TUCP rejects proposal to restrict deployment of medical workers abroad

August 18, 2008 at 5:55 am · Filed under TUCP in the News

by Mayen Jaymalin
from The Philippine Star

The country’s largest labor group yesterday rejected a proposed measure restricting the deployment of Filipino doctors and other medical workers abroad.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said the proposed bill requiring Filipino professionals to render compulsory service prior to working overseas is highly discriminatory.

“We consider the bill absolutely unfair and highly discriminatory, because it singles out registered professionals,” said TUCP secretary-general and former senator Ernesto Herrera.

Alarmed by the continuing exodus of health workers abroad and possible paralysis of the country’s health system, Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo filed House Bill 4580.

Under the proposed law, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, midwives, medical technologists, physical therapists, engineers, teachers, sailors, accountants, interior designers, nutritionists and criminologists and even librarians, guidance counselors and master plumbers would have to perform at least 24 months of service here before they may be allowed to seek greener pastures abroad.

Herrera doubted the government’s ability to enforce the bill, once enacted.

“How is the government actually going to require compliance, when it is not in a position to physically bar professionals from leaving the country?” he asked.

Herrera further questioned the wisdom of Arroyo’s proposal, considering the large surplus of professionals in many sectors of the labor market.

“We have a huge glut of professionals in many sectors. In the case of nurses, the main reason they are leaving the country is because wages here are grossly inadequate. And the pay is meager precisely because of the massive surplus of nurses. This is the law of supply and demand at work,” Herrera pointed out.
The restriction, Herrera said, is in effect, helping to keep the wages of nurses depressed by promoting the huge surplus

Nurses comprise the biggest group of professionals leaving the country with more than 21,000 Filipino nurses seeking employment in the United States alone annually.
But based on data from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the country has been producing more than 132,000 nurses every year.

Meantime, high paying jobs await Filipino engineers in the United Arab Emirates.

The local recruitment industry yesterday reported that Dubai is in need of engineers for the construction of new refineries and power plants.

“The demand is so heavy that well-known construction firm Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction is willing to pay as much as $5,000 a month for architectural engineers,” recruitment leaders disclosed.

Cherry Cleary, president of Jerphi recruitment agency, said the local recruitment industry continues to receive hundreds of thousands of job orders from the Middle East for engineers and highly skilled workers due to the ongoing trillion-dollar projects in the region.

Kuwait alone is currently implementing $15 billion development projects, Cleary added.

Cleary noted that their agency alone is looking for site engineers for various projects in Dubai. “There is no placement fee for the professionals needed in Dubai.”

Aside from the job orders in Middle East countries, Cleary said one of the largest engineering companies in Australia, Atlas Heavy Engineering Pty Ltd., is also looking for boilermakers, welders and CNC operators.
Applicants can file their resumes in person at the Jerphi office in Unit 219, Aurora Plaza 1, Arquiza corner Bocobo Streets, Ermita, Manila or email admin@jerphi.com.

In a related development, the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. (PASEI) called on the government to take action against the unified contract scheme by the agency from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called Saudi National Recruitment,” a leader said.

Under the scheme to be implemented starting Sept. 1, the employer-employee relations between the Saudi employer and the Filipino OCW will be governed by the work contract presented by the SANARCOM agency.
“If this arrangement is tolerated, it would certainly spawn the abhorrent practice of contract substitution to the detriment of the Filipino OCWs,” PASEI president Vic Fernandez explained.

Comments

Labor group hits gov’t non-wage benefit program

August 4, 2008 at 8:39 am · Filed under Uncategorized

Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Calling government’s non-wage benefit project a “patently deceitful scheme,” a leftist labor group said government officials were clueless of the true economic situation of the country’s workers.

In a statement on Monday, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement) spokesperson Prestoline Suyat called the government misinformed when it said workers still had P1,500 left every month to purchase basic commodities.

