18 not 22 OFWs detained in Jeddah for alleged gold theft

April 18, 2006
Updated 07:24pm (Mla time)
Veronica Uy
INQ7.net

EIGHTEEN, not 22 Filipino mine workers, are being held in Jeddah for alleged gold theft, a Foreign Affairs official said.

Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. said Tuesday the workers’ employer -- Saudi Arabian Mining Company -- has assured the consulate general in Jeddah it was “doing its best to provide assistance and protection” to the jailed Filipinos. A local newspaper in Jeddah had reported that the Filipinos formed a gang that had been allegedly smuggling huge amounts of gold inside mail envelopes. It said the Filipino workers had been sentenced to three years in prison for allegedly stealing 1.8 tons of pure gold from a mine over a six-year period.

Consul General Pendosina Lomondot said Saudi police detained the 18 workers after police found tools -- including gold melting equipment -- and pieces of melted gold, rocks and soil inside the workers’ quarters.

Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA) executive director Ellene Sana had said the arrested overseas Filipino workers were beaten.

Migration is an economic issue

DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco
The Philippine Star 04/17/2006

Following the hot debate in America today about immigration, one gets the idea that the general thinking at the US Congress is, it is largely a law enforcement issue. It is really more than that. Immigration is also an economic issue and is probably more economic than a lot of people think.

Man has been moving from one location to another from the beginning of time in search of food. As societies developed, migration movements were dictated pretty much by the same need to have easy access to food and other necessities, as each era defines what these are.

Closer to home and our times, we have noted migration from the rural areas to the cities as economic prospects in the agrarian countryside declined compared to the industrial urban areas. It didn’t matter to the rural migrants that they ended up in squalid conditions in crowded squatter colonies in the cities. That was preferable to the hopelessness of the countryside. The right thing to do here is put more resources towards developing the countryside so that the rural folks won’t want to come to the city to live in squatter areas.

That’s what’s happening in the larger international stage as people from developing countries migrate to the West in search of better lives. In a sense, it is not just America but the rest of the original G7 nations are getting their comeuppance from years of enriching themselves at the expense of the Third World. The Americans have to contend with Latino migrants and Old Europe has to worry about the flood of North African Muslim migrants.

But as the world grows flatter, movement of people will likely take a two-way direction as countries like India and China start attracting back the high quality migrants that left some years before. The key to stemming the tide of migration from poor Mexico to rich America is economic development. The Indians are starting to show how this works.

An Indian computer scientist who made good in Silicon Valley may now find it worthwhile to go back to India because both the Indian economy and technology have progressed enough to make it possible for him to be in Bangalore and still be part of the worldwide revolution in ICT. An Indian scientist fresh from one of India’s world class technology schools, on the other hand, no longer feels a need to go to the West to get a chance to maximize his potentials.

One wonders... what if Mexico, instead of China, cornered the bulk of WalMart’s (and America’s) imports of consumer goods and Mexico instead of China has this gargantuan trade surplus with America, would we be having all the emotional debate on the need to erect the Great Wall of America to keep the Mexicans out? The reason why Mexicans and other Hispanics in Latin America are ready to risk their lives to illegally cross the border is that their own economies give them no hope for the future.

Economics is key. Look at America and Canada. Because their economies are more or less on an even keel, it really makes little difference which side of Niagara Falls you are… unless you want cheaper prescription drugs. Of course it helps that the two countries are also more or less culturally attuned.

Hopes were expressed some years back that Nafta would pull Mexico up to the point that it would shed its Third World trappings and join the ranks of its economically progressive North American partners in the free trade area. While Nafta did help Mexico improve its economic performance somewhat, it is obvious it didn’t do enough to even out the disparities to the point that Mexicans would think twice before risking their lives trying to cross the border. In fact, the Mexicans can’t even compete with Chinese made goods entering the Mexican domestic market.

So the situation has become such that a significant sector of America’s population that traces its roots to European immigrants, are up in arms and are exerting political pressure to keep the Mexicans and other Hispanics out of the country. They even want to erect a Great Wall at the border and jail anyone who helps the illegal migrants, even if it was being done out of sheer humanitarian considerations. Is this a viable strategy?

