Saudi-Iran row puts 2M OFWs in danger

THE ESCALATING tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the Saudi execution of a Shiite cleric is becoming a cause for concern for the 2.2 million Filipinos working in the volatile Middle East.

“The recent development in the Middle East is worrisome for our over a million OFWs (overseas Filipino workers). We have to prepare for any contingencies,” Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said in a text message.

President Aquino is set to hold a meeting today at 2 p.m. with key Cabinet and other government officials to discuss the Middle East crisis, a Palace advisory said.

The geopolitical conflict has spread, with two Sunni-led countries— Bahrain and Sudan—severing diplomatic ties with Iran.

Another ally of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, said it was “downgrading” its diplomatic relations with Iran with the recall of its ambassador from Tehran. Kuwait has also recalled its ambassador to Iran.

“Emotions on both sides are very high at this time… I prefer to keep my opinion to myself in the meantime,” Seguis said.
More than 800,000 Filipinos are working in Saudi Arabia and 4,000 in Iran, according to records of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

An estimated 2.2 million OFWs are working in the entire Middle East, according to the authorities.

Susan Ople, president of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a nongovernment organization helping distressed OFWs, advised Filipinos to avoid participating in political activities.
“They should focus on their work and their responsibilities and remain as the country’s best ambassadors of goodwill. Do not get involved in anything that is political in nature,” Ople said.

But the OFWs should also be concerned about the political situation in the country.

“They should be conscious of what is going on and keep in touch with respective Philippine embassies and consulates,” Ople said.

While the responses from Iran and Saudi Arabia are confined to the cutting of diplomatic ties, the situation remains worrisome for the Filipinos and foreign workers in the Middle East.

“We need to monitor the developments aside from any possible consequences or repercussions not only on the Filipinos but also on other foreign workers,” Ople said.
Malacañang said the Philippine government was ready to undertake necessary measures to ensure the safety of Filipinos living and working in Saudi Arabia and in Iran.
Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. noted that the government had emergency procedures in place, based on alert levels, which were implemented when Filipinos were repatriated from Egypt and Libya last year.

“We can assure you that we are preparing [for any eventuality] and we have enough resources to respond to any kind of emergency,” Coloma said.

Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, the DFA spokesperson, said so far there was no indication of danger for Filipinos based in Iran and Saudi Arabia.

“Nevertheless, our embassies and consulates are ready to extend assistance to the OFWs and use the government resources to ensure their safety,” Jose said.

He said the government had demonstrated in recent years its capability to repatriate distressed OFWs from conflict-stricken areas in North Africa and the Middle East countries, such as Libya, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

So far, the Philippine government has no plan to raise an alert level and impose travel and deployment bans in Saudi Arabia and Iran, Jose said.

Amid the rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the OFWs are apprehensive but vigilant, according to the migrant rights group, Migrante, in Saudi Arabia.

“Sentiments of most of the OFWs in the kingdom: apprehensive but vigilant due to the perceived volatile political rift between the Saudi government and Iran,” said John Leonard Monterona, coordinator of Migrante-Middle East.

Monterona said so far there were no huge demonstrations inside the kingdom that would undermine its internal peace and order situation.
“If there are demonstrations those were outside Saudi Arabia,” said Monterona, who is based in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

Coloma assured the public that the government was also prepared to deal with any increase in crude oil prices through its renewable fuels program.

“It is our view that in the long term, we have to scale back on our dependence on imported oil and this includes an overall strategy to reduce greenhouse gas [emissions], the lessened use of fossil fuels. All these measures are taken into consideration in looking at the situation in the Middle East,” he said.

Should Filipino workers lose their jobs in the Middle East as a result of the tensions in the region, Coloma said the Aquino administration had several employment alternatives to those who might be forced to return to the Philippines.

Source:  Inquirer

Finally, Filipino gets a call from Saudi ‘dad’

RIYADH: A Saudi man residing in the capital has contacted the Filipino who has been searching for his father for 15 years and told him that he was ready for a DNA test.

An excited Elayan Kris Allafi, the 31-year-old Filipino, expressed thanks to Arab News via an online conversation for publishing his story in its Jan. 2 edition. He said the Saudi man contacted him early on Saturday morning and expressed his willingness to undergo a DNA test for final confirmation and completion of legal procedures.

“Thanks to Arab News, this is for the first time in my life I got to hear from him,” Allafi said. 
“Thank you for your help. They are now talking to each other on the phone,” Allafi’s wife told Arab News while he engaged in a phone conversation with the Saudi man calling from Riyadh. “They are now discussing how to undergo the DNA test” she said, 

Allafi provided some documents, photos and letters to Arab News, dated 1984 from Riyadh, bearing the name of the sender and his postal address. 

