Volume 1 Issue 3 January 2008
T
he Filipino EPS Workers Association(FEWA) and the Philippine MigrantWorkers Association (PMWAK) in South Koreavisited and comforted Samuel D. Abellar, a workrelated accident victim, at Incheon ChamsarangHospital last Dec. 6, 2007.
Abellar, a 26-year old EPS worker fromSta. Maria Bulacan arrived in Korea on Sep-tember 11, 2007. He was working for 19 dayssince arrival when the accident happened at 8p.m. of Oct. 2, at Hanjin Cheonha Industriesin Incheon.
“
Ginagawa naming yung mga blocks na parte ng barko tapos nilalagyan ng bakal at wine-welding. Napansin ko na nagbibitawan at itinuro ko sa kasama kong Korean pero di niya pinansin at pinabayaan na lang namin,tuluy-tuloy pa rin siya sa pagwe-welding,”
Abellar said.
“
Nang tatanggalin na namin yung mga brackets after na ma-welding biglang bumigay yung nasa unahan.
Habang pinupulot ko yungmga excess nakita ko na pabagsak na sa ‘kin namay
seven feet ang taas kaya tumakbo ako pero
H
yehwadong, Dec 16, 2007 - The FilipinoEPS Workers Association (FEWA) hasconcluded its first fundraising campaign to subsidizethe organization’s mission, which emphasizes vol-unteerism, and public service. In conjunction, theevent also culminated the year as
FEWAnians
cele-brated a cheerful Christmas Party.The “holiday party” was a great chance to minglemixed with some genuine fun and camaraderie. Approximately 30 attendees enjoyed the quite feast,exciting parlor games and prizes. Among the highlights of the occasion were the Awarding of Certificate of Recognition to SULYAPI-NOY Board of Publication and its Editorial Staff,exchange gifts, and the much-awaited raffle draw.Winners were the following: Yeye Duarte, Avelino Casion Jr, and Jim Cayetano who receivedKRW 1,000,000; KRW 600,000; and KRW 300,000respectively. Ten consolation prizes are also givenaway during the draw.
“D
o not be ashamed of poverty, just work hard. Help others even when you are in need. These are the teachings of my mother”
, said Lee Myung-Bak during his nation-wide campaign trail.Mr. Lee, a conservative, pragmatic and a pro-American is the new president- elect who wona landslide victory last December 19, ending 10years of South Korea's liberal rule.Given the growing number of foreign resi-dents, Lee is expected to push for measures tohelp them better adjust to Korean way of life.Part of his plan is to improve South Korea'sforeign relations in terms of trade and invest-ment, and human labor resources. Under hisrule, Korea plans to open its door wider to for-eigners and more actively embrace them asmembers of and contributors to society.
From leftmost to right: Precy Villaveza; Ronald Austari; Loreto Agustin (FEWA Pres.); Aldrin Igana (PMWAK Pres.); Samuel Abellar (victim) & wife Lyra; and Sofonias Paragsa (FEWA V-Pres.)at Incheon Chamsarang Hospital.
P h o t o i n c o u r t e s y o f S o f o n i a s P a r a g s a
I
TAEWON, SEOUL — Philippine OverseasLabor Office (POLO) held a focused groupdiscussion on current problems and issues of Fili-pino EPS workers and entertainers at the PhilippineEmbassy last December 9, 2007.Labor attaché, Atty. Delmer R. Cruz together with his POLO staff, presided the forum and dis-cussed on pointers, recalls, issues and concernsabout Employment Permit System and entertainers.Representatives from different sectors of theFilipino community such as religious groups, NGOs,entertainers’ and EPS workers’ representativeshave participated the event and came up with differ-ent interventions which focused on every worker’sliving and respective working conditions.
FEWA officers and members: Loreto H. Agustin,president; Aquilino J. Juanites Jr., board member;
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Focused Group Discussion: LABATT Cruz presides as participantslisten - Fr. Glenn Giovanni Jaron, MSP; Fr. Alvin Parantar, MSP;Pastor Jones Galang; Pastor Zeppelin Canlas; Pastor NicolasCepe Sr.; Rev. Frank Hernando; Sr. Lucia Olalia, SJBP; Prof.Emely Dicolen-Abagat, Ph.D.; and other representatives.
turn to page 3
Rebenson B. Recaña, SULYAPINOY Chief Edi-tor; Elizer M. Penaranda, SULYAPINOY FeatureEditor
together with the Philippine Migrant Work-ers Association - Incheon Chapter (PMWAK)officers: Aldrin D. Igana, president; Joey Noble- jas, vice-president; and other EPS group repre-sentatives seriously collaborated and discussedthe various problems that may intervene andaffect the working condition of the EPS sector from the pre-departure up to the re-hiring periodof the worker. The group came up with the outputas presented on the table
.
