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Travel firms aren’t job recruiters, says POEA

 News
May 302013
 
Travel firms aren’t job recruiters, says POEA

Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:39 am | Friday, May 31st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Thursday warned Filipinos wishing to work abroad about immigration consultants and travel agencies that offered overseas jobs. POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said that offering overseas employment in the guise of visa assistance without a license or authority from the POEA constituted illegal recruitment under the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act. “Immigration consultants are required to obtain a license from the POEA before they may engage in recruitment and placement activities, regardless of the visa under which deployment shall be made eventually,” said Cacdac in a statement. He said jobseekers need not engage immigration consultants who charge thousands of dollars for supposed working visas to countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. Unnecessary expenses “By having an agent, they would be paying for information and counsel that are free and readily available in those countries’ respective websites,” Cacdac said. “Also, the documents required by the immigration offices of those countries could only be produced by the applicant and not by the consultant,” he said. Cacdac said that those wanting to work or migrate to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada or Australia could visit the following websites: www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/; www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/working/; www.cic.gc.ca/english/index-can.asp; and www.immi.gov.au/skilled/. He said travel agencies also were not allowed to engage in the recruitment and placement of Filipino workers. He noted that some travel agencies included in their tour packages “the opportunity to hunt for jobs” in Read More …

Unicef: Focus on children, not their disabilities

 News
May 302013
 
Unicef: Focus on children, not their disabilities

Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:12 am | Friday, May 31st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—Children with disabilities (CWDs) and their communities will both benefit if society focuses on what these children can achieve, rather than on what they cannot do, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said in its annual report on the State of the World’s Children. Concentrating on the abilities and potential of CWDs will create benefits for society as a whole, according to the report that Unicef released Thursday. “When you see the disability before the child, it is not only wrong for the child, but it deprives society of all that the child has to offer,” said Unicef executive director Anthony Lake. “Their loss is society’s loss; their gain is society’s gain.” The report lays out how societies can integrate CWDs to allow them to play a full part in society and prevent discrimination against them. It points out how inclusive education broadens the horizons of all children even as it presents opportunities for CWDs to fulfill their ambitions. In the Philippines, census data showed 201,896 CWDs reported in 2002, with about 2.9 percent of the Filipino population having some form of disability. Vision-related disabilities recorded highest at 50 percent, followed by motor-related and mental disabilities (both at 14 percent), and hearing disability (13 percent). The World Health Organization estimates that 4.5 percent of the global population are disabled. The Unicef report said CWDs were the least likely to receive health care or go to school. They were among Read More …

HK turns back pregnant Chinese posing as Filipina

 News
May 302013
 
HK turns back pregnant Chinese posing as Filipina

By Philip C. TubezaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 3:35 am | Friday, May 31st, 2013 Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Philippine immigration authorities arrested a couple from China after one of them tried to slip into Hong Kong by pretending to be a Filipino, Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said Thursday. David said Fong Waiyan and his wife, Fan Yueying, were arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on May 11 after Hong Kong immigration sent them back to Manila after discovering that Fan was using a fake Philippine passport. He said Fan wanted to give birth to their second child in Hong Kong to avoid penalties under the mainland’s “one-child” policy. “The couple left Manila using their Chinese passports. But upon arriving at the Hong Kong airport, Fan pretended to be a Filipino by presenting a fraudulent Philippine passport to the immigration officer,” David said. “The woman was denied entry due to a dubious immigration departure stamp on her passport and Fong decided to go back with her to Manila,” he added. David said the couple would be deported to China and blacklisted as soon as the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) board of commissioners issues the order for their summary deportation. Fan will be deported for knowingly using a spurious travel document with the aid of her husband, who will also be kicked out for harboring and giving comfort to an illegal alien. Uso Dan Salasim, Naia-BI intelligence unit head, said Fan readily confessed to using Read More …

2015 Apec to showcase everything Filipino–DFA

 News
May 302013
 
2015 Apec to showcase everything Filipino–DFA

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 2:54 am | Friday, May 31st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—It will be a yearlong showcase of everything Filipino. The Philippines has begun preparations for hosting the annual Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum and related meetings in 2015, the second time the country will be hosting this important global forum that is expected to gather world leaders, top business executives and thousands of other participants. “It’s going to be a one-year celebration,” Laura del Rosario, undersecretary for international economic relations at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), told a press conference Tuesday on the Apec 2015 preparations. “When people come, we want to make sure they not only get a lot of work done but they enjoy themselves here. It’s really a lot of fun in the Philippines, they know that,” said Guillermo Luz, co-chair of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), who is also involved in organizing what could be the country’s biggest hosting of an international event this decade. Key cities around the country will be hosting 21 Apec meetings—senior officials’ meetings and ministerial meetings, among them—throughout 2015, culminating in the Apec Leaders’ Summit around October or November, Del Rosario said. The Philippines hosted the 1996 Apec summit in Subic, Zambales province. With each meeting expected to draw between 500 and over 1,000 participants, the event could bring in 13,000 to more than 20,000 participants from Apec’s 21 Pacific Rim member-nations—and the organizers are bent on making the visit memorable for each one. “It’s a Read More …

