Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Another Filipino is facing the death penalty in Malaysia on charges of smuggling marijuana, and two more have been sentenced to life imprisonment on drug charges in Thailand.
Aida Dizon Garcia, a 51-year-old college lecturer from Quezon City, is being assisted by the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, according to Assistant Foreign Secretary J. Eduardo Malaya, spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Twenty-five Filipinos, mostly runaways or overstaying workers, will be repatriated from Qatar to the Philippines following talks between Vice President Jejomar Binay and top government officials in the Middle Eastern state, his office said Saturday.
After mending its fractured ties with the Philippines, Taiwan has quickly allowed in more than 1,000 Filipinos to work at electronic and other manufacturing firms that have seen demand double in the last two weeks, according to a Filipino recruitment consultant.
MANILA, Philippines—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas hinted Monday that it might slash its remittance growth forecast of 8 percent for this year to take into account the impact of recent external developments—the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa and the disaster that hit Japan last week—on the ability of Filipino workers abroad to send money.
Bacolod City - Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has vowed to bring up the case of a Filipina who is detained in Bangkok for illegal drugs during his scheduled state visit to Thailand this month.
CLARK FREEPORT—The carpet had been rolled out but the special guests weren’t around.
Officials of the Clark International Airport Corp. (Ciac) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) were disappointed to find out that some 60 Filipino workers from Libya were not on board the Air Asia Berhad Flight 662 that landed at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday.
TAIWAN: Taiwan is threatening to freeze its intake of Filipino workers, after the Philippines refused to apologise for sending 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to mainland China.
Taiwan called Tuesday on the Philippines to step up cooperation on fighting cross-border crimes and avoid a recurrence of a row over Manila's deportation of 14 Taiwanese suspected fraudsters to China.
"It's time for the two sides to sit down and talk," Taiwan Foreign Minister Timothy Yang told reporters.
"A mechanism should be set up to jointly bust international crime. That way, we could also avoid a repeat of the recent row."
Philippine authorities arrested 14 Taiwanese and 10 Chinese nationals in December over an alleged scam to swindle mainlanders out of $20 million.
A spat erupted after all of those arrested were deported to China, despite protests from Taipei, which said they Taiwanese should have been sent back to the self-governed island to face justice.
Taiwan's foreign ministry said Monday the island's diplomatic representative in Manila would be recalled this week.
In a statement, it added: "The screening of applications for work here by various Filipino workers will be tightened" and the existing visa-free treatment for Filipinos travelling to Taiwan will also be called off.
Yang said "the retaliatory measures were aimed to safeguard our sovereignty and national dignity".
There are about 72,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan, remitting hundreds of millions of dollars a year, helping boost the Philippines' economy.
"We'd like to maintain our friendly ties with the Philippines, but what it did first has harmed such ties. Therefore we decided to adopt the measures so as to safeguard national dignity and to display our discontent," the ministry said.
It said the measures will be reviewed contingent upon the Philippines' "goodwill" in the future.
The Philippines, like most countries, formally recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, but maintains trade and tourism ties with Taiwan.
Taiwan on Tuesday raised the screening period for Filipino workers and threatened to bar them from entry as a spat with Manila over the deportation of Taiwanese nationals to China deepened.
The diplomatic row erupted in December after Philippine authorities arrested 14 Taiwanese in an alleged fraud bust and deported them to China, despite protests from Taipei which wanted them returned to the island to face justice.
The new rules, effective immediately, raise to four months the maximum screening period for Filipino workers wanting to move to Taiwan. Screening for migrant workers currently takes up to 12 days.
Calling for "goodwill response" from Manila, Wang Ju-hsuan, the head of the island's Council of Labour Affairs, said Taiwan may "adopt even stricter retaliatory measures that may include a freeze of worker imports from the Philippines."
She urged local employers to turn to countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia as sources of overseas workers.
Earlier in the day, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Timothy Yang called on the Philippines to boost cooperation on tackling cross-border crime in a bid to avoid a recurrence of the row.
"It's time for the two sides to sit down and talk," he said.
"A mechanism should be set up to jointly bust international crime. That way, we could also avoid a repeat of the recent row."
Taiwan's foreign ministry said Monday the island's diplomatic representative in Manila would be recalled this week.
In a statement, it added: "The screening of applications for work here by various Filipino workers will be tightened" and the existing visa-free treatment for Filipinos travelling to Taiwan will also be called off.
Yang said "the retaliatory measures were aimed to safeguard our sovereignty and national dignity".