Jagdish Bhagwati, a respected economist and senior fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York doesn’t think this sheer law enforcement approach embodied in a House bill, is going to work. In fact, he doesn’t think the more tender approach of President Bush providing for guest workers and a clear road to eventual citizenship is going to work either. "Whether the legislation is tough or tender," Bhagwati wrote the Financial Times, "the phenomenon of illegal immigration is here to stay."

He explains why. "New inflows of illegal immigrants cannot be eliminated; nor can the numbers already in the United States be seriously dented by policy… Take new inflows. Tougher enforcement through fences and ditches and expanding border patrols have not worked to reduce the inflows in the past two decades.

"The tender approach of a guest worker programme such as that proposed initially by President Bush, or any of its variants in Congress, can reduce the illegals attempting to cross the border; but the annual numbers under any such programme will be capped at 400,000 at most, leaving many desperate to get into the US any way they can. As long as the borders are not thrown open, therefore, there will always be an illegal influx."

Bhagwati doesn’t think the draconian measures in the House bill, including expulsion of all illegals is politically workable. The Los Angeles Times reported most Americans, by a solid two to one margin, say the United States should confront the challenge of illegal immigration by both toughening border enforcement and creating a new guest worker program, instead of by cracking down on enforcement alone. "Some of those who rejected efforts to remove the illegal immigrants already here made clear in interviews that their opposition was based more on practical than philosophical objections."

This is why Bhagwati feels "there is no alternative to putting up with the illegals. But once this fact is confronted and digested, there is only one alternative before the American people: to treat the illegals with the humanity they deserve and which marks the traditional attitude to legal immigrants in a country built uniquely on immigration."

What does Bhawati propose? He proposes programs whose costs should be shared by Mexico when its nationals are involved, for teaching the mostly illegal illiterates the English language so they can integrate better. Labor protection should be extended to illegals so they are not exploited. And, America "should divert the anti terrorism expenditures away from harassment of the malnourished and uneducated illegals."

I might add, invest more money, to include that earmarked for building a wall, on helping Mexico improve the quality of life of those Mexicans most prone to run with the coyotes across the border. Obviously, direct assistance from Washington isn’t going to be enough. There must be some way of helping Mexico make full use of Nafta, or the proposed expanded Central American free trade zone to cover other current illegal Latino migrants, to improve their national economies through trade and investments. Hopefully, the economic benefits trickle down fast enough and generous enough to the people to make staying put in Mexico and other Central American republics, humanly possible.

In the end, it is all about economics. Flourishing economies south of the border that are able to spread the benefits over a large portion of its population, would keep its people within their borders better than any wall or draconian measure can. The same economic approach should prove viable for the other nationalities comprising the body of illegals, including the Philippines. No one really wants to leave home and face the unknown in a strange land if one can help it.

The message for America is simply, help those economies to prosper… or America will have this big problem with illegal immigrants forever.

Insanity

Another reader who wants to remain anonymous sent this one.

A doctor was interviewing a patient. "Has there been any insanity in your family?"

"Yes, doctor. My husband thinks he’s the boss."

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200604170717.htm

Smart targets OFWs with new Saudi service

this story was taken from www.inq7money.net
URL: http://money.inq7.net/topstories/view_topstories.php?yyyy=2006&mon=04&dd=17&file=2

Posted: 0:21 AM Apr. 17, 2006
Daxim L. Lucas
Inquirer

Published on Page B1 of the April 17, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

WIRELESS network Smart Communications Inc. said it has widened its international reach as it launched its roaming services in Saudi Arabia.

The new deal between Smart and Saudi-based Mobily (Etisalat) is expected to benefit the close to half a million overseas Filipino workers employed in the kingdom.

"Starting April 16, 2006, Smart's more than 20 million prepaid subscribers may use their cell phones in Saudi Arabia and make voice calls to friends and loved ones in the Philippines," the company said in a statement.

Through its partnership with Mobily, the leading mobile services provider in Saudi Arabia, users of Smart Buddy, Talk 'N Text, Smart Kid Prepaid and Addict mobile prepaid (AMP) may avail themselves of roaming services while in the Middle Eastern country, it added.

