OFW FORUM Jun Concepcion Scores of distressed of distressed OFWs in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East are getting abused not just once, but twice and even more times ironically by fellow unscrupulous Filipino nationals. OFW rights advocates Eli Mua and Faith Buencamino, who are both...
OFW FORUM Jun Concepcion Elma dela Cruz, 39, a domestic helper in Hong Kong and a single mother, is battling Stage 4 brain cancer... and she needs help for support of her two children and aging parents. She now awaits an imminent major brain surgery at Pamela Youde Hospital in Hong Kong’s Chai...
OFW FORUM Jun Concepcion When extremist Taliban forces took control of the Afghanistan capital city of Kabul on August 15, over 100 Filipinos were trapped in the war-torn country. Since most of them worked for American and British military contractors, deemed by the Taliban as among their worst...
OFW Forum Jun Concepcion Most of the nearly million overseas Filipinos who have gone home after losing their jobs abroad due to COVID-19 are in bad shape financially and need meaningful and sustainable aid from government, not simply dole outs. What they need most are practical and accessible aid...
OFW Forum Jun Concepcion As a tight lockdown or ECQ looms in Metro Manila from August 6, how will the national government feed its 14 million plus residents? Presented by the media with this blunt question last week, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado and presidential spokesman Harry Roque were both...
OFW Forum Jun Concepcion When crisis struck in the family, with the life of an elder sibling in grave danger, Mary Deso-acido, 45, a single mother, did not dilly dally and immediately took action boldly. A domestic helper in Hong Kong for more than 15 years, she readily found a way to raise a...
OFW Forum Jun Concepcion Janice de la Cruz, 36, a single mother, is getting set to leave the Philippines again for overseas work even if COVID-19 remains very much a health crisis across the world. After two consecutive “tours of duty” over six years as a domestic helper in Hong Kong, Janice is...
OFW Forum Jun Concepcion Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced on July 6 the temporary suspension of new workers to Saudi Arabia following recent sexual abuses of two Filipino women in that country. They came home last month, with “Michelle” two months pregnant with the child of one of...
OFW Forum Jun Concepcion How much does it cost every year to address and resolve maltreatment of Filipino women, mostly employed as domestic helpers, in the Middle East? More likely than not, this perplexing question will be glossed over by labor officials in favor of the multi-billion US dollars...
OFW Forum Jun Concepcion Clamor from overseas workers is growing for the establishment of a dedicated Department of OFW) which will to attend to the needs of improving the working conditions OFWs in view of persistent problems, notably physical abuses that OFWs suffer in different parts of the...
OFW FORUM Jun Concepcion Nearly 450,000 overseas Filipinos (OFs), mostly from the Middle East, have returned home as of February this year after losing their jobs abroad due to COVID-19, according to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) officials. They expect the number to increase further --...
OF FORUM Jun Concepcion If not for more foreign loans, where else can the government turn to for huge funds needed in its fight against COVID-19 and to mend the country’s battered economy? Unknown to many, overseas Filipinos (OFs) hold a strategically vital key. How so? Fairly simple, easy –...