(Refer to page 5)
Fr. Glenn Giovanni B. Jaron, MSP, former chaplain of Hyehwa-dong Filipino Catholic Com-munity didn’t hesitate to give comments on theprevious working partnership between the NGOsand the Philippine Embassy since he served theFilipino Community in South Korea for almost 10years. He said, “No man is an island. Before, theNGOs didn’t trust the Philippine Embassy andvice-versa, until former Ambassador Villacorteshowed his concern which prompted him to sup-port the advocacy of the NGOs.”
“Also, mutual trust is very necessary for thePhilippine government and the NGOs to becomea more powerful and effective forces in helpingout our fellow
kababayans
,” the priest concluded.Former Ambassador Susan O. Castrencecreated a committee within the embassy headedby Labatt Cruz together with Consul General JuanDayang, OWWA Senior Welfare Officer ElizabethMarie R. Estrada, and Welfare Officer EsperanzaCobarrubias to come up with the report and rec-ommendations from both operational and policylevels concerning the EPS and entertainment sec-tors. The Focused Group Discussion is one of theeffective ways to gather factual inputs to be in-cluded in the report.
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Yah your absolutely right..!Lack of love in my country...but we cannot blame the other if they are just thinking for themselves ,because now a days living in Philippines is so hard.That's why a lot of FILIPINO trying to get a job in OTHER country, like me im here in UAE because of what?MONEY.. to give all the things what my families needed and lastly for my future.Sometimes i was thinking why i wa
MY SHORT ESSAY ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES Jaeyoun Kim Filipinos always complain about the corruption in the Philippines .. Do you really think the corruption is the problem of the Philippines ? I do not think so. I strongly believe that the problem is the lack of love for the Philippines .. Let me first talk about my country, Korea .. It might help you understand my point. After the Korean War, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Koreans had to start from scratch because entire country was destroyed after the Korean War, and we had no natural resources. Koreans used to talk about the Philippines , for Filipinos were very rich in Asia .. We envy Filipinos. Koreans really wanted to be well off like Filipinos. Many Koreans died of famine. My father & brother also died because of famine. Korean government was very corrupt and is still very corrupt beyond your imagination, but Korea was able to develop dramatically because Koreans really did their best for the common good with their heart burning with patriotism. Koreans did not work just for themselves but also for their neighborhood and country. Education inspired young men with the spirit of patriotism. 40 years ago, President Park took over the government to reform Korea .. He tried to borrow money from other countries, but it was not possible to get a loan and attract a foreign investment because the economic situation of South Korea was so bad. Korea had only three factories. So, President Park sent many mine workers and nurses to Germany so that they could send money to Korea to build a factory. They had to go through horrible experience. In 1964, President Park visited Germany to borrow money. Hundred of Koreans in Germany came to the airport to welcome him and cried there as they saw the President Park .. They asked to him, "President, when can we be well off?" That was the only question everyone asked to him. President Park cried with them and promised them that Korea would be well off if everyone works hard for Korea , and the President of Germany got the strong impression on them and lent money to Korea .. So, President Park was able to build many factories in Korea .. He always asked Koreans to love their country from their heart. Many Korean scientists and engineers in the USA came back to Korea to help developing country because they wanted their country to be well off. Though they received very small salary, they did their best for Korea .. They always hoped that their children would live in well off country. My parents always brought me to the places where poor and physically handicapped people live. They wanted me to understand their life and help them. I also worked for Catholic Church when I was in the army. The only thing I learned from Catholic Church was that we have to love our neighborhood. And, I have loved my neighborhood. Have you cried for the Philippines ? I have cried for my country several times. I also cried for the Philippines because of so many poor people. I have been to the New Bilibid prison. What made me sad in the prison were the prisoners who do not have any love for their country. They go to mass and work for Church. They pray everyday. However, they do not love the Philippines .. I talked to two prisoners at the maximum-security compound, and both of them said that they would leave the Philippines right after they are released from the prison. They said that they would start a new life in other countries and never come back to the Philippines .. Many Koreans have a great love for Korea so that we were able to share our wealth with our neighborhood. The owners of factory and company were distributed their profit to their employees fairly so that employees could buy what they needed and saved money for the future and their children. When I was in Korea , I had a very strong faith and wanted to be a priest. However, when I came to the Philippines , I completely lost my faith. I was very confused when I saw many unbelievable situations in the Philippines .. Street kids always make me sad, and I see them everyday. The Philippines is the only Catholic country in Asia , but there are too many poor people here. People go to church every Sunday to pray, but nothing has been changed. My parents came to the Philippines last week and saw this situation. They told me that Korea was much poorer than the present Philippines when they were young. They are so sorry that there are so many beggars and street kids. When we went to Pasangjan, I forced my parents to take a boat because it would fun. However, they were not happy after taking a boat. They said that they would not take the boat again because they were sympathized the boatmen, for the boatmen were very poor and had a small frame. Most of people just took a boat and enjoyed it. But, my parents did not enjoy it because of love for them.