missing Filipino web designers and web site managers.
Service establishments throughout the world -- restaurants, supermarkets, hotels -- all close down because of their missing key staff involved in management and maintenance. In Asia, hotels complain about the missing bands and singers.
In the United States, many commercial establishments have to close shop, not just because of the missing Filipino sales staff but because their suppliers have all been sending in notices about delays in shipments. Yup, the shipping industry has gone into a crisis too because of missing Filipino seafarers.
Shipping firms begin to look into the emergency recruitment of non-Filipino seafarers but then declare another crisis: They're running out of supplies of oil for their ships because the Middle Eastern countries have come to a standstill without their Filipino workers, including quite a few working for the oil industry.
Frantic presidents and prime ministers call on the United Nations to convene a special session of the Security Council but the Secretary General says he can't do that with the UN system itself on the edge, with so many of their secretarial and clerical staff, as well as translators, who have disappeared from their main headquarters in New York and Geneva, as well as their regional offices throughout the world. Quite a number of UN services, especially refugee camps, are also in danger of closing down because of missing Filipino health professionals and teachers.
The Secretary General also explains that he can't convene UN meetings because the airports in New York, Washington and other major US cities have been shut down. The reason? The disappeared Filipinos included quite a few airport security personnel who used to check passengers and their baggage.
The Sec Gen calls on the World Bank and international private foundations for assistance but they're crippled, too, because their Filipino consultants and staff are nowhere to be seen. Funds can't be remitted and projects can't run without the technical assistance provided for by Filipinos.
An exasperated UN Secretary General calls on religious leaders to pray, and pray hard. But when he phones the Pope, he is told the Catholic Church, too, is in crisis because the disappeared include the many Filipino priests and nuns in Rome who help run day-to-day activities, as well as missionaries in the front lines of remote posts, often the only ones providing basic social services.
As they converse, Pope and the Sec Gen agree on one thing: the world has become a quieter place since the Filipinos disappeared. It isn't just the silencing of work and office equipment formerly handled by Filipinos; no, it seems there's much less laughter now that the Filipinos aren't around, the laughter not only of the Filipinos but those they served.
I know, I know, I'm exaggerating the contributions of Filipinos to the world but I'm doing what the producers of "A Day without Mexicans" had in mind: using a bit of hyperbole to shake people up.
The blurb for their film goes: "How do you make the invisible, visible? Make them invisible."
As I wrote this column, I did realize I was doing this not so much for the Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese and Singaporeans and Americans who don't appreciate us enough, than for us Filipinos are pretty good at putting ourselves down, at making ourselves invisible. - Fr. Jess E. Briones, SVD, INQUIRER.net, Posted date: May 29, 2007
Article e-mailed by Ding Avecilla
A Day without a Filipino
Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He says: “When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”
Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.
Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers - 1,019,577 - outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work.
Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.
So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.
What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas.
When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.
Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said.
This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom.
The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.
We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.
We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop.
We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.
From:Arab News -- 7/11/2008
Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.
Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers - 1,019,577 - outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work.
Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.
So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.
What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas.
When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.
Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said.
This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom.
The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.
We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.
We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop.
We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.
From:Arab News -- 7/11/2008
DOLE: Embassy centers to offer 'care and services' for OFWs
Resource centers of Philippine embassies will be "transformed" to offer a wider range of "care and services" for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) instead of simply being sites for skills enhancement.
This was announced by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday, citing President Benigno Aquino III’s agenda to further strengthen OFWs.
Under the agenda, Filipino Workers Resource Centers (FWRCs) — subsumed under the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) of embassies — will offer expanded onsite services for Filipinos working abroad.
As a result, "full psychosocial assistance will be provided by the POLO and its network of reputable social workers and faith-based non-government organizations," a statement issued by the DOLE said, quoting Labor secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.
The FWRCs’ new role will complement the “wholistic approach" in providing welfare and protection as well as “reintegration assistance" to OFWs, the statement said.
Economic and reintegration assistance will include placement services, skills retraining, assessment and certification, and livelihood education assistance for dependents.
Skills training and upgrading will be offered to OFWs as soon as they arrive at their overseas destination to prepare them for their reintegration upon returning to the country, the statement said.
