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For the past 20 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Los Angeles Consul General Willy Gaa has officially taken over as Philippine ambassador to Washington and has conducted a general meeting with staff and officers of the embassy, its press and information office said onl Monday, July 31.
Gaa took over from Ambassador Albert del Rosario.
“By virtue of Department of Foreign Affairs Assignment Order No. 311-06 signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo on July 15, Gaa has been assigned to [the premier post] as charge d’affaires and deputy chief of mission effective July 25. He arrived in Washington, D.C. from Los Angeles on July 26 and assumed his official duty on the same day,” the embassy statement said.
Del Rosario was present to welcome Gaa and joined him during the July 28 general meeting at the embassy’s Romulo Hall.
In his brief remarks before embassy personnel, Gaa said that “like in the Olympics marathon,” he considered himself as “a runner carrying the torch until he reaches [his] next point or until another runner comes along to whom he has to pass on the torch.”
Gaa added that as a “marathon runner, he expected the officers and staff to support [him] when [he] is thirsty or hungry, as a matter of speaking.”
Prior to this current assignment, Gaa served as consul general of the Philippine consulate in Los Angeles. He also served as ambassador to the People’s Republic of China from 2003 to January 2006, Australia and non-resident ambassador to Nauru, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu from 2002 to 2003, as ambassador to Tripoli, Libya and non-resident ambassador to Tunisia, Malta, and Niger from 1992 to 1997, among others.
According to same statement, Gaa’s career as a diplomat began when he was appointed as Foreign Service Officer in December 1974 after passing the FSO examination and taking the oath of office in 1975.
Gaa obtained his Bachelor of Arts (A.B. Political Science) degree from Manuel L. Quezon University in 1966. He graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1970 with a Bachelor of Laws degree and from New York University in 1985 with a degree in Master of Laws (International Legal Studies).
He passed the government career service exam in 1968, the Philippine Bar Examination in 1970 and the State Bar of California, U.S.A. in 1990.
Ambassador Gaa is married to Erlinda Concepcion, with whom he has two sons, Wendell and Warren.
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MANILA -- President Arroyo has created a task force to support the speedy establishment of a National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) testing center in the Philippines so Filipino nursing graduates will no longer have to leave the country to take this qualifying examination.
Under Executive Order No. 550 dated July 31, Arroyo allotted P10 million for the task force, which will be taken from the President’s Social Fund in support of projects, programs and activities related to its functions.
The NCLEX is a standardized examination which the United States’ National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) uses to determine whether or not a candidate is prepared for entry-level nursing practice in the US.
The NCSBN has authorized the conduct of the NCLEX in Hong Kong, London and Seoul, South Korea in 2004. It also established additional test centers in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico and Taiwan this year.
The NCSBN officers visited the Philippines in March to assess the feasibility of establishing an NCLEX testing center here.
In issuing the EO titled “creating a presidential task force to address concerns arising from the conduct” of NCLEX for nurses in the Philippines, Mrs. Arroyo cited the need for a testing center here.
The President said that the Philippines is the top country of origin of foreign-educated nurses taking the NCLEX, many of whom encounter financial hardship due to the cost of taking qualifying examinations overseas.
“Filipino nurses constitute 83 percent of foreign-educated nurses practicing in the US and contribute positively to the good image of the Philippines through their hard work, dedication and ethic of care,” Mrs. Arroyo said.
“The conduct of NCLEX in the Philippines will open opportunities for qualified yet less fortunate Filipino nurses to take the NCLEX locally and the savings from not having to travel abroad to take the said exam may be devoted to test preparation,” she added.
Mrs. Arroyo said the “government fully supports the establishment of an NCLEX test center in the Philippines and is prepared to provide assistance in terms of physical and examination security, as well as intellectual property protection through its agencies.”
Under the EO, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, through its chairman, shall be the lead agency in the NCLEX task force that will be supported by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), Philippine National Police (PNP), Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA).
The task force will prepare an overall program to consolidate existing government mechanisms and ensure the protection of intellectual property rights and the security of the physical facilities of NCLEX testing centers in the Philippines, the EO read.
It added that the task force will evaluate current procedures in resolving cases involving Filipino nurses and foreign nursing regulatory entities and recommend the proper measures to enhance existing grievance mechanisms.
The task force will also coordinate and liaise with the NCSBN on matters concerning the conduct of the NCLEX in the Philippines and investigate and take specific action on reports of fraud or any related acts that may compromise the integrity of the examinations.
The task force will also conduct consultations and information campaigns among nursing associations and other stakeholders in the field of nursing to assist in preserving the integrity of local and foreign nursing licensure examinations, as referred to by NCSBN.
It will also perform other functions that will ensure the smooth and successful conduct of NCLEX in the Philippines. (MNS)
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SAN DIEGO, California — Navy authorities have quietly begun an investigation into claims by more than a dozen Filipino civilian workers that they were abused, intimidated, threatened and finally dismissed from their jobs after repeatedly complaining about “unbearable” working conditions.
The workers—now 18, down from the original 21 after some were taken back—are seeking the intervention of two lawmakers from California—Sen. Barbara Boxer and San Diego Rep. Bob Filner—in hopes of regaining their jobs and improving their work situation at the Navy-owned facility, according to a report from Balita.com.
A Navy spokesman, Brian O’Rourke, said the 18 employees who worked as housekeepers at the 350-room Admiral Kidd Inn in Point Loma naval base, violated federal regulations when they marched in protest to the residence of the commanding officer, Navy Capt. Mark Patton.
The workers claimed, however, that they went to visit Patton on his own invitation to come and see him whenever a problem arise as when they had complained about the “unbearable” working conditions that triggered their supervisor telling them to go home.
“No determination has been made on the case,” said O’Rourke in a telephone interview more than a week after Patton’s office promised to give a reaction on the workers’ apparent dismissal.
“A lot of this is under the privacy act,” O’Rourke explained to ward off questions about the status of the workers and the progress of the investigation.
The workers thought they could go back to their jobs this week or exactly one month after their supervisor named Bob Lang ordered them to leave their work on June 20, according to Juanito Hizon, the group’s spokesman.
The workers said earlier that after being refused an audience with Patton, they were told to go back to their cars and once inside, they were not allowed to disembark -- except to go to the bathroom escorted by armed guards -- until they surrendered their identification cards.
All that time, the workers said they were treated like criminals, surrounded by 10 military policemen in five police cars and police dogs and threatened with arrest if they attempted to get off their cars.
“It was as if they impounded our cars with all of us sitting inside as prisoners for more than two hours,” the workers explained in Pilipino.
In another meeting early this week, the workers bared how they were repeatedly harassed, insulted and verbally abused by their supervisor and manager of the facility.
“Everytime we found a thing or two that customers left in their rooms and turned over to the supervisor for safekeeping, Bob Lang, the supervisor would always tell us that we stole the property,” said Myrna Costelo.
“We hear that everytime, [they saying] ‘housekeeping is stealing again,’” recalled Rowena Beckmyer. “Even the bar of soaps, he would say we steal them”.
One time, Beckmyer said, Lang threatened them with outright dismissal if he heard any complaint about housekeeping in a building for VIPs. “If there’s a complaint, you’re fired!” she quoted him as telling the workers.
“Puro harassment ang ginagawa sa amin,” said Aida Montoya. “They looked down on us like we’re nobody.”
When they complained about the number of rooms they cleaned and maintained every day, Lang responded by saying he would increase their room assignments from 20 to 30, Montoya explained.
“Nagtitiis lang kami dahil ayaw namin ng bad record,” said Costelo on why it took so long to lodge their complaints.
Lang was not immediately available for comment. Contacted by phone, his immediate superior, Fred Maguyon declined to talk.
“I don’t want to make any comment,” he said.
When asked again about the case of the housekeepers, Maguyon replied: “if you want to push through it, call the public affairs office,” then brusquely put down the phone.
“Maguyon is the worst director we had in many years,” said the workers, some of whom have worked at the facility for over 20 years. “Wala siyang respeto,” they said.
Teresita Navarro related how she felt so bad after her blood pressure shot up while talking to Maguyon for 30 minutes without being offered to sit down in his office.
“I had picked up a new assignment during a raffle. I knew it was one of the hardest, but it’s quite an improvement because of the number of rooms to clean up, but Maguyon told me he already revoked it and changed policy. I felt sick right after and decided not to work. I went home,” Navarro said.
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NEW YORK CITY – The 26 Filipino nurses and one physical therapist who filed complaint against a recruitment agency for alleged unfair labor practices is again crying foul over what they claim to be political interference from both US and Philippine officialdom.
They accused New York Senator Charles Schumer, and Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor of meddling and interceding in behalf of Sentosa Recruitment Agency.
This “meddling of some political personalities”, they said, caused the lifting of the preventive suspension issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) against Sentosa and the new “hands off” policy of the Consul General office in New York concerning their case.
The nurses and the PT expressed their complaints in a letter they sent to Consul General Cecilia Rebong, Philippine Overseas Labor Attache Florenda and Executive Director Pedro O. Chan of the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (DFA-OUMWA).
They said Senator Schumer sent letters to the Consul General and the POEA interceding in behalf of Bent Philippson, owner and manager of Sentosa Care, LLC, a healthcare management company based in Woodmere, NY.
The complainants also accused Defensor of calling the POEA and having a “long talk” with Consul General Rebong regarding the Sentosa case.
“Though we are far from home, we are still Filipino citizens and thus we sought protection and assistance from your respective offices. We are not financially affluent or politically well-connected to influence the decisions of those in power, but what we have is the wellness of truth behind our claims. If you cannot give us assistance, then to whom do we go to?,” the medical workers said in their letter.
“We are fighting a Goliath here in New York. We understand that our government does not wish to lose the business it can generate from Sentosa’s operations in bringing Filipino nurses to the United States. But it does not have to close its eyes when its own people are being exploited by these very same dollar-generating enterprises,” the complainants said in their letter.
In April 6, the medical workers through their lawyer, Felix Vinluan, filed charges for discrimination against their respective petitioning employers, Philippson, Sentosa Care, LLC, and Prompt Nursing Employment Agency, before the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices of the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
They claimed that since they arrived in 2004, some of them were made to work in nursing facilities not identified in the contracts; some of them were made to work in jobs not stipulated in the contracts; and all of them were receiving salaries below the standard pay rates, among others.
Five days later, Philippson and his group of companies slapped the complainants with breach of contract as well as Vinluan and a competing recruitment agency, Juno Healthcare Staffing Services, Inc., for interference of contracts.
The complainants also filed administrative cases against the Philippine-based Sentosa Recruitment Agency for violations of recruitment rules before the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
On May 24, POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz issued a preventive suspension order against Sentosa.
But on June 08, Baldoz lifted the preventive suspension order.
It was signed by 26 nurses and one PT. They are: Juliet Anilao, Harriet Avila, Dulce Bayot, Corazon Buagas, Archiel Capulong, Annabelle Chan, Marites Dealo, Maricelle Dela Cruz, Mark Dela Rosa, MAritoni Esguerra, Alipio Gamiao Jr., Claudine Garcia, Carlo Conrad Ilagan, Eduardo Jacinto, Elmer Jayo, Cecille Lampa, Jennifer Magnaye, Eileen Millena, James Maulion, Rizza Montecillo, Rhean Kissette Ong, Mitza Ann Ortega, Noralyn Paglinawan, Louella Parungao, Dondon Ramos, Ma. Theresa Salve, and Ritchel Sichon Ranier.
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