Federation of Filipino Communities in Israel
Month of September FFCI Newsletter Highlights
- Roland Ustares, the FFCI P.R.O represented the entire Foreign Workers and their Children
- Two seriously ill OFW receives financial help from FFCI
- OFWs Needed for the United Kingdom
- OWWA Scholarship for OFW Children - Memorandum of Instruction 009 Series of 2003
- OWWA-Medicare Proposed Transfer to Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC)
- NOTICE OF REGISTRATION AND ELECTION TO ALL FILIPINO CITIZENS
- CONVENTION ON PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS
On a public forum Sept. 17, 2003, Roland Ustares, the FFCI P.R.O. was invited to represent the entire foreign workers and their children about the new intensive deportation policy of the Immigration Administration against illegal foreign workers. Starting on October 1, 2003 this new policy will be implemented also to those who have children. Families who would come to register in the immigration office will still be accepted until the end of September and those who would register to voluntarily leave will still be given clearance against arrest until the end of October 2003. According to the Immigration Administration they have successfullly registered at least 500 families. Some 10% of which have back out and went into hiding. Because of this the immigration police chief said that they would really crack down those families who registered and are now went into hiding.
Two seriously ill OFW receives financial help from FFCI
Mrs. Maria Paz Santos, 49, from Pangasinan,
Philippines, four years OFW in Israel was admitted in Ichilov
hospital in Tel-Aviv, Israel on August 9, 2003 and was diagnosed with heart
blood valve enlargement and malfunctions. She was successfully operated on
August 14, 2003 with twenty-centimeter stitches in her chest. Inside her a
plastic heart valve and a "cross grove ring" was installed and
she will need to maintain medicine intakes for couple of months to stabilize her
artificial blood pumping system. With the help of Israel welfare society her
surgical and hospital bills were taken cared for her. As she now only needs
financial help for her medicines, the FFCI was able to extend immediate help in
this area but for sure
she will need for more financial support to sustain her continuous medicinal
needs. The FFCI is calling on behalf of Maria to all compatriots and other
concern groups to help Maria to live much longer when she will be back home to
the Philippines by November if she would receive enough medicines for her
recovery.
Another OFW that FFCI was able to help
financially is Mr. Sherwin Ocampo So, 27, from Isabela, Philippines, one year in
Israel. He needs continuous chemotherapy for his cancer of abdomen. As he has no
relative in Israel only his girlfriend is the one taking care for him in his
daily physical necessities. She has also to quit her job to nurse for Sherwin.
Maria and Sherwin are ones of the many OFW in Israel that was able to receive even a little financial help from FFCI. The Philippine Embassy in Tel-Aviv is also coordinately working with the FFCI in mostly situations like this to make sure that our fellow OFW would not feel neglected at all in a foreign land like Israel. This is what we should proudly demonstrate everywhere our spirit of "bayanihan". Bro. Roland Ustares, the FFCI P.R.O. had the privilege to personally hand Maria few hundred shekels from FFCI fund. (No available picture of Sherwin as of yet). By Roland Ustares
OFWs Needed for the United Kingdom
GOOD
NEWS FOR FILIPINO REGISTERED
NURSES,
PHYSICAL AND RESPIRATORY
THERAPISTS,
MEDICAL TECHNOLOGISTS,
MIDWIVES,
AND NURSING AIDES:
A
London-based recruiter will be in town to recruit Filipinos for the United
Kingdom, with absolutely no fees to be charged.
This
will be on September 14th at 9 am to 6 pm at the Philippine Overseas
Labor Office, 10th Floor, Textile Center, 2 Kaufman St., Tel Aviv,
Israel.
Interested
applicants are advised to bring the following:
1.
Copy of Medical diploma and PRC license
2.4
pieces 2 x 2 ID picture
3.
6 pieces whole body picture
4.
Copy of visa and passport
5.
Police clearance in Israel
Registration
forms are already available at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, Tel. (03)
5162344 or 5165818.
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MEMORANDUM
OF INSTRUCTION |
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Revised Guidelines Governing the Implementation of the SESP - Phase II
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Family
Pursuant to OWWA Board Resolution No. 031, dated 30 June 2003, and in
response to the educational needs of deserving dependents of deceased,
displaced, and low-income overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), MOI No.
001, Series of 2000, which provides guidelines for the
Skills-for-Employment Scholarship Program - Phase II, is hereby
amended as follows:
A.
NATURE OF THE PROGRAM
The Skills-for-Employment Scholarship Program - Phase II (SESP-II) provides scholarship grant in the collegiate level to deserving and qualified dependents of OFWs. It covers degree courses not exceeding five (5) years of curriculum studies
B. OBJECTIVES
The program intends to:
C. ELIGIBILITY AND LIMITATIONS
D. MECHANICS OF IMPLEMENTATION
E. PILOT OPERATIONS
F. EFFECTIVITY
VIRGILIO R. ANGELO Administrator For more details, Please contact our Public Information Division(PID) |
OWWA-Medicare
Proposed Transfer to Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC).
August 11, 2003
The overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their dependents will definitely
benefit from the transfer of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
-Medicare Program for Overseas Filipino Workers and their Families
(OWWA-Medicare) to the Philippine Health Insurance Company (PHIC), OWWA
Administrator Virgilio Angelo today said.
