HK-based recruiters may lose permits

 News
Aug 302013
 
HK-based recruiters may lose permits

Philippine Daily Inquirer 6:47 am | Saturday, August 31st, 2013 POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac photo from his official Twitter account. MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (Poea) on Friday threatened to strip Hong Kong-based recruitment agencies of their accreditation for collecting placement fees from Filipino household service workers (HSWs). In a Facebook post, Poea chief Hans Cacdac said the agency has received information that some Philippine-accredited agencies in Hong Kong collect placement fees through an “imaginary loan” or an ATM deposit scheme. The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong has already issued a memorandum to all accredited Hong Kong agencies with the warning that the Philippine government will not tolerate these malpractices, Cacdac said. “Any violation committed by the Hong Kong agency will be dealt with seriously and this office (Consulate General of the Philippines) will apply the full force of Philippine laws,” said Labor Attaché Manuel Roldan of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Hong Kong. Tina G. Santos 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: Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate:

Construction projects in PH on the rise

 Economy
Aug 302013
 
Construction projects in PH on the rise

By Michelle V. RemoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 10:47 pm | Friday, August 30th, 2013 The value of construction projects with approved building permits rose in the second quarter from a year ago on the back of substantial demand for residential and office spaces. This was according to the National Statistics Office, which reported that construction projects with building permits were valued at P66.4 billion in the second quarter, up by nearly 18 percent from P60.9 billion reported in the same period last year. The total value was spread over 29,424 projects, lower by about 4 percent than the 30,614 approved building projects reported for the same period last year. Nearly half, or P32.6 billion, of the total value of construction projects was accounted for by the residential sector. Non-residential accounted for P28.5 billion and the balance covered repairs. The total floor area for residential projects stood at 3.3 million square meters, while that for non-residential settled at 2.1 million square meters. The total floor area for residential projects was up from 3.1 million square meters a year ago, while the total floor area for office and other non-residential projects was lower than last year’s 2.8 million square meters. The double-digit growth in the value of construction projects was attributed to still significant demand for residential and office spaces. Economists said the demand for residential spaces in the Philippines was partly boosted by remittances from overseas Filipino workers, while demand for office spaces was driven in part by demand from business process Read More …

Too drastic, Egyptian envoy says of Filipinos’ evacuation

 News
Aug 292013
 
Too drastic, Egyptian envoy says of Filipinos’ evacuation

By Tarra Quismundo, Tina G. SantosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 6:46 am | Friday, August 30th, 2013 Chaotic protests continue in Egypt. AP file photo MANILA, Philippines—While saying an evacuation order was too drastic for the situation, Egypt has expressed its deference to the Philippines’ decision to initiate mandatory repatriation amid continuing violence across the Arab country. In an interview, Egyptian Ambassador to Manila Mahmoud Mostafa Ahmed assured the Philippines that his country would protect Filipinos caught in the violence, emphasizing that the interim government was exerting all efforts to contain what he described to be pockets of violence in his homeland. “We respect what the Philippines issued. Despite that, we think that most Filipinos will not be willing to come back,” Ahmed told reporters at a briefing at the Egyptian Embassy in Makati City yesterday.   Emergency visits “The Secretary (Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario) has made two visits in 12 days to Cairo, and he raised the fourth degree [of emergency alert] based on his assessment. Despite that, my point of view is it (the situation) doesn’t deserve it,” he said. Other than the Philippines, only Thailand has ordered a mandatory evacuation of its citizens following clashes between supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and security forces, which has led to the hundreds of deaths and destruction of churches, courts, schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure across Egypt. On Aug. 19, Del Rosario placed Filipinos in Egypt under Crisis Alert Level 4, the highest emergency alert for Filipinos overseas, Read More …

