Written by Jocelyn Ruiz, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Friday, 19 March 2010 16:39
ROME, Italy - Migrant workers in Rome gathered together in Santa Maria Maggiore recently to rally against racial discrimination and to fight for their rights.
The heavy rains did not stop demonstrators bearing banners and yellow balloons from joining the protest.
The demonstrators believed that they need to fight for their human rights while living in Italy.
On the 15th death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion, repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW) on Wednesday marched to historic Mendiola in Manila to call for an end to government policies which they said continue to undermine migrant workers’ rights and welfare.
The workers were mostly former employees of the operations firm Annasban Group in Saudi Arabia, who stopped working October last year due to alleged unfair labor practices by the firm such as contract substitution, illegal salary reduction, and non-payment of benefits and overtime pay. They were repatriated early this year after staging a hunger strike following over four months of being stranded in Riyadh.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - A group of Filipino migrant workers endorsed the candidacies of the Makabayan Coalition and Nacionalista Party guest senatorial bets Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza.
“Ang aming grupo ay sumusuporta sa tunay ng boses ng OFWs [Overseas Filipino Workers] na sina Ka Satur at Liza Maza," said Eric Jocson, chairperson of the Riyadh-based Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS), member-organization of Migrante in a recent assembly in Riyadh.
Written by Danny Buenafe, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau chief
Monday, 15 March 2010 21:55
Madrid, Spain - If the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is to be asked, the 65% projected turnout rate for absentee voters is manageable for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to implement.
This is almost 400,000 voters out of the more than 589,000 registered absentee voters all over the world.
Written by Hector Pascua, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Monday, 15 March 2010 21:28
Vienna, Austria - Several Filipino leaders in Austria came out with a petition letter addressed to the Philippine government, the United Nations, and to the Amnesty International, demanding an end to all acts of harassment against human rights defenders as well as an end to the culture of impunity in the Philippines.
Manny Sarmiento of Pinas First, one of the initiators of the petition letter, told ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau that it is high time for the government of President Arroyo to address human rights violations in the country which are all election-related incidents.
Makabayan senatoriable Satur Ocampo enjoyed answering questions from Filipinos all-over the world in his first ever "Internet" campaign sortie organized by politicalarena.com.
A human rights group warned Friday in their annual report that the year 2006 is the 'worst' for human rights in the country. The group Karapatan said that 185 activists have been killed in the last 11 months, a record since the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown in 1986. (Philippine Star, Dec. 1, 2006)
