MERGED: Lifting of Travel Ban to Iraq

[cliff_drew]

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Exploitation is anywhere, not only in Iraq. The purpose of the resolution is to review the travel ban -- as Iraq need workers, they requested our government to lift the travel ban. And this resolution is the answer to their call.

Iraq calls for lifting of Philippine travel ban - Pinoy Abroad - GMA News Online - Latest Philippine News

... peace and order has greatly improved in Iraq since the Philippines first imposed the ban in 2004, but that no country can guarantee against terrorist attacks

Since Iraq is announcing more work, this is a great opportunity for us ilabina sila na mismo ang nihangyo to lift the travel ban. Mao ni sya giingon nga its time to move on. Maybe they've already learn the lesson. As you've known, dako ug ikatabang ang OFWs sa atong economy. As a return, our government should keep an eye on our workers and assure contigency plans in case of political unrest.

[Eve's Apple Project]

yup.dako jud matabang ang mga OFW bai. imagine more of less 10M ka ofws na karon..imagine the money the Goverment Collects & then invests..

Going back to the Iraq situation, do any of you would like to risk it there? GMA already opened Qatar, there was an opening in Taiwan (after a short conflict), dubai & then singapore. I like changes but i dispise recklesness & misdirection. llegal recruitment is still very rampant in our country. maybe our dear good senator should've focused on that instead. Did any of you know that the legal placement fee is maximum 1 months salary? i had friends who paid more than the legal payment. My older sister worked in Jordan for 3 years yet she was not able to save anything & she was even maltreated & so was my cousin in kuwait. our system flawed. the senators should've thought of things for the betterment of our country. A senators Job is not to become a deployment agency. Have'nt we learned what happened to the 3 pinoys who were prosecuted in china? the reason why did it was because of money..because of the lack of oppurtunity. so should our solution be sending them out of the country? even Sea ferrers are already risking their lives (especially kadtong mga tankers passing through the gulf of aden). I see this as a propaganda. they will depoly people then, if something worse happens..they will then go to their rescue..publicity nasad...

Wake up people.. for sure we all have relatives, friends who work abroad. Honestly, how many percent of them who left returned & became rich (or even hayahay/middle class)? Basin lang kay ang akong mga kaila kay poros pordoy maong ni react ko. for myself, swerte ko kay maayo man ako company. but again look at the percentage.. Another failure of the goverment ni. yes, i would agree that we should not blame the gov't all the time, but in this case, clearly they are not on the right state of mind. this is like oppression already. our less fortunate pinoys will be the target for this. Naa diay PInoy businessman moadto didto para moopen og job? wala jud kay walay datu nga tao nga gusto moadto. even atong senador, i dare her to live there for 1 year (without her bodyguards). tan-awn nato if kaya ba niya.. this is a big waste of PORK BARREL. we need Higher EDUCATION & Local jobs. don't you think?

[cliff_drew]

@Eve's Apple Project

Again, THE RISK IS ANYWHERE. Bisag sa Dubai, Taiwan, Qatar or Singapore pa sila manarbaho. The point here is, the resolution is a step to make reviews on Iraq, considering the options on working with them back. Of course, safety and protection ang priority sa atong government.

WALAY HAYAHAY KUNG MO ABROAD bai. You are an OFW yourself, you already know the risks. But put yourself in other peoples shoe, you cannot merely say NO to this opportunity. Iraq believes on our skills and how our fellow Pinoys work. How do you feel if other poor countries will be benefited on this?

[Eve's Apple Project]

@ cliff: yup risk is everywhere bai. but then there's what we call calculated risks. Government officials sending workers outside the country? that is like manipulation. if people want to do the illegal way, then thats their right (& i am not against that: like the 3 pinoy who died in china may they RIP). but we must protect kadtong wa pa nakasulay. We are risking the whole flock just because we can't create jobs for them? it is purely non-sence & a big slap on our Politicians faces. nakasulay nako og process og papers/passport, etc. sa embassy dri bai, & you would not like how lousy embassy officers are. swerte ra sa mga naay kaila (paheras ra sa pinas, walay ayo nga serbisyo). if ingon ana man gani diri sa amo (china by the way) unsa pa kaha sa middle east? Our lawmakers make a lot of laws in the philippines, & how much money (not just thousands of pesos but MILLIONS) did the gov't allot for those unnecessary laws (anti spanking, & even this ban lifting etc.). Why not expand PEZA? why only concentrate on BPO. di man tanan pwede mo sulod sa Call center... fight corruption nalng or Higher Education kaha. this might just be a discussion & i know that if the GOv't would really like to lift the ban, then can do it. (then im happy for the people who's goign to apply there & Goodluck to them).that is what you call political will.. sadly, i guess it is still very easy to manipulate pinoys,heck that is why they don't want us to have a Higher standard of Education in the first place.

