HONG KONG – A Philippine congressman was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in a Hong Kong prison after he pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking and avoided a maximum life penalty by convincing a judge the drugs were for his personal use.
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is sending a strong signal to businesses to invest in productivity changes and reduce their reliance on low-skilled foreign workers.
Taiwan's representative to the Philippines demanded an apology Wednesday after Manila deported 14 Taiwanese nationals to China instead of Taiwan.
The move has angered Taipei because it appeared to suggest that China, not Taiwan, has jurisdiction over the deportees. Donald C.T. Lee, the representative, indicated it would have repercussions for Filipinos living in Taiwan.
Taiwan's sovereignty is a sensitive issue on both sides of the Taiwan Strait: Beijing considers the island part of China, while Taipei lobbies for recognition abroad. The Philippines, like most countries, recognizes Beijing but it maintains friendly, if unofficial, relations with Taipei.
The group of 14 Taiwanese were arrested in December along with 10 Chinese. Charges have been filed in China related to an investment scam that defrauded Chinese nationals. They were picked up when an Internet Protocol address was traced to them in the Philippines.
Lee, who is the head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, the de-facto Taiwan Embassy in Manila, said his office was not notified of their deportation, which happened on Feb. 2.
He added that Philippine authorities claimed they were being deported for being undocumented aliens, despite the fact that their passports _ with visas _ were confiscated at the time of their arrest.
Lee called the move "a serious mistake" and said his government has recalled him. He said he would return to Manila within a week.
Amadeo Perez, Lee's counterpart from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, asked for Taiwan's understanding.
Perez said repercussions are already being felt, including Taiwan's decision to extend visa processing for Filipino workers from 14 days to four months.
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.
MANILA, Philippines—Some 2,500 Filipino migrant workers are set to pursue legal action against their employer in Madagascar, an island-nation in the Indian Ocean, and its affiliate Manila placement agency for alleged unfair labor practices and breach of contract.
At least 300 of the contract workers of the construction firm Kentz Engineers and Contractors have returned to the country.
Next Thursday, they are scheduled to file a formal complaint before the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration against their employer and its undisclosed local affiliate.
Their co-workers are set to return to the country shortly.
Reynaldo Ubasa, one of the leaders of the group, alleged they were "made to work for more than eight hours a day with no overtime pay."
In a statement, Ubasa also cited "discrepancies and delays" in the payment of their salaries.
"The construction firm we worked for cheated us of our salaries, prompting us to fight back," said Ubasa.
The firm also prevented the Filipino workers to "communicate with the outside world, cutting out Internet connection, and seek help in the Philippines," he disclosed.
During the past two months, the Filipino workers staged a series of strikes at their construction site in Madagascar, to no avail.
Terry Ridon, national chair of the militant League of Filipino Students, has taken up the cudgels for Ubasa and his co-workers.
Last week, Ridon bumped into Ubasa's group at the Johannesburg international airport shortly before they took a flight bound for Manila.
In an e-mail, Ridon told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, "our OFWs are suffering abroad under pitiful conditions while the Aquino government leisurely watches them return to the country in tears, deceived and unemployed."
"Worse, the government had cut the budget for assistance to distressed migrant workers. It also made more problems for OFWs with its compulsory insurance policy," Ridon said.
The LFS leader asked Malacañang and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to "respond immediately to the problems of these OFWs."
MANILA, Philippines—Unlike the long holiday season in the Philippines, Christmas in Singapore is a one-day affair, said Katrina Mateo, who has been working in the city-state since 2007.
The holiday decor on Orchard Road, the city-state’s most popular retail and entertainment hub, is elaborate “but since the majority of Singapore inhabitants are Muslims and Buddhists, Christmas here is a subdued holiday, said the 29-year-old from San Pablo, Laguna, who lives abroad with her husband Reden.
“So subdued that the first year we lived in Singapore we decided to spend Christmas back home because we felt we could not take the loneliness,” Kat says, laughing.