San Francisco-Manila Sister City Committee sets up business mission to PH

 News
Aug 292013
 
San Francisco-Manila Sister City Committee sets up business mission to PH

By Harvey BarkinINQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau 6:21 am | Friday, August 30th, 2013 San Francisco-Manila Sister City briefing on a business mission to the Philippines; (from left) Trade Commissioner Michael Ignacio, SF Mayor’s representative Mark Chandler and Carmen Colet, committee chair. HARVEY BARKIN SAN FRANCISCO–Directed by Mayor Ed Lee to bolster economic and trade relations, the San Francisco-Manila Sister City Committee has began setting up a business mission to the Philippines for November 4 to 7 this year, in advance of Lee’s visit in February 2014. Although the Sister City Committee was founded in 1961, this is the first San Francisco-Manila business mission. It comes after Lee’s multicity business trips to China this year. The plan is to make the mayor’s annual visit to the Philippines official. At the helm of the committee is businesswoman and the first Fil-Am Commissioner of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Carmen Colet. She was appointed last year by the mayor to make the mission “not just social and fun but to add business.” Philippine Department of Trade and Industry Commissioner Michael Ignacio hosted the recent briefing for reporters, architects, designers, accountants, insurance agents and other business owners. There was even a Forex service rep offering money transmissions in excess of $10,000. Mark Chandler, director of the Mayor’s Office, represented Mayor Lee, who was on a weeklong vacation. Chandler, who has visited Manila “three or four times,” said, “If you come from San Francisco and go to the Philippines, they roll out the red Read More …

US rushing PH to approve military access agreement, says leftist lawmaker

 News
Aug 292013
 
US rushing PH to approve military access agreement, says leftist lawmaker

By Allan Nawal, Karlos ManlupigInquirer Mindanao 1:06 am | Friday, August 30th, 2013 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. AP FILE PHOTO DAVAO CITY, Philippines—A lawmaker warned the US has been rushing the Philippines into signing an agreement that would allow US military to have access to the country’s military facilities. Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate said US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel flew to the country and met with President Benigno Aquino III to “rush the country into signing the framework agreement on the increased rotational presence of US soldiers and give them wider access to facilities in the Philippines.” “US Secretary Defense Hagel and President Aquino are ramming the access agreement down our throats,” Zarate said. He said the meeting undermined the efforts of the Senate and Congress to review the constitutionality of the agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and glossed over “protests against the increased and permanent presence of US soldiers in the country.” Zarate said the Makabayan bloc has called for the scrapping of the 13-year old Visiting Forces Agreement through House Resolution No.8. He criticized Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario over the latter’s statements that US soldiers might use Philippine military bases should a war break out between North And South Korea. “The Philippine government is freely letting the US government use our country as a staging ground for war against North Korea and China to the detriment of the Filipino people who do not know the real intention of their overdue stay in the Read More …

American convicted of child abuse to be deported by PH immigration bureau

 News
Aug 292013
 
American convicted of child abuse to be deported by PH immigration bureau

By Philip C. TubezaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 11:47 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested an American who was convicted in the United States of abusing a child and then violated his parole by fleeing to the Philippines. Immigration Officer-in-Charge Siegfred Mison said Stephen Rodden, who was convicted by a US court for “continuous sexual abuse of a child,” would be deported upon the issuance by the BI Board of commissioners of an order for his summary deportation. “We will likewise put him in our blacklist so he cannot return here and pose a risk to our Filipino children, or to anyone who could be his next victim,” Mison said in a statement. Mison said his men from the BI Fugitive Search Unit nabbed Rodden, 51, in Makati City on Aug. 31, after he violated his parole in the US by fleeing to the Philippines. The arresting agents reported that Rodden could not present his passport when he was arrested in his home along Mockingbird St., Barangay Rizal, in Makati City, Mison said. The immigration chief added that American was considered as an undocumented alien since his passport had already expired. Mison said Rodden was arrested upon the request of the US Embassy, which informed the bureau about his record as a convicted child molester. The embassy informed the BI that a Board of Parole in California issued a warrant of arrest against Rodden on March 13, 2012. The same board also suspended his Read More …

