Buhay ng Pinoy sa Gitnang Silangan
OFW
Most OFWs don’t want to leave Syria
Jan 4th
MANILA, Philippines – Most Filipino workers in Syria do not want to be repatriated back to the Philippines, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.
Del Rosario has just returned from a 2-day trip to Syria, where he met with Syrian Foreign Ministry officials and Filipino community leaders to discuss the government’s repatriation efforts.
“We talked with the Filipino community leaders, and oddly enough, 25 of the leaders and not a single one wanted to be repatriated because of the lack of economic opportunities (in the Philippines),” he said, in a press conference at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
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OFW is first UN Citizen Ambassador
Dec 25th
NEW YORK City – Twenty-three year old Jonathan Eric Defante’s 30-second-pitch on Youtube, his entry to the 2011 Citizen Ambassador’s Video Contest, earned him one of the three spots to become the first Filipino Honorary United Nation’s Citizen Ambassador.
Honored as best in concept, originality and execution, Defante’s “One Bottle, One Life” pitch to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is about using plastic bottles to build model communities around the world. On his Youtube pitch, Defante said, “So let’s create a model community in every Nation, made of used plastic bottles or eco-bricks, built by the people themselves, and are sustained More >
Funds for repatriation efforts in Syria enough: DFA
Dec 25th
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said it has enough funds to cover the repatriation of the remaining Filipinos in Syria. “We have enough funds for this. We will be using emergency funds on top of the Assistance to Nationals funds,” said DFA Spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez.
Hernandez said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) also promised to assist the DFA if it needs more money for the repatriation efforts.
The DFA said there are about 5,000 Filipinos who are still in Syria.
“The 5,000 are a combination of documented and undocumented [Filipinos],” Hernandez said.
On Thursday, More >
