By Joy B. Miranda

 

As we all know, Filipino nationals in Cyprus have no official representative following the recent resignation of former Honorary Consul Vanthoula Tsaousis-Constantinides. Hence the Philippine Embassy Officials in Greece took a direct responsibility for the absence of an office here. Its been a month since the new Philippine Ambassador to Athens Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary Rigoberto ‘Bobi’ Tiglao came to Cyprus to present his credentials to President Tassos Papadopolous.  “His official appearance had somehow sent a bit of hope for  OFWs in Cyprus,� said one Filipino worker after seeing Ambassador Tiglao with President Papadopolous in an evening television news.

With the Ambassador’s already hectic schedule during his official visit last September 27 to October 02, 2006, I would like to thank his secretary Ms. Cielo Gamayon for sparing Sentidokomon a time to have an exclusive ‘tete-a-tete’ with him.

Arriving at Hilton Park Hotel where the Ambassador and party were billeted, Ms. Gamayon had right away accommodated me while the Ambassador was about to finish his meeting with few Filipino leaders who came to see him at the hotel lobby six o’clock in the afternoon of Saturday, September 30. Shortly after, he joined us and over a cup of coffee, we discussed so many things regarding the present situation of OFWs in Cyprus.

Like what he had promised to everyone, Ambassador Bobi stressed that he will do the necessary steps to be able to bring to Cyprus either a Labor Attache or OWWA Officer who will take care of OFWs here. “Give it sometime, three months at least, to get it done. Honorary Consulate’s post is open and there are aspirants as of the moment, my office is considering the selection but still we welcome more,� he said.

Meanwhile Ambassador Tiglao has commended the effort of this writer for setting up a website for OFWs and likewise appreciated some Filipino workers who have gone out of their own initiatives to help their kababayans who are in distress. Specifically mentioning the importance of media, the Ambassador asked me if I could help in ‘editing’ and from his own mouth, ‘professionalizing’ the news stories and articles being published in the existing Filipino newspaper  which is a four supplemental pages of  Politis, known to be the best local newspaper in Cyprus.

“It is a good thing that media has already penetrated in Cyprus because it will help in addressing the plights of OFWs here, but I observed that the paper lacks the proper set-up of its contents. I was told that the reason maybe that staff members have no time to edit stories properly, so perhaps you can assist them Joy,� Ambassador Bobi continued.

NO OFFENSE MEANT

I was practically not surprised by the Ambassador’s comment and was flattered by his observation about my media thing. Of course I know Ambassador Tiglao meant no offense to the staff-members. He only showed concern about the obvious fact that the staff-members are basically not real writers but are trying to be called ‘writers’ yet are seemed confused about proper grammar and correct usage of words which come out in every material that they publish, thus, sometimes creating or delivers different meaning from what certain news is really all about.

Let me point out an example here: There was a Filipina who was accused of stealing her employers’ belongings like kitchen wares, etcetera. Somebody wrote a story about it and the ‘editor’ confidently published it which reads, “one Filipina was accused of stealing her employers’ properties,â€? or words to that effect. I don’t want to elaborate what the word ‘properties’ meant in journalistic sense. But honestly, I really find it funny. A twenty-something pinay steals the house or the land of her employers? Laugh!

Well, something is better than nothing. To be honest, I am happy that Filipino community in Cyprus has a media outlet to call their own. And in fairness to those who have started it, (and let me mention specifically here, thanks to Marlyn Panaguiton who paved the way through her Boss Nicos, who is a very close friend of Director Kyriacos Loizidez who has a contact with Mr. Dionisis Dionisiou, the editorial consultant of Politis,) such effort was really commendable. What is being unacceptable is the fact that people who run this paper seemed to be overwhelmed by their current status as ‘media persons,’ thus displaying arrogance to some whom they think are out-smarting them.

Back to Ambassador’s request, I replied that whoever comes to me for help and if I think I can, then my hands are ready for it. I told him that I am willing to share my knowledge and impart the wisdom I have in this field which was earned through two decades of training and experience, but only to those who are not proud and arrogant. The problem is not just the improper editing, but also knowing the responsibilities of writers not to under- estimate their readers and be commited to the purpose of journalism.

REGULAR VISIT FOR CONSULAR SERVICES

In closing Ambassador Bobi said that in the absence of a consulate’s office, he will send staff from the Philippine Embassy in Athens to do consular service here. It was her secretary Ms. Cielo Gamayon who distributed the renewed passports done at Holy Cross Catholic Church garden. 

