WELCOME TO CORRUPTION AND THE PLAYING AROUND WITH OTHERS' LIVES.
Corrupt officials play with Philipino lives trying to get it all! Trying to make every single centavo for themselves even to making at least 2,000 returning overseas workers not able to get the best paying jobs ever offered in the P. I. Offered by a foreigner, an American! The Americans treat the Philipino workers better than many GREEDY P. I. officials!
The government officials are allowing their personal greed to stand in the way of dirt-poor Philipinos who need jobs! This makes us angry!
________
((After April 29 09 all additions at the bottom.))
((Mar 21 09)) With at least 46 percent of adults in the Philippines being unemployed in December 2008 and with the thousands that have lost their overseas jobs and many returning home, there is likely to be unrest in the streets.
((Mar 5 09)) Exports were down a whopping 40 percent for the month of December 08! There may be unrest in the streets in 2009 if jobs continue to be scarce and thousands are laid off from work!
((Mar 19 09)) Up to 40,000 Philippine seamen working for Japanese shipping companies could lose their jobs this year as vessels are laid up due to the sharp fall in world trade, an official said Wednesday.
About 300,000 Filipinos work on merchant shipping around the globe, according to official data.
As trade demand drops worldwide some foreign ship owners have also filed notice they would lay up their vessels and cut crews this year, said Ericson Marquez, head of a group of ship-manning agencies based in the Philippines.
"In the next six months, we can see more Philippine crewmen repatriated," Marquez said.
At least 433 container ships have been laid up worldwide due to lack of cargo, Marquez said.
Roque said 45 of these foreign vessels are laid up at Subic Bay, north of Manila, and in the southern Philippine port of Davao.
Looks to us like the P. I. is headed for civil unrest before the end of 2009.
The obvious way to relieve some of the pain that is coming is to allow foreigners chances to HIRE Philipinos! Who could possibly be against that? Greedy people, and the P.I. certainly has a lion's share of that, indeed they do.
Someone will make use of unrest over lost jobs and no food to eat to mount a coup attempt.
__________
We listened to several disturbing phone conversations the last 10 days concerning jobs for Philipinos.
The jest of the story is this,
There is a foreign contractor looking for at least 2,000 workers to go into a war zone. According to one very high ranking Philipino government official and two lower ranking officials they can cut the contractor out and take over the operation themselves by going to who the contractor is working for!
What makes us so darned angry is they will not be able to go directly to the one the contractor is working for because the foreign companies do not do business that way! Not everyone is a Philipino or has the Philipino mentality of stealing from others!
Then these officials will hold out and hold out and hold out until the opportunity disappears because the ones offering the 2,000 jobs will become tired of being given "the run-around".
With thousands and thousands of overseas Philipino workers returning home due to loosing their jobs it will not be long until there is UNREST in The Philippine Islands.
These returning overseas workers have seen what some civilized societies are truly like and will become restless and demonstrate in the streets. These returned workers eyes are opened to what their government really is. They are not happy returning to a police-state and they are going to cause trouble within a year of their return!
Then there will be a large crime increase when they cannot find jobs upon their return back home.
To GMA, the Prez, some of your underlings are going to cost Philipinos the best offer they have ever had in jobs if they are not careful.
If this does not go through smoothly then we shall publish some of the phone conversations here on this page and watch the shit hit the fan.
The contractor offering these jobs does not have a clue to what is going on behind his back, but we do and we are the one you had better be careful of, not the contractor!
If you arseholes want to see your names here then go ahead and run this contractor off and cost your countrymen thousands of jobs that offer the best pay ever offered for Philipinos!
The Philipino workers have gotten a petition together and many have signed it to get things started. In the petition they state while one Philipino has been kidnapped there, worse is happening back in The P.I.! How damning is that truth?
This is the petition is to the Prez,
November 17, 2008
H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President
Malacañang Palace
JP Laurel Street, San Miguel
Manila 1005
Thru: The Secretary of Foreign Affairs
The Secretary of Labor and Employment
Re: Petition to Lift Ban on Deployment of Workers to Afghanistan
Dear Madam President:
The undersigned Filipino citizens currently working in Afghanistan, on our own behalf and on behalf of others similarly situated, would like to petition Your Excellency to order the lifting of the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Afghanistan. We understand that the Department
of Labor and Employment (DOLE) decided to partially lift the ban last November 2007 but that the partial lifting was deferred and subsequently withdrawn upon the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). We believe that the decision of DOLE and DFA to continue the ban deserves to be reviewed and reconsidered for the following reasons.
