Internet voting for OFWs opposed for lack of security

 News
Aug 232015
 
Internet voting for OFWs opposed for lack of security

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Jocelyn R. Uy, August 23rd, 2015 09:15 PM An election lawyer urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec), on Sunday, to scrap plans of employing Internet voting technology for overseas absentee voting (OAV) in the May 2016 balloting in the absence of clear-cut rules on such a scheme. Laywer Romulo Macalintal said for the May 9 elections in next year, the Comelec should just stick to the existing mode of voting for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) since some provisions of the Overseas Voting Act of 2013 were vague. “Definitely, the election body should wait for clearer provisions of the law allowing Internet voting and its mechanisms,” Macalintal told reporters, citing that under the law, the Comelec has been merely allowed “to explore” Internet-based technology for OAV. He also raised possible security issues—such as the safety of the ballots and the real identity of online voters—should the Comelec push through with pilot-testing online voting for OFWs citing “the culture of elections” in the country. “It would take time for Internet voting in our country to be accepted knowing especially that losers would always cry that they were cheated. So, they won’t ever trust such a system of voting,” said the election lawyer. Earlier, the Comelec said it would decide by December 1 as to the mode of voting for OFWs, who have been scheduled to cast their ballots for the 2016 presidential elections beginning April 9 until Election Day. Last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs called on Read More …

BOC: No hike in balikbayan box tax but strict checks to continue

 News
Aug 232015
 
BOC: No hike in balikbayan box tax but strict checks to continue

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Jocelyn R. Uy, August 23rd, 2015 08:55 PM Defending its move to be more meticulous with balikbayan boxes entering the country, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said on Sunday, it was not after overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) or their hard-earned “pasalubong” (homecoming gifts) for loved ones but after smugglers or “riders” who have been sneaking in contraband through fake consignees. In a statement issued on Sunday by the BOC public information and assistance division, the bureau also clarified that it was neither increasing taxes on the balikbayan boxes nor trying to impede existing processes. “We are not after the OFWs or their pasalubong to their families. We are after the smugglers who have resorted to using the balikbayan boxes and consolidated shipments to smuggle contraband in the country through fake consignees or insertion of smuggled boxes or goods, otherwise known as riders, in consolidated shipments,” it stated. It also advised families or relatives of OFWs getting “severely tampered” balikbayan boxes or those with missing items to report such cases to the bureau for assistance. “Let us know so we can properly help you,” it said. The BOC issued this statement after several lawmakers lambasted its plan to clamp down on balikbayan boxes on suspicion that these were being used as a smuggling channel while huge containers and smuggled luxury cars continued to enter the country under the noses of bureau inspectors. The BOC estimates that an average of 1,000 containers of balikbayan boxes (400 boxes per Read More …

Petition vs BoC rules on balikbayan boxes gets 67k signatures in 2 days

 News
Aug 232015
 
Petition vs BoC rules on balikbayan boxes gets 67k signatures in 2 days

INQUIRER.net By: Aries Joseph Hegina, August 23rd, 2015 04:50 PM SCREENGRAB from Change.org A Change.org petition calling for Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago to stop the Bureau of Customs (BoC) from implementing stricter inspections on balikbayan boxes of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has been signed by more than 67 thousand people in a span of two days. The petition, which is entitled “STOP Philippine Customs to Impose Tighter Rules for Balikbayan Boxes,” was launched by a certain Julius Lajara who claims that he is based at the United Arab Emirates. “A lot of OFW were being affected of the customs to impose tighter rules for balikbayan boxes and will also put additional tax on it. We all know how much corruption is happening in customs right now. We cannot deny it. Add to that they are aggresively telling that they have the rights to open boxes, if something is missing after the inspection we have the rights to report it to the authorities. Who is the authorities they are saying? Even if that happen and we report it we all know that there will be no good output,” Lajara said in his petition. The petition has been signed by 67, 235 supporters as of 4:50 p.m. on Sunday. Lajara wants to gather 75,000 signatures for his petition. “This is just another way of corruption. We OFW work so hard for our family and Customs will just take that away from us,” said a certain Jelyn Bernales who signed for the petition. Read More …

