politics + tech + advocacy
By ANTHONY IAN CRUZ January 16, 2008 Two Filipinos — a senior citizen and a young student — have been appointed to key public posts in the Australian region considered by the largest concentration of Filipinos anywhere in Down Under as their home. According to the Philippine consulate-general in Sydney, the Blacktown City Council recently […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ January 15, 2008 A day after the repatriation of the body of a Filipino seaman who died due to an attack by Nigerian militants last month, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported on Monday that another set of 21 Filipino seamen have been rescued when their ship caught fire last Friday […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ January 15, 2008 Even as the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced the filing of criminal charges against Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) officials in connection with the explosion that hit the plush Glorietta 2 mall, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has tapped the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI) to play a key […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya Claro “Larry” Formalejo, a Filipino who has become a naturalized US citizen, was elected mayor last November of Colma, California. The city is known as “City of the Silent” because of the proliferation of cemeteries. Formalejo, who was once the city’s vice mayor, will serve for one year. Colma lies […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya January 5, 2008 THE Department of Foreign Affairs has identified the lone casualty among 19 Filipino seamen caught in the crossfire of violence in Nigeria as Vito S. Cruz, an electrician. DFA spokesperson Claro Cristobal said electrician Cruz died Dec. 19 after the tanker MT Keno where he and 18 […]
MoreI’ve also been quietly following the quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, and I am amazed by the outcome of the Iowa caucuses which resulted in a big and decisive win for Barack Obama. Watch Obama’s victory speech here or watch the YouTube video below: Hillary Clinton placed third — after erstwhile vice presidential candidate […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya January 3, 2008 REMITTANCES by overseas Filipino workers were expected to reach $14 billion in 2007. Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said the record flow was due to “greater access by OFWs to remittance centers and their tie-ups with foreign financial institutions.” As of October, the DOLE said, OFW remittances stood […]
MoreThanks to MonRam for giving inspiration for my story today. Government has announced rosy statistics especially the $8.6 billion surplus in the balance of payments. In fact, the government may owe this entire amount not to its economic management team or to its incessant borrowings. The economy was saved in 2007 by our OFWs. Yes, […]
MoreNews came in minutes ago: Pakistan’s former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has died from an attack. Read here, here, here and here for more news. Bhutto recently returned from exile and has called for demonstrations to overthrow staunch US ally Pervez Musharaff. Musharaff lifted a state of emergency last week and has called for elections. […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya Dec. 26, 2007 THE $500,000 lobby effort of the Arroyo government will only go to waste because it has no moral ground to start with, according to GMA WATCH, an advocacy group of Filipino-Americans and Americans whose lobby efforts resulted in the inclusion by the US Congress of human rights […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya Dec. 21, 2007 A UNITED Nations report found overseas Filipino workers’ remittances to have the biggest share in GDP (gross domestic product) among Asian countries it surveyed. According to the World Youth Report 2007, Chinese and Indian migrant workers each sent over $20 billion to their home countries in 2004, […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya Dec. 19, 2007 SCORES of migrant workers and their families marched yesterday from Plaza Lacson to Plaza Miranda in downtown Manila to mark International Migrants Day. Even as they celebrated the commutation of sentence granted by the Emir of Kuwait on death convict Marilou Ranario, Migrante International demanded government action […]
More(UPDATE: DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal advised through text a change in the date of the arrival of Luna’s remains.) The Department of Foreign Affairs has announced that the remains of a Filipina UN aid worker killed in a blast in Algiers will arrive in Manila tonight tomorrow Dec. 19. DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal said in […]
MoreBy GERARD ANTHONY NAVAL and ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya Dec. 15, 2007 AGENCIES recruiting workers for overseas placement called on the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to immediately apply the P225 reduction in the membership fees for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and not wait for January to implement […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya Nov. 14, 2007 TOP American church leaders are asking the United States Congress to limit to $11.1 million the 2008 military assistance to the Philippines and to attach human rights-related preconditions to the entire aid package. A US bicameral budget committee will meet this week to finalize the 2008 US […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya Dec. 13, 2007 NINE Filipino seafarers working in a Japanese chemical tanker hijacked near the Somali coast last Oct. 28 have been released and are coming home for Christmas. The Department of Foreign Affairs said all the Filipinos and the rest of the 23-man crew of the Golden Nori are […]
MoreThe United Nations World Food Program confirmed tonight that one of its workers, a Filipina, was among the casualties in the bomb blast in Algiers. The UNWFP identified the victim as Gene Luna, 48, who joined the agency in Afghanistan as a finance officer in 2002 and had been transferred to Algiers only last week. […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Dec. 12, 2007 Outraged by the Arroyo government’s dismal human rights record as described by a recent report by United Nations special rapporteur Philip Alston, Filipino-Americans launched on International Human Rights Day a campaign dubbed “GMA Watch” that aims to convince US Congress to cut down military aid to the Philippines. […]
MoreHere are some photos (courtesy of the Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines) taken during the protest on Dec. 5 at a Four Seasons Hotel at Hamilton Place, Park Lane where President Arroyo was holding a meeting. The protesters assailed President Arroyo over her human rights record, and demanded government action for senior carers […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya Dec. 10, 2007 The longest-serving woman member of Parliament in Britain is leading efforts to save 80,000 Filipino caregivers threatened with deportation following the non-renewal of work-permits. Turning 77 on Wednesday, Gwyneth Dunwoody, who represents Crewe and Nantwich in Westminster, is all praises for Filipino caregivers and castigated her government […]
MoreMarilou Ranario, the teacher-turned-domestic helper, has been spared from the death sentence. This is good news. While welcoming it as good news, Migrante International correctly points out that this is due to the campaign of Marilou’s family, various OFW groups and OFW advocates. Migrante secretary-general Maita Santiago said 26 other OFWs face the death penalty […]
MoreBy ANTHONY IAN CRUZ Malaya Dec. 8, 2007 THE Australian Embassy announced on Thursday the selection of 16 Filipinos as local recipients of the Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) for 2008 that will allow them to pursue masteral and doctoral studies in Australian universities on full scholarship. At the pre-departure reception held at the Asian Institute […]
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