First, there are currently more than one thousand five hundred Filipinos working in Afghanistan for a variety of employers, including intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations (e.g., United Nations and the International Society of the Red Cross and Red Crescent), multilateral and bilateral aid agencies (e.g., United States Agency for International Development), and multinational corporations.
The ban thus affects a large number of Filipinos. If we include members of our families in the calculus, this ban affects several thousands of Filipinos.
Second, the current ban effectively disallows us from going back to the Philippines during our vacation breaks because we would be barred from returning to our employment in Afghanistan. We are therefore compelled to endure the oftentimes unbearable longing to see our families for the duration of our employment, which may run to several years.
Knowing how highly we Filipinos value our families, Your Excellency will understand why going home during breaks takes on a particular significance. The ban also forces us to spend our vacations elsewhere thereby causing the diversion of resources that would otherwise have been additional revenues for the Philippine economy.
Third, the ban impacts not only our source of livelihood but also the good image of the overseas Filipino worker. Many Filipinos in Afghanistan occupy senior staff positions in international organizations and other employers, and they are highly prized for the hard work, competence, and discipline that Filipino workers are known for throughout the world.
When Filipinos are not able to return to Afghanistan because of the ban and are therefore forced to pre-terminate their employment contracts, the image of the dependable Filipino worker gets tarnished.
Fourth, the ban has created an opportunity for unscrupulous government personnel in airports and other points of exit to extort from Filipino workers believed to be leaving for Afghanistan. It is a sad day when overseas Filipino workers, often touted as modern day heroes for sending those remittances that help keep the Philippine economy afloat, are subjected to extortion by officials of their own government. Lifting the ban will therefore eliminate this source of corruption.
Fifth, and finally, we wish to point out the unfairness of the current ban when viewed in the light of the current spate of hijackings affecting a lot of Filipino ship workers. We have not learned of a ban on the deployment of Filipino seamen despite the documented dangers in the waters near Somalia or the absence of assurances from ship owners regarding their workers’ security. The point we wish to make is not that a similar ban should be imposed on the deployment of workers for ships whose routes include the waters near Somalia, but that it is discriminatory to subject security grounds while exempting similarly situated (or worse) workers from the same ban.
We understand that the reason for bans of this nature is to minimize the exposure of Filipino workers to unmanageable levels of violence in certain countries. In Afghanistan’s case, we are aware that the ban seeks to prevent the recurrence of a kidnapping incident involving a Filipino UN employee several years ago.
We truly appreciate the government’s concern for our welfare, and we are aware that the Philippine mission in Islamabad has instructions to continue looking after the welfare of Filipino workers in Afghanistan. We must, however, point out that one of the primary reasons why we chose to work in conflict-ridden places like Afghanistan is the dearth of similar opportunities in our country.
There is, furthermore, no assurance that staying in the Philippines will keep us from getting kidnapped as demonstrated by the recent kidnappings of Filipino NGO workers in our own country.
The point we wish to make is that there is danger of getting kidnapped or being attacked, whether we are in the Philippines or in a country like Afghanistan. We, the Filipino workers in Afghanistan, are especially cognizant of the potential dangers of working in this country, and have taken them into consideration when we accepted employment here.
We should also point out that employers of Filipinos in Afghanistan have stringent security arrangements for their expatriate and national staff. These include tight security protection in the workplace, staff housing, and transportation, as well as evacuation and other procedures for emergencies and other contingencies. And while we concede that Westerners are being targeted for kidnappings and similar attacks in Afghanistan, Filipinos (who, incidentally, look like Hazaras—one of the major tribal groups in Afghanistan) do not appear to be among the targeted groups for such attacks.
