Sometimes it's tough being an OFW or a Fil-Am. Especially knowing those remittances being sent home are what's keeping the economy afloat! This is a grab-bag of OFW and Fil-Am stories and headlines.
Consul General Claro Cristobal of the Philippine Consulate General in New York said in a statement that about 4,000 Filipinos are in Pittsburgh and the rest of Western Pennsylvania.
4,000 Pinoys in Western Pennsylvania!?? And just how many of them are Jews? How many of them would actually have been in this synagogue or have ever been to a synagogue? This DFA announcement is STUPID!!!
The DFA said the rescued OFWs were truck drivers who had been living and working in “deplorable conditions” in the southern part of the Scandinavian country.
DFA officials expressed gratitude to Copenhagen for helping the afflicted Filipinos.
The 22 truck drivers were rescued after Danish police raided their camp in the town of Padborg early Tuesday morning, the DFA said in a statement late Tuesday night.
Strangely enough this article does not define "deplorable conditions." Could be a relative thing. Could be that these Filipinos were living in conditions normal for the Philippines but deplorable to European standards. Finally a few weeks later we learn more.
Villanueva defined “social dumping” as a practice of “high-wage” countries seeking to reduce operational costs by employing sub-contractors from low-wage countries.
He noted that on October 31, Danish authorities rescued 22 Filipino truck drivers who were contracted to work in Poland but were transferred to Denmark instead “due to alteration in the contract signed by the Filipino truck drivers.”
The contracts of the Filipino truckers, according to the senator, stated that they will work in Poland for a monthly salary of 1,060 euros (approximately $63580.39).
The compensation also include meal allowance, free accommodation, overtime pay, medical benefits, and life insurance.
However, the Filipinos were allegedly transferred to Denmark three weeks after their arrival in Poland with no appropriate accommodation, overtime pay, and medical benefits, according to Villanueva.
The senator likewise mentioned that the truck drivers did not have access to decent sleeping quarters as they were allegedly “made to sleep on the container truck they are driving without a heater, bed, kitchen or toilet facilities.”
“Their supposed accommodation is just a mere three square meters area with a kitchen inside the toilet,” the senator added.
It's sad but true that imported foreign workers always get the short shrift from unscrupulous employers. That is the reality of being an OFW. Instead of investigating these practices the Senate should investigate how to grow the economy into a manufacturing based economy and not a service based economy. But the nation is so reliant on those remittances that they must keep this wheezing old beast propped up.
The crew members were reported to have been taken by the gunmen as the vessel was making its way from Lagos to Port Harcourt, Vicario added.
Pirates. African pirates. No word on exactly who though. Wrong coast to be Somalis.
Two Filipino seafarers on board a Liberian-flagged container ship were among 11 crewmembers kidnapped by pirates who boarded their vessel on October 27, a DFA statement said, citing a report from the Philippine Embassy in Nigeria.
Another eight Filipino sailors of a Panamanian-registered tanker along with nine other crewmembers remain unaccounted for after their vessel was seized by pirates on October 29.
"It was not clear if the seafarers were taken by the same group of pirates who abducted seven Filipinos on board a Swiss-flagged vessel off Nigerian waters last month," the DFA said. The seven were released on Sunday.
Piracy and ransom kidnappings of Filipino sailors have long been a problem for the Philippine government as it lacks the capacity to monitor their movements when at sea.
Argh matey! It be dangerous out on the high seas!
“The Philippine Consulate General in Guam is preparing teams to go to the island of Tinian and Rota to assist approximately 800 Filipinos there who were affected by the typhoon. There is now a team in Saipan distributing financial assistance to Filipino victims of the typhoon,” Consul General Marciano De Borja said in a video message sent to reporters over the weekend.
Vice Consul Alex Vallespin and Assistance to Nationals (ATN) Officer Juliet Simbul led the distribution of relief assistance to at least 600 Filipinos, including those staying in temporary shelters after their homes were destroyed or damaged by the typhoon.
Well that is nice of the consulate to distribute relief assistance. Seems like it went better than Yolanda relief assistance.