“The poorest Filipino workers are receiving their salaries daily and almost all the time what they get [is] not enough for their families needs. Furthermore, if the Arroyo government is really sincere to provide access to affordable basic commodities, why only put [up] a single venue to sell these every half of the month? A worker in Novaliches or Pasig will not go to Lawton, Manila just to buy discounted instant noodles which will cost him or her higher fare,” Suyat said.

On Friday, various government agencies launched the “Diskwento: Presyong Pang-Empleyado” (Discount: Prices for Employees) in Mandaluyong City.

Spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), and Department of Trade and Industry–National Capital Region (DTI-NCR), “Diskwento” is meant to gives employees access to affordable basic commodities.

DTI assistant secretary Angel L. Pelayo said employees need only to present their company IDs and they will be provided “buyer’s vouchers” that entitle them to purchase up to P1,500 worth of items.

But Suyat said some of the items being sold were not “saleable,” such as corn oil, which is priced at P392 compared to the average retail price of P420.

“We cannot help but suspect that the Arroyo government aims to sell to us some products which are not usually consumed by the public…We are also apprehensive that the products available in the project are near expiration date so they want to dispose of these immediately,” he said.

Suyat said instead of using “band-aid solutions,” the government should instead think of long term solutions, such as the immediate approval of the legislated P125 across-the-board wage increase.

Comments

Education lifts RP BPO industry over India, China–expert

August 1, 2008 at 1:53 pm · Filed under Good News

by Lawrence Casiraya
from INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — India and China have bigger economies but the Philippines has a higher “educational density” and thus in a better position to move ahead in offshore outsourcing, according to an economics professor from Europe.

Professor Guido Dedene, a faculty member of Belgium’s Catholic University of Leuven and Netherlands’ University of Amsterdam, believes the country’s “unique” characteristics make it a more viable outsourcing destination for either United States or Europe.

Dedene cited a recent McKinsey study that predicts that by 2011, the US and United Kingdom alone will be capable of “consuming” the outsourcing capacities of India, China and the Philippines.

“Majority of companies in Europe, for example, go to either India or China because they simply don’t know much about the Philippines,” Dedene said in an interview with INQUIRER.net.

Dedene is in Manila for next week’s SSME (Service Science Management and Engineering) conference organized by IBM and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

IBM defines SSME as a multi-disciplinary academic and research approach that integrates more established areas like computer science, operations research, engineering, business and management.

In the context of BPO, the goal is to group together stakeholders such as business and government with the research and academic community.

“The Philippines has six times more educated people than India per capita,” Dedene said, citing data from the McKinsey study. “In India, outsourcing is present in a few cities. In the Philippines, the entire country can be tapped for BPO (business process outsourcing).”

Dedene likewise cited the Filipinos’ strong English proficiency and service-oriented nature, often mentioned by BPO investors doing business in the country.

“But beyond a good English accent, a key advantage is the fact that the Philippines is a young nation. If we start educating Filipinos now, it will pay off profitably in the future,” he said.

Comments

Pinoy home accessories designer wows ’em in Europe

July 31, 2008 at 1:53 pm · Filed under Good News

by Marge C. Enriquez
from Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Monaco-based designer Josef Crisanto was a sickly child who grew up in a dysfunctional family environment in Davao. Since he was too weak to play outdoors, his mother supplied him with paper, pens and crayons. A Piscean, he lived in his own world of imagination which was reflected in his drawings.

“I was looking for order in chaos, beauty in ugly scenes. Drawing was my quest for enlightenment in an abstract way. It helped me make sense of what was happening around me,” he says.

Josef Crisanto’s therapy turned out to be his destiny.

His mother was a seamstress who catered to Davao’s elite. Wealthy clients would bring magazines purchased from their trips in Europe so that his mother could copy the styles in the fashion pages.

He was fascinated by the beautiful photographs and Old World locations and enamored by the works of Paco Rabanne, Courreges and Pierre Cardin. Instinctively, he knew he would find himself in the West.

After graduating in Interior Design at the University of the Philippines, Crisanto designed sets for commercials then became assistant creative director for Duty Free Philippines, doing the store displays and graphics.

