NEW ID SYSTEM FOR OFWS LAUNCHED TO ELIMINATE RED TAPE

Source: http://www.theofwonline.com/ (by: By RECTO MERCENE)

A new online computer system, tested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), proved to be effective in tracking down overseas contract workers that have been issued special identification cards.

The aim of the project is to give the ID card to all legitimate contract workers, estimated to be about three million, so that they could avail themselves of benefits without the hassle of verifying voluminous documents.

The Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) estimates that there are three million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), while four million others are considered undocumented aliens and are working illegally in various countries abroad.

When all of these legitimate OFWs are eventually issued their ID card, the owner can transact business with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) regarding claims for benefits without much delay, according to OWWA administrator Wilhelm Soriano.

The ID card that costs P10 will be issued for free to OFWs since the amount has been deducted from their POEA fee and OWWA membership fee, Soriano said.

"The ID system will bring about an efficient assessment of grant of the OWWA's program and services to its members since a quick look at the OFW card will reveal the date of his departure and arrival in the Philippines," Soriano said.

He added that this information will automatically serve as the OFWs contract record.

At the airport, a departing or arriving OFW will have to swipe his ID card and the computer simply stores the record in a databank to be accessed later. Documented workers who are OWWA members and contributors would have to renew their contract yearly if they were contracted on a yearly basis and every two years if their contract is "perpetual."

OWWA members are eligible to apply at the agency's programs and services that include insurance coverage, scholarship program, loan assistant, medical assistance and others.

These benefits are on top of the mantle of protection the OFWs receive from the government.

OWWA officials said the government is planning more innovations to assist OFWs who are considered as "modern heroes" that remit billions of dollars every year and help stimulate the economy during the current economic crisis.

RUNAWAY OFWs TAKE COVER AT RELOCATION SITE

Source:http://www.theofwonline.com/

MANILA: A total of 322 runaway overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait were placed at the Nuwaiseeb relocation site, a labour official said yesterday. Of the total, 318 were adults and four were children, said Nicon Fameronag, director of the labour department's information and publication services and member of the Middle East preparedness committee.

"These are still stranded workers who have run away from their employers for alleged abuse. These are not war victims," said Fameronag. He said these OFWs could not be sent home because the Kuwaiti government suspended deportation proceedings since February.

Most of these OFWs escaped from their employers and left their passports with them. "Their passports have to be reconstructed. The Kuwaiti immigration office has to fingerprint them, their travel documents have to be authenticated by the Kuwaiti government, and the labour attaches will have to document these welfare cases," he said.

Getting his updates from Ambassador Roy Cimatu, Fameronag said there were "16 new arrivals" at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait. "They would also be taken to the Nuwaiseeb relocation site," he added. Fameronag also wished to reassure the relatives of the OFWs in the Middle East. "The situation there is normal although there is heightened tension," he said. Only new deployments to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel would be covered by the ban on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as fighting between Iraq and the United States escalated, the government said yesterday.

The foreign affairs and labour departments announced the decision after consulting with Philippine embassies in Middle East countries and OFW groups on the safety of the Filipinos in the embattled region. "New deployments" would refer to workers whose travel and work documents were not completed before March 20, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The government, however, will allow OFWs vacationing in Manila to go back to their employer; those whose families remain at the work site; those whose work sites are far from the strife areas; and those whose work visas are about to expire.

All travel to Iraq, however, remains suspended.

The labour department on Thursday temporarily suspended deployment of OFWs to the three Middle East countries. In Department Order No 42-03, acting Labour Secretary Manuel 0 Imson said the suspension covered all types of workers, including those who were here on vacation. After an assessment on the safety of the OFWs, the government allowed those with valid overseas employment clearances and confirmed flight bookings to leave for their respective destinations the next day. Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Bahnarim Guinomla had assured Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople that Saudi Arabia was secure and quiet despite the outbreak of war in Iraq.-Agencies

CALL CENTRES KEEP WORKERS IN TOUCH

MANILA: It could have been the longest two hours of Cora Manero's life as she patiently waited Saturday to talk to a sister trapped in the war zone in Kuwait. Manero, who lives in Balintawak, Quezon City, is just one of the distressed relatives of overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East who trooped to the Ninoy Aquino Stadium to avail of Oplan Kalinga Kamustahan Call Center sa Middle East at Israel.