There are about 72,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan, sending hundreds of millions of dollars a year back to the Philippines.
"We'd like to maintain our friendly ties with the Philippines, but what it did first has harmed such ties. Therefore we decided to adopt the measures so as to safeguard national dignity and to display our discontent," the ministry said.
It said the measures will be reviewed contingent upon the Philippines' "goodwill" in the future.
The Philippines, like most countries, formally recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, but maintains trade and tourism ties with Taiwan.
SINGAPORE: A key amendment recently passed in the Employment Agencies (Amendment) Bill is being seen as a step forward by employment agencies and groups that look after the welfare of foreign workers.
Under the new rules, foreign workers or maids who have their contract terminated within six months will be refunded 50 per cent of their agency fees.
While workers who are prematurely terminated may take some comfort from the new measure, some industry players said there are some concerns regarding the move to get the employment agencies to refund the workers.
"This regulation in fact is good for the workers. However, we need to study into the mechanisms how the refund works. If the maids resign work through the employers of their own accord, or own personal reason, the refund to the maids might not be appropriate," said Gary Chin, Managing Director, Nation Employment.
Some also questioned how the refund system can be implemented if a worker is prematurely terminated without the Employment Agency's knowledge.
Bridget Tan, President, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, said: "The employer has the right to just cancel the work permit still under the present system to send a domestic worker home and deport her without even the agent knowing, the EA knowing that she has been deported."
John Gee, President of Transient Workers Count Too, shared the same view.
"If they get fired by an employer, employers don't necessarily return a worker to an agency if they don't want them. Sometimes they will send them out of the country pretty quickly.
"And if the agency doesn't hear about this quickly, then how would they intervene?"
The issue of whether workers will also be given the full refund of the agency fee was also raised.
Others raised the possibility of workers not being given the full refund.
"One of the questions is how much will be counted as a fee and if some agencies who are not so responsible can try to describe the charges made to workers in such a way that the fee is minimised to a meaningless figure. That would be one area which needs looking at," said Gee.
According to the Manpower Ministry, the onus is on the Employment Agency to know if a worker is terminated within the six-month period.
The ministry's website states the agency may consider entering into a contractual agreement with the employer to ensure that the employer informs the agency when the worker's employment is terminated.
And if a worker fails to receive the refund, the worker can report it to the Manpower Ministry.
"We always advise employers if they need to terminate or repatriate a maid, we will advise them to go through us. However, there are certain percentage of employers [who] prefer to do it by themselves," said Chin.
"So the only way that we get to know is that we alias closely with our insurers. They will provide us the information upon the security bond being cancelled. Then we can double check with the employers what is the status of the current maid," he added.
The new measures are expected to kick in by April this year and will be administered by a new Commissioner for Employment Agencies in the Manpower Ministry.
The Philippine Nurses Association of United Kingdom and Ireland (PNA-UK) warned "kababayans" to be wary of job offers that go through a dubious process.
PNA-UK President Michael Duque said prospective Filipino nurses needs to be cautious in dealing with recruiters.
“We are concerned about these improper recruitment procedures and do not want our Filipinos nurses tricked into parting with huge sums of money for nothing,” Duque said.
Duque said the association has noticed an increase in the request for assistance and verification of the authenticity of job offers.
Majority of the information provided dismisses the job offer as highly irregular and involves suspicious proceedings.
“We want Filipino nurses to join us here in the UK to help in the health service, but we want them to be very wary of fraudulent actions both by individuals and business entities, British and Filipino,” Duque said.
He explained that the association recently documented a modus operandi where prospective applicants are sent a message of job interest by email.
Once an applicant replies to the job offer, the alleged employer will further request for the applicant’s complete and detailed CV to start the processing of documents and papers by his appointed solicitor or attorney-in-fact.
Following this, an email containing a detailed Contract of Agreement and a Certificate of Employment will be sent to the applicant with the instruction to sign and send back by email to the employer and his attorney/solicitor who will be supposed to review the applicant’s papers.
He said the Contract of Employment itself is highly attractive and appealing with an offer of a high salary, loads of bonuses, benefits, and a comfortable work-load or duties and responsibilities.
The solicitor will email the applicant with a Certificate of Good Moral Character application form and instructions on how to complete this important document, without which the whole process of job recruitment cannot proceed. This significant document (Certificate of Good Moral Character) needs to be processed before anything else.