Reintegration planning will now be part of the Pre-Departure Orientation Services (PDOS) and Post Arrival Orientation Seminars (PAOS), which OFWs routinely undergo before they go abroad and after they arrive back.
“The FWRCs as onsite centers for expanded protection will play an important part in the reintegration process," Baldoz said.
The DOLE secretary cited the FWRC in Malaysia, which has been offering various skills training programs for OFWs.
For instance, it offers courses such as arts and crafts, Bahasa language, basic accounting, arnis, cosmetology, hair culture, nursing home care, business management, computer courses, culinary arts, dressmaking, English, financial management, reflexology, tailoring, voice lesson, and orientation on Philippine and Malasyian laws.
These courses, Baldoz said, will equip OFWs with appropriate skills that would enable them to find better jobs or embark on livelihood projects that will help them sustain their overseas earnings and improve their economic chances upon their return to the country.
She said the conduct of various skills training will be replicated in other FWRCs in other parts of the world where there is a high concentration of OFWs.
Baldoz said these initiatives are in line with RA 10022, the law which amends RA 8042, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995.
“We are now full blast in redesigning our onsite protection and reintegration programs in accordance with the provisions of R.A. 10022 and its implementing rules and regulations," Baldoz said in the same statement.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, International Labor Affairs Bureau, Philippine Overseas Labor Offices, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority are the DOLE agencies tasked by Baldoz to implement this agenda in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs. — Robert JA Basilio/JV, GMANews.TV, Article posted August 14, 2010 - 12:52 AM
This was announced by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday, citing President Benigno Aquino III’s agenda to further strengthen OFWs.
Under the agenda, Filipino Workers Resource Centers (FWRCs) — subsumed under the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) of embassies — will offer expanded onsite services for Filipinos working abroad.
As a result, "full psychosocial assistance will be provided by the POLO and its network of reputable social workers and faith-based non-government organizations," a statement issued by the DOLE said, quoting Labor secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.
The FWRCs’ new role will complement the “wholistic approach" in providing welfare and protection as well as “reintegration assistance" to OFWs, the statement said.
Economic and reintegration assistance will include placement services, skills retraining, assessment and certification, and livelihood education assistance for dependents.
Skills training and upgrading will be offered to OFWs as soon as they arrive at their overseas destination to prepare them for their reintegration upon returning to the country, the statement said.
Reintegration planning will now be part of the Pre-Departure Orientation Services (PDOS) and Post Arrival Orientation Seminars (PAOS), which OFWs routinely undergo before they go abroad and after they arrive back.
“The FWRCs as onsite centers for expanded protection will play an important part in the reintegration process," Baldoz said.
The DOLE secretary cited the FWRC in Malaysia, which has been offering various skills training programs for OFWs.
For instance, it offers courses such as arts and crafts, Bahasa language, basic accounting, arnis, cosmetology, hair culture, nursing home care, business management, computer courses, culinary arts, dressmaking, English, financial management, reflexology, tailoring, voice lesson, and orientation on Philippine and Malasyian laws.
These courses, Baldoz said, will equip OFWs with appropriate skills that would enable them to find better jobs or embark on livelihood projects that will help them sustain their overseas earnings and improve their economic chances upon their return to the country.
She said the conduct of various skills training will be replicated in other FWRCs in other parts of the world where there is a high concentration of OFWs.
Baldoz said these initiatives are in line with RA 10022, the law which amends RA 8042, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995.
“We are now full blast in redesigning our onsite protection and reintegration programs in accordance with the provisions of R.A. 10022 and its implementing rules and regulations," Baldoz said in the same statement.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, International Labor Affairs Bureau, Philippine Overseas Labor Offices, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority are the DOLE agencies tasked by Baldoz to implement this agenda in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs. — Robert JA Basilio/JV, GMANews.TV, Article posted August 14, 2010 - 12:52 AM
Binay suspends 6-month contribution to Pag-Ibig of OFWs
MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Jejomar Binay, also the government’s housing czar, has ordered the suspension of a Philippine Overseas Employment Administration directive for a compulsory six-month contribution to the Pag-Ibig fund as a precondition for migrant workers' deployment abroad.
Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, also called for a “thorough study” of the POEA memorandum and “more consultations with affected sectors,” especially Overseas Filipino Workers, or OFW groups.