True to the Ambassador’s promise, another team from the embassy was set to arrive this week, to do the same as there are lots of Filipinas who want to renew their passports. However, last minute today, Sentidokomon learned that schedule was reset sometime next month. Nevertheless, for day to day assistance, please let me inform you that our Filipino volunteer Emong Pedroso is always there for the task and you can get passport renewal forms from Emong. For OWWA and PAGIBIG matters, there is Primrose Lomas. Contact both in their mobile numbers 35799804952 and 35799879354 respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

www.sentidokomon.com ‘Life is common sense’ is giving way to a poem composed in Filipino language which termed ‘tula’ by contributor Carmen Dolores Brazan B. Llauderes. It speaks of someone who have decided to leave the Philippines to work abroad bringing the promise of a good future but instead ended up in a foreign jail. The poem cries out in pain for help from the Philippine government. With my recent rounds to Nicosia and Limassol jails, I saw lots of supposed OFWs there, and I know this runs true too in other countries where some Filipino nationals have aspired to get a better life but unfortunately they have landed in prisons. Indeed, such is reality. Lots of different criminal cases these OFWs are facing and I know from their hearts they are asking the same question: Nasaan ka bayan ko? (Where art thou my native land?)  – By Joy B. Miranda

 

Nasaan ka bayan ko ako ngayo’y lumuluha

Dito sa piitan na aking kinahantungan;

Sa maling hinala ako’y kinasuhan

Nagnakaw daw ngunit kasinungalingan.

 

Nasaan ka bayan ko ako ngayo’y nagmamakaawa

Nawa’y iyong matulungan mabigyan ng katarungan

Upang makalaya at malinis ang pangalan

Nasaan ka bayan ko ako’y iyong kaawaan.

 

Ako’y pumalaot sa pangingibang-bayan

Dala-dala ang pangarap gumanda ang kinabukasan

Sapagkat sa lugar na aking pinanggalingan

Pagkasyahin ang kinikita ay may kahirapan.

 

Ngunit ano ngayon itong naganap?

Malaking bangungot na aking hinaharap

Bigyan mo ng pag asa na ako’y makakahanap

Ng tamang hustisya para maipagpatuloy naudlot na pangarap.

 

Heto ako ngayon taimtim na nananalig

Nawa’y itong tinig ay iyong marinig

At iyong patunayan ang iyong sinabi;

Filipino Overseas Worker ang Bagong Bayani!

 

Nasaan ka bayan ko, AKSYON ang kailangan,

Isipin mo ang aming kapakanan!

At alalahanin kami’y yaman ng bayan;

Nasaan ka bayan ko kami’y iyong DAMAYAN!

 

(By Carmen Dolores Brazan B. Llauderes)

Charismatic Renewal Family- Nicosia

 

 

MANILA — An amicable settlement of sorts was reached Thursday by parties in the suit seeking to nullify the June 2006 nursing licensure examination due to a leakage.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion initiated conciliatory talks to allow more than 15,000 nursing graduates who passed the exams to take their oaths

The agreement was reached during the mediation proceedings held at the hearing room of Associate Justice Vicente Veloso of the Court of Appeals (CA) First Division. Veloso said the appellate court has no intention of issuing any more injunctions stopping the oath taking of nurses.

“We have no intention to stop the exercise of the rights of those who passed. Those who can take the oath is now embodied in our ruling,” Veloso said.

Present in the meeting were officials from Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Board of Nursing, Office of the Solicitor General, counsels for petitioners, respondents and interveners. The CA called the parties for conciliatory talks and mediation in a resolution issued last October 25 based upon the recommendation of Brion.

In his letter submitted to the appellate court, Brion urged the CA to consider the use of mediation approach in resolving the controversy involving the leakage. With the settlement, there is no more legal impediment for the oath taking of the nursing graduates who were among the 41.24 percent of board takers who passed the exam out of 42,000 before the leakage became public.

Last October 13, the CA junked the petition of the Rene Luis Tadle, president of the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) College of Nursing Faculty Association, to halt the oath-taking of new nurses, pending the result of an investigation regarding the leakage of the June 11 and 12 nursing licensure exams.

The CA decision called for a selective retake of the nursing licensure exam among those whose names were merely added to the list of successful examinees. This after the appellate court declared null and void the assailed Resolution 31 of the PRC approving the Board of Nursing’s initial formula for the recomputation of the results in the exam tainted by the leakage anomaly.

The resolution invalidated portions of the nursing examinations due to leakage. Some 42,600 students took the nursing exam but only 17,821 passed the tests. The CA ordered the Board of Nursing and PRC to restore the names of the 1,186 successful examinees and include them again in the list of 41.24 percent who actually passed the exams, before the recomputation.