According to the company, the new roaming services were made possible through the Customized Applications for Mobile Network Enhanced Logic (Camel) solution, an adaptation of the intelligent network standards for GSM, which Smart uses for its prepaid international roaming service.

"Now, our prepaid subscribers who travel to Saudi Arabia can keep in touch with their loved ones back home with ease," Smart's wholesale business group head Roger V. Quevedo said.

He added that the company was also intent on further expanding its international reach in terms of roaming services.

"This is just the first," Quevedo said. "We're committed to bringing this latest roaming technology to more countries very soon."

Quevedo added that Camel would be available to the other Middle Eastern countries in the next few weeks, helping the company tap other markets which are heavily populated with OFWs.

Smart prepaid subscribers roaming in Saudi Arabia can make a call by dialing the phone number as they would while in the Philippines, using the international dialing format, which is to key in + < phone number>, and press "call."

"Smart's system employs a very simple procedure, unlike other prepaid international roaming alternatives, where customers have to remember long strings of digits and confusing sets of procedure," Quevedo said.

The company, a unit of telecommunications giant PLDT, has 20.4 million subscribers on its network as of end-December 2005. It has existing partnerships with more than 180 countries for its international roaming services.

Tourist visas not good for UAE jobs

April 16, 2006
Updated 09:37am (Mla time)
Jerome Aning
Inquirer

THE Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has cautioned Filipinos against applying for and getting jobs in the United Arab Emirates on tourist visas.

POEA Administrator Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai, reported that two Filipinas were apprehended and detained at the immigration deportation center for working under visit visas.

Baldoz said Filipino travelers with intention to work in the Emirates should realize that visit visas are strictly issued for tourist purposes and not for employment.

The POEA chief added that UAE immigration authorities may have realized that the illegal practice has become widespread so they are currently conducting a random check among establishments that employ expatriates with tourist visas.

The consulate, Baldoz said, believed the Filipinas' arrests were a clear indication that immigration authorities were now seriously implementing the prohibition for visit visa holders to work, either on a part-time or full-time basis and whether correctly paid or not.

Apprehended visit visa holders would be deported following their detention for seven days. Their employers, meanwhile, would face penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment and closure of the company.

Under existing laws, the status of a visit visa holder who lands a jobs becomes legitimate only if, after a reasonable period of time, the worker has complied with the labor requirements and has had his visa converted to employment visa on the sponsorship of his would-be employer.

http://news.inq7.net/express/html_output/20060416-72704.xml.html

Filipina arrested by mistake in Japan

A Filipina wrongly arrested in Japan has been released after officials found out that she was legally married to a Japanese national, an official said yesterday.

Japanese immigration authorities might have overlooked the case of Adelaida Bondoc Hashizume, who was applying for a new visa when she was arrested, said Philippine ambassador to Tokyo Domingo Siazon.

Siazon said Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo had appealed for Hashizume and two other jailed Filipinas during his official visit to Japan last week.

“The secretary informed the [Japanese] justice minister that prior to their arrests, the women had either filed or were about to file their visa applications, or were already awaiting the results of those applications,” Siazon said. Ferdinand Fabella

Manila Standard Today
April 15, 2006

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news07_april13_2006

OFW inflows surge 11.6% to $866M in Feb

By Des Ferriols
The Philippine Star 04/13/2006

Despite the decline in deployed labor, remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) posted double-digit growth rates in February, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

Based on reports by the banking industry, the BSP said OFW remittances reached $866 million in February, or a year-on-year growth of 11.6 percent over the same period last year.

The February remittances, according to the BSP, brought the two-month total to $1.8 billion, up from last year’s $1.6 billion.

According to the BSP, the increase in OFW remittances reported by banks was due mainly to the expansion in the remittance network of the banking industry which enabled them to capture segments that used to be served by informal channels.

The BSP said that commercial banks, in particular, were even more aggressive in providing transfer services and coming up with innovations to entice OFWs to use banks instead of couriers.

The BSP said more banks were providing such services as telemoney products and services such as phone-banking, Internet/online banking, bills payment services, specifically in Hong Kong, USA, Italy and the UK.

The BSP said banks were likewise strengthening and expanding their tie-ups with foreign money transfer agents and non-bank channels.

"These activities by commercial banks overshadowed the decline in the total number of deployed overseas workers," the BSP said.

