PNoy and Pinoys Abroad: Top 10 Pinoy Abroad stories

After President Benigno Simeon Aquino assumed office on June 30 last year, several significant events happened abroad concerning overseas Filipino workers and migrants. These are some of the most popular PINOY ABROAD stories that have appeared on our site during Aquino’s first year in office:

1. After convictions, PHL off US human trafficking watch list

The United States government has removed the Philippines from its Tier 2 Watch List for having several convictions of human traffickers in the past year.

According to the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report of the US State Department, although the Philippines “still does not fully comply with minimum standards to eliminate trafficking, Manila is making significant efforts to do so.”

2. Saudi Arabia bans domestic workers from the Philippines
June 30, 2011

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) said it will no longer issue work visas for Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers starting on July 2.

The decision of the Saudi government will affect 180,000 domestic workers in KSA, or about 15 percent of more than 1.2 million Filipinos working in the Kingdom.

3. Expert: ‘Saudization’ to cut OFW jobs in Saudi
June 23, 2011

Jobs for overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia will soon grow less, according to a recruitment expert, as the looming implementation of a new labor policy there will compel companies to limit the number of their foreign employees.

The new Saudi policy — known as Nitaqat — has prodded recruitment firms to call on the Philippine government to act on the impending problems migrant workers abroad will soon face.

4. A look into human trafficking in the Philippines
April 15, 2011

Human trafficking, the illegal trade in human beings for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation, remains a problem in the Philippines.

5. Fil-Am awarded for fight vs human trafficking
June 28, 2011

A young Filipino-American woman received the Jefferson Award for Public Service for helping curtail human trafficking in the United States.

Andrea Mendoza, together with teammate Ariana Taveras, a Dominican Republic national, spearheaded a campaign to stop child labor by major manufacturing companies and to eradicate other forms of modern-day slavery.

6. Ex-PAGASA spokesman’s wife awakes from coma
May 2, 2011

“Miracle patient.” This was how doctors and nurses in Darwin, Australia called the wife of the longtime face of PAGASA, Nathaniel “Mang Tani” Cruz, after she suddenly woke up from a two-week coma.

7. Pinoy Pulitzer winner outs himself as TNT in NY Times
June 23, 2011

Jose Antonio Vargas was a typical Filipino 12-year-old boy in 1993 when he was handed a jacket and told he was going somewhere cold.

Unknown to him, he was being escorted to the United States without the proper documents by a “coyote” posing as his uncle. He was to be an illegal alien, which he only discovered four years later when his application for a driver’s license was turned down on account of his fake green card.

8. Pinays celebrating Mother’s Day away from their children
May 6, 2011

In general, there are two kinds of Filipino mothers in the United Arab Emirates: those who have their children with them and those who don’t, but both will be celebrating Mother’s Day on May 8.

There are many reasons why some overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are not with their children. Some choose to leave the Philippines to earn for their families. Some prefer their children to grow up in a Filipino environment.

9. 3 Pinoy drug mules in China to be executed March 30
March 23, 2011

The three Filipinos who were sentenced to death for bringing illegal drugs to China will be executed on March 30, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

“The Fujian People’s Court and Guangdong High People’s Court have informed the Philippine consulates general in Xiamen and Guangzhou on the date of the carrying out of the death penalty in three Filipino nationals,” DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said at a press briefing. “The Death penalty will be carried out on March 30.”

10. Crisis, policies blamed for 2010 deployment drop
March 3, 2011

MANILA– A Labor official forecasts a 3-percent drop in deployment of overseas Filipino workers last year, blaming a nugatory policy on departure in the country’s major airports as one of the causes.

A recruiter, however, said this is due to employers, especially in Middle East countries, who maintained a low-pay structure amid fresh supply from other labor markets whose workers are willing to get paid less than what Filipinos receive.
– GMA News