PH, Taiwan probers finish fact-finding on death of Taiwanese fisherman

 News
May 302013
 
PH, Taiwan probers finish fact-finding on death of Taiwanese fisherman

By Nancy C. CarvajalPhilippine Daily Inquirer 12:56 am | Friday, May 31st, 2013 Taiwanese investigators rides a rubber boat as they inspect a ship involved in the alleged shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman while they continue their probe in Manila on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. They have completed their investigation into the death of the fisherman off Balintang Island in northern Philippines, with the evidence collected by the National Bureau of Investigation, Yang Wan-Li, head of the delegation, said on Thursday night. AP PHOTO/AARON FAVILA MANILA, Philippines—Taiwanese investigators have completed their investigation into the death of a Taiwanese fisherman off Balintang Island in northern Philippines, with the evidence collected by the National Bureau of Investigation, Yang Wan-Li, head of the delegation, said on Thursday night. In a late night joint press conference with the NBI, the Taiwanese team also expressed satisfaction with the assistance given to them during the entire investigation. The Taiwanese team is returning to Taiwan on Friday and an NBI team that has also done its cooperative investigation in Taiwan is expected to arrive in Manila in the afternoon. NBI director Nonnatus Rojas said they made all evidence they gathered available to the Taiwanese investigators. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: death of a Taiwanese fisherman , Read More …

Timor-Leste PM due for official visit

 News
May 292013
 
Timor-Leste PM due for official visit

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:08 am | Thursday, May 30th, 2013 Timorese Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão: Coming next week for official visit PHOTO FROM TIMOR-LESTE.GOV.TL MANILA, Philippines—Timorese Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão is set to fly to Manila next week on his first official visit to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday. Gusmão, Timor-Leste’s first president after independence from Indonesia in 2002, will be in the Philippines from June 5 to 9 to firm up cooperation on education, trade and investment, infrastructure and defense, DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez said Wednesday. During his five-day stay, Gusmão will deliver a lecture at the University of the Philippines College of Law and visit industrial areas in Subic Bay in Olongapo City and Clark Field in Pampanga to link up with potential investors. Gusmão is currently serving his second five-year term as prime minister and is concurrently Timor-Leste’s minister for defense and security. He was a leader of the resistance movement that campaigned for Timor-Leste’s independence from Indonesia, which occupied the territory after centuries of Portuguese occupation. Timor-Leste is currently campaigning to become a member of the Association of Southest Asian Nations, of which the Philippines is a founding member. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Read More …

Yanks told: Don’t you go to far Zamboanga

 News
May 292013
 
Yanks told: Don’t you go to far Zamboanga

By Inquirer Mindanao, Julie S. Alipala, Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:48 am | Thursday, May 30th, 2013 ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—The United States Embassy on Wednesday warned US citizens against traveling to the Zamboanga Peninsula, saying it had moved its personnel already in the area to a secure location amid a “credible” kidnap-for-ransom threat against foreigners. The emergency message was posted on the embassy website Wednesday, the same day that US Ambassador Harry Thomas was in Zamboanga City to launch three major five-year programs of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). “The embassy advises all American citizens residing in or planning to travel to the Zamboanga area to reevaluate their personal safety situation and consider postponing travel to this area at this time,” it said. But there was no mention of any threat during the US envoy’s visit here on Wednesday. Mayor Celso Lobregat, who had breakfast with Thomas, said the ambassador did not say anything about the US Embassy warning. “Nothing was mentioned about the advisory,” Lobregat said. Senior Supt. Edwin de Ocampo, city police chief, was also surprised by the advisory. “Their ambassador was just here,” De Ocampo said. Thomas, however, canceled his scheduled trips to the military’s Western Mindanao Command headquarters here and to Jolo, Sulu. The ambassador, who alternated between limping and sitting on a wheelchair, said he suffered a “slip while dancing.” He left for Manila at noon. In Zamboanga City, he visited the Ateneo de Zamboanga and the Garden Orchid Hotel. The embassy Read More …