Knowing the rationale behind the ban, we would like to propose the following solution. We believe it would be a reasonable exercise of the government’s authority and obligation to protect the welfare of its
citizens if the lifting of the ban is conditioned on the existence of security arrangements and other contingency measures on the part of every Filipino worker’s employer in Afghanistan. Such condition, if adopted by DOLE and DFA, will be deemed met upon the submission of adequate documentation from the employer attesting to the existence of such security arrangements and other contingency measures. The draft certification in Annex “A” of this petition is hereby proposed for this purpose.
While this additional requirement will undoubtedly make employment in Afghanistan more difficult, it will also provide a certain level of comfort to the Philippine government that it is not knowingly sending its citizens into harm’s way.
In view of the foregoing, it is our fervent hope and prayer that Your Excellency will order the lifting of the ban. If deemed necessary, we would be happy to send representatives to DOLE and DFA for a dialogue to resolve this issue at the soonest possible time.
We thank you in anticipation of Your Excellency’s favorable consideration of this petition.
Respectfully yours
Catherine S. Sobrevega
Country Manager
MEDA Afghanistan
Ezelle Marize A. Santillan
QA/QC Manager
Aria Water Plant (AZ Corporation)
Franklin S. Nochefranca
Construction/ Facilities Specialist
Dyncorp International
Kabul, Afghanistan
Ramon H. Hagad
Senior Public Administration Reform Advisor
UNDP-Afghanistan Sub-National Governance Programme
Jess Zamora
Deputy Chief Engineer
Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI)
Local Governance and Community Development (LGCD‐SE)
Kabul, Afghanistan
NILO L. CAZO
Organizational Development and
Governance Officer
WOCCU- Afghanistan
VIVIAN Y. ESGUERRA
Organizational Development and
Systems Officer
WOCCU - Afghanistan
Venir T. Cuyco, Esq.
Legislative Technical Specialist
Afghanistan Parliamentary Assistance Project
SUNY-CID/USAID
Kabul, Afghanistan
cc: The Honorable Alberto G. Romulo
Secretary Department of Foreign Affairs
2330 Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City
The Honorable Marianito D. Roque
Secretary
Department of Labor and Employment
Muralla St. corner Gen. Luna St., Intramuros
Manila 1002
Annex “A”
[Employer’s letterhead]
CERTIFICATION
To whom it may concern:
This is to certify that [name of employer] has adopted and implements measures to ensure the safety and security of its employees, including expatriates. These measures include security protection in the workplace, staff housing, and transportation, as well as evacuation and other procedures for emergencies and other contingencies.
[Describe briefly features of security and contingency measures of employer or attach a document describing the same.] To verify this certification or for additional details on the security measures adopted by [name of employer], you may contact the undersigned [or name of an authorized representative] at [telephone number or other contact information].
This certification is issued at the request of [name of employee] for whatever lawful purpose it may serve.
Issued on [date of issuance] at [place of issuance]. [Signature and name of Employer’s Security Manager or other authorized representative; official title of signatory]
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((04 29 09)) Due to one OFW being killed in a mortar attack on Kandahar airbase this deal to give a few thousand Philipinos jobs in Afghanistan has died. Or so the governmental leaders are saying openly, but privately they re singing a different story.
It is more dangerous for a Philipino in his own country than at Kandahar!
Another reason, for sure, is that the NATO contractor could not be corrupted! He was willing to pay Philipinos more than any Philipino has ever been paid! The government officials could not steal money for themselves, so the deal has died, it seems!
We have not talked to the NATO contractor, but we have monitored certain officials' phones!
_________
((Jun 10 09)) After spending $10,000 to $12,000 by our estimates, the foreign NATO people were not able to persuade the P. I. government to allow Philipinos to work at Kandahar, Afghanistan!
These jobs were the best paying jobs that Philipinos were ever offered!
We suspect, but are not sure, that the honest NATO contractors were not willing to pay the required "facilitation fees"! In-other-words these two men were legit and going to obey all laws, while treating the workers with dignity! Strange how the leaders of government in the P. I. are willing to make slaves of their own people, but quickly claim "racism" and "slavery" when people in another country do less than the same!
Usually when a good opportunity like this occurs the government officials attempt to hijack the deal so they can make all of the profits and they further squeeze higher fees, pay less, and generally make slaves of their own people overseas!
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