News from home: Growing remittances, lengthy airport immigration interviews

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — From reports showing remittances rising despite global headwinds to the reasons behind lengthy airport immigration checks, these were among the headlines and news stories of the past week. I think any Filipino based abroad should know. .

Filipinos abroad

• Remittances from OFWs grew 3.5% year-on-year to $2.76 billion in January, despite forecasts of global recession and inflation, among other challenges facing the global economy . Economists expect remittances to see “solid growth” this year, along with an improving economic outlook.

  Nearly half or 41.9% of the remittances came from the United States, while the rest came from Singapore, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Taiwan, Qatar, and Malaysia.

• Immigration officials have apologized to Filipino passengers who missed their flights due to lengthy screening processes at airports.BI said young people who have been duped into human trafficking scams, especially cryptocurrency schemes in nearby Asian countries After noting an increase in experts, we are conducting more rigorous interviews.

work and economy

• Calls for higher wages continue as inflation rises sharply. To help workers cope, a bill has been introduced in the House calling for workers in all private sector industries to raise their P750 across the board.

  Senate Speaker Juan Miguel Zubiri petitioned to raise the minimum wage for private sector workers across the country by 150 pesos, but Senate Labor Committee Chair Jingoy Estrada said the benefits for workers and employers should be balanced “to ensure job retention and job creation”.

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• The House of Representatives approved in its final reading the National Government Entitlement Act, which reorganizes, streamlines, or abolishes government agencies deemed redundant. Makabayan bloc lawmakers expressed concern that huge numbers of workers could lose their jobs if this was implemented.

politics and nation

• According to a recent poll by the Social Weather Station, there are still many Filipino adults who do not want to get the COVID-19 vaccine. An estimated 69% of the 9.5 million unvaccinated adult Filipinos still refuse to be vaccinated, and only 12% are willing to be vaccinated against the virus.

  Of the 41.14 million fully vaccinated Filipino adults, only 6% said they had received a second booster.

• Members of the House also approved a bill introducing amendments to the 1987 Constitution in its third and final reading, just a week after approving a resolution calling for a constitutional convention. Among the possible changes to the updated charter is the lifting of restrictions related to foreign ownership, among other economic provisions.

• The Supreme Court has imposed an increase in bar association admission fees, currently seeking P3,750 to P5,000 to cover higher operating costs and other costs related to logistics. The new fees will apply to successful applicants of the 2022 Bar Examination.

• Oil continues to leak from the sunken MT Princess Empress, and the UP Marine Science Institute predicts that the spill could be concentrated in the city of Calapan in Mindoro East on March 20-22. Important biodiversity areas along the Verde Island Channel may be affected. ”

  As of Sunday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council recorded 149,503 people affected by the oil spill, with 189 reported sick. Some people are experiencing health problems such as abdominal pain, dizziness, and trouble breathing.

• The Philippines was ranked as one of the countries with “oppressed” civic space in the Asia-Pacific region, based on the 2022 annual report by CIVICUS Monitor. The group cited continued harassment of journalists in the country, including cyberattacks on news websites and arrests of activists and human rights defenders on charges of fabrication.

• More than five years after two teenagers were murdered in Operation War on Drugs, a former police officer has been found guilty of their deaths. Dismissed police officer Jeffrey Perez was sentenced to up to his 40-year prison sentence, ineligible for parole, in addition to damages to families of murdered teens .

  This is the second murder conviction of a police officer involved in the previous administration’s “war on drugs” operation, the first being that of Quian Delos Santos, another teenager who was murdered.

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