HK court to decide if Filipino maids can apply for residency...

Reuters

Posted at 02/26/2013 1:43 PM | Updated as of 02/26/2013 1:43 PM

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's highest court began hearing an appeal on Tuesday to decide whether about 300,000 foreign domestic helpers, mostly from the Philippines, should have the right to apply for permanent residency.
Under Hong Kong's constitution, foreigners are entitled to permanent residency - which brings the rights to vote, claim welfare and other services - if they have lived there for an uninterrupted seven years.

Immigration law, however, denies that right to foreigners who work as home helpers, most of whom are from the Philippines and Indonesia.

The lawsuit was initially launched by Filipino maid Evangeline Banao Vallejos, who scored a victory in September 2011 when a lower court ruled that she had the right to seek permanent residency in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong government then won an appeal in March 2012 when the court ruled that the helpers' stays in Hong Kong are "highly regulated so as to ensure that they are here to fulfill the special, limited purpose for which they have been allowed to come here in the first place, and no more."

Vallejos did not appear in court on Tuesday. Her lawyer Mark Daly said on Monday that she would not show up for the three-day hearing.

Shortly before Tuesday's hearing began seven activists from the group United Filipinos in Hong Kong Migrante (Unifil Migrante) displayed placards calling for inclusion.

Its General Secretary, Eman Villanueva, said he hoped the court would rule in the domestic workers' favor.
"At the very core of this issue is equal treatment in Hong Kong. We've always asked why are other foreign workers in Hong Kong given the right to apply for permanent residency after (living in Hong Kong) seven years, and why this same right is not given to foreign domestic workers," Villanueva said.

Most wealthy Hong Kong residents and expatriates consider a maid essential, many employing a live-in helper who cooks, cleans and helps with child-minding.

But not all foreign domestic helpers would apply for residency, even if given that right.
Live-in Filipino domestic helper Jovita Mabborang has worked in Hong Kong for 11 years.
She visits the market every day for ingredients to cook dinner for a family of four and makes about HK$3,700 (477 U.S. dollars) every month.

A mother of a 10-year-old boy, Mabborang considers Hong Kong a good place to work but ultimately wants to go home to stay with her family.
"And then a lot of Filipinos like to stay here, because our salary is quite high. Maybe about the residency, maybe I prefer to go back to home, to Philippines, to stay together with my family," Mabborang said.
Every Sunday, hundreds of Filipino domestic workers gather under iconic buildings in the city's central business district during their day off.

One of them, Elizabeth Mendoza, said she wanted to apply for residency and bring her family to the city where she has worked for 17 years.
"It's easy to find a job, and easy to do everything that you like. You are free, you have freedom. That's the reason," Mendoza said.

After the latest hearing is completed on Thursday (February 28), the court of final appeal will consider the case for several weeks before its decision.
Even if the court rules in favour of the foreign maids, their decision may not be the last in the case.

In 1999, a ruling by Hong Kong's highest court that granted the right of abode to many Chinese citizens was later overturned by China's top legal body, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Fake jobs in Singapore for medical workers....

POEA warns against fake jobs for medical workers in Singapore

BY GMA NEWS ONLINE / PINOY ABROAD, ON FEBRUARY 22ND, 2013

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) warned against an online scam luring Filipino medical workers to non-existent jobs in Singapore.

According to POEA chief Hans Cacdac, Tan Zhiyi, the Human Resource Division of Singapore General Hospital, alerted the POEA about inquiries from Filipino workers asking about the authenticity of the job offers sent through the following email addresses:

• singaporegenhosp@zoho.com
• singaporegeneralhosp @ojooo.com
• singaporegenhosp@hush.com

Tan noted that their official emails use the internet address sgh.com.sg.

The scammers require victims to pay P3,800 for visa interview preparation fee through a bank account not owned by the hospital.

Jobseekers are also told that they will not pay any placement and processing fees but that they undergo seminars such as visa interview coaching or English/British language training before signing an employment contract.

The jobseekers are also promised free accommodation and food allowance,

Cacdac noted that scammers have previously sent emails offering Filipinos nursing or caring jobs in Queensway Carleton Hospital, Stevenson Memorial Hospital, Shouldice Hospital, and Fraser Health in Canada; Sydney Adventist Hospital in Australia; and other known hospitals in UK and USA.