In a statement, Binay said the study would cover “not only the legality of the policy, but also the propriety of mandating an advanced payment as a precondition to deployment abroad.”
Binay said, “The guiding principle should be government helping OFWs and not as a burden to them.”
The POEA recently issued a directive compelling OFWs to pay an initial Pag-Ibig fund membership contribution of P600 as a prerequisite to the issuance of the labor department-attached agency’s Overseas Employment Certificate.
The POEA circular became effective on August 1 as required by Republic Act No. 9679, or the “Home Development Mutual Fund Act of 2009,” which places informal sectors like OFWs under mandatory Pag-Ibig coverage.
The Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based militant OFW group Migrante-Middle East had assailed the mandatory contribution as another form of “legalized kotong [unjust vexation].”
John Leonard Monterona, M-ME regional coordinator, asked both President Aquino and Binay to do something about what he called an “unjust and anti-OFW policy.”
Meanwhile, Binay directed the HUDCC to look into the “possible lowering of housing loan interest rates” to benefit poor families who wish to have their own homes.
Binay also said that under his stewardship, HUDCC would review the state’s micro housing financing and development financing programs.
At the same time, he vowed to hasten the issuance of land titles to qualified beneficiaries in all state housing projects nationwide, including squatter relocation sites.
In a dialog with the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association, Binay disclosed that the government's housing backlog had reached 3.7 million units.
"A great number of Filipinos remain landless and homeless and poverty has forced many to leave their provinces to seek a better way of life in Metro Manila and in other urban centers," he said. - Jerry E. Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Posted date: August 12, 2010
Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, also called for a “thorough study” of the POEA memorandum and “more consultations with affected sectors,” especially Overseas Filipino Workers, or OFW groups.
In a statement, Binay said the study would cover “not only the legality of the policy, but also the propriety of mandating an advanced payment as a precondition to deployment abroad.”
Binay said, “The guiding principle should be government helping OFWs and not as a burden to them.”
The POEA recently issued a directive compelling OFWs to pay an initial Pag-Ibig fund membership contribution of P600 as a prerequisite to the issuance of the labor department-attached agency’s Overseas Employment Certificate.
The POEA circular became effective on August 1 as required by Republic Act No. 9679, or the “Home Development Mutual Fund Act of 2009,” which places informal sectors like OFWs under mandatory Pag-Ibig coverage.
The Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based militant OFW group Migrante-Middle East had assailed the mandatory contribution as another form of “legalized kotong [unjust vexation].”
John Leonard Monterona, M-ME regional coordinator, asked both President Aquino and Binay to do something about what he called an “unjust and anti-OFW policy.”
Meanwhile, Binay directed the HUDCC to look into the “possible lowering of housing loan interest rates” to benefit poor families who wish to have their own homes.
Binay also said that under his stewardship, HUDCC would review the state’s micro housing financing and development financing programs.
At the same time, he vowed to hasten the issuance of land titles to qualified beneficiaries in all state housing projects nationwide, including squatter relocation sites.
In a dialog with the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association, Binay disclosed that the government's housing backlog had reached 3.7 million units.
"A great number of Filipinos remain landless and homeless and poverty has forced many to leave their provinces to seek a better way of life in Metro Manila and in other urban centers," he said. - Jerry E. Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Posted date: August 12, 2010
Some 800 Filipinos still stranded in Jeddah — OWWA
Around 800 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remain stranded in Jeddah despite government efforts to repatriate them, according to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon said these OFWs are waiting to be cleared by their foreign employers before they can return to the Philippines.
“The 800 remaining OFWs in the Jeddah center could be growing again as more runaways and unregistered OFWs from outside Jeddah seek sanctuary," she said in a statement posted on the agency’s website.
Dimzon vowed to send home all Filipinos sheltered in various Philippine welfare centers overseas.
She said the agency has shouldered the repatriation of 466 OFWs and their children from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from June 27 to August 9 this year.
Nonstop repatriation
“The repatriation of distressed overseas Filipino workers and children in Filipino Workers Welfare Centers abroad will continue until all are flown home under the accelerated repatriation program ordered by the Department of Labor and Employment," Dimzon said.
A total of 1,757 stranded OFWs have been repatriated during the first six months of 2010. In 2009, OWWA said it has repatriated 1,903 OFWs.