The solicitor’s email clearly identifies himself as independent of the employer and often times assert that he works for the High Courts or from a prominent Solicitor’s Firm. The solicitor’s email will also contain specific instructions on how to pay his fees before he can further process your application.
Request for payment are often made through wire transfer or money transfer.
Simultaneously, the employer may also email the applicant pictures of his family and engage in a friendly exchange of information by email on a daily basis.
The employer may also, from time to time, follow-up on the applicant’s documents and question the delay in the processing.
PNA UK advises that applicants should exercise common sense in dealing with these situations.
The following basic guidelines have been outlined to help the applicant:
· Research further details through the internet. Use names, telephone numbers, addresses, company names in the syntax of the term.
· If you have friends and relative in the place or country where the employer is, ask them to check the details for you or even visit the employer for a friendly chat.
· Check the details of the employer and his collaborator with the local authorities.
· Call the business establishment to verify their legitimacy using telephone numbers found in the internet, websites or telephone directory. Do not call to verify using the contact numbers found in their email, chances are these are routing-numbers.
· Check and verify with the Philippines Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) for any existing legitimacy of the job offer.
· Avoid sending sensitive information about yourself (i.e. bank and credit card details, passport details, national insurance numbers, social security, etc.)
· If highly suspicious, end all communications and report to the local authorities.
Some 40 desperate OFWs – most of whom are women who had with them about 15 infants and children – are camped out again under Khandara Bridge in Jeddah hoping for a quick way home to the Philippines, despite the Saudi Arabia government announcing a six-month window for overstaying foreign workers.
“Mahabag naman kayo! [Have pity!]," Migrante Jeddah Chair Bob Fajarito implored for Filipino compatriots living in tents under the shadow of the Khandara overpass.
“These women and children got so tired of waiting for that ‘amnesty’ and became so desperate as to brave the elements in order to go home through the only way they know," Fajarito explained.
Jeddah has been reeling under a cold spell, with temperatures ranging from 18 to 25 degrees Celsius, and also beset with heavy rainfall and flooding since late December when the OFWs started to camp under the Bridge.
“In fact, they were forced to remain standing for the remainder of last night because their tents [were] flooded [due to heavy rains]," reports Fajarito.
Their health situation, especially that of the children, is aggravated by the lack of food supplies, according to Fajarito.
Official neglect
Asked whether any representative from the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah ever visited them, the women answered in unison, “Wala pa [No one yet]."
Khandara Bridge has been the usual place where various overstaying foreign workers converge in order to return to their original point-of-origin through the regular arrests and deportation made by the local Immigration Police.
Previous batches of the ‘stranded’ – the general term given to OFWs who have either run away from their abusive employers, or Filipino pilgrims who overstayed their Umrah or Hajj visa – have camped out in the same manner and were repatriated. The stranded include ‘undocumented’ children of both OFWs and pilgrims.
“The problem this time is that the Philippine Consulate seemed so oblivious to the fact," Fajarito laments. “Bakit pinababayaan sila nang ganito? (Why are they being neglected like this?)"
Promised visit
According to Fajarito, Consul General Ezzedin Tago had talked with Migrante Jeddah officials on Jan. 11 and supposedly promised to send his staff to check the OFWs camped under the Khandara overpass.
“Yet Friday came, and still nobody came," Fajarito lamented. “It’s just as frustrating as their ‘amnesty logbook,’" referring to the record book at the Philippine Consulate where ‘stranded’ Filipinos sign up to express their willingness to avail of the ‘amnesty’ program offered by the Saudi government.
“Those who signed up were told that they would just be called by telephone," he explained, referring to OFWs who had signed up for the ‘amnesty’.
Migrante said nothing concrete has come out of it and they are losing hope that “the said ‘amnesty’ would just be a missed opportunity."
More than 21,000 prospective overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Aug. to Dec. last year as part of the government’s intensified campaign against human trafficking, the Bureau of Immigration said.
In a statement posted on its website, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the OFWs — all women, the youngest being 21 years old — arrived aboard a Qatar Airways flight.
“The OFWs, all women, have complained of maltreatment and abuse from their employers and of unpaid salaries and unreasonably long working hours. The OFWs stayed at the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC). The youngest among the repatriated OFWs was 21 years old," the DFA said.
The department said the OFWs “were all very happy to be back in Manila."
“They (OFWs) said they were very grateful to the efforts of the Embassy in saving them from the quagmire they were in," the DFA said.
Lebanon is one of five countries covered by Philippine labor deployment ban. The others are Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iraq and Jordan. The Philippine government issued the ban to Lebanon in 2006.
