News Roundup 31 March 2023
Mar 31, 2023 • 4 min Read
Immigration agents to clean up airport act amid much flak | INQUIRER.NET – Backlash over the “ridiculous and frivolous” demands of immigration officers on some Filipinos traveling abroad has prompted authorities to revisit departure formalities for passengers being screened for human trafficking.
The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (Iacat), of which the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is a member, is in the process of revising procedures “to better reflect current trends and plug the gaps” and “minimize the inconvenience” on passengers, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Thursday.
In a statement, the DOJ said existing protocols by BI personnel in screening outbound travelers were in line with the bureau’s mandate to protect Filipinos from human trafficking and other dangers.
The statement was in response to a number of Filipinos who had aired their grievances on social media about immigration officers asking what seemed to be irrelevant questions or demanding purportedly unnecessary documents, causing them to be offloaded or to miss their flights.
In one viral TikTok video, a woman said she missed her flight to Israel and had to book new tickets in December last year as a result of a lengthy interview with an immigration officer, who at one point asked for her yearbook and graduation photo.
Full Story at: Immigration agents to clean up airport act amid much flak | Inquirer News
Soldier wounded after clash with NPA near Wawa Dam in Rizal | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines—A soldier was wounded after an encounter with suspected members of the New Peoples Army near Wawa Dam in Rizal province on Friday, the Philippine Army said in a statement.
Government troops and more or less 20 members of the NPA figured in a firefight in Barangay San Rafael in Rodriguez, Rizal at around 9:00 am.
The wounded soldier has yet to be identified while the casualties in the rebel side have yet to be determined.
No other details were available as of posting.
Dealing with ‘double burden’: The guilt migrant domestic workers carry | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Alone in a new country, deprived of the familiar protection of family and friends, migrant women workers face unique challenges that many of them also feel guilty for.
For some, leaving home means going to a foreign place to take care of another family.
UN Women noted that women migrant workers are more vulnerable to violence, trafficking, and even discrimination. This is aside from carrying the “guilt” of leaving your family.
“It’s necessary to raise awareness about the issues of women [because it] will also provide a space for women migrants understand that these things that are happening is not their fault,” GABRIELA Hong Kong Chairperson Shiela Tebia-Bonifacio told Philstar.com, adding that many of the problems surface because of the patriarchal society — where men and their needs carry more weight — we live in.
“They should not feel guilty about anything. We don’t choose to work away from our families and we don’t choose to work with these abusive environment but there are some policies that lead to these situations.”
Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that majority of overseas Filipino workers deployed all over the world are Filipino women.
They account for 60.2% or 1.10 million out of the 1.83 million recorded OFWs in 2021.
Full Story at: Dealing with ‘double burden’: The guilt migrant domestic workers carry | Philstar.com
SBS Filipino, telling stories for and of Australia’s fifth largest migrant community | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines (Updated 5:37 p.m.) — In Australia, a radio program aims to update its Filipino diaspora with stories from back home and from the 400,000-strong Filipino community through a one-hour radio program.
SBS Filipino is one of the programs of the mostly government-funded Special Broadcasting Service whose audience is Australia’s fifth largest migrant community, which airs daily with radio newscasts and packages in Filipino.
“With SBS Filipino, we continue to serve our kababayans,” SBS Filipino executive producer Edinel Magtibay-Dearden told visiting Filipino journalists in their Sydney studio.
“We’re serving not only those who are based in Australia, but we’re also trying to reach their family members left in the Philippines because we want to continuously be the bridge or be the link to information on what’s happening back home and what’s happening here.”
SBS Radio airs programs in over 60 languages, an ode to the multicultural population of Australia. At least 70% of SBS’ funding comes from the government, while 30% is from commercial activities.
Full Story at: SBS Filipino, telling stories for and of Australia’s fifth largest migrant community | Philstar.com
