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WITHDRAWALS continued last week in one commercial bank
with exposure to collapsed Lehman Brothers. The
interesting thing is the withdrawn money is immediately
deposited in other banks with similar exposures.
Perhaps
because withdrawals have been more significant in
branches with huge Chinese-Filipino accounts (read: the
most panicky of clients), the affected bank has begun
sending text messages to everyone and their aunties that
another bank is experiencing similar difficulties.
****
OFW
notes 1:
The
United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now imposing stiff fines
and possible imprisonment on companies hiring
undocumented workers. This means Filipinos who go to,
say, Dubai on tourist visas (but with every intention of
finding work) will now find it harder to find work
before their tourist visas expire.
There
are, of course, two other alternatives, both of them
untenable. One is to accept a lower-paying job, which is
not enough to live decently, much less send money back
home. The other alternative is to travel to a nearby
non-UAE place such as Kish Island and reapply for
another tourist visa, which might take some time and
certainly lots of money.
A rough
estimate of Filipinos in the UAE, both documented and
undocumented, total 400,000.
OFW
notes 2:
Labor
Secretary Marianito Roque is finally pushing for a
restudy of the country’s deployment ban to Iraq. The
final decision will, of course, be made by the
President, based on the recommendation of the country’s
Middle East Preparedness Team headed by former Army
chief of staff Roy Cimatu, whose visits to Iraq have all
been facilitated by helicopters provided by Prime
Projects International (PPI).
A
subcontractor of Kellog, Brown and Root, PPI maintains
US military bases in Iraq.
It is
also PPI which has been hiring Filipinos to do
everything from cooking to sweeping inside these bases.
Unfortunately, many of the five-year working contracts
issued to Filipinos have already expired (read: they had
to come home but can’t return to Iraq legally) and have
since been replaced by Sri Lankans.
By the
way, the minimum pay is $80,000 a year.
****
THE
National Competitiveness Council (NCC) cochaired by
Trade Industry Secretary Peter Favila and former
Unilever Phils. head Cesar Bautista is pushing eight
sunrise industries in a conference for local government
units (LGUs), which will be held two weeks from now.
Not
surprising, these sunrise industries are offshoring and
outsourcing (including business process outsourcing, or
BPO), mining, tourism, agribusiness, electronics,
health and wellness (including retirement), value-added
logistics services and manufacturing (including
automobiles).
What is,
however, interesting is NCC’s high-profile move to more
actively involve LGUs. Singled out for promoting
competitiveness outside Metro Manila are Bohol Gov.
Erico Aumentado (tourism) and Dumaguete Mayor Agustin
Perdices (BPOs). |
