The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday announced that it will proceed with removing more than 230,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the official voters list for failing to notify the commission of their intent to vote on May 13, reports Inquirer.net.
A Filipino peacekeeper who saved the lives of 14 Austrians who were attacked in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights was recognized by the United Nations, reports Manila Standard Today. T/Sgt. Herman Galiza was driving a vehicle bearing the Austrians to Damascus International Airport last November 28 when anti-government forces opened fire at the convoy. Galiza immediately accelerated the vehicle and took his passengers out of danger. The UN peacekeeping force awarded Galiza the Peacekeeper of the Month award for “exemplary performance and devotion to duty.” The Philippine contingent assumed peacekeeping duties in Golan Heights on Nov 19, 2012.
The Department of Foreign Affairs warned Filipinos seeking a job abroad to beware of illegal recruitment agencies in Hong Kong that promise jobs in third countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Czech Republic and other European countries, Philstar.com reports. No job orders for Filipino workers are coursed through Hong Kong-based recruitment agencies. The warning comes in the wake of reports that a certain agency has been recruiting Filipinos in Hong Kong for fictitious jobs in Cyprus and other third country destinations.
Thirty-four Filipino gas
field workers in Algeria, where dozens of foreigners held hostage by Islamists are
feared dead, have been flown out of the country on Friday, January 18, reports
Inquirer.net. The Department of Foreign Affairs said another Filipino worker
was injured but escaped on his own along with a Japanese national. There are unconfirmed
press reports that at least two other overseas Filipino workers were among
those killed when the Algerian military launched its rescue operation on
Thursday.
Saudi Arabia remained the top destination for overseas Filipino workers in the 11 months to November last year even as the oil-rich nation issued a temporary ban on domestic workers from the Philippines, reports GMA News. Deployment to Saudi Arabia reached 1.3 million, getting the bulk of the 1,460,097 Filipinos sent for work overseas from January to November. Land-based workers comprised 75 percent of the total deployment for the period, with the remaining accounted for by sea-based workers.
The crew of a Danish ship--two Danes and four Filippinos-- has spent nearly two years in the hands of Somali pirates, but the media have remained silent about their captivity. The MV Leopard was hijacked on January 12, 2010 by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, reports Scandasia.com. The ship’s two Danish and four Filipino crew members were soon transferred to land and have been held somewhere in Somalia ever since.
President Barack Obama signed
a bill restoring the Clark Veterans Cemetery, where 650 Philippine Scouts and
thousands of American war veterans are buried, reports Inquirer.net. The cemetery, located in the former Clark Air Base in
Pampanga, will be restored and maintained by the Virginia-based American Battle
Monuments Commission, which maintains 24 other overseas military cemeteries and
several memorials, monuments and markers honoring US war veterans.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is recommending criminal charges against three cargo forwarding companies over complaints of undelivered “balikbayan” (returning countryman) boxes, reports Inquirer.net. DTI has asked the Department of Justice to investigate the complaints of 38 individuals about undelivered balikbayan boxes against Al Rodah Marine Services, Rodah Cargo Services and D’Winner Logistics Philippines Inc. From May to October last year, the DTI received complaints from shippers in Dubai and recipients in Manila, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Davao del Sur, La Union, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Rizal and Sorsogon.
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