MARCH AFFAIR

THE MARCH BIRTHDAY CELEBRANTS - LOLITS, MARIS, BENJIE, FELY, BERNIE (SIT-IN FOR JT right pic)

Although Lolit Victorio of Britamold, Maris Mercado of the Irish Embassy, Fely Ramos of the Philippine Embassy had already celebrated individually their birthdays, they still celebrated to join Romeo ‘JT’ Torres of JBN and Benjie Nadado of Luxury Properties Development Co. Ltd. to round off the March celebrants held at D & S Compound on the 29th of March 2009. Benjie bought a 70kg pig and have it slaughtered and Boy and Fely Ramos and the Chief Cook Nino Luengas of M/T Villa II cooked Adobo, Michado and Dinuguan (Chocolate Soup) duly assissted by Jay R, Ace andAnjo, Lolit brought spring rolls and Julius’ specialty ‘Fruits & Co,’ Maris has her Roast Beef, JT (although had traveled) provided wine and soft drinks and cans of beer. The ever generous Rosa Ilic of D & S Supermarket provided jumbo sausages, chips with Salami and the very delectable cake topped with coconut, Rose Akah of the Philippine Embassy brought the equally scrumptious Biko, Otie cooked Beef Curry, Sherwin of D & S cooked Goat peppersoup, Angie of White Plains British School cooked Pancit for ‘long lives’ of the birthday people, Ana and Melanie brought bottles of wine, Vangie provided Ice Cream, Melanie made chocolate cake. And guests brought gifts, too.
Msgr. Renso and Msgr. Jean graced the occasion. And so our very own Consul-General Alex V. Lamadrid and Consul and Mrs. Garangan and most of the Embassy Staff.
After lunch, Con-Gen Lamadrid took this time to thank the hosts and greeted the celebrants once more. He reiterated the need to register for OAV and not wait until the deadline (end of Aug.) to register. He further thanked Allan Manggis for his selfless service to the embassy and introduced his replacement Alex Emam. He also called on individuals to desist/refrain from making ‘hoax’ letters (offshoot is MIS-229-20090). He then bared his plans for Santacruzan culminating to June 12 celebrations. The seamen of M/T Villa II who were rescued were also present.
Here are pictures during the event:



The celebrants with Santi of Sarplast


Gel and Maebs (Sagala - sagana daw sa gala sabi ng daddy nya)


Rose with Zikora and TJ


JayR, Ace and Alan


Noel and Doy


Rosa and Angie


The celebrants with Msgr. Renso and Msgr. Jean


Sure, they are Pinoys!



Benjie, the celebrant


The crew with Lolit


Maris, the celebrant with the M/T Villa II crew


With Msgr. Jean


Con-Gen, Mr. Tripathi and the Papal Nuncio


Sr. Mary Grace, Sr. Ortencia and Rose (no, the wine is for the celebrants)


Renz, Tikboy and Gel


Angie, Fely, Sr. Res and Sr. Mary Grace


Noni, Gel, Erwin, Julius, Nonits,Fely


Erwin, Rose, Zikora, Lolit


the celebrants - Maris, Lolit and Fely


Cross-section of guests




Santiago...too shy or afraid to be exposed


Cocoy


Zikora, Jaya and Inah-inah


Fely, Rose, Zikora, Jaya


Consul and Mrs. Garangan


Needs support...too hot outside



Mga beauties pa rin - Maris, Melanie, Otie and Rosa


Janette, Benjie the celebrant and Maebs


Efren and Lito


Nino, Chief cook of M/T Villa II, with Allan,Renz, Noni, Nonits,



Con-Gen Alex V. Lamadrid addressing the Pinoys





Janette, Lito, Maris, Sr. Ortencia, Sr. Mary Grace intently listening to Con-Gen


Maris with Sr. Ortencia



Cora, Marietta, Melanie


Donald, Noel, Allan, Ace, Jimmy , Sherwin


Thoughts to ponder?



Listening to Con-Gen


Otie, Mrs. Garangan, Yoly and Rose




The crew of M/T Villa II with Alex Emam and Consul Garangan



Sheen, Maris, Consul and Mrs. Garangan, Salve with Jaya and Inah

TRAVELBAN

Some Pictures During the Meeting with the Vice- President Noli de Castro

TRAVEL BAN

--- On Fri, 3/27/09, carlota derpo wrote:

From: carlota derpo
Subject: Phil. Brgy. Society - Nigeria [PBSN] UPDATE!!! PBSN Chairperson Meets with VP Noli de Castro
To: "PBSN" , "Philippine Embassy Abuja-Nigeria"
Date: Friday, March 27, 2009, 7:05 PM


27 March 2009 --- Philippine Vice President Noli de Castro held a meeting with PBSN Chairperson, Mrs. Esperanza Derpo this morning, at his office at President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay City. Also in the meeting were Special Envoy of the President to Middle East and African Countries, Gen. Roy Cimatu; and Mrs. Derpo’s other half, Engr. Nestor Derpo.



Mrs. Derpo appealed to the Vice President to strongly endorse the lifting of the OFW deployment ban to Nigeria which has been in place for more than two years. She discussed at length the many reasons why the ban should be lifted, noting the issues on security; working and business opportunities for Filipinos in Nigeria; and the current working conditions of the OFW’s there, among others.



