The gold trap: COVID-19 is pushing more Filipino children into hazardous work The Philippines had been making slow progress in its long fight against child labor, but the pandemic reversed the gains that had been made Can Singapore's home cleaning scheme reduce maid abuse? Demand for part-time home cleaning is up amid COVID-19-triggered shortages of full-time household help. A newly-formalized scheme gives Singapore's migrant cleaners better working conditions, but its impact so far is limited. A culture of silence blunts impact of a new Vietnamese law vs sexual harassment Vietnam's new labor law requires employers to put in place mechanisms…

Over 37K pandemic-hit OFWs get help from OWWA-12 The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has already assisted over 37,000 returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from parts of Region 12 (Soccsksargen) who were affected by the continuing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic Taliban allows OFW to fetch fellow Filipinos for evacuation Overseas Filipino worker Elmer Presa was able to exit the crisis-hit Afghanistan together with his fellow nationals after getting permission from the Taliban. Repatriated OFWs reminded of deadline to transfer voter records The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday reminded the repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that they have until…

DOLE set to lift suspension of OFW deployment to Israel The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is set to lift the temporary suspension of deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Israel anytime soon. Returning OFWs reminded to have kin's vax docs validated by POLO The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Thursday reminded returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the 57 “green list” countries that vaccination documents of their relatives who will travel with them back to the Philippines should also be validated by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in their host country. POEA imposes total OFW…

Need for harmonizing efforts in OFW concerns sought During his co-sponsorship speech on the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act (DMWOFA) or Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFIL) on Wednesday, Senator Richard J. Gordon noted the importance of making sure that the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have an agency to rely on once they are sent abroad DOH-7 assures enough test kits for arriving OFWs, ROFs The Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas on Monday assured there will be enough testing kits for the overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and returning overseas Filipinos (ROF) arriving in…

BI sacks immigration officers linked to trafficking OFWS to Syria Immigration officers linked to trafficking overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Syria – among them one of the alleged masterminds of the “pastillas” bribery scheme in the Bureau of Immigration (BI) – have been relieved from their posts. This was disclosed by Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente to the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality as it resumed its hearing on human trafficking practices within the BI on Tuesday, May 4. Duterte, Saudi Arabia crown prince discuss protection for OFWs Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Saudi Arabia Crown…

    OFW repatriates hit .5m mark; DOLE extends P5b AKAP The government has repatriated more than half a million overseas Filipino workers who were displaced by the Covid 19 pandemic, the labor department said on Sunday. In a report to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Hans Leo Cacdac said 502,581 OFW repatriates have been safely transported back to their home provinces after undergoing Covid tests and quarantine protocols in various hotels. DoLE assures OFWs of non-stop support Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has assured continuous assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were…