Allafi said: “Thanks to Allah, I am so happy the man is willing to recognize me but wants to be sure that everything goes through the legal process. He expressed his willingness to undergo DNA test.” 
The Saudi man also had a conversation with this reporter on Saturday and expressed his willingness to end the suffering of Allafi. 

According to Allafi, his mother met the Saudi man in Manila in 1983-84 through a Filipino friend who was a business partner. 

“I retained my name in my passport in the hope to see him one day, although it is something unfamiliar in the Filipino community to have such a name. However, everybody knows me there as “Arabia son”.

Allafi, who is now already married, said that when he was 17-18 years old, he had started the search for his father. He was raised in the Christian community in Isabella and has been working in in Malaysia since 2005. 

“I am confident about meeting my father, so that I can visit the Two Holy Mosques with my wife to perform Umrah” he told said from Malaysia. 

He is now pursuing Islamic studies in Malaysia to learn more about his original religion, and uses the Arabic name in his Facebook account. 

“Once he recognizes me, I will perform Haj immediately,” he said.

Source:  Arab News

Portion of P23-M blood money should go to Joselito Zapanta's family – bishop

A bishop on Monday appealed to the government to give part of the P23 million blood money raised to supposedly save overseas Filipino worker Joselito Zapanta from execution in Saudi Arabia to his family in the Philippines.

Balanga, Bataan Bishop Ruperto Santos, who chairs the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines' Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant Peoples (CBCP-ECMI), made the appeal after Zapanta was beheaded in Riyadh for killing a Sudanese national in 2009.

The execution pushed through on December 29 after Zapanta's family failed to raise the P48 million blood money being asked by the victim's widow.

"Tama lamang na ipagpatuloy natin ang pagtulong sa naiwan na mahal sa buhay ni Joselito Zapanta," Santos said on Radyo Veritas, adding Zapanta, who came from a poor family in Pampanga, left behind a wife and two children, aged 13 and 11.

The P23 million raised by Zapanta's family is currently in a bank account opened by the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

"Ang pagpapasalamat natin sa kanya, sa kanyang ginawa na pagpapakasakit para mahal niya sa buhay at pati na rin sa ekonomiya na ay maipakilala/maipakita sa pamamagitan ng blood money na itulong, ipagkaloob sa pangangailangan ng dalawang anak ni Joselito," Santos said.

Santos also urged the government to extend all efforts to help some 1,000 OFWs incarcerated in other countries over various charges, including the 88 who are on death row.

"Dapat natin itong ibigay sa nangangailangan, para sa mga naiwan ni Joselito at gamitin na rin sa mga iba pang nasa piitan upang mapalaya. Tama lamang na ipagpatuloy ang pagtulong. Hindi ibig sabihin na lumisan na si Joselito, hindi na natin tutulungan," he said.

Source:  KBK, GMA News

Two Saudi millionaires pay blood money to free Filipino

RIYADH: Two Saudi millionaires have reportedly paid SR225,000 in blood money to free a Filipino man who had killed an Indian national in a car accident.

The men donated the blood money requested by the victim’s relatives. The Filipino man was working for the firm of the Saudi citizens. A local court has sent a letter to the prison to release the Filipino and consider the case closed, according to a report published by an online news channel.

The Filipino man was driving a van in Al-Rass town in central Saudi Arabia, when he hit the pedestrian, killing him instantly, according to the report, but did not specify when the incident took place.

The Philippine Embassy has issued its thanks for the generous gesture. However, Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin Tago, in a message to Arab News on Friday, could not confirm the donation. “The money could have been made directly to the prison as an act of charity,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a separate case, the mother of Joselito Zapanta, the Filipino on death row in Riyadh, has pleaded for help to raise the rest of the blood money needed to save her son from execution.

In an interview, the mother said they have so far raised P23 million (less than SR2 million) of the P49 million (SR4 million) sought by the family of the Sudanese national Imam Ibrahim who was murdered in 2009 in Riyadh after an argument over rental payment. 

According to Zapanta’s mother, the money collected can be sent to the Philippine Embassy’s account at a local Saudi bank.

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a non-profit organization assisting distressed overseas foreign workers, had issued an appeal to raise the blood money.

Source:  Arab News

Poe to Hong Kong OFWs: ‘I Will Not Steal’

“Makakaasa kayo na hindi ako magnanakaw at lahat ng kita ng gobyerno, bawat sentimo ay mapupunta sa benepisyo ng ating mga kababayan. Iyan po ang palaki sa atin ng aking tatay na si FPJ.”

(Rest assured that I will not steal government money, and every centavo will benefit all our countrymen. That was how I was raised by my father, FPJ.)