According to the DFA, the Philippine Embassy in Beirut is currently negotiating a bilateral labor cooperation agreement with the Lebanese government to ensure protection of the welfare of Filipino workers.
“Some stipulations being negotiated include the minimum wage, reasonable rest periods and decent working and living conditions for the Filipino workers," it said.
The DFA said it shouldered the airline tickets of the OFWs through the Assistance to Nationals (ATN) fund. “The DFA, through the Embassy, made strong representations with the Lebanese government resulting in the waiver of deployment cost and immigration penalties."
The Philippine embassy provided the OFWs with food, toiletries, medical provisions and appropriate assistance while waiting for their exit documents to be processed and for their expedited repatriation, the DFA said.
A total of 74 OFWs have already been repatriated from Lebanon this year, with the first batch having arrived last Jan. 13.
The DFA said it continues to work closely with the Philippine Embassies and Consulates General around the world in facilitating the immediate repatriation of distressed OFWs.
The Philippine Embassy in Canberra has opened its communication lines to Filipinos with relatives in Queensland, the northeastern state of Australia that was recently devastated by flash floods after two weeks of heavy rains.
In a release on Thursday, the Embassy through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said those in the Philippines may contact the Embassy and that it will try their best to reach their relatives in Queensland.
The Embassy may be contacted through telephone numbers +61-2-62732535, +61-2-62732536 and +61-2-62735718, fax number +61-2-62733984 or email address cbrpe@philembassy.org.au.
Getting in touch with relatives in Queensland will be difficult for now as power and communication lines are still down in most of the Australian state, the Embassy noted.
In the same release, the Embassy said it has identified point persons who may be contacted for those who wish to send cash donations or donations in kind. (Click here for contact information details on sending donations to Queensland flood victims.)
In a separate release, the Australian Embassy in Manila said the Australian state and federal emergency services are “working hard to provide relief to flood-affected communities."
“While we have no specific information on the number of Filipinos affected by the floods, we would advise any Philippine nationals in the flood-affected areas to monitor the local media and follow the instructions of Queensland authorities," the release added.
The Australian Embassy also noted there is a “serious risk" of further flooding over the period January 12 and 13.
Embassy monitors Pinoys’ conditions
Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy said it continues to monitor the situation of Filipinos in flood-affected areas of Queensland, amid reports that some of them have sought refuge in evacuation centers, or are staying with friends and relatives from other areas. (See: DFA: Pinoys in Australia safe amid floods)
Philippine Charges d’Affaires Mary Anne Padua said she has instructed Honorary Consul Allan Grummit to visit the evacuation centers as soon as possible to determine the condition of Filipinos who may have sought temporary shelter there.
The Embassy has likewise called on Filipino community leaders and members, as well as those with work permits in the affected areas, to check on the others’ conditions.
There are about 18,000 Filipinos in Queensland.
“We have all been affected in one way or another by the devastating floods, which affected almost the entire State of Queensland. In this condition, being Filipinos, I know each of us can survive. We have to brace together, assist and support each other," Grummit earlier said.
The DFA said those in flooded areas have been instructed by the Australian authorities to stay in the evacuation centers until the floods recede.
Rivers overflowed and caused flash floods in Queensland after more than two weeks of heavy rain, affecting more than 200,000 people and leaving 15 people dead. More than 70 people remain missing, according to the DFA.
MANILA, Philippines—Some 150 Filipina workers have been languishing in a Dubai prison cell since last month for working part-time at a wedding reception in violation of the United Arab Emirates' immigration laws.
The women were arrested while serving as part of the support and catering staff during the reception held at the Dubai World Trade Center on December 10, an overseas Filipino worker, who witnessed their plight firsthand, said Thursday.
“Their families have to be informed about what happened to them. But the problem is they're incommunicado, and the Philippine authorities don't have access to them,” said Nerissa, who asked that her surname be withheld.
Nerissa had been detained for a week on a separate absconding charge, and met the other Filipinas in a large cell that accommodated 200 women prisoners. Upon her release on January 11, she promised the other Filipinas to give word about their case to the Philippine authorities.
“It's not that the (Philippine) government doesn't want to help them, but the officials can't reach them,” Nerissa said in an interview at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
On December 23, the Dubai-based newspaper The National reported that originally160 Filipinas and an Indonesian woman had been arrested but 10 of the Filipinas who were on their husband's visas were later released.