“Recipients should not even consider answering such emails or entertaining supposed job opportunities spread though social media like Facebook and Twitter,” he said.
“It is safer for our jobseekers to submit their applications through licensed recruitment agencies in the Philippines,” Cacdac said.

VVP, GMA News

Interested Working in Oman ?

Oman needs 3,280 medical professionals - DOLE

by Estrella Torres, BusinessMirror

Posted at 02/25/2013 8:59 AM | Updated as of 02/25/2013 8:59 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine labor department said the Sultanate of Oman announced that Filipino medical professionals could seek jobs in the Arab state to fill 3,288 vacant positions for doctors and nurses.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the job openings in the oil-rich country would “certainly boost the chances of our highly skilled and highly qualified medical workers, particularly our nurses.”

But the labor chief warned that, “OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] wanting to work in Oman should apply only with POEA [Philippine Overseas Employment Administration]-licensed overseas recruitment agencies with verified job orders in Oman to avoid getting illegally recruited.”

Philippine Ambassador to Oman Joselito Jimeno reported a recent announcement of Oman’s Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid al-Saidi, saying the Sultanate is facing a shortage of around 8,900 doctors and nurses by 2015.

Jimeno said nurses specializing in obstetrics, gynecology, anesthesiology, surgery (neurology and cardiology), intensive care and psychiatrics are highly needed in the Arab country.
Professional nurses in Oman receives an average basic salary of $703.79, based on the employment contracts that were processed by the POEA.

The report, furnished the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), said Oman’s Ministry of Health has announced that it would hire 3,288 doctors and nurses from other countries in response to this projected shortage.
Jimeno said some 4,464 doctors will be needed in Oman by 2015, but can only source 1,176 of them locally. For nurses, 5,598 will be hired abroad, he said.

To hire more medical professionals overseas, Oman increased its state budget for health by 9.4 percent for 2013, growing from OMR 500 million ($1.3 billion) to OMR 547 million ($1.4 billion).
He said the health budget accounts for 5 percent of the total state budget, which stands at OMR 12.9 billion ($33.5 billion).

Jimeno also said the government of Oman is stepping up the creation of more hospitals and clinics between 2011 and 2015 to reach out to people in the most remote areas.
There are around 15,868 OFWs in Oman, with 10,291 rehires and 5,577 new hires. Most of them are domestic helps, with related-household workers at 2,724, followed by professional nurses at 328.

Sex trafficking in Virginia

12 Investigates: Sex trafficking in Virginia

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) -

It's a $37 billion industry - human trafficking. And this is not just happening a world away.

In Virginia, 12-year-old girls are the biggest target, often picked up off the streets and sold.

As night falls, it's no longer just hookers walking the streets in Richmond.

In the age of technology, women sit in warm hotel rooms waiting for the phone to ring. That's exactly what happened inside room 202.

According to court documents, managers at a pretty nice hotel on Paragon Place in Henrico County got suspicious and called police.

Detectives Googled the phone number used to register the room, and sure enough - it was linked to dozens of escort ads online.

They were advertising on backpage.com. On the site, we found countless ads selling sex in Richmond.

Inside room 202 - a man and two women were prostituting a 13-year-old runaway from Miami. In just 5 days, she'd seen 15 clients in Richmond.

"The average age of a girl being forced into prostitution is between 12 and 14 years old," said Sara Pomeroy for Richmond Justice Initiative.

Over the last year, there were 19 cases prosecuted at the federal courthouse in Richmond. All but 2 of the 29 victims were teens or children. Often times, they are coerced or forced.

Holly Smith was 14 when she met a man at the mall who promised to make her part of the "in" crowd.

"Within 12 hours of him picking me up from the mall, I was trafficked. They forced men on me. I didn't realize what was going on at first. I thought that we were going to a club," said Smith.

Pomeroy says the traffickers are good at exploiting a teen's vulnerability.

"Traffickers will identify if the girl is not happy at home. If she's fighting with her father. If it's a single family home. If she doesn't feel pretty," said Pomeroy.

Her non-profit is trying to push through new and tougher laws against sex trafficking in Virginia.

The 13-year-old from Miami is back home with her family and the last person involved in her trafficking will be sentenced Wednesday in federal court. Five bills creating tougher laws and penalties against trafficking are making their way through the General Assembly now and are gaining support.

Rape and Murder, one after the other goes on....