BoC chief: If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear

 General
Aug 232015
 
BoC chief: If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear

INQUIRER.net By: Aries Joseph Hegina, August 23rd, 2015 04:02 PM Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RICHARD A. REYES Bureau of Customs (BoC) Commissioner Alberto Lina said that if overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have nothing to hide, they should not be afraid if the government agency will implement stricter inspections on the balikbayan boxes they send out to their families in the Philippines. “Kung hindi prohibited, bakit ka matatakot? Kung iyan ay hindi dutiable, bakit ka matatakot? (If the contents of the balikbayan boxes are not prohibited, why will you be afraid? If the contents are not dutiable, why will you be afraid?)” Lina said in an interview on radio dzMM on Sunday. He said that if the value of the contents of the balikbayan boxes does not exceed P10,000, then it is not dutiable and taxable. Lina plans to implement stringent rules on inspecting balikbayan boxes supposedly to protect the country from smugglers. The plan would entail opening balikbayan boxes randomly. READ: BoC assures OFWs: We are not after your ‘pasalubong’ BoC estimated that it is losing P60 million a year due to “undervalued” products being sent to the country through balikbayan boxes by smugglers. OFWs took to social media their opposition to the proposal, alleging that the rule will only sow corruption in the said government agency. Lina asked for the understanding of OFWs, saying that he is only implementing the law. “I have my duty to protect this country…I have to implement the law,” he said. Meanwhile, Read More …

Japan helps Filipino returnees get jobs

 News
Aug 222015
 
Japan helps Filipino returnees get jobs

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Tina G. Santos, August 23rd, 2015 06:53 AM FILE PHOTO The Embassy of Japan in Manila will hold a job fair for returning Filipino nurses and caregivers on Aug. 28 in Taguig City. Japan has been accepting Filipino nurses and caregivers under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa). The job fair will benefit returnees who were not able to take the Japanese licensure examination and those who had opted to return to the Philippines after their job term in Japan. In a statement posted on the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) website, the Japanese Embassy said that around 400 Filipino nurses and caregivers had returned to the Philippines. “They have experienced working in a hospital or care-giving facility in Japan under direct supervision of Japanese staff, and have obtained superior knowledge and skills in this field. They have also been educated in basic Japanese through the language training provided by the Japanese government and living in Japan for three to five years,” the embassy said. The embassy holds an annual job fair with Japanese companies and medical institutes in the Philippines to help returning Filipino nurses and caregivers further utilize their skills and experiences acquired in Japan and to strengthen Japan-Philippines relations. Last year, around 50 Jpepa returnees and 26 companies participated in the job fair. Many Japanese companies in some sectors like construction and service were in need of Japanese-speaking Filipino staff. As a result, some returnees were hired as company nurses, interpreters and office Read More …

DFA confirms 2 Pinoy Mers cases in Saudi Arabia

 News
Aug 222015
 
DFA confirms 2 Pinoy Mers cases in Saudi Arabia

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Niña P. Calleja, August 23rd, 2015 06:32 AM Department of Foreign Affairs building. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has confirmed that two Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia had been found positive for the dreaded Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers). Assistant Secretary Charles José, the DFA spokesperson, said in a text message on Saturday the two nurses were being treated in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Saudi Arabia. “The hospital management has assured the Philippine embassy the Filipino nurses were being provided the best medical treatment available,” José said. The hospital, where the two Filipinos work, is “well-equipped with comprehensive treatment and facilities for Mers cases,” José added. He did not give details but assured the public the Philippine embassy was monitoring the new Mers cases and was in constant contact with the Filipino community in Saudi Arabia. The outbreak of Mers—which causes severe acute respiratory illness marked by fever, cough and shortness of breath—was first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia and has since infected more than 1,000 people, killing hundreds, according to the World Health Organization. South Korea experienced a Mers outbreak from May to July with 186 confirmed cases. Latest Customs hit: Hands off OFW boxes of goodies Ninoy’s ‘dying’ words strike bitter(t)weet refrain AFP, NPA step up war on YouTube Malacañang assures protocols in place for OFWs in South Korea Recommended Chicago hosts first national ‘Capampangan’ convention Fil-Am kids learn about Filipino culture in Bellflower, Calif. Read More …

Bulldozing for building up dreams

 General
Aug 222015
 
Bulldozing for building up dreams

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Eunice Barbara C. Novio, August 23rd, 2015 06:32 AM FAMILY FIRST Datuin says, “I don’t care if we are called ‘bagong bayani’ or how my remittances keep our government afloat. My family comes first, not how my remittances keep our government afloat.” I WAS 46 when I came to Saudi Arabia and will be turning 53. I was being called by my first name by my fellow expats. The ones who are half my age dearly call me kuya.” “Now I’m feeling like a relic and cringing when some newbies call me Mang Jet or worst,  tatang,” Froilan  or Jet Datuin, from Los Baños, Laguna, says with a laugh. He is a bulldozer operator at Abdul ali al-ajmi Company in Saudi Arabia, which has other projects in Dubai and other parts of the Middle East. In his six years in the company, he lives in the desert with other overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and nationalities. Odd jobs Back in the Philippines, he had a regular job as a timekeeper in a construction company in Manila in the ’90s with modest weekly salary that kept them stable. His wife, Edna, is a public schoolteacher. But his company was taken down by the Asian flu and eventually shut down in mid-2000. Due to age and being an undergraduate, he could not get stable jobs. “I drove a jeepney and sometimes be a private driver to augment our income,” he recalls. Without a permanent job and relying on the Read More …

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