Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo stressed that the ban on deploying overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is still in effect until peace and security in the war-torn nation is restored. Romulo instructed undersecretary for migrant workers affairs Jose Brillantes and charge d’affaires in Baghdad Eric Enday to get the exact number of OFWs still in Iraq since the previous estimate of 6,000 has already declined following several voluntary repatriations and the departure of those whose contracts have already ended.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait announced on 3 August that it has assumed responsibility for handling the claims and benefits of OFWs in Iraq, following the transfer to Jordan of Philippine diplomats in Baghdad for reasons of security. According to Ambassador to Kuwait, Bayani Mangibin, the embassy has begun processing the insurance claims of truck driver Marcelo Salazar, the latest Filipino casualty in an ambush attack in Iraq.
Some sixteen Filipino workers who recently returned from Taiwan have accused the Manila Economic Cultural Office (MECO) of inaction on their complaint against their employer, the Formosa Plastics Corporation. The workers complained that they were illegally terminated by their employer last 2 August. When they asked the reason for their termination, they were mauled by a Taiwanese national and his companions. The workers also complained about unpaid wages, confiscation of their mobile phones and being forced to sign a blank piece of paper. The distressed Filipinos claimed that Meco did not act on any of their complaints
The Philippine Embassy in Bahrain has reported that a total of 210 Filipinos have been repatriated in the first six months of this year. This is 25 percent more compared to the total number reported for the same period last year. Embassy labor attache Alejandro Santos said that the increase in repatriations has prompted his office to initiate corrective measures, especially those addressing the high incidence of runaway domestic workers. The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) is negotiating with Bahrain recruitment agents to use a proposed new labor contract and the elimination of the salary deduction scheme to collect placement fees.
Philippine Ambassador to Thailand Antonio Rodriguez informed the DFA that 55 of the 57 Filipinos detained in Thailand last 27 July were victims of illegal recruiters while the remaining two were the recruiters. The victims had reportedly paid the recruiters placement fees amounting to PhP150,000 for jobs in Korea, the UK and the US. The ambassador has asked the Thai government to prosecute the two illegal recruiters while seeking the release of the 55 victims, particularly three Filipinas suffering from various illnesses.
Four Filipino women from Mindanao, who were earlier recruited to work as entertainers in Brunei, were instead sold to a prostitution syndicate in Malaysia for RM3,000 each. The women, who arrived home on 10 August, were rescued by Malaysian authorities in an anti-trafficking operation last month.
The Philippine government is concerned over the growing number of Filipino women arrested in international airports for possession of illegal drugs. This has prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to warn overseas Filipinos to steer clear of drug syndicate members who may offer them high commissions to act as drug couriers. According to the DFA, these drug syndicates prey on Filipinos in distress, such as those who have lost their jobs. In some cases, the arrested Filipinos were unaware that the packages they were asked to carry contained prohibited drugs.
Filipino workers assaulted in Jeddah
The Asian Human Rights Commission, a human rights group based in Hong Kong, has urged the Philippine government to investigate allegations that four Filipino workers, including three women, were assaulted by security guards in Jeddah. According to Kim Soo A, Urgent Appeals Desk program officer of the commission, the assault took place within the premises of the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah last 16 July. The victims, Leo Legaspi, Jackiline Pakpakin, Jessica Hapos and Irene Mahinay, were reportedly demonstrating peacefully in front of the consulate to express their concern over the political crisis in the Philippines and the delays in the processing of their repatriation, when the Saudi guards beat them up, causing serious injuries to Pakpakin.
A group of Filipino diplomats went to Pakistan last July to seek forgiveness from the family of Khan Basha Noor, a Pakistani taxi driver who was killed by an OFW three years ago in Saudi Arabia. Noor’s family, however, made no commitment to the Philippine officials. The family had earlier rejected the 100,000 riyals in blood money offered by the Philippine government. The accused, Reynaldo Cortez, claimed that he had killed Noor while resisting the taxi driver’s sexual advances. He faces the death penalty in Saudi Arabia unless the victim’s family accepts his apology.