Dimzon said OWWA welfare officers are working with the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices and the Department of Foreign Affairs to complete the documentation of the stranded OFWs and their children.
She added that stranded Filipinos will be repatriated within a month from obtaining exit clearances, and complying with biometric and other departure procedures of immigration authorities.
OWWA has been paying the meals and renting space at the Hajj Terminal to accommodate the overflow of Filipino workers awaiting clearances in Jeddah, Dimzon said.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz had instructed OWWA to fly home distressed Filipinos in response to President Benigno Aquino III’s concern over the welfare of Filipinos seeking assistance in Philippine welfare centers.
Clarification
Meanwhile, Dimzon clarified in the same statement that OWWA members paid membership fees totaling to P1.5 billion for 2009, not P12.5 billion as earlier reported.
Dimzon explained that the P12.5 billion is the aggregate amount of the OWWA trust fund from contributions by member-OFWs and their employers, as well as income from investments and other sources.
“Expenditures can be made only if authorized by OWWA’s board of trustees," she said. - Jerrie M. Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV, Article posted August 15, 2010 - 05:24 PM
OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon said these OFWs are waiting to be cleared by their foreign employers before they can return to the Philippines.
“The 800 remaining OFWs in the Jeddah center could be growing again as more runaways and unregistered OFWs from outside Jeddah seek sanctuary," she said in a statement posted on the agency’s website.
Dimzon vowed to send home all Filipinos sheltered in various Philippine welfare centers overseas.
She said the agency has shouldered the repatriation of 466 OFWs and their children from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from June 27 to August 9 this year.
Nonstop repatriation
“The repatriation of distressed overseas Filipino workers and children in Filipino Workers Welfare Centers abroad will continue until all are flown home under the accelerated repatriation program ordered by the Department of Labor and Employment," Dimzon said.
A total of 1,757 stranded OFWs have been repatriated during the first six months of 2010. In 2009, OWWA said it has repatriated 1,903 OFWs.
Dimzon said OWWA welfare officers are working with the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices and the Department of Foreign Affairs to complete the documentation of the stranded OFWs and their children.
She added that stranded Filipinos will be repatriated within a month from obtaining exit clearances, and complying with biometric and other departure procedures of immigration authorities.
OWWA has been paying the meals and renting space at the Hajj Terminal to accommodate the overflow of Filipino workers awaiting clearances in Jeddah, Dimzon said.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz had instructed OWWA to fly home distressed Filipinos in response to President Benigno Aquino III’s concern over the welfare of Filipinos seeking assistance in Philippine welfare centers.
Clarification
Meanwhile, Dimzon clarified in the same statement that OWWA members paid membership fees totaling to P1.5 billion for 2009, not P12.5 billion as earlier reported.
Dimzon explained that the P12.5 billion is the aggregate amount of the OWWA trust fund from contributions by member-OFWs and their employers, as well as income from investments and other sources.
“Expenditures can be made only if authorized by OWWA’s board of trustees," she said. - Jerrie M. Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV, Article posted August 15, 2010 - 05:24 PM
IRR on OFWs’ law out
The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), through the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), released last Friday the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10022 or the amended Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995.
“The amended law would protect the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and intensify the criminal liability of erring recruitment agencies,” POEA Deputy Administrator Hans Cacdac said.
The modified law took effect 15 days after its implementing guidelines had been published from two newspapers with a general circulation last July 23 and would be executed by the DoLE, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Health, National Labor Relations Commission(NLRC), and the Insurance Commission.
However, Cacdac said some of its provisions, particularly about the deployment of OFWs to countries that have been certified by the DFA and the mandatory insurance coverage of migrant workers would still not take effect.
Under R.A. 10022, the DFA would have to subject the host countries where OFWs would be deployed, to a criteria provided by the law.
It stipulated a 90-day review period after the amended law has taken effect for countries, where the Philippines has an embassy and 120 days for countries without one.
Until the DFA has finished its assessment, the status quo would be implemented on the country’s migrant deployment procedures.
Countries which have no bilateral trade agreement with the Philippines or have no law protecting its migrant workers would be flagged by the DFA and removed from the list of possible destination for OFWs.
Among the countries which would be examined are high-risk areas like Iraq, where hundreds of OFWs were recently repatriated by some US recruitment agencies.
Cacdac said there are at least 197 countries where OFWs are deployed.
