PHNO-HL: SPAIN QUEEN SOFIA IN MANILA / OFW DEPLOYMENT TO IRAQ, LIBYA REVIEWED

SPAIN QUEEN SOFIA IN MANILA / OFW DEPLOYMENT TO
IRAQ, LIBYA REVIEWED

[PHOTO
-Spain's Queen Sofia arrives at the NAIA yesterday for a five-day visit.
RUDY SANTOS]
MANILA, JULY 3, 2012 (PHILSTAR)
By Rudy Santos - Queen Sofia of Spain arrived yesterday in Manila
amid weeklong celebrations dedicated to friendship between her country and the
Philippines.
The queen arrived on an Emirates Air flight from Spain via Dubai for a
five-day visit.
Welcoming Queen Sofia and her delegation at the Ninoy Aquino International
Airport were Spanish Ambassador Jorge Domecq and his wife, and government
officials headed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.
June 30 is celebrated as Philippines-Spain Friendship Day.
Queen Sofia will inspect several development projects around the country that
the Spanish government is funding through the Agencia Española de Cooperacion
Internacional para el Desarollo (AECID).
She will also meet with officials of implementing agencies and beneficiaries
of Spanish aid.
Her official program includes a visit to the National Library, the National
Museum, and the University of Santo Tomas.
Department of Foreign Affairs officials said Queen Sofia is scheduled to have
a private audience with President Aquino, who will host a banquet for her and
her delegation.
Some 3,500 Spanish residents in the country will also have the opportunity to
meet Queen Sofia at a reception that the Spanish embassy will host.
Queen Sofia arrived at 4:30 p.m., along with Alberto Virella Gomes, Spain's
Assistant Secretary for Development Cooperation for Africa, Asia and Eastern
Europe, and 13 other Spanish government officials.
She and her delegation will depart on July 6 on a Thai Airways International
flight for Bangkok.
Deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq, Libya under review
By Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star) Updated July 03, 2012 12:00
AMComments (0)


Manila, Philippines - Filipino workers might be deployed to Iraq and Libya
soon.
In a statement, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said yesterday the
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) might amend the previous
non-certification of the two countries.
The POEA governing board is reviewing the certifications in light of latest
developments, she added.
Libya and Iraq are among the remaining 19 countries yet to get approval from
the POEA governing board as required under the Amended Migrant Workers Act.
Other countries awaiting certification and POEA approval are Afghanistan,
Chad, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Haiti, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal,
Niger, Palestine, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe, Monaco, and the Vatican.
The law restricts the sending of Filipino workers to countries without
certification as a safe destination by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The POEA governing board must approve the certification.
Last Friday, the POEA board approved a resolution declaring 32 more countries
as compliant or considered safe destination for overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs).
Baldoz said the DFA has certified these countries following the
recommendation of the Congressional Committee on Overseas Welfare Affairs.
Under the qualification, the POEA may continue to deploy OFWs to these
countries, while the DFA continues to negotiate for the better protection of
household service workers.
Of the 203 countries hiring OFWs, the DFA has certified 184 countries.
Previously, the DFA declared 41 hiring countries including Iraq as
non-complaint, but eventually withdrew the non-certification and sought a
three-month deferment in the implementation of the deployment ban.
A new requirement for a host country to be considered compliant is for it to
have an existing bilateral agreement with the Philippine government.
The government has imposed a deployment ban to Iraq and Libya due to
prevailing hostilities.
Early this year, however, the government allowed deployment of returning
workers to Libya.



Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved




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