[Eve's Apple Project]

ops, naa na diay ni nga thread?! ..Good luck nalng sa mga pinoy nga nagplano didto. start praying na, coz you definately need it.

we are definately going downward...Kudos to the politicians (to the Good senator Loren Legarda)!! may you become more richer on your businesses in the philippines( while our brothers risks their lives outside the country & raise the percentage of broken homes). epic failure.

[cliff_drew]

@Eve's Apple Project

Fighting corruption and Higher education (remember K-12?) I think is priority sa current admin. But, THIS WOULD TAKE TIME bai. Dili man siguro hangtod sa hangtod magpaulipon lang ta sa laing nasod to lift up our way of living. We still below poverty line. Daghan graduates lage, pero walay trabaho. Naa pud daghan trabaho, dili pud qualified. While we have this opportunity, why not grab it and take the risks. Sign them a waiver. Besides, we have laws to protect our fellowmen.

DILI TA MAGHUWAT UG TRABAHO, ANG TRABAHO NAY NANGITA NATO. Daghan naman nihangyo nga i lift ang ban. See below:

Office of the President of the Philippines

[Eve's Apple Project]

bai cliff: the logic should also apply to this: please mr president make me rich (end poverty)...or End corruption. should they bend for that too? i hope they can end corruption thou..wehehe. dali ra kaayo ta mangayo bai, we are very used to that. our gov't already allowed us to go to alot of countries, then why should we bend for iraq & afganistan? the reason naay niadto bai tungod sa taas kaayo ang hazard pay. same situation sa pag hire sa mga drug mule: do it at your won risk. Open sila sa pinoy because they know pinoys are compitent & also VERY willing to risk our lives for a fraction of the cost if they hire their locals. & i beg to disagree to that notion that we are poor. we are not (if you look at the current fiasco :euro gens, marcos wealth, Generals in questions, fertilizer fund scam...that is just naming a few). the reason why we are poor is because we are manipulated. (sad to say) we don't need to go out of the country to be rich(or hayahay). we could have done it, if only our dear politicians do their job (while we do ours of course). i wouldn't have left if i had better (higher standard) pay(plus if it was not where i am stationed). maybe if nagcall center ko,basin wa na guro ko nilarga..wehehe

1) look at china (a very big country): do they need to send workers outside the country to support their economy? nope
2) look at singapore (a very small country): do they need to send singaporeans to find jobs elsewhere? nope

so there it is, political will is the key. opening IRAQ will never be a solution. we have other places to consider, like guam or korea perhaps?


Ot: K-12, isn't that the expanded education proposal? i doubt that it is economical/practical for common pinoys. don't you think? we need to improve our system first before we think of adding. we have less classroom , books, chairs, less teachers. and Computers?.The difference between public schools against private is huge don't you think? public teachers needs trainings to upgrade themselves. adding years is very unrealistic (IMHO). we need more compitent teachers & higher standard teaching method. i hate to say this but look try to look at US. There was a movie called "waiting for Superman" all about the education system in the states. not to say that we should follow them, but if sila man gani kinahanglan mo upgrade (overhaul), kita pa kaha? BTW, i also need to watch that movie i just saw the interview @ oprah today an hour ago..hehehe

[storya_ta_bai2]

ops, naa na diay ni nga thread?! ..Good luck nalng sa mga pinoy nga nagplano didto. start praying na, coz you definately need it.

we are definately going downward...Kudos to the politicians (to the Good senator Loren Legarda)! may you become more richer on your businesses in the philippines( while our brothers risks their lives outside the country & raise the percentage of broken homes). epic failure.