When will this stop ?

Most Criminals are free and roaming the streets in India....

In Bhagalpur, Bihar a women (from lower strata of the society) was raped, killed and hanged to a tree brutally.

No Singapore hospital,  no special plane, no news report

no police reports
no womans activists
no politicians
no home minister
no womans and social welfare minister
no prime minister
no president
no NGOs

Because the woman shown in the picture is not a upper caste woman, ironically and unfortunately the voices of the dalits are also missing in this heinous crime and rape murder incident of this woman in the pic.

not even dalit activists to voice about this following incident. They are too busy talking about a fucking movie release.

Neither Sonia Gandhi or Rahul are aware about this and they are not going to arrange a special airplane to pick this poor woman’s body for postmortem and further action, the criminals and rapists are gone and probably worked out all the methods of protecting themselves may be several lakh of rupees, lawyers and or gone out of city or state to somewhere else?. Or may be they are right in the same vicinity. This is a day to day events and no local or national news papers to talk about this, no politicians, and no home minister certainly, a dalit home minister too busy in talking about and releasing a Movie, and he has no time for dalit woman rape and murders, or dalit atrocity nation wide. And, a sc/st commission that is utterly corrupt and run by jat slaves. Who is going to voice for this womans family?. What is Bihar’s chief minister doing while this is unfolding to the international media, right at home no body cares or aware what is happening in their own….No times of India or hindu or tehelka to write about this terrible rape and murder in Bihar.

The victim and the picture above and the news was brought to upliftthems attention via FB post of Arul E Reported via : Prabhat Bhardwaj

Source: http://banoosh.com/2013/02/08/rape-murder-another-and-another-goes-on-most-criminals-are-free-and-roaming-the-streets-in-india/

ANC Up Close and Personal with Suze Orman: A Korina Sanchez Interview 3/3

OFW dies on flight to Philippines

Arab news

RIYADH: ABDUL HANNAN TAGO

Monday 11 February 2013

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) expressed sympathy for their fellow worker who died while on flight returning home.

According to a report, Reynaldo Santos Ofracio, 56, an audio-visual supervisor at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, was flying home to fulfill his wish to spend his last moments with his family.

His wife, Dorothy Ofracio, said he was in the late stages of liver cancer. She earlier went to Jeddah to fetch Reynaldo and accompany him back to Manila. Four hours before Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV874’s scheduled 1:15 p.m. arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Friday, her husband complained of difficulty breathing and then suffered a seizure.

A crew member, who did not want to be identified, gave Ofracio oxygen and the pilot suggested they make an emergency landing at the nearest airport, but Ofracio’s wife opted to continue with the flight to Manila. About an hour later, she said Reynaldo Ofracio had become unresponsive.
Reynaldo Santos Ofracio was pronounced dead by Dr. Noel Ramirez at NAIA Terminal in Manila.
Filipino migrants’ rights group, Migrante-Middle East (M-ME) yesterday said its officials and members and fellow Saudi-based OFWs are saddened upon hearing the news report about a fellow OFW who died on board an airplane going home.

“We express our sympathy to the family, relatives and friends of our fellow OFW Ofracio, who died on board a flight going home. We have known that he has been sick and suffering from cancer,” said John Leonard Monterona, M-ME regional coordinator.

Monterona added that there are quite a number of OFWs in same situation as that of OFW Ofracio. “We have been witness of our fellow OFWs struggle especially those who are old and sick, and undocumented,” the Saudi-based OFW leader added.
He said that in the port city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia there were close to 12,000 undocumented OFWs.

“Sixty to 70 percent of them are sick women and old. There are those who have been undocumented for six to 10 years or even more,” Monterona added. “But they could not come home due to their need to earn a living for their families back home.”

OFW group vows to hold accountable erring, abusive officials

Posted by admin on 2/04/13 • Categorized as News Releases

Migrante Partylist today vowed to hold accountable erring and negligent officials who have abused their position to violate rights of overseas Filipino workers, especially those in distress.

The group made the statement following reports involving an official from the Assistance to Nationals Unit of the Philippine embassy in Kuwait who allegedly brokered a settlement between a distressed OFW and her foreign employer and then pocketed the money intended for the OFW. The Assistance to Nationals Unit is under the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“This is definitely not the first time that we have encountered such complaints. What is bothersome is that more and more higher officials are getting involved. In fact, we have formal complaints filed before the DFA still pending action,” said Connie Bragas-Regalado, Migrante Partylist chairperson.