Oplan Kalinga is a joint project of the government and private sectors to assist family members worried about their loved ones who may be trapped in the areas of conflict. About 4pm, Manero's face lit up when she was finally connected to her 29-year-old sister, Flordeliz for, who has been working as a domestic for a Kuwaiti family for nine months now.

Flor has been wanting to go home since late February but her employer refused to let her. She assured her sister that she was all right despite the bombings in the Kuwaiti border close to where she lived and that there was enough food. Nur-Aida Alim of Zamboanga City went to the center to call her older sister, Rusia, who is married to a Kuwaiti construction worker and has a baby son.

Once she heard her sister's voice, Alim was reassured. Rusia told her she and her family are set to evacuate to Saudi Arabia if it should become necessary. Adriano Brifles' wife, Tatiana, works as a tutor for an Arab family in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Tatiana was only weeks away from coming home as her two-year contract expires next month. An abundance of "I love you's" flew in the air as soon as Adriano talked to Tatiana.

Leading telecommunications companies PLDT, Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular helped set up the centre. The AMA Group and Destiny Cable are providing internet connections for those wishing to send e-mail messages instead. Oplan Kalinga operates from 12 noon to 12 midnight.

Press Secretary Hernani Braganza said the call center would last for as long as there is a problem in the Middle East. -Agencies

GMA ASKS MORE TIME TO WORK ON BETTER TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC HELPERS IN HONG KONG

Source: http://www.theofwonline.com/ (PNA

MANILA, Mar. 8 (PNA) - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today stood up for the welfare of Filipino domestic helpers and said she would not take sitting down a perceived unjust slash in the minimum pay of foreign workers in Hong Kong.

The President sought for more time to work on countless positive ways to decide on the issues besetting the welfare of domestic helpers in the former British colony.

In her speech on the occasion of International Women's Day at the jampacked Marikina City Sports Complex gym, the President cited reports that neighboring Asian nations and government groups in Hong Kong have been pushing for the suspension of a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) decision to slash the minimum wage for foreign workers.

She asked her critics to better understand the issues before opposing government moves to temporarily suspend the processing of all contracts for domestic helpers bound for Hong Kong and review existing policies on the deployment of OFWs in other problem areas abroad.

"Many of our domestic helpers in Hong Kong expressed support for this move. But many have also asked to lift the suspension of the deployment of domestic helpers to Hong Kong. Kaya malaking desisyon ang kailangan ko (I need to work on a major decision on the matter)," she stressed.

She noted that even Indonesia, which also deploys domestic workers to the former crown colony, had opposed the move of the Hong Kong SAR to impose a levy on new foreign labor.

"At sa Abril, baka ang Sri Lanka ay sasama sa boykot (And by April, Sri Lanka might stop deploying their workers to Hong Kong)," she added.

The President also informed her all-female audience that "employers in Hong Kong are giving in and joining the domestic helpers" and they are organizing a signature campaign in favor of maintaining the present level of wages.

"The People,s Opportunities Commission is speaking against the levy, a recognition that a levy, however disguised, is unfair and discriminatory," she said.

"Kaya duon sa mga tumututol sa suspension, bigyan pa ninyo ako ng kaunti pang pisi, dahil baka umubra ito (I am asking those against our moves to temporarily stop the deployment of domestic helpers to Hong Kong to give me more room to decide on the matter. The boycott might still work)," she added.

The Philippines has Indonesia and Sri Lanka on its side. Foreign domestic helpers also have the sympathy of Hong Kong employers and non-government groups.
"But even if I should need to lift the suspension, and that is still something that I have to make a decision about, I can assure you that we will intensify our lobby to
protect the rights of our overseas Filipinas," the President said.

She said the Philippine government would bring its case before the International Labor Organization, which incidentally is being chaired by Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas.

She added that the same case would be brought before the Hong Kong courts. "After all, Hong Kong is a democracy."

In the domestic front, the President also ordered Secretary Sto. Tomas "to study how to reduce what our overseas domestic helpers pay their recruiters to make up, at least partially, for the levy that will be imposed for those who will be hired (in Hong Kong) this April." (PNA)