Kat, who worked as a copywriter in a Makati-based media company for three years, decided to leave her job in early 2007 to follow Reden, a former officemate who had been offered a technical writing job in Singapore.
Simple affair in Singapore
Come Christmas of 2008, Kat and husband Reden were able to adjust well to Singaporean life that they decided to spend the holidays in the city-state.
“Of course we still missed the festive Filipino Christmas and our loved ones, but we did not have to deal with the usual holiday stress back home,” Kat says with a laugh.
One benefit: They did not have to spend a lot on holiday-related expenses and did not have to worry about staggering credit card bills come January.
Kat recalls only having to prepare Christmas dinner on the 24th and eating it with Reden and their Filipino housemates. On the 26th, it was back to work for them.
“Christmas is a one-day affair in Singapore, and we had to get used to that. We are far from our families and loved ones anyway, so it was not something to make a big deal out of,” Kat says.
The next year, Kat’s parents decided to spend Christmas with them. Kat’s father Joe and mother Mayen Zuño booked tickets to Singapore as early as mid-2009.
Kat did not know then that her beloved mother was already suffering from cancer. In October 2009, Kat resigned from work and went home after learning that her usually vibrant mom was very sick and had to undergo chemotherapy sessions. Her mom died a month later.
Kat went back to Singapore in December 2009. Her dad and three siblings—sister Lia, brothers Miko and Paolo—arrived later to spend Christmas with her and Reden.
“It was sad because Mommy was not there with us, but we did okay,” Kat says, adding that her dad and siblings had to “squeeze themselves” in the apartment they shared with five other Filipinos.
While 2009 ended on a sad note for Kat and her family, the following year brought good tidings in the form of a most-awaited development.
“After two years of patiently waiting, I am finally pregnant with a son,” Kat, who is due to give birth in March, happily reveals.
Christmas was a simple lunch this year. “But now, of course, we have the best Christmas gift ever,” she says with a smile.
Kat notes that the three Christmases she spent in Singapore have taught her a very important lesson: “Here, you have to concoct your own festivities and make your own Christmas celebrations as happy as possible, because unlike in the Philippines, your foreign home won’t be able to do that for you.”
100 relatives in the US
On the other side of the world, the Retardo sisters tell a different Yuletide story.
Instead of having to go all the way home to the Philippines to spend the holidays with their loved ones or enduring the loneliness of spending it alone in a foreign land like most migrant Filipinos, the Retardos of Huntington Beach, California get to celebrate Christmas “Pinoy-style.”
“We are one huge happy family here,” Karen Retardo, a 37-year-old nurse, says.
Her younger sister Kaye, a professor at the California State University Long Beach (CSULB), explains that they have over 100 first degree and immediate relatives in the United States, and “another 200 second-, third-, and fourth-degree relatives.”
“We have fun Christmas celebrations here with our family, eight to 12 families come together on Christmas Eve for Noche Buena at an aunt or uncle’s house. Each family brings one to two dishes,” Kaye, 33, who also consults for hospitals, says.
Kim, another Retardo sister, describes Christmas as “a big event for the big family we have.”
The Retardos’ mom Edy Antonio-Retardo has all seven of her siblings in the US, who attend the clan Christmas party with their own families. Kim adds that their other aunts and uncles—cousins of their mom—also attend the special event, making the guest list even longer.
“I consider myself blessed that the majority of our family and relatives are here,” Karen says.
Aside from Christmas, the Retardos get together with their relatives on New Year, Thanksgiving, Easter, Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day, birthdays, weddings, and the newly created “annual Antonio Clan sports fest.”
Next year will be more special for the Retardo sisters as their younger and only brother, Kristoffer, will be joining them in the US after graduation.
“After my dad passed away, it has been my family’s ultimate dream to be together. And now it is going to be a dream come true,” Kim says.
