The Philippine government expects to ensure more protection for overseas Filipino workers in Israel following the appointment of a prominent lawyer as new honorary consul general there.

Filipino journalists based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined the condemnation of Monday’s massacre in Maguindanao where at least 29 journalists were among the 57 people killed.

Overseas Filipino (OF) remittances support the economy especially in this time of global economic downturn, Acting Socioeconomic and Planning Secretary Augusto B. Santos said during a recent courtesy call by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Philippine Mission.

Calling the Maguindanao massacre “barbaric,” several overseas Filipino worker (OFW) groups in the Middle East reminded their fellow Muslim brothers to not let political ambitions destroy their unity.

The House of Representatives had commended Filipino overseas worker Lark Micheal Colegado for his honesty when he returned some 1.2 million Saudi Riyals (P15 million) to its owner in Saudi Arabia last October.

All they want for Christmas is a ticket home. But the 12 Filipino seafarers who were forced to stay on board their ship that was grounded in Greece for “unpaid cargo claims” would have to ask harder, Akbayan Party-list Representative Walden Bello said on Tuesday.

For its brazenness and sheer brutality, the United Nations led several other countries in condemning the mass slaughter of 46 people – including women and journalists – in a poll-related massacre in Maguindanao last Monday.

Some 3,445 Filipino pilgrims are now in Saudi Arabia for the traditional Hajj pilgrimage, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.

Calling the Maguindanao massacre “barbaric,” several overseas Filipino worker (OFW) groups in the Middle East reminded their fellow Muslim brothers to not let political ambitions destroy their unity.

HONG KONG –A team of Filipinos based in Hong Kong raised more than P60,000 in poverty-reduction and climate change funds by participating in the charity event, Oxfam Trailwalker 2009.