FOLLOWING the abuses and maltreatment, resulting in violent deaths, of Filipino household service workers in Kuwait, the Department of Labor and Employment is set to impose a total ban on deployment to the Middle East country.

Migrant and recruitment consultant Manny Geslani yesterday said that some 1,500 domestic workers have all signed up for repatriation with the Philippine embassy. However, there is a matter of paying a fine of US$200 for being unregistered for so many years of working in Lebanon.

China will continue to work with the Philippines to ensure the early implementation of the Kaliwa Dam Project in Quezon for the benefit of the local people saying it is one of Beijing’s “great achievements” in helping Manila.

FOURTEEN overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) pulled from Iraq are expected to arrive in Manila today, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.

Isang Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) sa Kuwait na hindi pinasusuweldo at minamaltrato ng kanyang among Kuwaiti ang ni-rescue ni Palayan City Mayor Rianne Cuevas.

Specifically stated is the tax exemption provision of the bill, which provides that all grants, bequests, endowments, donations and contributions made to the OFW Hospital to be used actually, directly and exclusively by the OFW Hospital shall be exempt from donor’s tax and considered as allowable deduction from the gross income of the donor, in accordance with the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.

THIRTY-ONE Filipino nurses are all safe after a rocket exploded in a hospital where the Filipinos and their dependents are working, the Philippine Embassy in Libya said.

“Initially, the level of alert for Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon are the same—Alert Level 4. Although it was unofficial, I was informed yesterday that the alert level in Lebanon was put down to level 2 and I understand that there’s no more alert level in Iran,” Bello said in an interview.

SPEAKER Alan Peter Cayetano and House Majority Leader Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez have agreed to expedite the passage of the proposed Departments for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), Water Resources (DWR) and Disaster Resilience (DDR) when Congress resumes session on January 20.

AMID the growing tension between the United States and Iran, the Department of Labor and Employment has set aside an initial of fund of P600 million for the immediate repatriation of and assistance to overseas Filipino workers in the crisis-stricken Middle East.

FILIPINO communities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were advised to be vigilant against potential security threats due to the ongoing crisis in Iraq.

Bushfire emergencies in parts of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia are being closely monitored by the Philippine Embassy in Canberra in coordination with the Philippine Consulates in Sydney and Philippine Honorary Consulates in Melbourne and Adelaide.

FOREIGN Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. yesterday said the Philippine Government has put in place contingency plans for thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East should the tension further escalate following the assassination of Iran’s top military generals.

THE country’s largest workers group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is urging President Rodrigo Duterte to lay out, in advance, a government evacuation plan for an estimated 1.2 million overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East who might be affected by an escalation of violence in the region.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has called on all Filipinos to cancel any travel to Iraq until further notice, in view of the current tensions in that country.