It also allowed the oath taking and issuance of licenses to all of the 41.24 percent successful examinees who were untainted by the leakage scandal. The leakage has caused the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. (NCSBN) to put off its plan to include the Philippines among its international testing centers, according to a top official of the NCSBN.

Faith Fields, newly elected NCSBN, called on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at Malacañang’s Music Room last Wednesday. The NCSBN is a not-for-profit organization of the boards of nursing of 50 states in the US, the District of Columbia, and the US territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas is lobbying for the inclusion of the Philippines as an international testing center on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for nurses.

The NCLEX is a licensure examination taken by more than 9,000 Filipino nurses yearly, with the hope of securing jobs in hospitals and health institutions in the US. The NCLEX can be taken in US territories and selected international test centers in Hong Kong, Korea, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico and Taiwan.

“Obviously, it (leakage) has affected (our decision) because we were set to make a decision. When the leakage occurred, we decided to back off to get the results of how you handle that,” Fields said in an ambush interview after her courtesy call on Arroyo.

She said Filipino nurses make up about 80 percent of foreign educated nurses that come to the US. “We’re very interested to see how you handle the crisis and I think it’s something that you don’t want to waste the opportunity to make your system better,” she said. (ECV/Sunnex)

By Maria Theresa S. Samante (OFW Guide)  

The government of Taiwan allows foreign workers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), to be employed for a maximum of three years. But numerous OFWs were able to return using false documents.

Taipei, due to rampant use of fake document has restricted the entry of OFWs and imposed stricter regulations to control the entry of returning OFWs according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE). Added to that, the Taiwanese government opted additional requirements to ensure the identities of OFWs and prevent re-entry of Filipino workers who have finished their three years contract.

According to a labor official, Taiwan do not ban hiring of OFWs instead it is just a mild freeze so they can control the entry of returning OFWs in the country.

The local recruitment industry is worried that these additional requirements for OFWs bound for Taiwan can cause delay in the issuance of visas and may also be the reason of fall in deployment in Taiwan.

What usually takes a week for authentication now takes at least two months,� said a local recruitment official.

The local recruitment industry also said that if the delay in the issuance of visas cannot be resolved, this will causes the fall in the deployment of OFWs in Taiwan as well as the dollar remittances.

About 90,000 OFWs are working in Taiwan and majority of them work as factory workers who earns about P30,000 a month.

By Maria Theresa S. Samante (OFW Guide)

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) imposed a $3.50 or P175 security surcharge for departing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), unfortunately it only gained criticism from the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

Former Senator Ernesto Herrera, TUCP secretary general said that the imposition of security surcharge to OFWs is a violation in the existing law. He cited Section 35 of the Migrants Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, which he authored, that migrant workers shall be exempt from the payment of travel tax and airport fee upon proper showing of proof of entitlement by the POEA.

The secretary general stated following the announcement of MIAA General Manager Alfonso Cusi that the start of collecting surcharge from all departing international passengers exiting the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), including OFWs, will start any moment this month.

From $5 security surcharge, in which MIAA originally wanted to impose, cut down to $3.50 or about P175 which will be on top of the P550 terminal from passengers boarding international flights.

Cusi said the surcharge will be used to fund the P1.25 billion updated security and emergency system at the airport, this includes additional communication equipment, surveillance cameras and monitors, metal and explosive detection devises, ID system for airport staff and security mobile vans.

However, Herrera emphasized that departing OFWs who were able to present a valid Overseas Employment Certificates (OEC) issued by the POEA prohibits MIAA from collecting any airport fees. The certificate proves their travel exit clearance at the airport and immigration. Herrera added that today, OFWs needs to pay $100 processing fee at the POEA, another $25 for Overseas Workers Welfare Fund membership fee and P900 for OWWA medicare.

“This, apart from the fact that workers have to shell out a lot of money to pay for recruitment and documentation fees, including passport and visa charges,� he added. If the security charge will be implemented on all foreign-bound passengers MIAA anticipate to collect some P200 million annually from OFWs alone.

“The surcharge is really an oppressive indirect tax and a totally unnecessary burden on departing OFWs,� Herrera added.

www.sentidokomon.com – ‘Life is common sense’; e-mail to joy_scanner@yahoo.com

Posted by Joy B. Miranda (www.sentidokomon.com  ‘Life is common sense’) e-mail: joy_scanner@yahoo.com

Carmen Dolores Brazan B. Llauderes is informing everyone that the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Family of Nicosia is sponsoring a New Inter-Christian Fellowship on November 19, 2006 to be held at St. Joseph Hall Nicosia with Guest Speaker from Australia and New Zealand Pastor Alex Meek. All is invited to come and be blessed richly with the Spirit of God.