Meanwhile, the implementation of the provision on the mandatory insurance of OFWs would also be delayed for 30 days after the IRR has taken effect until the Insurance Commission has finished its ongoing meeting with concerned stakeholders on the development of its more detailed guidelines.
The law would require recruitment agencies to pay the premium of the following insurance coverage for OFWs: $15,000 in case of accidental death; $10,000 in case of natural death; $7,500 in case of permanent disablement.
Some of the other provisions of R.A. 10022 which have taken effect include the following: Repatriation of OFWs if necessary at the expense of their recruitment agencies; prohibition of act of reprocessing or alteration on an OFW’s contract; inspection of medical clinics screening Filipinos before they are deployed.
It also emphasizes on the provision which bars foreigners from owning majority of the shares of a recruitment agency.
The section was included in response to the reports from some members of the recruitment sector that a number of land-based recruitment agencies, are mostly owned or managed by foreigners, which is against the foreign ownership law, Cacdac said.
DoLE, with the assistance of the Department of Justice (DoJ), would file criminal cases against the erring companies even without the testimony of the victims through the accounts of government operatives who conducted the inspection of the said establishments.
The administrators or owners of the companies would be penalized with 12 to 20 years of imprisonment and pay a fee of P1 to P2 million.
Source URL: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/272518/irr-ofws-law-out
“The amended law would protect the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and intensify the criminal liability of erring recruitment agencies,” POEA Deputy Administrator Hans Cacdac said.
The modified law took effect 15 days after its implementing guidelines had been published from two newspapers with a general circulation last July 23 and would be executed by the DoLE, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Health, National Labor Relations Commission(NLRC), and the Insurance Commission.
However, Cacdac said some of its provisions, particularly about the deployment of OFWs to countries that have been certified by the DFA and the mandatory insurance coverage of migrant workers would still not take effect.
Under R.A. 10022, the DFA would have to subject the host countries where OFWs would be deployed, to a criteria provided by the law.
It stipulated a 90-day review period after the amended law has taken effect for countries, where the Philippines has an embassy and 120 days for countries without one.
Until the DFA has finished its assessment, the status quo would be implemented on the country’s migrant deployment procedures.
Countries which have no bilateral trade agreement with the Philippines or have no law protecting its migrant workers would be flagged by the DFA and removed from the list of possible destination for OFWs.
Among the countries which would be examined are high-risk areas like Iraq, where hundreds of OFWs were recently repatriated by some US recruitment agencies.
Cacdac said there are at least 197 countries where OFWs are deployed.
Meanwhile, the implementation of the provision on the mandatory insurance of OFWs would also be delayed for 30 days after the IRR has taken effect until the Insurance Commission has finished its ongoing meeting with concerned stakeholders on the development of its more detailed guidelines.
The law would require recruitment agencies to pay the premium of the following insurance coverage for OFWs: $15,000 in case of accidental death; $10,000 in case of natural death; $7,500 in case of permanent disablement.
Some of the other provisions of R.A. 10022 which have taken effect include the following: Repatriation of OFWs if necessary at the expense of their recruitment agencies; prohibition of act of reprocessing or alteration on an OFW’s contract; inspection of medical clinics screening Filipinos before they are deployed.
It also emphasizes on the provision which bars foreigners from owning majority of the shares of a recruitment agency.
The section was included in response to the reports from some members of the recruitment sector that a number of land-based recruitment agencies, are mostly owned or managed by foreigners, which is against the foreign ownership law, Cacdac said.
DoLE, with the assistance of the Department of Justice (DoJ), would file criminal cases against the erring companies even without the testimony of the victims through the accounts of government operatives who conducted the inspection of the said establishments.
The administrators or owners of the companies would be penalized with 12 to 20 years of imprisonment and pay a fee of P1 to P2 million.
Source URL: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/272518/irr-ofws-law-out
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Filipina heads UN human rights advisory body
MANILA, Philippines—A Filipino authority on human rights has been unanimously elected chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council this week in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said that Dr. Purificacion Valera Quisumbing will preside over the Advisory Committee, which is composed of 18 independent experts from different regions of the world, and functions as the think tank of the UN Human Rights Council.