According to Administrator Angelo, there is no irregularity in the proposed
transfer of the health insurance coverage of the Filipino migrant workers from
OWWA to Philhealth, since, the OWWA Chief avers, the system of our law governs
that Philhealth is the prime agency concerned after the national health
insurance program of Filipinos, including the OFWs. It should be noted, the OWWA
chief added, that both the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government
Security Insurance System (GSIS) have already been under the PHIC's medical
program.
Angelo further said that he will ensure that there is no absolute transfer of
the entire OWWA-Medicare Funds to PHIC. The funds retained to OWWA shall be used
to expand the medical benefits of the OFWs in addition to the existing package
of PHIC.
"In due time, there will be a realization on the part of the OFWs as to the
benefits they will get from the PHIC, among which, is the exemption from payment
from Philhealth contribution upon retirement. OFWs, Angelo said, used to renew
their OWWA-Medicare membership annually. Under the PHIC present set-up, certain
fees shall be waived after OFWs shall be able to continuously contribute at the
PHIC within a specific period of time but with OFWs still enjoying the same
medical privileges they used to avail before the transfer.
The OWWA, Angelo avers, wishes to focus on OWWA core programs and services that
include welfare assistance at the job sites, insurance coverage,
repatriation/airport assistance program, scholarship program, as well as
substantial programs that will uplift the condition of the Filipino migrant
workers and their families.
Notice
is hereby given that under Republic Act No. 9189, otherwise known as “The
Overseas Absentee Voting
Act of 2003”, all citizens of the Philippines abroad, not otherwise
disqualified .by law, at least eighteen (18) years of age on the day of the
election, and who are registered overseas absentee voters with approved
application to vote in absentia, may vote for President, Vice-President,
Senators and Party-List Representatives.
All qualified Filipino citizens not registered as voters under Republic Act No.
8189, otherwise known as “The Voters Registration Act of 1996” (the system
of continuing registration), shall file an application for registration while
those who are already registered under the said Act shall file an application
for certification.
For purposes of the May 10, 2004 elections, the filing of applications shall be
from August 1, 2003 to September 30, 2003 at the Philippine Embassy located at 2
Kaufman Street, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
The voting period will be from April 11, 2004 to 10:00 a.m. on May 10, 2004
except for duly qualified Filipino seafarers who may vote from March 12, 2004 to
10:00 a.m. on May 10, 2004.
For details, please contact Mr. Jalilo dela Torre at telephone number 03-5
162344 or 5165818 or the following website: www.polota.com.
Department of Foreign Affairs (Manila) - www.dfa.gov.ph
Commission on Elections (Manila) - www.comelec.gov.ph
Hotline: (632) 833-0914/833-0686
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UNITED NATIONS |
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CONVENTION ON
PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS TO ENTER INTO FORCE
NEXT JULY |
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19.03.2003
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families will enter into force on 1 July 2003, following Guatemala's ratification of the treaty last Friday. The Convention seeks to play a role in preventing and eliminating the exploitation of migrant workers throughout the entire migration process. In particular, it seeks to put an end to the illegal or clandestine recruitment and trafficking of migrant workers and to discourage the employment of migrant workers in an irregular or undocumented situation. It provides a set of binding international standards to address the treatment, welfare and human rights of both documented and undocumented migrants, as well as the obligations and responsibilities on the part of sending and receiving States. More than 150 million migrants, including migrant workers, refugees, asylum seekers, permanent immigrants and others, live and work in a country other than that of their birth or citizenship. They represent 2 percent of the world's population. Persons who qualify as migrant workers under the provisions of the Convention are entitled to enjoy their human rights regardless of their legal status. The Convention reflects an up-to-date understanding of migratory trends as seen from the point of view of both States of origin and host States of migrant workers and their family. The Convention breaks new ground in defining those rights which apply to certain categories of migrant workers and their families, including: 'frontier workers', who reside in a neighbouring State to which they return daily or at least once a week; seasonal workers; seafarers employed on vessels registered in a State other than their own; workers on offshore installations which are under the jurisdiction of a State other than their own; itinerant workers; migrants employed for a specific project; self-employed workers. The Convention also imposes a series of obligations on States parties in the interest of promoting "sound, equitable, humane and lawful conditions" for the international migration of workers and members of their families. These requirements include the establishment of policies on migration; the exchange of information with other States parties; the provision of information to employers, workers and their organizations on policies, laws and regulations; and assistance to migrant workers and their families. The Convention was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by the General Assembly in December 1990. To date, it has been ratified or acceded to by the following twenty-one States: Azerbaijan, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uganda and Uruguay.
How States abide by their obligations under the Convention will be monitored by a panel, to be known as the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, consisting of 10 experts serving in their personal capacity. The election of Committee members by the States parties is set to take place before the end of the year. The membership of the Committee will rise from 10 to 14 experts when 41 ratifications have been registered. States parties accept the obligation to report on the steps they have taken to implement the Convention within a year of its entry into force for the State concerned, and thereafter every five years. Under the treaty, a State party may recognize the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of individuals within that State's jurisdiction who claim that their rights under the Convention have been violated. If the Committee is satisfied that the matter has not been, and is not being, examined in another international context, and that all domestic remedies have been exhausted, it may call for explanations, and express its views.
The entry into force of the Convention will reinforce and complete a series of other measures already taken by the United Nations to ensure adequate protection of all migrant workers and their families. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has been in the forefront of efforts to secure and maintain a fair deal for migrant workers and their families since the 1920s. Also, a Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights has been looking since 1999 at ways and means to overcome obstacles to the full and effective protection of the human rights of migrants, including difficulties for the return of those who are "undocumented". |