Daughter of dead Taiwanese fisherman files murder case

 News
May 292013
 
Daughter of dead Taiwanese fisherman files murder case

By Nancy C. CarvajalPhilippine Daily Inquirer 3:25 am | Thursday, May 30th, 2013 Taiwanese investigators rides a rubber boat as they inspect a ship involved in the alleged shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman while they continue their probe in Manila on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. The daughter of the Taiwanese fisherman allegedly killed by Filipino coast guards filed murder charges during joint proceedings held by Taiwanese and Philippine prosecutors in Pingtung County on Tuesday. AP PHOTO/AARON FAVILA TAIPEI—The daughter of the Taiwanese fisherman allegedly killed by Filipino coast guards filed murder charges during joint proceedings held by Taiwanese and Philippine prosecutors in Pingtung County on Tuesday. “Hung Tzu-chen, who acts as the spokesperson of the family, filed a murder case in the (National Bureau of Investigation) in accordance with Philippine laws (requiring that) a complaint must be filed before an official investigation is conducted,” said Chih Ming-hsieh, one of two head prosecutors of Pingtung County who is assisting the NBI in its own probe into the May 9 shooting death of 65-year-old fisherman Hung Shih-chen. Chih said no particular person was named in the complaint. “In Taiwan, if you file a complaint, it’s not necessary to identify somebody who did the crime. You just have to indicate that somebody was responsible for the crime,” Chih said. Chih did not disclose the details of Hung Tzu-chen’s complaint. Hung was present during the proceedings. She was accompanied by her lawyer. Crew questioned The NBI team headed by the bureau’s foreign liaison chief, Read More …

De Lima hopes swap of PH-Taiwan probers will put closure to boat shooting

 News
May 272013
 
De Lima hopes swap of PH-Taiwan probers will put closure to boat shooting

By Tetch Torres-Tupas INQUIRER.net 5:21 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 Justice Secretary Leila De Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines-Justice Secretary Leila De Lima on Monday said she hopes that the parallel investigation conducted by the Philippines and Taiwan will repair the strained relations between Manila and Taipei. “With the mutual or reciprocal visits of the Philippines and Taiwanese teams, it is expected that their respective separate investigations will be concluded soon and hopefully put closure to the factual issues surrounding the incident,” De Lima said in a statement. “What is being demonstrated is the spirit of cooperation and openness between Philippines and Taiwanese authorities which can contribute to a significant degree, to the restoration of normalcy of PH-Taiwan relations,” she added. With the death of fisherman Hung Shih-cheng last May 9, the country’s economic-cultural relation with Taiwan was strained, putting at risk the Filipino workers in Taiwan. The NBI team is expected to stay in Taiwan for three days to inspect the fishing vessel and interview its crew but subject to adjustment as needed, said NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas. On the other hand, Taiwanese probers are also in the country to conduct ballistic examination and inspect the vessel used by the Philippine Coast Guard. The swap of teams of investigators followed weeks of acrimony over the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman. A team of eight Philippine officials including experts from the NBI flew to the island and were promptly whisked away upon arrival at Taoyuan airport in the Read More …

Taiwan, PH swap shooting probe investigators

 News
May 272013
 

Agence France-Presse 5:16 pm | Monday, May 27th, 2013 TAIPEI — Taiwan and the Philippines swapped teams of investigators Monday following weeks of acrimony over the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman. A team of eight Philippine officials including experts from the National Bureau of Investigation flew to the island and were promptly whisked away upon arrival at Taoyuan airport in the north. A Taiwanese team of experts also flew to the Philippines. Both teams will review how 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng was shot dead by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on 9 May, an incident which has sharply raised tensions between Manila and Taipei and prompted economic sanctions by Taiwan. “The (Philippine) visitors will have a look at the autopsy report on Hung Shih-cheng this afternoon,” a spokesman for Taiwan’s justice ministry told AFP. Before leaving on Friday, the Filipino team will also inspect evidence from local prosecutors, visit the fishing boat, review voyage data records onboard the vessel and inspect ballistic evidence, the spokesman said. Taiwan said its team in the Philippines would visit the coastguard vessel, inspect the guns used to fire on the vessel and review video footage. A spokesman for the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation confirmed the Taiwanese team had arrived but would not comment on what they were doing or how long they would stay. The Philippines has claimed that the fishing boat intruded into its waters and that coastguards were forced to open fire when it tried to ram their vessel. The Taiwanese Read More …

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