Migrant Workers

MANILA, Philippines—Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong on Friday urged Manila to make it its official policy to issue to OFWs their overseas employment certificates (OEC) without requiring from them proof that they had paid their Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) membership fees.

MANILA, Philippines – As the European Union debt crisis deepens, a Filipino nonprofit group has expressed fears that Filipino workers in the euro zone will continue to stick it out there despite their precarious situation and as a result, could become victims of human traffickers, especially in Italy and Spain.

Majority of Filipino workers in Syria have rejected the Philippine government’s offer to repatriate them to the Philippines for free amid the worsening political security situation in the troubled Middle East state, citing scant employment opportunities back home, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario admitted yesterday.

THE WORLD saw the Philippine foreign office take strong policy stances in 2011 on the protection of Filipinos put at risk in the Middle East and the protection of Philippine sovereignty in parts of the Spratly island group that clearly belong to Palawan province. The Spratlys are in the West Philippine Sea (also called the…

MANILA, Philippines – The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) admitted yesterday that some of its officers failed to remit millions of pesos collected from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Tomas D. Achacoso was administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration from 1987 to 1990 under then-President Corazon C. Aquino, when Filipino migrant workers were still called overseas contract workers (OCWs).

Millions of Filipinos have left the country to find better-paying jobs abroad. MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines would be a boiling cauldron of poverty and social unrest if it were not for the millions of Filipinos heading overseas to work in higher-paying jobs, according to a US embassy cable published by WikiLeaks.

The Philippines has taken advantage of opportunities offered by overseas migration probably more than have other developing countries. Thanks to its wide bench of human capital formed by prior decades of investment in education which, in turn, had been spurred by the importance Filipino families generally give to schooling. Unfortunately, however, migration has been dictated…

MANILA, Philippines – About 521,253 Filipinos became naturalized citizens of eight countries part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). OECD’s 2011 International Migration Outlook bared that 386,739 Filipinos became naturalized citizens of the United States from 2000 to 2009.

Last of two parts (Ric Saludo’s colleague Bill Huang contributed this guest column.) IN tapping its nationals abroad, India has gone from indifference to engagement within the past decade. The first prominent achievement may have been its successful issue of foreign-currency-denominated “Resurgent India Bonds” in 1998, marketed specifically to non-resident Indians (NRIs) on the heels…

MANILA, Philippines – Bureau of Immigration (BI) records showed that almost 200 Filipinos attempt to sneak out of the country daily to work abroad.

Are overseas Filipino workers (OFW) being driven out of the country by poverty? Or is it just the latest opportunity and trend?

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today opened the General Assembly’s first-ever thematic debate on international migration and development with a strong call for an intelligent, cooperative approach, focused on the positive “to harness the unstoppable force of migration for the greater good”.

NEW YORK, NY – Dozens of Filipino migrant workers said to be employed at several locations of Carlton Cleaners in New York City claim to work below minimum wage and don’t even get overtime pay.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Thursday said it is lifting the country’s deployment ban in Bahrain where people have been staging anti-government protests since mid-February.

MANILA, Philippines –  Taiwan welcomed President Aquino’s appointment of a new Immigration chief and announced a relaxation of visa requirements for Filipino workers.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—The human rights group Migrante-Middle East slammed the Philippine embassy on Wednesday for advising a Filipino worker to amicably settle a rape charge she filed against her manager.

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday warned prospective overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and OFWs already deployed abroad, not to accept offers or requests from individuals or groups to carry luggage for them during their travel as it may contain substance such as illegal drugs.

FILIPINOS working inside the United States military bases in Afghanistan are allowed to continue their contracts after the High Level Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs decided to adopt the Iraq solution for some 6,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the high-risk country.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the continued exodus of Filipino skilled workers and professionals, the Philippines has not taken adequate measures to prevent it from affecting the country’s over-all economic development, a study of the University of the Philippines (UP) showed.

The government should start measures to halt labor export as it would need skills and talents to keep the economy growing, according to a University of the Philippines (UP) study.

SAN JOSE, Saipan – Time is ticking at a frantic pace toward November for most of Filipino workers here whose umbrella permits will expire by that time, unless they secure regular jobs or the US government grants them improved immigration status.

San Fernando City, La Union (27 Jan) –Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families, either displaced or presently working abroad were glad to have the inter-agency council for Migrants Concern here in La Union or the LUIMCO whose primary concern is the welfare and empowerment of OFWs in the locality.

(Updated 5:35 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines — Iraq’s ambassador called Tuesday on the Philippines to lift its travel ban to Iraq, saying Filipinos can benefit by taking part in his war-damaged country’s reconstruction.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

MANILA, Philippines – A total of 2,448 Filipinos in distress were repatriated from Saudi Arabia’s western region last year, the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah said Sunday.

MANILA, Philippines—Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has admonished the Philippine labor attaché in Hong Kong whom a domestic helper complained had verbally abused her while she was seeking his help about her illegal dismissal.

The Philippine Embassy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has posted online a list of 24-hour hotline numbers that Filipinos can contact even after office hours.

MANILA, Philippines—The government is retaining the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Nigeria, and Somalia, mainly because of the unstable and volatile security situation in these countries, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

Some 40 desperate OFWs – most of whom are women who had with them about 15 infants and children – are camped out again under Khandara Bridge in Jeddah hoping for a quick way home to the Philippines, despite the Saudi Arabia government announcing a six-month window for overstaying foreign workers.