"It is a great honor to serve as chair of the Advisory Committee. I am humbled by the confidence my highly esteemed colleagues have placed in me," Quisumbing said in a statement released by the DFA.
In her opening statement, Quisumbing recalled her stint as chair of the former UN Commission on Human Rights (the predecessor of the Human Rights Council) in 1990, while she was assistant secretary for human rights under the administration of the late Corazon C. Aquino.
The Philippines’ permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Evan P. Garcia, immediately congratulated Quisumbing on her election.
During its fifth session, the Advisory Committee will be working on topics of importance to the Philippines, such as the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy; missing persons; the right to food; the right of people to peace; enhancement of international cooperation on human rights; and human rights education and training.
The Philippines is particularly active in the Human Rights Council in promoting human rights education and training, where it currently co-chairs negotiations on the draft UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. - Cynthia Balana, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Posted date: August 07, 2010
The Department of Foreign Affairs said that Dr. Purificacion Valera Quisumbing will preside over the Advisory Committee, which is composed of 18 independent experts from different regions of the world, and functions as the think tank of the UN Human Rights Council.
"It is a great honor to serve as chair of the Advisory Committee. I am humbled by the confidence my highly esteemed colleagues have placed in me," Quisumbing said in a statement released by the DFA.
In her opening statement, Quisumbing recalled her stint as chair of the former UN Commission on Human Rights (the predecessor of the Human Rights Council) in 1990, while she was assistant secretary for human rights under the administration of the late Corazon C. Aquino.
The Philippines’ permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Evan P. Garcia, immediately congratulated Quisumbing on her election.
During its fifth session, the Advisory Committee will be working on topics of importance to the Philippines, such as the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy; missing persons; the right to food; the right of people to peace; enhancement of international cooperation on human rights; and human rights education and training.
The Philippines is particularly active in the Human Rights Council in promoting human rights education and training, where it currently co-chairs negotiations on the draft UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. - Cynthia Balana, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Posted date: August 07, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Pag-IBIG expands mandatory coverage to include OFWs
MANILA, Philippines—The government housing finance institution has expanded its mandatory coverage to include Filipino workers from formal and informal sectors here and abroad, it was learned Monday.
The Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-IBIG Fund) made the announcement in a press statement issued Monday, after its chief executive officer Jaime Fabiaña met with overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong to inform them of the passage of Republic Act 9679 (or the Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009), which took effect last month.
Membership of OFWs used to be voluntary under the old Pag-IBIG Overseas Program, with terms of five, 10, 15, and 20 years.
However, OFWs in the former British colony did not welcome this development. Members of Gabriela-Hong Kong opposed the mandatory Pag-IBIG coverage, calling it as another government scheme to try and “milk” them of their money.
The OFWs’ opposition to the universal coverage forced Fabiaña to tell them that they won’t be forced to become Pag-IBIG members, said Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, chairperson of Gabriela-Hong Kong, in a statement. She said her group will hold a rally Sunday, February 7, to call for the scrapping of this provision in the law.
Nevertheless, Fabiaña still tried to sell the idea to OFWs. “Be a Pag-IBIG member and secure a bright future for yourself. Your savings with the Fund earn double and even triple. These savings are guaranteed by the government and earn tax-free dividends. More importantly, as a member you have access to benefits no banks can give such as the lowest interest housing loans, fast salary loans and reliable calamity loans,” he said.
With the mandatory coverage, OFWs can enjoy the various benefits of being a member which include:
* Savings. Members’ contributions are credited to their savings or the total accumulated value that earn dividends and fully guaranteed by the national government. In 2009,
Pag-IBIG declared tax-free dividends amounting to P8.5 billion with a dividend rate of 5 percent.
“At this dividend rate, an OFW member will generate savings amounting to P40,753 if he contributes P100 monthly for 20 years; P81,507 if he contributes P200; and P203,768 at P500 a month. The bigger the contribution, the bigger the savings,” Fabiana explained.
He assured that Pag-IBIG savings are portable, meaning, “these remain in the name of a member even if he transfers employers, works abroad, or becomes self-employed or even unemployed.”
* Short-term loans. OFW-members can also avail of short-term loans that will help address their immediate financial needs such as payment for tuition fees, hospital bills, appliance purchases, minor home repairs, and even for small business capital.