@Eve's Apple Project, this is not about Lloren Legarda. You are certainly missing the point here. The senator has simply initiated a review on the travel ban given that she is the head of the overseas workers welfare. This is not about fatterning a politicians pockets!!! you need to see beyond the negative news that you see on tv.

besides, a lot of government officials has also called for the lifting of the travel ban. Thats because they acknowledge the need of iraq for skilled workers and our fellow filipinos to find jobs.

unsa may expectation nimo nga overnight mawagtang dayon ang problema sa unemployment sa pinas basaha ni sis para kasabot ka sa unsay tinguha sa atong gobyerno:

Solon wants Iraq travel ban lifted - Yahoo!

[boy_kulot]

yup.dako jud matabang ang mga OFW bai. imagine more of less 10M ka ofws na karon..imagine the money the Goverment Collects & then invests..

Going back to the Iraq situation, do any of you would like to risk it there? GMA already opened Qatar, there was an opening in Taiwan (after a short conflict), dubai & then singapore. I like changes but i dispise recklesness & misdirection. llegal recruitment is still very rampant in our country. maybe our dear good senator should've focused on that instead. Did any of you know that the legal placement fee is maximum 1 months salary? i had friends who paid more than the legal payment. My older sister worked in Jordan for 3 years yet she was not able to save anything & she was even maltreated & so was my cousin in kuwait. our system flawed. the senators should've thought of things for the betterment of our country. A senators Job is not to become a deployment agency. Have'nt we learned what happened to the 3 pinoys who were prosecuted in china? the reason why did it was because of money..because of the lack of oppurtunity. so should our solution be sending them out of the country? even Sea ferrers are already risking their lives (especially kadtong mga tankers passing through the gulf of aden). I see this as a propaganda. they will depoly people then, if something worse happens..they will then go to their rescue..publicity nasad...

Wake up people.. for sure we all have relatives, friends who work abroad. Honestly, how many percent of them who left returned & became rich (or even hayahay/middle class)? Basin lang kay ang akong mga kaila kay poros pordoy maong ni react ko. for myself, swerte ko kay maayo man ako company. but again look at the percentage.. Another failure of the goverment ni. yes, i would agree that we should not blame the gov't all the time, but in this case, clearly they are not on the right state of mind. this is like oppression already. our less fortunate pinoys will be the target for this. Naa diay PInoy businessman moadto didto para moopen og job? wala jud kay walay datu nga tao nga gusto moadto. even atong senador, i dare her to live there for 1 year (without her bodyguards). tan-awn nato if kaya ba niya.. this is a big waste of PORK BARREL. we need Higher EDUCATION & Local jobs. don't you think?

bitter man kaayo ka paminawon sis, murag ayaw lang kaayo ka highblood, for the sake of discussion. You have your issues that is valid, but we should not take this as a stumbling block for our work force. You cited that we need higher education, true!! example lang, ka daghan nato ug registered nurses and doctors nga walay trabaho ron. asa man sila na punta, tua sa call centers and medical transcriptions. kay ngano man, bisag tag as pa na sila ug nahuman, walay trabaho nga kasudlan. Ang mga studyante nga nurses nato mismo naningkamot maka graduate para mo trabaho sa laing lugar kay mas dako ug kita.

bottomline, the government cannot control every situation. but the government can provide a safety net for our ofws. And fyi lang, ang mga trabahador sa iraq kay well guarded because they are working in the greenzone area. that means there are plenty of US troops in the vicinity. They are even safer than other countries in the middle east. Hagbay ra nahuman ang 2004 oi, kung buot huna hunaon daghan nang kausaban sa Iraq.

[storya_ta_bai2]

if you compare these two countries:

Libya - an estimate of 15,000 workers decided to stay despite the ongoing conflicts in the country because they know that when they get home walay trabaho kasudlan sa pinas.
Iraq - an estimate of 8,000 ofws working inside US military camps earning as low as 100k a month. And these workers are even asking for their contracts to be extended. They are also asking our government to lift the travel ban.

for me kung ang mga ofws mismo didto sa iraq ang ga sulti nga maayo ilang kahimtang, dili dapat nga mas katuohan sila i compare nato nga naa ra diri ug nag sige ra ug pamasi sa mga balita

bisag ang United Nations mismo ni tangtang na sa sanctions sa iraq ug nitabang sa pag reconstruct sa ilang nasud. India and Pakistan has also lifted its travel ban to iraq. And for the record, NOT EVEN THE US HAS ISSUED A TRAVEL BAN AGAINST IRAQ.

kita pa hinuon nga kinahanglan tabangunon? hipokrito ra sad kaayo ta oi, pagmata na intawon mo!!!