A Filipino sailor was reported missing after his cargo ship hit another vessel in Japanese waters last 9 August. The Japanese coast guard had allegedly sent out nine vessels and one helicopter to look for the missing Filipino. Meanwhile, the other 14 crewmembers of the sunken Cyprus-registered vessel, Asia Concerto, were rescued off the coast of western Yamaguchi prefecture. The Asia Concerto collided with the South Korean-registered boat, the Pine Pia. All 15 crewmembers of the Pine Pia were accounted for. Investigations would be carried out by the coast guard on the cause of the accident.
According to Migrante, a migrant advocacy group, 52 Filipinos detained at the Doha Central Jail and the Doha Deportation Center have been abandoned by the government. Acting Labor Secretary Manuel Imson said that officials of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Doha visit the Filipino detainees once a month to monitor their physical and health conditions. The Qatar government only allows monthly visits. Doha-based Labor Attache Felicitas Bay explained that 14 of the 17 detainees at the Central Jail have pending cases before the court, while the rest are serving their sentences for murder or drug cases. Meanwhile, the 35 OFWs, mostly female runaway workers, at the Deportation Center are awaiting clearances, exit permits and other travel-related documents for their repatriation.
The Philippine government has scrapped the medical insurance program for OFWs following the transfer of the health insurance scheme previously under the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to PhilHealth Insurance. This means that medical claims pertaining to the OWWA medicare program will now have to be coursed through PhilHealth. However, life and accident benefits are still available to OFWs who are OWWA members.
Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas commended the latest move by the Malaysian government to facilitate the employment and ensure the protection of Filipino workers in Malaysia. The Malaysian government has put in place new procedures, effective 1 August, aimed at reducing red tape, as well as the waiting period for Malaysian employers to bring in their employees. Meanwhile, the Labor Department also welcomed the move by the government of Saudi Arabia to set up a special unit, the Department of Protection of Domestic Workers, to handle all complaints of abuse and exploitation of foreign domestic workers, including Filipinos, and impose sanctions on abusive employers.
The Department of Labor and Employment revealed that Saudi Arabia remains the top destination for OFWs. Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said that there were 55,957 OFWs deployed to Saudi Arabia for the first three months this year, down from the 58,355 deployed during the same period last year. Nevertheless, Saudi-bound workers make up 26 percent of all deployed land-based OFWs during the first quarter of this year. Other favored destinations include Hong Kong at 13.3 percent, UAE at 9.47 percent, Japan at 8.22 percent and Taiwan at 5.8 percent of all deployed land-based OFWs.
Lawyer Ramon Calubag of the Caucus for Overseas Performing Artists Welfare (Copaw) commended the members of the house special committee on overseas workers affairs last 7 August for not abandoning the campaign against Japan’s alleged unfair immigration policy against Filipino artists. The House of Representatives invited officials from the Japanese Embassy and from the Labor Department for a congressional inquiry scheduled on 10 August. However, Japanese Embassy officials failed to show up at the inquiry, earning the legislators’ ire. In a related story, the Copaw is seeking the support of legislators to block Japan’s bid for membership for membership in the UN Security Council.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has donated new equipment to the National Assessment Center of the Maritime Training Council (MTC) that is expected to speed up the assessment and certification process of Filipino seamen. The new computerized system, which is expected to replace the current slow manual verification process by October, would help improve the Philippines’ compliance with the International Maritime Organization’s Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW). Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas expressed confidence that with the new system in place, the deployment of Filipino seafarers will rise even further in the coming years. Meanwhile, the Labor Department noted that the 147,919 Filipino seamen deployed from January to August this year is 10.5 percent higher than the 133,834 deployed during the same period last year.
The Department of Labor and Employment announced last 11 August that the United Kingdom is set to implement major changes in registering foreign nurses and midwives coming from non-European Union nations, including those from the Philippines. Starting September, the UK’s Nursing and Midwifery Council would require nurses and midwives from non-EU countries to undergo the new overseas nurses program, which was developed to ensure that the requirements for non-EU as well as UK-trained nurses and midwives are comparable. Foreign nurses would also need to attain at least 6.5 percent proficiency grade in the International English Language Testing System.