Bragas-Regalado said that aside from corruption cases, some embassy officials are also involved in cover-ups, connivance with abusive foreign employers and agencies and other “backdoor transactions”.

She cited the case of Grace Victoria Sales, a domestic worker in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, who was raped by the driver of Labor Attache Adam Musa. LaBatt Musa allegedly bribed the victim to keep quiet.

According to Migrante’s sources, Sales escaped her employer who was molesting her and sought the help of the POLO in Al Khobar on August 2012. She was initially grateful because Musa accommodated her and employed her as a janitress. However, when she told Musa that she was raped by his driver, a certain Jojo, Musa gave her 10,000 Saudi riyals in exchange for her silence.

Sales then sought the help of Samahang llokano Global Alumni Council (SIGAC), a network of Migrante Partylist in Saudi. In turn, SIGAC submitted a complaint to Musa but no action was employed. Jojo, the driver, continues to work for Musa to this day. Worse, Musa and the driver allegedly tried to diffuse the complaint by spreading rumors that the victim is a prostitute.

Bragas-Regalado also cited the cases filed by at least 100 OFWs in Saudi against Ambassador Ezzadin Tago and Welfare Officer Albert Valenciano for criminal neglect, connivance with foreign employers, misrepresentation and other anomalous transactions. “The Saudi OFWs filed a complaint demanding the recall of Tago and Valenciano to the DFA, DOLE, Office of the President and Office of the Vice President but until now no action has taken place.”

She said that the DOLE sent a fact-finding mission to Saudi last November but no reports have been made as to the status of their investigation with regard the said complaint. “In other cases, officials who have received complaints are merely deployed to other posts but no actions or sanctions are imposed.”

“We salute OFWs who are courageous enough to formally submit and make public their complaints against these officials. We call on other OFW victims to come forward and make their voices heard. We will not stop campaigning until these officials are held accountable for their abuses,” Bragas-Regalado said. ###

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Filipino OFW killed by pirate in Nigeria, 8 more still held captive

Pinoy sailor killed by pirate in Nigeria, 8 other Pinoys still held captive – DFA

February 6, 2013 4:00pm

A Filipino seaman of a Marshall-flagged chemical tanker was shot on board the vessel by a pirate in Nigeria, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the Filipino, whose identity he declined to disclose, was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

The vessel Pyxis Delta, hijacked on February 4 off the coast of Nigeria, had eight other Filipino crew members.

They are all safe on board the ship which is anchored off the coast of Nigeria.

“The family of the fatality has already been informed of this sad development,” Hernandez told a press briefing.

Hernandez said repatriation of the sailor’s remains and survivors to Manila is being readied.

The DFA spokesman said they are still determining the exact details of the incident. 

“This information is still preliminary and we are hoping to get more information from the manning agency today or tomorrow,” he said.

The DFA assured the government is working continuously with ship owners and operators to secure the freedom of the Filipinos

The global shipping industry, which carries 80 percent of international trade, employs about 1.2 million seafarers, the bulk of whom come from the Philippines.

At least 23 Filipino seafarers remain in the hands of ransom-seeking pirates in Somalia.

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.

Somali authorities are likewise powerless over these groups since there is no existing central government in the African state.

Since the UN withdrew in Somalia in March 1995 without restoring a functioning government, little progress has been made.

As a policy, the Philippine government does not negotiate nor pay ransom to kidnappers, but gives ship owners the free hand in negotiating for the release of abducted Filipino sailors.

- Michaela del Callar/VVP/RSJ, GMA News

Saved from death row, OFW thanks Saudi gov't....

Report from Raffy Beltran, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau

DAMMAN, Saudi Arabia – The freedom and the chance to lead a new life may soon become a reality for Rodelio “Dondon” Celestino Lanuza.

The good news finally reached Lanuza, the overseas Filipino worker who has been in jail since 2000 for killing a Saudi national in an act of self defense.
In a text message to ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau, Lanuza expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Saudi Arabian government for shouldering the balance of the blood money being asked by the victim’s family.

