As of 18 November the Philippines has deployed a total of 991,461 land-based and sea-based workers overseas, or just 8,539 shy of the country’s one million target for the year. The number of land-based workers deployed from 1 January to 18 November this year totaled 751,974 while the number of seafarers who left for overseas jobs reached 239,487. Labor Secretary Arturo Brion is confident that the Philippines will attain if not surpass its deployment goal this year.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects continued strong remittance inflows from overseas Filipino workers next year. BSP deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo said that 2007 remittances through banking channels are likely to surpass this year’s estimated total inflow of $13.4 billion to reach $14.1 billion. In the first nine months of 2006, remittances hit $9.11 billion, up 14.4 percent from last year’s figures. September remittances alone breached the one billion mark at $1.014 billion, 7.6 percent higher than the figures for September last year.
The Labor Department is planning to implement some changes in the country’s deployment policies in a bid to reduce abuse and exploitation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The department wants to overhaul the pre-departure orientation system (PDOS) to make it more country-specific and in-depth. Labor Secretary Brion has also asked the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to cancel the licenses of agencies giving PDOS if they fail to meet the new standards. The secretary also denied rumors that the department is planning to take over and control the recruitment of Filipinos for overseas employment by entering into more government-to-government arrangements, like in the case of South Korea.
The Department of Labor and Employment is expecting a surge in illegal recruitment activities once the new hiring policies for Filipino domestic workers begins next month. According to Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, unscrupulous agencies that are unable to comply with the new requirements starting 15 December might resort to illegal recruitment. Under the new regulation, all departing Filipino domestic workers should receive a salary of $400 a month but they must have undergone skills and language training before departure. Job applicants were advised to refrain from paying placement fees unless they have checked the status of their agency with the POEA to avoid being victimized by illegal recruitment.
Meanwhile, Brion allayed fears that the new hiring policy would jeopardize the employment of Filipino domestic workers. He said there are higher-end markets like Spain, Canada and South Korea that would be willing to hire Filipino domestic workers at the government-prescribed monthly wage rates.
The Japanese Nursing Association has voiced its objections to the planned entry of Filipino nurses to Japan. According to the group, the Japanese government should first improve the working conditions of Japanese nurses, such as doubling their salary rates, before allowing Filipino nurses into the country. The Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) signed by both countries in September, allows Filipino nurses and caregivers to work in Japan provided they undergo training and pass the corresponding licensure examinations given in the Japanese language. Protests notwithstanding, both the Philippines and Japan are committed to implement the provisions of the free trade agreement.
Taiwan has decided to lift the temporary ban on the hiring of Filipino workers. This was announced by Labor Secretary Arturo Brion who said he assured Taiwanese officials that the Philippine government is seriously looking into the documentation problems of OFWs. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has called for a meeting with relevant government agencies to act against the use of forged passports and other false documents by Taiwan-bound Filipino workers that led to the hiring freeze. According to Brion, Taiwanese authorities have agreed to honor the Social Security System identification card as a legitimate document to verify the identity of Filipino workers being deployed to Taiwan. Earlier, Taiwanese officials complained about the large number of Filipino workers submitting fake documents to enter Taiwan.
RP fails to meet labor deployment quota to South Korea
The Philippines has reached major agreements with the Malaysian government on certain issues concerning Filipinos in Kuala Lumpur and Sabah following the dispatch of a goodwill mission to Malaysia. Among the major areas of agreement between the two countries are: the reactivation of the one-stop processing centers in Zamboanga City and Tawi-Tawi, educational opportunities for the children of Filipinos in detention and of IMM13 holders in Sabah and the use of a “rational, calibrated and humane" approach in the arrest, detention and deportation of Filipino nationals in Sabah.
228 Filipino workers repatriated from Kazakhstan
The Philippine government has decided to repatriate some 228 Filipinos working in an oil refinery in Tengiz, Despite the heightened security at the Bechtel oil refinery following racial violence between Kazakh and Turkish workers the Filipinos opted to be repatriated Kazakhstan due to continued threats on their life by Kazakh workers. The first batch of 56 workers arrived in Manila on 22 November followed by the second batch of 98 workers who came a day later. The third batch of 74 other workers is expected to arrive home on 24 November. Meanwhile, Senator Richard Gordon has asked the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies to help ensure the safety of the Filipino workers caught in the midst of the Kazakhstan riots.
According to a report from the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, some 25 Filipino domestic workers there had been victimized by a trafficking syndicate run by Bangladeshi and Filipino nationals. The victims had earlier been duped by Filipino syndicate members to leave their employers with promises of better paying jobs. The five Bangladeshi ringleaders of the syndicate and four of their five Filipino cohorts are under police custody in Kuwait. The Department of Foreign Affairs endorsed the prosecution of the five female Filipinos working for the syndicate. One of the suspects, who managed to return to Manila, was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) upon her arrival. She is currently under investigation after one of the Filipino victims who returned from Kuwait filed a formal complaint.
