Free skills training for returning OFWs from M. East

abs-cbnNEWS.com

Posted at 03/19/2011 2:21 PM | Updated as of 03/19/2011 2:21 PM

 MANILA, Philippines – Returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the Middle East will be given priority to take free skills training at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

“In view of the urgency to provide assistance to returning OFWs, specifically from Libya and other Middle East countries, all TESDA regional/provincial/district directors and administrators of TESDA Technology Institutions (TTIs) are hereby instructed to prioritize these workers in the various training programs being offered in TTIs,” TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva said in his memorandum dated March 7.

Villanueva’s memo also ordered TESDA officials to coordinate with the labor department to secure a list of returning OFWs interested in undergoing the training programs.

 “A weekly report on the names of the assisted OFWs and the courses they were enrolled in should be submitted to the Office of the Deputy Director General for Field Operations, which in turn will submit a weekly consolidated report to the Office of the Director General,” said the memo.

 According to Villanueva, the memo is in support of President Benigno Aquino III’s policy to extend all possible assistance to returning OFWs.

 “Our policy is in line with the Aquino administration’s goal to be more sensitive to the needs of returning OFWs displaced by the civil war in Libya and now in Bahrain with the state of emergency declared there,” he said.

 TESDA certificates awarded to OFWs who completed the training program will be a big advantage to them as employment agencies abroad honor these as additional credentials.

 “We want to inform our returning OFWs that we are ready and we are prioritizing them in our training programs to upgrade their skills or provide them with new qualifications that would land them in jobs locally or abroad or venture into self-employment or entrepreneurship,” said Villanueva.

REACTION!

This is such a good idea. I highly agree, it would be better if they would conduct a free training for all the OFWs. This will surely help the OFWs because they will develop their knowledge and skills in the work they are in. OFWs also help our economy in some way, that’s why the Philippine government must also help them so that they will do better in their job. Being an OFW isn’t easy, so the most that they can do is stay healthy and alive for those people that have left here so I want to recommend them to conduct some safety drill and to know all the first aid procedures for them. Like for example, in what happened in Japan, assuming that there are a lot of OFW and imagine what would happen if they only had a little knowledge on how to survive or find a way to survive? Of course it’s a human instinct to look for some ways but it is still different when you have the knowledge about it.

Benguet miners lead drive vs mercury use in small-scale mining

Benguet miners lead drive vs mercury use in small-scale mining 

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:02:00 02/26/2011

Filed Under: Mining and quarrying, Environmental Issues

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—A group of pocket miners in Benguet is leading the campaign against the use of mercury in small-scale mining operations around the country, prodded by an environment advocate group that believed the use of the toxic chemical was popularized by miners in this province in the 1970s.

Lawyer Richard Gutierrez (not Roberto as earlier reported), executive director of Basel Action Network (BAN Toxic), said a trace of how small-scale miners in different parts of the country discovered mercury for gold extraction led back to miners or employees of mining companies that operated in Benguet.

The mining industry in the country started in this province, with the establishment in 1905 of Benguet Corp., Gutierrez said on Thursday. “Mercury was being used [in the 1970s] by miners who were high-grading (a euphemism for smuggling gold out of mines run by various companies in the province),” he said.

The process, called “whole ore amalgamation,” involves pouring liquid mercury onto ore, which breaks apart rock and soil to extract gold. Miners need only a small area, even confined spaces, to extract gold using mercury, Gutierrez said.

Miners from Benguet migrated to other gold-rush areas in the country, bringing with them the mercury process and vast years of experience which made pocket mining efficient in Mindanao, the Visayas and parts of Southern Luzon, Gutierrez said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20110226-322267/Benguet-miners-lead-drive-vs-mercury-use-in-small-scale-mining

REACTION!

            I understand what the people of Benguet were trying to convey. Mining is famous in the Philippines, where in it is the source of income of a lot of people in the country. It is indeed a dangerous one, but what caught my attention most is the use of some toxic elements particularly the Mercury.  Mercury and its compounds are extremely toxic and should be generally handled with care. In cases over spills involving mercury like the fluorescent light bulbs or the thermometer (thermometer with mercury in it is banned nowadays because of the danger it might cause in the future) have specific cleaning procedures to avoid toxic exposure. Now not all people are aware of that especially the children. Of course mining sites are most commonly found in the mountains. Miners use mercury as a medium to cut gold. Well, mercury could be useful especially to our industrial needs, but the concern is the health of the people, especially for those nearby homes.  I know that we could not stop these people from using it, but at least they could minimize it. They should apply the proper way of putting them to waste, not just throw them elsewhere, particularly in the river. Not only to the health of people, but also it have some significant effects to our environment. Causing widespread die-offs of aquatic and terrestrial plant and animal life, poisoning floodplain soils used for agriculture, polluting the main source of drinking water for thousands of people, and striking a major blow to the nascent eco-tourism industry on the river. I support what the people of Benguet were trying to put through. They care more to what is more important, people should be aware of this so that it would not be too late if something would happen in the long-run.

Philippine tourist arrivals hit all-time high - Reaction Paper

Philippine tourist arrivals hit all-time high

MANILA, Philippines - Tourist arrivals in the Philippines reached an all-time high of 3.52 million last year as increasingly affluent South Koreans and Chinese flocked to its tropical attractions, the government said Friday.

Visitor numbers in 2010 beat the previous record despite a bus hijacking that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead in August and a series of travel alerts by Western nations in November warning of an imminent terror attack.

The number of tourists arriving in the Philippines rose 16.68% over the previous year, with East Asians, led by South Koreans, accounting for nearly half the total, the tourism ministry said in a statement.

"The improved economic condition in these markets boosted their outbound traffic," the statement said.

The final numbers topped the annual target of 3.3 million set by President Benigno Aquino's government, which is seeking to boost tourist arrivals to six million by the time he leaves office in mid-2016.

Traffic from fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations members should surge this year after passenger air services were liberalized within the 10-nation economic bloc in November last year, the ministry said.

The previous record for arrivals was set in 2008 with 3.14 million visitors.

The Philippines is targeting 3.7 million tourist arrivals this year, but this is still just a fraction of the tourist numbers enjoyed by Southeast Asian neighbors such as Thailand.

This is quite a surprise, to think that most of the tourists are afraid to come here in the Philippines because of some issues like the ABUSAYAF, deadly tourist bus hijack and foreign warnings of terror attacks. Knowing that the number of foreigners visiting the Philippines increased would be our key to prove that our country is not bad as what they think. It does not only help the Philippine tourism but it would also help improve our economy. There would be a possibility that more and more investors would invest here in the Philippines especially if they would receive a positive feedback and a possibility that some businessman would widen their businesses. If that happens there would be new job openings which would be of great help to reduce the rate of unemployed people. It’s too common to say that people should help and have peace with one another because it’s just the same; nothing really happens if that’s the case. My only advice is people should avoid doing some lame things especially if the reputation of our country is at stake, because we are not only viewed as individual persons but as a nation. In this way, we could help one another in boosting our economy.