More than P500 million have yet to be claimed by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who, despite their exemption, paid terminal fees, an official of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said yesterday.
“(It is) with the general fund of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and no one can take it except the OFW-holders of airline tickets,” MIAA general manager Ed Monreal said.
“Our OFWs are our modern heroes for helping our country’s economy to grow through their remittances; hence their exemption from the terminal fee,” Monreal said.
Why doesn't the DFA make an effort to help OFWs recover this money?
Saudi Arabia is the top destination of job-seeking Filipinos in the Middle East, with a least 1 million workers mostly employed in the household service and construction sectors.
There have been numerous reports in the past of abuses being committed against Filipino workers in the Arab state.
The monthly salary for nurses is pegged at P58,000, which could still increase on a yearly basis.
Pinoys are so desperate for good pay they will work in this evil kingdom. Why does the OEA allow them to work in a nation where so much abuse happens?
18-year-old Filipino-American student Alaina Punzalan Housley was killed in the mass shooting in a Southern California bar, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Friday.
American actress and TV host Tamera Mowry-Housley and her husband journalist Adam Housley are mourning the loss of their niece Alaina, who is a freshman student in Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.
Now this an interesting story ethnically speaking. This girl, Alania, is a full blooded American meaning she was "
born and raised in the US." It seems on her Father's side she is related to former Fox news correspondent Adam Housely who is the husband of actress Tamara Mowry who was very famous in the 90's alongside her twin sister Tia. Alania was attending Pepperdine University which is the alma mater of both Adam and Tamara.
There does not seem to be anything especially Filipino about this lady except her mother but Filipinos abide by the
one-drop rule which is enough to make
Rob Schneider a Filipino!
With a marginalized position in society and low income, the force of more than 300,000 maids, mainly women from Indonesia and the Philippines, can find it hard to access public facilities like libraries and leisure centers.
Some NGOs say as well as difficulties meeting the cost, helpers also face discrimination -- especially if they are in groups -- and can have difficulties providing information for membership such as proof of address if their employers do not supply it.
But Marilyn Maliglig has found an alternative way to spend her day off -- confronting her water phobia at a free swimming class for domestic helpers in Hong Kong.
"I cannot float, that's the problem," the 41-year-old told AFP before her first class.
"I really can't swim in the water at all."
Although the city depends on domestic helpers to keep it running, some maids are barred from using swimming pools for their own leisure at the residential complexes where they work.
They are only entitled to one day off a week which they spend setting up temporary camps around the city with music, food, prayers and dancing.
British swimming enthusiast Simon Holliday said he was inspired to set up swimming classes for domestic helpers after he spotted a group one Sunday, looking bored and sitting on cardboard boxes on the pavement.
His charity Splash offers free swimming lessons for marginalized communities in Hong Kong, including refugees.
Helpers say they cannot afford paid-for lessons and the class gives them a chance to learn a new skill and to relax after a trying six-day week.
"We want other things to do. Because we always do the same things at home," said Jasmine Arcana, from the Philippines, who has been working in Hong Kong as a helper for eight years.
Nearly 1,200 domestic helpers have taken part in the program since it began three years ago.
Interesting that people can live in an island nation and not know how to swim. Funny to imagine Hong Kong on a Sunday or whenever it is everyone has the day off. "Temporary camps around the city!" That must be a crazy day.
The Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday said 15 of the 21 Filipino seafarers who were abandoned by their Greek employers and stranded in India since June have finally returned home.
The global shipping industry, which carries 80 percent of international trade, employs about 1.2 million seafarers and most of them come from the Philippines.
That is an interesting statistic.
Those are only a few of the stories that come across the news every day. Filipinos are disbursed around the world in nearly very country being employed at various jobs. Truly without their remittances the economy would be a lot worse. We see the proof of that now since the peso has rebounded somewhat due to all the Christmas money being sent here. Stronger remittances means a stronger economy.
What a burden for these brave men and women to bear knowing that they are the lifeblood of the Philippines economy.
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