Meanwhile, a 17-year old Filipino domestic worker raped by the Bangladeshi members of a trafficking ring in Kuwait, will be repatriated after completing her treatment at the Al-Razi Orthopedic hospital and after filing the necessary charges against the suspects. She underwent spinal column surgery for injuries she sustained when she jumped from the apartment where her rapists were keeping her.
The suspect in the murder of Filipina caregiver, Michelle Alonsagay-Jamias, 31, in Haifa, Israel has been arrested. Ling Hao Siam was arrested on 14 November hours after his photograph was shown on Israeli television. Ling, a former boyfriend of the slain Filipina, is currently undergoing criminal investigation.
OFWs flee trafficking ring in Dubai
Evangeline Ramos and Melissa Nuñez asked Philippine Embassy officials to investigate a bar in Dubai where they were allegedly forced to work as prostitutes. The two, who managed to escape from the bar, claimed that they left behind many under-aged Filipinas similarly forced into white slavery. They identified the bar’s manager as a certain Fidel Castro who allegedly gets from P7,000 to P10,000 as commission per prostitute. The Filipinas added that the Indian bar owner may be unaware that his bar is being used as a front for prostitution.
The Philippine Embassy in Brunei reported that the Filipina held by Bruneian authorities in October for possession of a bullet she allegedly uses as an amulet has been cleared of all charges. This allowed the woman to proceed to the UAE to take up a job as a domestic worker. The woman, whose identity is being withheld, told authorities that the bullet had been given to her by a faith healer years ago when she had trouble conceiving a child. However, she decided to keep the amulet long after she had become pregnant for good luck.
The Philippine Embassy in Brazil has managed to trace the whereabouts of Danilo Magpantay, a Filipino seaman who is now a permanent resident of that country. The embassy started searching for Danilo upon the request of Roberto Magpantay to locate his long-lost brother who left the Philippines as a seaman in 1978. The Philippine Honorary Consul General in Sao Paolo was able to get in touch with Danilo’s Brazilian daughter and this led to direct communication with the former seaman. Danilo has since re-established contact with his mother and siblings in the Philippines and is planning to spend the Christmas holidays in the country for an overdue family reunion.
18 illegal recruitment victims rescued
The Coast Guard in Zamboanga City rescued 18 women from Maguindanao and North Cotabato while on their way to Manila to meet their recruiter. Authorities suspect that the girls, who were allegedly promised jobs in Malaysian and Singapore, are victims of illegal recruitment. Fifteen girls, aged 15 to 17, were turned over to Zamboanga Provincial Social Welfare officer Zaida Jubilan-Rinsulat.
Airport authorities arrested a Malaysia-bound OFW who was caught trying to sneak out two kilos of shabu worth six million pesos from the country. Norlito Penuela Limpin, 31, a resident of Zamboanga City was arrested at the departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as he was about to board a Malaysian Airlines plane bound for Kuala Lumpur. An x-ray technician detected the illegal drugs when Limpin’s traveling bag passed through the x-ray machine.
Two doctors in the US were each sentenced to four-year prison terms for forcing a woman from the Philippines to serve as a domestic worker in their home for 19 years. A federal court convicted Jefferson Calimlim, 62, and his wife, Elnora, 61, for harboring an unauthorized immigrant for financial gain, conspiracy, forced labor and attempted forced labor. Their 31-year old son, Jefferson, was also sentenced to three years of probation and fined $5,000 for harboring an unauthorized immigrant. According to prosecutors, the Calimlims kept Irma Martinez a virtual prisoner in their home because of constant threats to have her deported and made her work long hours while paying her only minimal wages.
The Justice Department has directed immigration and airport officials to conduct a strict monitoring, surveillance and profiling of all arriving Pakistani, Afghan and Indian nationals following intelligence reports that operatives of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden may have entered the Philippines using fake Indian passports. According to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, the department has received confidential information that Indian nationals using fake Philippine visas arrived in the country via Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on 9 and 10 August.
The DFA launched an investigation on the alleged involvement of some of its officials and those from the immigration bureau in the illegal sale of entry permits and visas to foreigners. The move followed an expose by Surigao del Norte representative, Robert Barbers, about the visa-for-sale operations. According to Barbers, who heads the House Committee on Accounts, the fake entry visas were being sold for P500,000 each to foreigners who want to reside in the Philippines permanently or those planning to engage in illegal activities. Barbers added that the foreigners also have to shell out between P250,000 and P300,000 to bribe immigration personnel who periodically harass them. He also identified Ferdinand Sampol, the immigration bureau NAIA chief and other officials including Julius Cortez, Ed Damian and Tom Natividad as those behind the issuance of fake visas to Indian nationals.
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