Preliminary figures from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) indicated that for the first two months of 2006, the total number of deployed land-based workers contracted by almost 10 percent to 134,436.

On the other hand, the number of sea-based workers rose by 5.9 percent to 41,595.

Despite the overall decline, the BSP said the increased deployment of highly-skilled, thus, higher-paid land-based workers compensated for the reduction in the number of workers going abroad.

The BSP said deployed labor were mainly engineers, teachers, ship and pilot/aircraft officers, production related workers and service providers.

The BSP said the major sources of remittances remained to be the US, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, UK, United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/news200604130701.htm

OFW remittances jump 14% to $1.8B

this story was taken from www.inq7money.net
URL: http://money.inq7.net/topstories/view_topstories.php?yyyy=2006&mon=04&dd=13&file=1

Posted: 2:05 AM Apr. 13, 2006
Inquirer

MONEY remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) totaled $1.8 billion in January and February, sustaining a double-digit growth rate of 14 percent from the same period last year despite a slowdown in the number of workes going abroad, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the central bank) said Wednesday.

In February, OFW remittances coursed through banks reached $866 million, up 11.6 percent year-on-year despite a 10-percent decrease in number of land-based workers deployed abroad to 134,436, the BSP said, citing preliminary figures from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Sea-based workers deployed in February increased 5.9 percent year-on-year to 41,595, it said.

"The increased deployment of highly skilled, thus higher-paid, land-based workers such as engineers, teachers, ship and pilot/aircraft officers, production-related workers and service providers more than compensated for the decline in the total number of deployed land-based workers," the BSP said.

The BSP attributed the increase in OFW remittances partly on commercial banks' expansion of services.

"Commercial banks ... heightened their marketing campaign by offering various 'telemoney' products and services -- such as phone-banking, Internet/online banking and bills payment services-specifically in Hong Kong, the United States, Italy, and the UK as well as strengthened tie-ups with foreign money transfer agents and non-bank channels," it said.

The major sources of OFW remittances were the United States, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

The BSP said the government was pursuing programs that would strengthen workers' technical training and education to enhance job-skills matching.

There are about eight million overseas Filipinos, equivalent to about 10 percent of the Philippine population, including three million who are permanent residents overseas. With INQ7.net

OFWs won P78M in labor claims vs Taiwan employers in 2005

April 06, 2006
Updated 07:58am (Mla time)

Inquirer

FILIPINO workers in Taiwan were granted some 78 million pesos (50 million Taiwan dollars) worth of claims against their brokers and employers with the assistance of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), the country’s official representative based in Taipei.

MECO reported in a press statement that the amount represented the workers’ unpaid wages, illegal deductions, tax refunds, excessive fees, savings, and labor insurance benefits in 2005 alone.

MECO Labor Taipei, which is responsible for northern Taiwan, netted the biggest collection last year, helping Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) recover 19.38 million Taiwan dollars (30.42 million pesos) in monetary claims. More than 60,000 of 92,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan are based in the area.

MECO said its offices in Taichung and Kaohsiung helped OFWs recover 13.86 million Taiwan dollars (21.76 million pesos) and 16.30 million Taiwan dollars (25.59 million pesos) in financial claims, respectively.

The data excluded successful cases assisted by the agency but did not involve monetary claims or financial settlements.

“This is just one aspect of the services that we are extending to our OFWs,” said Antonio Basilio, managing director and resident representative of MECO. “Our OFWs are toiling day in and day out to make a decent living, and that sum represented not just their hard-earned wages but (also) the sacrifices that they had made for their families. The least that we could do is to help them get their money back, and to remain vigilant in safeguarding their rights.”

Some OFWs have thanked the MECO for its action. An OFW identified only as Nina wrote MECO Kaohsiung labor representative Elizabeth Recio, expressing gratitude to MECO “for promptly acting on my complaint, and for standing up to my broker who wanted to collect illegal fees from me.”

Another OFW named Mabel recovered more than 50,000 Taiwan dollars (78,500 pesos) in tax refund, excessive fees and leave benefits with MECO’s assistance, the press statement said.

“Today, I (got my refund),” Mabel was quoted in her letter to Recio. “Hopefully, I will be going home soon.”