“Ako po ay lubusang nagagalak sa magandang balitang aking natanggap. Maraming, maraming salamat po una sa Panginoon at Kanyang dininig ang aking taimtim na panalangin. Sa pamilya ng aking nasawi at sa Saudi Government, maraming salamat sa patawad at sa ibinigay na pangalawang pagkakataon na mabuhay muli ng normal at Malaya,” Lanuza said who has been in jail since 2000.
On Thursday, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Manila stated in a press release that the Saudi government will pay for the remaining balance of SR2.3 million in blood money.
The victim’s family had asked for P32 million in blood money. The Lanuza family was only able to raise SR700,000 or equivalent to P7,700,000.

Vice President Jejomar Binay said the Saudi government’s goodwill gesture has spared Lanuza from execution.
“Ang lahat po ng ito ay hindi magiging posible kung hindi dahil sa pakikipagtulungan ng Phil. Embassy sa Riyadh sa pamumuno ni Amb. Ezzedin Tago; ng Saudi Reconciliation Committee sa pamumuno naman ni Sheikh Ali; sa tulong at walang sawang suporta ni Mrs. Loida Nicolas Lewis; at ng aking butihing magulang na sina Letty at Edilberto Lanuza pati na sa aking buong pamilya na hinding hindi sumuko sa laban para sa aking kalayaan. Maraming salamat po sa inyo,” said Lanuza.
Two years ago, through the effort of the Saudi Reconciliation Committee (February 2011), an amicable settlement was reached between the victim’s family and the accused with the payment of diyya or blood money.

“Nais ko din pong magpasalamat kay former ambassadors Antonio Villamor, Roy Seneres, Grace Rebong, sa ating Vice President Jejomar Binay, kay DFA Sec. Alberto Del Rosario at USec Rafael Seguis at sa libo-libong tao na sumuporta, nagbigay ng tulong at puspusang nagdasal para sa aking kalayaan. Mula po sa kaibuturan ng aking puso, maraming maraming salamat po. Utang ko sa inyo ang buhay ko. Diyos na po ang bahalang gumanti sa inyong kabutihang loob,” he said.
Lewis, a Filipino-American businesswoman and a known philanthropist, was happy with the new development in Lanuza’s case.

She has actively campaigned for Lanuza to the Filipino community in the United States and in the Philippines to raise funds for the blood money. Lewis also thanked the Saudi Government for helping Lanuza.

“Nung marinig ko yung balita mo sa akin, ako’y napaiyak dahil sa halos isang milagro. So pasalamat na pasalamat ako sa Diyos, sa lahat ng tao na tumulong din, na nagpadala ng $20, $50, P100, P500, sa buong mundo, to the Filipinos who helped Dondon. Maligayang pagbalik kay Dondon. He is a free man,” Lewis said in a phone patch interview with ABS-CBN Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Filipino community in Saudi Arabia was all praises to the goodwill shown by the Saudi government to the request of Letty Lanuza, the OFW’s mother.

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Manila said it was Lanuza’s mother who filed an appeal stating the amount she was able to raise for her son’s blood money. Mrs. Lanuza further appealed to the Saudi Government to help pay the balance of SR2.3 million of the required blood money asked by the victim’s heirs.

“Salamat sa bagong kaganapang ito. Sa tulong ng Saudi Government, isang kababayan natin na OFW ang maliligtas sa kamatayan at yung kakulangan sa nalikom ng Filipino Community dito sa Saudi Arabia, ang Saudi Government ang sasagot,” said Ed Nicdao, founding president of the Cabalen Aguman Capampangan.

Filipino community leader Mary Jane Tupas, a Bagong Bayani 2007 awardee, also thanked the Saudi government for aiding Lanuza.
“Lubos-lubos kaming nagpapasalamat sa Saudi Arabian Government, dahil sa pagtulong nila sa kaso ni Dondon Lanuza, kung saan nagpapatunay na nandoon sila para tumulong sa ating mga Filipino at nadoon ang kanilang pinapakita at pinapahalagahan nila tayo bilang mga Filipino na nagtratrabaho dito sa Saudi Arabia,” she said.

Sir Zane Thrilwall, Regional Commander of the Knights of Rizal said: “The compassion, support and understanding of the Saudi Arabian Government will not be forgotten in this case”.

Lanuza has opened several accounts on social networking sites to appeal for help. After news broke out on Thursday night in Manila, one of Lanuza’s accounts on Facebook was filled with words of encouragement and renewed hope from his many supporters and friends. 

Report from Raffy Beltran, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau