Another Canadian province, Nova Scotia is suffering from labor shortage and looking at the Philippines to solve their employment problems. The chairman of the Commission of Filipinos Overseas, Dante Ang said, “We have an abundance of well-educated and well-trained professionals in the Philippines and Nova Scotia has a shortage. More Filipinos will come to Nova Scotia, but there must be a process in place. There are lots of good reasons why Filipino workers would find working in Nova Scotia favorable.” Read more.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) warned Filipinos who are planning to enter
Singapore to avoid bringing porno magazines, gun-shaped lighters, and chewing tobacco.

The advisory was issued after a report from the Philippine Embassy in Singapore that a Filipino was apprehended due to possession of a knuckle duster. This is punishable by imprisonment and caning under the Arms Offences Act of Singapore.

Read more of Prohibited Items When Entering Singapore…

Israel has raised the punishment for assault of the elderly or those 65 years old and above, to five years imprisonment.  Knesset, the Israel parliament will monitor the impact of the law and if proved ineffective, a more severe penalty will be introduced. Prior to the passage of the bill, two cases of maltreatment of the elderly involving Filipino caregivers were reported in the Israeli media.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Hong Kong signed a memorandum of agreement with the Vocational Training Centre (VTC) there. The VTC would handle and conduct trainings for OFWs in Hong Kong. The first training is a call center training program which is scheduled to begin on May 4.

The call center training program is a 20-hour course, which will run for an hour every Sunday. Those who wish to avail of the training will go through an assessment exam to be given by the VTC. Read more.

Recruitment companies suggested a new remittance scheme called pay-rolling system. Under the new proposed system of sending remittances, OFWs would be required to send to the Philippines 70% of their monthly earnings. According to the president of LBS E-Recruitment Solutions, Lito Soriano, this method will significantly lessen the rate of remittance fee and at the same time increase and make the flow of remittances into local banking sector faster. Read more.