The MECO labor center in Taipei handled the most number of cases in the fourth quarter of 2005, recovering 6.92 million Taiwan dollars (10.86 million pesos) in monetary claims.

In the first three quarters last year, the center recovered 2.36 million Taiwan dollars (3.71 million pesos), 6.04 million Taiwan dollars (9.48 million pesos), and 4.05 million Taiwan dollars (6.36 million pesos) in financial claims.

http://news.inq7.net/express/html_output/20060406-71840.xml.html

Singapore top place for expatriates

Manila Bulletin
April 10, 2006

SINGAPORE, Apr. 9 (Reuters) — Asian expatriates ranked Singapore the best place to live out of 257 locations worldwide because of its clean air, infrastructure and low crime rate, a survey showed. Australia was also popular among Asians sent to work overseas, with Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra taking the next three spots, according to ECA International, a human resource consultancy for multinationals. As more companies from China, India and Singapore expand overseas and send their employees abroad for work, employers want to know which cities are the most or least popular in order to devise suitable compensation packages. ECA’s survey, based on expatriate surveys and country data, ranked cities according to climate, social network, health facilities, transportation, education, crime and other criteria. "Singapore scores very well on all factors" among Asians, Lee Quane, ECA’s Hong Kong-based general manager, said. "It has brilliant infrastructure in terms of housing, and transportation and quality and availability of goods and services." The standard of living in Chinese cities has improved, Quane said, with Xian making greatest headway, although it remains the worst-ranked of all the Chinese cities covered by the ECA survey. "There’s been a general improvement in infrastructure, health facilities and elements such as the quality of goods and services and recreation" for China overall, Quane said. Scores for Cambodia’s Phnom Penh and Vientiane in Laos have also improved. But Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur both ranked lower for Asian expatriates this year due to deteriorating air quality. Hong Kong fell to 32nd place, from 20th last year. Language and proximity to home were among the top concerns among expatriates around the world, Quane said, which is why only three of the 10 most favored locations among Asians were in Europe or North America, and no Asian cities were in the top 10 lists for workers from North America or western Europe. Singapore was in 58th place for west European expatriates due to factors such as distance from home, differences in culture, language and climate. Basel in Switzerland was the top city in the world for western European expatriates, thanks to its strong infrastructure, good air quality and health care facilities, but it ranked 10th overall among Asian expatriates. For North Americans, Vancouver, Copenhagen and Zurich ranked as the top three cities in the world to live, ECA said.

http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS2006041061122.html

Firm offers immigrants to Canada assistance

Manila Bulletin
April 10, 2006

Moving to a new country like Canada poses a lot of challenges, especially for those who have no family or friends to assist them during this transition. The uncertainty of a new life and the unfamiliarity of a new place can be a source of stress and emotional upheaval. For this reason, a group of eight spirited Filipino-Canadians have come together to offer relief and reliable service to new immigrants to Toronto. I-migrate Settlement Inc. (http://www.i–migrate.com.) operates with the value of making someone "feel at home." Filipinos coming to Toronto who neither have family nor friends to welcome them will be picked up at the airport then. They get assistance to secure dwelling around the GTA. On their first business day in Toronto, new immigrants will be chaperoned to obtain some of the most important and urgently needed documents to get started, so to speak: OHIP card, SIN, and perhaps requirements to obtain a driver’s license. I-migrate Settlement Inc. will also acquaint new immigrants of existing recognized Filipino community centers and government funded organizations where additional assistance on various other matters may be available. New immigrants will also be given assistance in setting up a bank account. Figures from Statistics Canada indicated that between 1971 and 1992, Filipinos made up between four and six percent of annual immigration to Canada. Today, these newer Canadians constitute one of the fastest-growing immigrant communities in Canada. By 1996, there were 243,000 people of Filipino heritage living in Canada with half of those in Ontario, 50,000 in British Columbia and 25,000 in Alberta. For whatever reason, be it economic, political, or something else, Filipinos will continue to migrate. Toronto is one of the top choices to start a new life. But even with Toronto’s diversity of culture and the Filipino’s innate adaptability to change – starting in a new country, learning new rules, although not necessarily new language, settling-in still can be daunting.

http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS2006041061120.html