* Housing loan. A member of good standing is eligible to avail of a home financing loan that has an interest rate of as low as 6 percent to 11.5 percent payable in 30 years. The maximum loan amount is P3 million. The loan can be used for the purchase of a fully developed lot within a residential area not exceeding 1,000 square meters, purchase of a residential house and lot, townhouse or condominium unit, construction or completion of a residential unit on a lot owned by the member, home improvement and refinancing of an existing loan.
Fabiana said that in 2009, Pag-IBIG extended a total of P9.6 billion in housing loans to their OFW members which financed 12,233 housing units. “No other financial institution, government or private, has extended this much for OFWs’ housing,” he stressed.
He attributed the 68-percent increase in housing loan availment of OFWs in 2009 to the housing reforms initiated by Pag-IBIG’s board chairman Vice President Noli “Kabayan” De Castro, primarily the low interest rates and long repayment period, which makes it the most affordable home lending program in the country today.
To register for membership and for other inquiries, OFWs can call 724.4244 or visit the Pag-IBIG office located at the 6F, Justine Building, Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City (beside Land Bank). They can also register through the Pag-IBIG satellite offices at the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) or coordinate with the Pag-IBIG information officers who conduct the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar for OFWs. - INQUIRER.net, Posted date: February 02, 2010
The Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-IBIG Fund) made the announcement in a press statement issued Monday, after its chief executive officer Jaime Fabiaña met with overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong to inform them of the passage of Republic Act 9679 (or the Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009), which took effect last month.
Membership of OFWs used to be voluntary under the old Pag-IBIG Overseas Program, with terms of five, 10, 15, and 20 years.
However, OFWs in the former British colony did not welcome this development. Members of Gabriela-Hong Kong opposed the mandatory Pag-IBIG coverage, calling it as another government scheme to try and “milk” them of their money.
The OFWs’ opposition to the universal coverage forced Fabiaña to tell them that they won’t be forced to become Pag-IBIG members, said Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, chairperson of Gabriela-Hong Kong, in a statement. She said her group will hold a rally Sunday, February 7, to call for the scrapping of this provision in the law.
Nevertheless, Fabiaña still tried to sell the idea to OFWs. “Be a Pag-IBIG member and secure a bright future for yourself. Your savings with the Fund earn double and even triple. These savings are guaranteed by the government and earn tax-free dividends. More importantly, as a member you have access to benefits no banks can give such as the lowest interest housing loans, fast salary loans and reliable calamity loans,” he said.
With the mandatory coverage, OFWs can enjoy the various benefits of being a member which include:
* Savings. Members’ contributions are credited to their savings or the total accumulated value that earn dividends and fully guaranteed by the national government. In 2009,
Pag-IBIG declared tax-free dividends amounting to P8.5 billion with a dividend rate of 5 percent.
“At this dividend rate, an OFW member will generate savings amounting to P40,753 if he contributes P100 monthly for 20 years; P81,507 if he contributes P200; and P203,768 at P500 a month. The bigger the contribution, the bigger the savings,” Fabiana explained.
He assured that Pag-IBIG savings are portable, meaning, “these remain in the name of a member even if he transfers employers, works abroad, or becomes self-employed or even unemployed.”
* Short-term loans. OFW-members can also avail of short-term loans that will help address their immediate financial needs such as payment for tuition fees, hospital bills, appliance purchases, minor home repairs, and even for small business capital.
* Housing loan. A member of good standing is eligible to avail of a home financing loan that has an interest rate of as low as 6 percent to 11.5 percent payable in 30 years. The maximum loan amount is P3 million. The loan can be used for the purchase of a fully developed lot within a residential area not exceeding 1,000 square meters, purchase of a residential house and lot, townhouse or condominium unit, construction or completion of a residential unit on a lot owned by the member, home improvement and refinancing of an existing loan.
Fabiana said that in 2009, Pag-IBIG extended a total of P9.6 billion in housing loans to their OFW members which financed 12,233 housing units. “No other financial institution, government or private, has extended this much for OFWs’ housing,” he stressed.
He attributed the 68-percent increase in housing loan availment of OFWs in 2009 to the housing reforms initiated by Pag-IBIG’s board chairman Vice President Noli “Kabayan” De Castro, primarily the low interest rates and long repayment period, which makes it the most affordable home lending program in the country today.