His entry point to Europe was as a creative manager at the duty-free franchise in Rumania. The following year, he toured Europe, met his lover in France and decided to settle there.

Higher learning

After studying French at Aix-en-Provence, Crisanto pursued higher learning at Ecole Superieure de Beaux-Arts in Marseille, where the system gave him a shakeup. In the Philippines, he was accustomed to presenting clean, technically perfect plates. In France, his professors demanded originality and more personality.

“They commented that my plates were ‘agency work.’ There was no ‘Me’ showing up but a well-made project. I guess they knew I was gay and they wanted me to be gayer,” he recalls.

One summer he took up a workshop in a chateau, sponsored by Vitra Design, with famous designer Tom Dixon. The latter invited him to London for more exposure.

In 1998, the Ministry of Culture launched a competition to commemorate the 10th year since design was introduced in art schools in France. Crisanto’s team won the top prize for their concept of art and design, displayed in a bazaar setting.

“Design should be accessible to everybody. It should not be something that you venerate in a museum but something you can use,” he says.

A few months later, Crisanto and his colleague won a prize for designing a logo for a youth-oriented radio station. Their design bested the other entries provided by professional agencies. Through these contests, Crisanto got to work with curators for exhibits.

Versatile creation

In one show, Crisanto’s design of an exhaust system framed by glass blocks and plastic caught the eye of Christophe Pillet, former assistant of design icon Philippe Starcke. The system was versatile, as it was composed of small furniture pieces that could be stacked and become a partition or an architectural element.

In 2002, Pillet invited Crisanto to represent the Philippines in the “Worldwide” exhibit in Paris. His mother-of-pearl mosaic lamps, stacking stools and modular lounges made from rattan and natural fabrics were placed alongside big names as Karim Rashid of USA, Christian Ghion of France and the Campana Brothers from Brazil.

“Living in France freed me to be myself, to discover who I am and express it to the fullest. Design is about being honest with myself. Before, I would do projects that were client-oriented and I would look at the magazines and propose an idea. Now it’s all about me,” he says.

“In France, artists are called createurs. The idea has to come from you. That’s what I’m trying to teach when I’m in the Philippines. Many are lacking in individuality. Big cities in France celebrate culture and creative people who do new things and make you feel it.”

“Design, or art in general, is about finding your truth and translating that,” he adds.

Crisanto acknowledges the reality of commercialism, pushing designs that sell. He cites designers like Eric Paras, whose furniture caters to market demands, yet has maintained his integrity and his vision.

“I know my designs are commercial when people say they love what I do. But I am not going to please those who want the Mediterranean style,” he declares.

The Imelda association

Abroad, whenever foreigners learn that he’s a Filipino, they usually associate his nationality with Imelda Marcos’ excesses.

To parody the former First Lady’s shoe fetish and also as a tribute to her rags-to-riches story, Crisanto designed two versions of a retro love seat. The first was covered with crystals, a reference to Ms Marcos’s extravagance. The mass-market version was done in expanded vinyl acetate (EVA), the same material used for thongs, or the tsinelas ng masa (slippers of the poor).

A friend who saw Crisanto’s work was amused and hooked him up with Swarovski. His designs were then exhibited in furniture fairs in Paris, Manila and Cebu.

Today, Crisanto teaches design in French at Ecole Superior D’Arts Plastiques de la Ville in Monaco. He has also done product development styling for the German company Dedon.

Every time he returns to the Philippines, he works as a design director for a Cebu-based company, Ayag.

His most recent collection, “The Folding Star,” was inspired by an origami book given by his ex-lover. “I incorporated the paper aspect into stone,” he explains.

The stacking stools, vases, storage boxes, open wall shelves and trays, made of resin or reconstituted stone, feature the complicated geometric folds of an origami sculpture.

“The process is low tech—done by hand,” he explains. But when the collection was presented in Milan, buyers and visitors exclaimed, as they always do with Crisanto creations, “Bello! (beautiful.)”