The paper quoted Benito Valeriano, the Philippine consul general in Dubai, as saying “we have very little information about” the women, and that consulate officials were still waiting for a response to a letter sent to the authorities asking for a list of names and other particulars about the women.
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Eduardo Malaya said “a number of those” arrested had been released, although he could not say how many.
“Consulate staff members have made representations with Dubai authorities for the immediate resolution of their cases against the others who are still under detention,” he said in a text message to the Inquirer.
Nerissa said the Filipinas shared the cell, lined with bunk beds, with other nationals, including some Uzbeks, Chinese, Pakistanis and Indians. They had simple amenities like a TV set, a toilet and an air conditioner.
“But they were being treated harshly and were being shouted at all the time. And you can't really argue with the policemen because they don't speak English well,” Nerissa said.
She said there was no indication up to when the women would be detained. “Their only request is that if they're going to be deported, then let them be deported,” she said.
Nerissa added that there were fears that they would be held for up to 70 days, although this could not be confirmed. She cited the case of one of the Filipinas who purportedly paid 50,000 dirhams (slightly less than P600,000) in exchange for her freedom.
Filipinos based in Malaysia have complained to the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur about being victimized by well-laid financial scams.
In a statement, the embassy said the swindlers often target women overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with well-paying jobs in reputable companies. They also use bogus documents and bogus names of Malaysian officials to support their spurious claims.
The Filipinos have been deceived into parting with their hard-earned money by "Internet friends" who befriend them first. These "Internet friends" gradually foist on them variations of the following scams:
- There is a valuable package or bundles of foreign currency notes under the Filipino's name in Malaysia which must be claimed immediately;
- There is a lucrative job offer awaiting the Filipino as his/her credentials and experience made him/her qualified for the position needed by the company; and
- There is an SOS e-mail received by the Filipino from the alleged friends of the "Internet friend" stating that the friend is in trouble and is detained by authorities in Malaysia. This "Internet friend" allegedly needs the Filipino to bail him out of trouble. This is done after the person manages to make the Filipino believe in his profession of love and everlasting friendship.
The swindler tells the victim to remit money as a precondition for receipt of the goods, job contracts or marriage/engagement proposals.
The embassy warns OFWs of the said scams and to contact and seek advice from the nearest Philippine embassy or consulate before committing to dubious internet offers.
MANILA, Philippines—They keep the economy afloat and so deserve a medical facility of their own.
Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her son, Camarines Sur Representative Diosdado Arroyo, have proposed the establishment of a special hospital for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their dependents.
With many of them sick or ailing when they return to Manila, overseas workers would best be served in a special hospital, they said.
“Many OFWs are in immediate need of medical attention or hospital confinement due to various physical or mental illnesses sustained abroad,” the Arroyos said in House Bill No. 1474.
They proposed to name the facility the Migrant Workers Hospital and leave its control and supervision to the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (Owwa), the government agency overseeing overseas workers’ needs.
The Arroyos said the hospital would complement the package of health services provided by Owwa to OFWs and their dependents.
It would provide comprehensive health care services to workers who are Owwa contributors. Even would-be overseas workers who had secured approved job orders would be served by the hospital.
The facility “shall complement the existing package of services under the Health Care Program so as to include preventive, diagnostic, curative and rehabilitative programs.”
It will also have a system that will ensure the effective monitoring of patients’ conditions and collect relevant data crucial for the formulation of policies.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration recorded a "downtrend" in the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in the first ten months of 2010. POEA Deputy Administrator Stella Banawis said there was a 3-percent drop in the number of OFWs deployed from January to October.
"Negative 3.0 percent. The preliminary data showed that there is really a downtrend," Banawis said. "So we are actually projecting a decrease this year based on the trend although it is still preliminary."
She said that only 1.079 million OFWs were deployed from January to October this year compared with 1.112 million during the same period last year.
Banawis said that the lingering effects of the global financial crisis could be blamed for the decrease in OFW deployment.
"I think it is still the effect of the crisis. (The numbers for) Canada and Australia have not risen," she added.
She said that the mandatory insurance policy for OFWs might have also affected deployment while the local situation in other countries, like the increase of Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong, also affected the deployment of OFWs in those places.
However, Banawis said the POEA noted a 10.7-percent increase in the number of accredited employers from January to September. The POEA accredited 15,049 employers during that period in 2009 and registered 16,665 this year.
There was also a 31.5-percent growth in terms of job orders, Banawis said.
"These job orders have a two-year validity so it does not mean that all will be processed this year. Normally, we approve thousands, up to 500,000," she added.