To register for membership and for other inquiries, OFWs can call 724.4244 or visit the Pag-IBIG office located at the 6F, Justine Building, Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City (beside Land Bank). They can also register through the Pag-IBIG satellite offices at the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) or coordinate with the Pag-IBIG information officers who conduct the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar for OFWs. - INQUIRER.net, Posted date: February 02, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
60 groups join RP program for OFWs in UAE
Over 60 groups have joined the Philippine support program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Members of Filipino groups in Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain in UAE signed up for the OFW program initiated by Philippine Ambassador Grace Princesa.
The program aims to unite all Filipino groups under "Team Bayanihan" that will set up a support system for OFWs and their families in the Philippines.
“I hope to federate this and re-establish the United Filipino Associations of the Emirates (UFAE), or something similar to that," Princesa said in an article on UAE-based news site Khaleej Times.
Princesa has partnered with government and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide training on financial literacy to 30 select migrant leaders.
In turn, the migrant leaders will train their group members about the culture of saving and making good investments.
A plan is also underway to collect data to determine the extent of debt Filipinos get into in the UAE. The OFWs and their families will be educated on the negative effects of dependency and consumerism.
“Hopefully, this will reduce the number of those being jailed due to credit card and bank loans," said Princesa.
She said the Philippines is the among the top five labor origin countries, "so we have to look into the rights and privileges of our workers."
At present, she said she is studying the issues faced by undocumented workers, like those who abscond.
The Khaleej Times report said 60 percent of Filipino workers in the UAE are professionals. “Of the unskilled workers, around five percent are domestic helpers and 90 percent of our problems are associated with them. This is what we’re looking into," Princesa said.
Another cause of concern is illegal recruitment. Princesa plans to document the origins of the victims and carry out a massive information drive against illegal recruitment.
Princesa will also focus on the migration of women, as 50 to 60 percent of the OFWs in the Middle East are women.
She said she is documenting their educational streams to reconnect them to their professions once they’re back home.
She also plans to promote the "Buy or Wear Pinoy, Help a Pinay" program, encouraging the use of abaca, of which the Philippines is the world's top producer, and the banana or pineapple fiber textile.
“Once we stimulate development, women back home can start their micro-enterprise and they won’t have to come here for a paltry $200 (Dh750)," she said. –VVP, GMANews.TV, Article posted August 05, 2010 - 09:42 AM
Members of Filipino groups in Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain in UAE signed up for the OFW program initiated by Philippine Ambassador Grace Princesa.
The program aims to unite all Filipino groups under "Team Bayanihan" that will set up a support system for OFWs and their families in the Philippines.
“I hope to federate this and re-establish the United Filipino Associations of the Emirates (UFAE), or something similar to that," Princesa said in an article on UAE-based news site Khaleej Times.
Princesa has partnered with government and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide training on financial literacy to 30 select migrant leaders.
In turn, the migrant leaders will train their group members about the culture of saving and making good investments.
A plan is also underway to collect data to determine the extent of debt Filipinos get into in the UAE. The OFWs and their families will be educated on the negative effects of dependency and consumerism.
“Hopefully, this will reduce the number of those being jailed due to credit card and bank loans," said Princesa.
She said the Philippines is the among the top five labor origin countries, "so we have to look into the rights and privileges of our workers."
At present, she said she is studying the issues faced by undocumented workers, like those who abscond.
The Khaleej Times report said 60 percent of Filipino workers in the UAE are professionals. “Of the unskilled workers, around five percent are domestic helpers and 90 percent of our problems are associated with them. This is what we’re looking into," Princesa said.
Another cause of concern is illegal recruitment. Princesa plans to document the origins of the victims and carry out a massive information drive against illegal recruitment.
Princesa will also focus on the migration of women, as 50 to 60 percent of the OFWs in the Middle East are women.
She said she is documenting their educational streams to reconnect them to their professions once they’re back home.
She also plans to promote the "Buy or Wear Pinoy, Help a Pinay" program, encouraging the use of abaca, of which the Philippines is the world's top producer, and the banana or pineapple fiber textile.
“Once we stimulate development, women back home can start their micro-enterprise and they won’t have to come here for a paltry $200 (Dh750)," she said. –VVP, GMANews.TV, Article posted August 05, 2010 - 09:42 AM
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