Comments

To deny or not to deny Holy Communion

July 28, 2008 at 10:02 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

by Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J.
from Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines - Every once in a while a person, sometimes a politician or a well-known public figure, is threatened with denial of Holy Communion. When this happens, priests who preside in liturgical services every day would normally ask themselves how they should act, especially when the threat comes from their bishop or superior. I thought therefore that I might share with my readers my understanding of the Canon Law on the subject even if I do not profess to be an expert in Canon Law. What I have to say is what I myself follow.

Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law enumerates three categories of persons who should be refused Holy Communion: (1) those excommunicated through a penalty that has been imposed or declared; (2) those interdicted through a penalty that has been imposed or declared; (3) those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin.” Some explanation is necessary.

First, what is the difference between an excommunicated person and an interdicted person? In general, an excommunicated person is excluded from the public life of the church. This would include holding church office or receiving the sacraments. An interdicted person, on the other hand, is one who is excluded only from certain liturgical functions.

How does one incur the penalties of excommunication or interdiction? According to church law, there are two ways of incurring a penalty: (1) automatically (or in church jargon latae sententiae) upon the commission of certain external acts clearly and specifically defined by law, and (2) upon the intervention of a competent ecclesiastical authority who declares officially and in legal form that a penalty has been imposed (ferendae sententiae).

What is important for purposes of refusal of communion under Canon 915 is that the excommunication or interdiction must have been incurred not automatically but through an official imposition or declaration (ferendae sententiae). This means that to be legitimately refused communion under Canon 915 there is need for a competent church authority (a bishop, a judge of an ecclesiastical court, a superior with respect to his subject through an extrajudicial or administrative act) to have issued a public instrument declaring that a penalty of excommunication or interdiction has been incurred by or imposed on a person. This should be a relatively rare case and would normally also be highly public and notorious.

The third category of persons who may be refused communion under Canon 915 are those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin.” As one Canon lawyer wrote, “The description of the third category is bristling with qualifications; not ordinary run-of-the-mill sinners but sinners who persist; they do not merely persist, they obstinately persist; the sin is not only a grave sin, but one that is manifestly so.” In general, it would seem that such a case would be relatively rare. If I were a bishop, which I will never be, I would not be too eager to find a case fulfilling all these stiff requirements.

Usually placed under this category are people who may be cohabiting without benefit of the sacrament of marriage, or people who may have been divorced and are now living together on the strength of a civil marriage. One reason for excluding them is the fear that admitting them would give the impression that the Church is changing its teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.

But whether or not to exclude from communion people in such marital relations is not always clear. There has been disagreement about the meaning of this third category. The disagreement has been around whether the subjective element of full knowledge and full consent, which is required for mortal sin, should also be considered for purposes of Canon 915. After all, full knowledge and full consent are internal and beyond the knowledge of the minister administering communion.

The authentic interpretation now seems to be that grave sin in Canon 915 is not the equivalent of mortal sin. Mortal sin requires full knowledge and consent which are known to the sinner himself but not to the minister who administers communion. For this reason the term “publicly unworthy” expresses better what is meant by persons who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin.” The focus is on the external element of the act which can be known by the minister who administers communion. In other words, those excluded from communion must be “notorious public sinners.”

It should be remembered, moreover, that denial of communion is a restriction of a right. Hence, I would interpret the Canon strictly. Communion should not be denied if there is any doubt as to the fact of the sin, as to its notoriety or gravity, or as to the possibility that the person may have already been reconciled with the Church. Avoidance of scandal, after all, is not the supreme law of the Church. For my part, I would prefer a pastoral and not a confrontational approach. It must be kept in mind that church penalties are not intended to humiliate but to bring a person around to sorrow and contrition for sin.

Having said all that, I might be asked whether I would deny communion to legislators favoring the controversial bills on reproductive health. Let me just say that bishops themselves do not have a unanimous voice on the subject. I myself would find it very difficult to say that what legislators are doing now in a pluralist society is a manifestly grave sin enough to characterize the legislators as “notorious public sinners.”

Comments

« Previous entries