The Philippine Medical Association found in an informal survey that of its 15,854 members, six percent or 1,003 are currently taking up nursing courses; among the 700 PMA members who have completed the nursing course, 347 are now working abroad. According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque’s estimate, there are close to 6,000 doctors in the Philippines who are studying to become nurses. The nursing profession has become very attractive due to the high demand for nurses in other countries and the offer of lucrative salaries. However, Duque laments the potential impact this exodus of medical professionals has on the country’s health care system.
Thirty-five teachers recruited from the Philippines to teach at the Las Vegas high school arrived in the US last 31 July. The recruitment of the Filipino educators was part of an international program designed to ease the shortage of teachers in the US. The Filipinos are expected to teach in the US over the next three years. Between 1992 and 2004, a total of 3,269 Filipino teachers have been deployed abroad, many of them among the most skilled math and science educators in the country. Some 1,622 teachers are currently practicing their profession in the US, 502 in Saudi Arabia, 168 in Brunei and 977 in other countries.
OFW remittances for the first half of 2005 reached $4.886 billion, up 21.5 percent from the $4.022 billion recorded during the same period last year. For the month of June alone, OFWs sent home $935.27 million, higher by 32.1 percent from the $708 million sent in June last year. Central Bank Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. credited the increase in remittances to the higher deployment of highly skilled workers and professionals. The Central Bank also noted the increasing use of banking channels for sending remittances.
Central Bank Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. recently said that the Philippines is intensifying its efforts to further reduce the cost of remitting funds and help increase the volume of OFW remittances. Presently, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is negotiating with banks through the Association of Bank Remitting Offices, Inc. to come up with new measures to reduce the cost of their remittance services. Tetangco said that the Philippines is also drafting a proposal for foreign regulatory authorities to allow Philippine banks overseas to “remotely open bank accounts" for OFWs. Meanwhile, the BSP revealed that based on a survey conducted in May, the service charges from banks are now lower than those being imposed by door-to-door couriers for remitting funds from abroad. According to the survey, bank charges have gone down from 4.35 percent in 2000 to 1.5 percent this year.
A syndicate making use of the short messaging system (SMS) or text messaging has been victimizing OFWs. The scam syndicate sends text messages to OFWs saying they have won as high as two million pesos in a raffle but in order to claim the cash prize, they have to deposit P100,000 to a certain bank account. Central Bank Governor Armando Tetangco, Jr. in a press conference said an increasing number of OFWs have been complaining about this scam. He said the syndicate has also been dropping the names of the Central Bank, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp and other institutions to lend credibility to the scam.
6,000 ‘former’ Filipinos re-acquire citizenship
The Bureau of Immigration announced that some 6,000 former Filipinos have reacquired their citizenship since the bureau started implementing the dual citizenship law 15 months ago. Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez, Jr. said that about two-thirds of those who gained dual citizenship had applied at the bureau’s main office while the rest applied in the various Philippine consulates. Under the law, also known as the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act, natural-born Filipinos who became naturalized citizens of other countries are considered not to have lost their Philippine citizenship.
The Australian government has recently donated new equipment to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to be used in detecting fake travel documents. The equipment donation consisted of 36 pieces of handheld scanners to be used by immigration officers at various international ports of entry. According to Australian ambassador to Manila, Tony Hely, Australia is bent on helping the Philippines and other Asia-Pacific countries to enhance security and immigration services to aid in the fight against terrorism.
Police officials arrested two suspected illegal recruiters who reportedly received payments amounting to P600,000 from five women who were promised domestic worker jobs in Milan, Italy. The suspects, Josephine Pecho and Flordeliza Bueron, were arrested during an entrapment operation at the Harrison Plaza Mall on 3 August. The two suspects are now detained at a Manila police station.
The BI has intensified its drive to register undocumented Indonesian nationals in Mindanao as part of the bureau’s anti-terrorist measures.
According to BI Commissioner Alipio, there are unconfirmed intelligence reports that about 10 members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an Indonesian-based terror group, have slipped into the country via Mindanao. Meanwhile, immigration officials arrested Indonesian national, Kamal Pribadi, 32, on 9 August at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after his passport and US visa were found to be fake. Pribadi had arrived on a flight from Jakarta via Singapore and was about to take a connecting flight to Los Angeles when arrested. Fernandez clarified that Pribadi was not being held as a suspected JI member but for possession of spurious travel documents.
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