Author Archives: Jojo Dass

From the all-time Pinoy homegrown favorite Ice Candy to dried fish, the stretch of supermarket row in Muraqqabat has transformed into an informal street market of sort where Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) affected by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have resorted to peddling, saying they have no choice but to risk it toContinue reading “Jobless Dubai OFWs resort to street peddling, risk arrest”

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates: A group of over 200 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the UAE, stranded in the past several weeks due to canceled flights bookings have sought help from Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin, Jr. to address their situation. The group, UAE Stranded OFWs, has tagged Locsin in a tweetContinue reading “Over 200 stranded OFWs in UAE seek PH govt help”

DUBAI: Noodles, because they come in long strands, help prolong life, (“Ang pansit ay pampahaba ng buhay”). Apparently, taking their cue from this popular Pinoy adage, two Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) decided to celebrate their June birthdays handing out free pancit noodles and chicken food packs to the jobless instead of partying. In their earlyContinue reading “Dubai OFWs celebrate birthday giving free pancit to the jobless”

‘Ngayon naka-partition na ako’ Duringthese trying times when most Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are opting to go home than continue battling the odds, there remain those who for apparent sheer lack of a better choice, have decided to take their chances. Among them is 35-year-old Cheryl Esteban Patalud of Malatana Tampakan, South Cotabato, who hadContinue reading “Evicted, jobless, single Dubai OFW mom braves the odds, lands a job!”

An aging engineer, afflicted with a medical condition that has caused him to lose eye sight, is now in a quandary over a bank loan that has totaled Dh150,000 with accrued interest. Seventy-one-year-old Eduardo Malinao Cervantes, who hails from Quezon province, has also been longing to go home but could not as yet due toContinue reading “Blind OFW can’t go home due to Dh150,000 loan”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: A breast cancer survivor, who has a mild pneumonia she developed following 16 sessions of chemotherapy, has succeeded in dealing with another threat in her life, this time, COVID-19. Forty-six-year-old Brenda R. Fondevilla, donut store manager from Digos, Davao del Sur, said she first tested positive on June 10 but subsequentContinue reading “Cancer survivor with mild pneumonia beats COVID”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Some 71,585 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have applied for financial aid from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Dubai may not be able to get the money because funds currently available are only for 17,000 yet total applicants was at 88,585 as of June 19. This was learned fromContinue reading “Over 71,000 Dubai OFWs who sought AKAP may not get the money”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: The Supreme Committee on Crisis and Disaster Management (SCCDM) headed by Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has announced the following guidelines for foreign nationals with Dubai-issued residency visas in coming back to the emirate. The new protocols, announced by the Dubai Media Office on Sunday, June 21,   allowContinue reading “Guidelines set for resident visa holders returning to Dubai”

There are now close to 100,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Dubai and the neighboring northern emirates who have been adversely affected by the COVID pandemic’s economic impact. Some have lost their jobs while others were either on a no-work-no-pay arrangement or have had their salaries adjusted, according to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO)Continue reading “Over 53,000 Dubai OFWs on no-work-no-pay; 26,600 terminated – POLO”

During the height of the government’s sterilization drive, a Filipina community leader sent off a distress call on Facebook about some 177 daily wage earners – mostly Bangladeshis, Nepalis and Pakistanis – on no-work-no-pay and living in one building in Abu Dhabi and in dire need of food. Mj Maria Lami-in, part of the adminContinue reading “COVID: Pinay’s distress call saves 177 people with help from Emirati Good Samaritan”