OFWs gikan Libya kuhaon sa European firms

DILI na angay mabalaka ang mga overseas Filipino workers nga naapektuhan sa giyera sa
Libya tungod kay mag-abri og trabaho ang pipila ka European companies alang kanila.

Matud pa sa Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), ang European Chamber of
Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) ang manghatag og oportunidad sa mga kuwalipikadong
aplikante human maapektuhan ang ilang trabaho sa kagubot nga nahitabo sa Libya.

Gitakdang magpulong ang DOLE ug ang ECCP executives aron mahibaw-an kung unsa man
ang mga bakanteng posisyon.

Dungan niini, gi-aghat usab sa DOLE ang mga OFWs gikan sa Libya nga ikonsidera ang
himuong job fair sa US Embassy alang sa 6,000 local vacancies sa 33 ka American companies.

Ang gihiusang Foreign Chambers of the Philippines ug Federation of Filipino Chinese
Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) interesado usab mokuha sa mga OFW
evacuees gikan sa Libya nga mohaum sa bakanteng posisyon. (ecbPIABohol)

PNoy to visit Indonesia, Singapore this week to ensure welfare of OFWs

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III will ensure the welfare of Filipinos working in Singapore when
he visits that country this week. The President leaves Tuesday for a five-day state visit to
Indonesia and Singapore.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ramon
Carandang, said the President will prioritize knowing the conditions of Filipino workers in
Singapore because many of them work there than in Indonesia.

There are few Filipinos working in Indonesia and most of them are management and high
ranking professionals so they are more secured, he said.

“There’s really a need to focus on those working in Singapore because there are many more of
them there. Second, they are in need of more assistance because most of them are domestic
workers. So, the issue regarding the welfare benefit of the OFWs is more for Singapore than for
Indonesia” Carandang said.

According to the Foreign Affairs department the President’s trips are aimed at strengthening ties
with the neighboring countries. The visit also follows a tradition for new heads of state to pay
courtesy visits to fellow ASEAN-member countries.

After Indonesia, the President will fly to Singapore on Mar. 9, where he is set to hold briefings
at the Changi Reclamation Plant, Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore Technologies Kinetics and
the Changi International Airport. He leaves for Manila Mar. 11.

The Singaporean government will confer on President Aquino the honor of having an orchid
breed named after him, a courtesy accorded to a visiting heads of state. President Aquino
will also meet with the Filipino community in Singapore as well as with business taipans and
organizations to gain support for government investments. (PIA)

DOLE naghimo’g pamaagi nga mapangitaan og trabaho ang mga Pinoy nga gikan sa Libya

GISEGURO sa Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) nga gihimoan nila og pamaagi
aron makakuha og trabaho ang mga Pinoy nga nibakwit gikan sa Libya.

Matud pa ni Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, nakipag-tambayayong na sila sa European
Chamber aron mahibaw-an ang mga skills sa mga Pinoy nga matang-tang sa Libya.

Gipahayag ni Baldoz nga interesado ang European Chamber nga kuhaon ang serbisyo sa
mga mamumuong Pinoy.

Samtang miabot na sa 628 ka mga Pinoy ang nakaule sa nasud gikan sa Libya.

Base sa talaan sa Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Action Center, pinaka-
uwahi niini ang 51 ka Pinoy nga niabot sa nasud ganinang buntag.

Sa pagkakaron, moadto sa Greece ang Greek vessel nga Ionian Queen nga gi-abangan
sa Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) aron kuhaon ang uban pang Pinoy gikan Libya nga
gustong mopaule sa nasud. (ecbPIABohol)

DFA advises vs travel to Libya, Yemen, Bahrain

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued on Monday a travel advisory warning
Filipinos not to travel to Libya, Bahrain and Yemen where anti-government protest actions
have led to killings.

DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos, Jr. said mandatory
evacuation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Libya, Bahrain and Yemen is not yet
necessary but Filipinos were told to postpone non-essential and non-urgent travel to the three
countries.

Conejos said the Philippine government is ready to evacuate Filipinos if it becomes
necessary.

Filipinos who are planning to travel to these countries were urged to defer their plans until the
security situations have stabilized.

The Philippine embassies in Libya, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which also covers Yemen,
have been placed on heightened alert but diplomats assured the government that Filipinos in
those countries are safe.

The embassies have also established 24-hour crisis monitoring teams that will keep in close
contact with some 31,000 Filipinos in Bahrain, 1,400 Filipinos in Yemen and around 26,000 in
Libya. (PIA)

DFA: PHL acting to free 7 Pinoys seized by pirates

Philippine officials are working to help secure the release of seven Filipino seafarers who
have being held captive by Somali pirates since Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs
said Wednesday.

The DFA said the seven were aboard the German-owned cargo vessel MV EMS River that
pirates hijacked last Monday.

“The Philippine Foreign Liaison Officer to the Combined Maritime Command in Bahrain,
Commander Gaudencio Collado, is now coordinating with naval authorities to resolve the
case,” the DFA said in an article posted on its website.

It said the MV EMS River was seized approximately 175 nautical miles northeast of the port
of Salalah in Oman. The ship was en route to San Nicolas, Greece, from Jebel Ali in the
United Arab Emirates at the time of the attack.

The cargo ship has a crew of seven Filipinos and one Romanian, an Associated Press report
said.

According to the DFA, its Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-
OUMWA) had learned that the ship’s manning agency in Manila already informed the families
of the seafarers about the incident. (PIA/DFA)