This was the pledge presidential hopeful Sen. Grace Poe-Llamanzares said on Saturday to Filipinos based in Hong Kong once she gets elected to lead the country.

FPJ, of course, was Fernando Poe Jr, Ms. Poe-Llamanzares’ late father who also ran the presidential race in 2004 but lost to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Spending the holidays with her family, Ms Poe-Llamanzares was invited to speak in a gathering of Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong’s Central business district. Relating to the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who have spent time away from family, Poe admitted to formerly working abroad. After finishing her graduate studies in the United States, Ms Poe-Llamanzares worked there and eventually gained US citizenship. Upon her father’s death in Dec. 2004, she returned to the Philippines and revoked her US citizenship. She later took the role as chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in 2010. She won a seat in the Senate in 2013.

“Salamat sa inyong tulong dahil kung hindi dahil sa OFWs, ang ekonomiya ng Pilipinas ay matagal nang tumiklop.”

(Thanks for your help, if not for the OFW, the Philippine economy would have long collapsed.)

“Matagal din akong tumira sa ibang bansa, at naiintindihan ko ang inyong kalagayan. Kasama ng Migrante, ng iba nating mga senador na tumatakbo, itutulak namin ang mga makakabuti para sa OFWs—na bumaba ang fees nyo at yung mga kailangan nyo tulad ng health benefits ay matulungan kayo ng gobyerno.”

(I also lived away from family for long so I understand your situation. Along with Migrante [a migrant worker advocate group], and other senatorial candidates, we will push for lowering fees and addressing needs such as health benefits that the government will provide.) 

Source: http://www.pinoy-ofw.com/

Pinay DH sa Singapore na ginugutom umano ng kanyang mga amo, nakatakas

Source: GMA News

DFA: Pinoy worker Joselito Zapanta executed in Saudi

   Photos from Susan Toots Ople Page

Saudi Arabia has executed Joselito Zapanta, the Filipino construction worker sentenced to death in April 2010 for killing a Sudanese national over a rental dispute the previous year, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs regrets to inform the public of the execution of Filipino national, Mr. Joselito Lidasan Zapanta, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 29 December 2015," the DFA said in a statement.

"We offer our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones for their loss," it added.

The DFA said Zapanta, 35, a father of two, was sentenced to death over murder and robbery after the family of the victim, Imam Ibrahim,  refused to execute an Affidavit of Forgiveness or Tanazul in exchange for blood money.

Body will not be repatriated

In a phonepatch interview on radio dzBB, DFA Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said Zapanta was executed at exactly 2:20 p.m. Tuesday (Philippine time) after he was found guilty of the case of murder with robbery by the Riyadh Grand Court in April 2010.

Jose said Zapanta's remains was buried immediately after the execution as part of the common practice of the Saudi government and in accordance with the burial tradition of Islam. He said Zapanta had converted to Islam years ago.

“Agad na pong inilibing si Joselito Zapanta. Unang una, yung mga binibitay po sa Saudi ay karaniwang doon na din talaga inililibing. At pangalawa si Joselito po ay nag-pa convert na sa Islam,” Jose said.

He added: "Hindi na po maibabalik ang katawan dito [sa Pilipinas]."

Based on the dzBB report, the government failed to satisfy the P48 million blood money for the victim's family set by the Riyadh court in exchange for Zapanta's life.

In an interview with GMA News Online last December 16, Zapanta's mother Mona appealed for help as they have so far raised P23 million of the P48 million being asked by the victim's family.

Jose said the DFA has already informed Zapanta's family in the Philippines about the execution.

He clarified that even the Philippine government was not made aware of the exact day and time of Zapanta's execution.

“Alam po natin na anytime [ay pwede siyang bitayin] since yung pamilya nga po ng biktima ay tumanggi sa pagpirma ng affidavit of forgiveness. But practice po sa Saudi 'yan that they don't announce the exact date and time of the execution,” he said.

Gov't assistance provided

According to the DFA, the Philippine Government has "undertaken and exhausted all diplomatic and legal efforts, and extended consular and legal assistance to preserve the life of Mr. Zapanta."

It said the government had provided the Zapanta all necessary assistance and ensured that his legal rights were observed throughout the whole judicial process.

Among the assistance extended to Zapanta and his family was the facilitation and funding for the jail visits of his mother and sister to the Malaz Central Prison on November 28 to December 2, 2015, and on March 8 2013 and in November 2012.

With Zapanta's execution, the DFA reiterated its appeal to all Filipinos overseas to "follow the local laws of their host countries at all times and to avoid involvement in criminal activities."

Source:  GMA News