Home is ‘champorado with tuyo’ on a rainy day
LIKE millions of other Filipinos, I belong to a “global” family. My eldest brother, Luis, is a Swiss citizen, having accumulated sufficient years in and knowledge of Geneva, Switzerland to pass that country’s stringent requirements. My other brother, Dionisio, is an American citizen and a longtime resident of Los Angeles, California. Every Sunday, we take to Viber to exchange our respective “chillax” photos. Of course, it is hard to...
Notice to the world: Robert Larga is gone
LAST Saturday, the soil parted to welcome the casket that bore the body of a man named Robert Larga. He was “Obet” to family, friends and associates. A young lawyer of 48, Larga served as one of the directors of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). He was also an expert on forced labor trafficking, having single-handedly written a manual on the subject matter for the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking...
What we know so far about the OFW ID card
Social media went agog last week over the soft launch of the soon-to-be-issued OFW identification card, which is intended to replace the Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC). The OEC is a receipt issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) as proof that its holder is an overseas Filipino worker who underwent the government’s standard procedures. An online test site that some OFWs were able to stumble upon...
How can we make PDOS seminars more effective for OFWs?
I SAW an old video on YouTube that featured a bank employee talking before a small audience of overseas Filipino workers. The lecturer, Mr. Teteng, transformed the room into a comedy bar, as he shared his personal observations about an OFW’s life, having been stationed previously in Spain and other parts of the world. The hyperactive Mr. Teteng used a book as a metaphor for vagina. “Do not open your book to just anyone,” he told the...
Digital transformation in the public sector
THE chief of the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA), Hans Leo Cacdac, would read messages aloud from his computer screen posted by OFWs from different parts of the world. He replies to questions regarding scholarships and business loans, while also taking the time to greet overseas workers who are happy to see the OWWA administrator waving to them online. By leading his institution in its digital journey, Cacdac has...
A prescription for peace
June 19, 2017 UNDER the scorching sun, people were on the move, whether on foot or inside crawling vehicles, wanting to get out of Marawi City. Suddenly, a beat-up van came out of nowhere, threatening to hit cars right and left, with its driver clearly out of control. When the van finally stopped, Kim Edres decided to accost the driver. Edres, who is from Marawi City, is the regional director of the National Commission on Muslim...