Taiwan to spend $100 million to build dock at disputed Spratlys

 News
Aug 292013
 
Taiwan to spend $100 million to build dock at disputed Spratlys

9:18 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 A handout photo shows Taiwanese garrison forces firing a gun during an exercise held in the Spratlys     AFP FILE PHOTO TAIPEI — Taiwan plans to spend more than $100 million to build a dock big enough for warships in the disputed Spratly islands, a legislator said Thursday, as other claimants strengthen their regional military presence. The plan submitted to parliament Thursday by the coastguard would cost Tw$3.4 billion ($112.4 million). Sources said the spending is expected to be approved. The dock will be an upgrade on the existing pier at the Taiwan-controlled island of Taiping, the biggest island in the Spratlys. It is scheduled to become operational in 2016. “National security authorities have decided to expedite the project as the other countries in the region have been increasing their naval and air force deployment in the past few years, further complicating the issue,” legislator Lin Yu-fang said in a statement. Once it is completed, large supply ships and even naval frigates will be able to berth, said Lin, a legislator from the ruling Kuomintang party who sits on parliament’s defense committee. The current pier caters only to small patrol boats. Once the dock work is completed the runway on Taiping will be extended, Lin said. Taiwan built a 1,150-meter (3,800-foot) runway on Taiping in mid-2006, despite protests from other countries with claims to the disputed island group. Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim all or part of the potentially oil-rich Read More …

Senate resumes probe into ‘sex-for-flight’ scandal

 News
Aug 292013
 
Senate resumes probe into ‘sex-for-flight’ scandal

By Kristine Angeli SabilloINQUIRER.net 2:55 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 Sec. Del Rosario and Sec. Baldoz during Senate Hearing. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The Senate on Thursday continued its investigation on the “sex-for-flight” scheme involving Philippine labor officials in the Middle East. Among those present is Jojo Casicas, driver and employee at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Saudi Arabia, who was accused by  28-year-old Grace Victoria  Sales of allegedly  trying to rape her sometime  in March 2012 while  they were left alone at their office  in POLO. The joint hearing of the Senate blue ribbon and labor committees resumed almost a week after the Department of Labor and Employment filed administrative cases against Saudi Arabia assistant labor attaché Antonio Villafuerte, former Jordan Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) attaché Mario Antonio and labor attaché Adam Musa. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz also recommended the agency’s investigation on Villanueva’s involvement on the “sex-for-flight” scandal. During the August 15 hearing, senators berated Villafuerte after an overseas Filipino worker narrated how she was treated by the labor official. The OFW and two others faced Villafuerte who they accused of sexual harassment. 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:

4 labor recruitment firms suspended

 News
Aug 292013
 
4 labor recruitment firms suspended

By Tina G. SantosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 2:35 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 Philippine Overseas Labor Employment office www.poea.gov.ph MANILA—The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration on Thursday ordered the preventive suspension of four recruitment agencies, which recruited and deployed the two female workers who testified against officials of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office  in Saudi Arabia in the Senate investigation into the  “sex- for-flight” scandal. POEA chief Hans Leo Cacdac issued the order of preventive suspension against Kozen International Inc , Azizzah International Manpower Services, Jobstar International Manpower Services, and Ideal Placement and Manpower Services, which were found to have engaged in alleged  misrepresentation, contract substitution and illegal collection of placement fee, and to have committed other alleged violations of the law in the process of recruitment and deployment of OFWs Elena Beleta and Grace Victoria Sales. 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: Features , Global Nation , Philippine Overseas Employment , sex-for-flight scam Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate: c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer Chino Roces Avenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Or fax nos. +63 2 8974793 to 94

Ship runs aground in Palawan

 News
Aug 242013
 
Ship runs aground in Palawan

Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:35 am | Sunday, August 25th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—A foreign vessel ran aground in Palawan on Saturday morning, according to a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) report released late Saturday afternoon. According to PCG spokesperson Cmdr. Armand Balilo, the MT Glenn Australia ran aground some 600 meters from the shore south of Barangay Panlaitan, Busuanga, Palawan. The vessel, skippered by Burma (Myanmar) national Capt. Myint Swe, is said to be owned by Glenn Defense Marine (Asia) Pte. Ltd. and operated by Singapore-based Shokuyo Navigation Co. Apart from the ship captain, also on board the ship were nine crew members—eight Burmese and one Filipino. PCG District Palawan Commander Erick Evangelista immediately directed PCG Station Coron to coordinate on towing operations to free the vessel. Initial investigation showed that the vessel was loaded with 1,010.794 tons of palm oil. Balilo said there was no oil spill at the site of the incident as the ship was a double-hulled vessel. Tina G. Santos 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: Armand Balilo , Barangay Panlaitan , Busuanga , Glenn Defense Marine , Palawan , PCG report , Philippine Coast Guard Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write Read More …

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