The Vice President was impressed to hear of the high regard companies in Nigeria have for Filipinos brought about by our OFW’s working ethics, skills and professionalism, which make them a preference for supervisory, managerial and other key positions in various industries all throughout Nigeria. He also commends PBSN’s charity efforts to the Philippines and its host country Nigeria as seen in the various projects the organization has pushed through with the leadership of Mrs. Derpo.



The Vice President says that he is fully convinced that the ban should be lifted and believes that taking this up in the cabinet meeting can enlighten other officials to make a sound decision. He invited Gen. Cimatu to present the issue in the cabinet meeting in Malacanang on Tuesday, including Mrs. Derpo as a resource person.



Mrs. Derpo is scheduled to attend the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

Deployment ban to Lebanon stays—labor chief

Deployment ban to Lebanon stays—labor chief

As well as in Nigeria, Iraq, Afghanistan

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 13:35:00 03/26/2009

Filed Under: Migration, Overseas Employment, Health and Safety at Work, War

MANILA, Philippines—Despite the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the ban on sending Filipino workers to Lebanon stays, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque told INQUIRER.net Thursday.

In a phone interview, Roque said the lifting of the ban would depend on a memorandum of agreement the Philippines sent to Lebanon three weeks ago for the protection of Filipino workers there.

“The ban is still there. If Lebanon signs the MoA, I will immediately sign the order lifting the ban…The ball is in their court,” he said.

A DFA security assessment favors the lifting of the deployment ban, but the MoA sets the terms and conditions for the employment of Filipinos in the Middle East country, he said.

Manila imposed the deployment ban in 2006, at the height of the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Roque said that aside from household service workers, Lebanon may hire more hotel workers once the ban is lifted.

On the three other countries where the work prohibition remains in force, the labor chief said the DFA assessment of the security situation in Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Iraq has not changed, saying the situation there is still dangerous for Filipinos.

“The problem in Nigeria is there is no border control between the north and the south,” he said.

Filipinos in Nigeria have repeatedly petitioned the Philippine government to lift the ban, arguing that the security situation in the north is relatively peaceful.

Most of the kidnappings in Nigeria happen in the oil refineries in the southern part of the country.

“Definitely, the ban stays in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Roque said.

Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu recently went to Lebanon and Nigeria to really find out the situation on the ground.

But while the DFA assesses the security situation in these conflict-ridden areas, the labor department has the final say on deployment of Filipino workers.

M/T Black Pearl

The M/T Black Pearl with Master Capt. Espinosa and the crew have reached home safely. We also thank them for supporting our cause.

Being together through thick and thin made them as close as a happy family.



AND WHERE WILL THEY BE WITHOUT THEIR SUPPORTERS?



The crew calls them DA BIG 4


The crew with Sen. Manny Villar


At the Senate



M/T Black Pearl Crew busy filling-up forms



M/T Black Pearl at DOLE

TRAVEL BAN

It's OK to lift deployment ban to Lebanon - DFA
03/23/2009 | 06:46 PM

Email this | Email the Editor | Print | ShareThisMANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has agreed to lift the three-year deployment ban to Lebanon after the safety of Filipinos in that Western Asian country was assured.

According to the DFA, the armed conflict in the Middle East state “has already ended and is no longer posing security threat" to overseas Filipino workers (OFW)

Presidential envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu, who was sent to Lebanon last month to assess the security condition in the country, said that it was already safe to resume the deployment of OFWs there because peace and stability had returned to the Middle East state.

Vice President Noli de Castro supported the DFA's decision and said that Lebanon could provide an alternative destination to laid off OFWs. “There is no more reason to maintain the deployment ban to Lebanon. Many of our countrymen badly need jobs today and Lebanon offers plenty of employment opportunities."

But before the ban could be officially lifted, De Castro called on the Labor department and the DFA to negotiate a bilateral agreement with Lebanon to protect the welfare of OFWs.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) earlier said that it was in no rush to allow the re-entry of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) to Lebanon unless authorities could safeguard the welfare of OFWs.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque told GMANews.TV that the DOLE had not yet decided to lift the ban pending proposed amendments from the department. He said the DOLE had sent out a draft of a memorandum of understanding to their counterparts in Lebanon as condition for the redeployment of Filipino HSWs.

Included in the MOU are the protection of workers’ rights and the minimum salary for HSWs pegged at $400 per month.

Job opportunities

The DFA expects that the lifting of the 2006 ban in Lebanon will lead to more job opportunities for thousands of Filipinos affected by the US-led global economic slump.

Lebanon's honorary consul-general to the Philippines, Josef Assad, welcomed the proposed lifting of the ban. “This is a positive step in the in normalization and improvement of relations between Lebanon and the Philippines."

“This will perk up relations between the two countries as this will remove the barrier which has prevented thousands of Filipinos from working in Lebanon which is now experiencing an economic boom and is need of thousands of construction workers to complete the infrastructure billion-dollar projects like highways and bridges," Assad said.

The government stopped sending Filipino workers to the Mideastern state in 2006 when violence between Hezbollah and Israeli forces escalated.

At that time, some 6,000 OFWs, many of them undocumented, were repatriated to the Philippines. Some 26,000 opted to stay either due to fear of losing their jobs or because they were not allowed by their employers to leave.

The Philippines had also stopped sending workers to Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, and Nigeria. - with Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV