Tag: OFW

For many Malaysia-based Filipinos, it’s President Duterte all the way – South China Morning Post

KUALA LUMPUR — Laguna Restaurant, a two minute walk downhill from St. John’s Cathedral – the centre of Catholic worship in Kuala Lumpur – is a home away from home for Philippine expatriates in Malaysia hankering for a taste of the motherland. Owner Ronnie Tan launched Laguna six and half years ago after spotting a gap in the market in a country where hundreds of thousands of Filipinos live. They work in a diverse range of industries – from construction to casinos, and IT to domestic work – but at the weekend many can be found in the Laguna. “On weekends it is full. If you say Sunday, I believe 95 per cent are Filipino customers,” Tan said.

Prospects fade for ASEAN migrant worker deal – Nikkei Asian Review

JAKARTA — Official crackdowns on emigrants in Malaysia and Thailand have cast further doubt on over prospects that member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations can finalize a long discussed deal on migrant workers’ rights. In June and July around 100,000 mostly Myanmar migrant workers fled Thailand after the military government in Bangkok announced hefty new fines for undocumented workers and their employers. Then, starting July 1, Malaysia made a series of arrests of alleged undocumented migrant workers, affecting more than 3,000 workers and around 60 employers accused of giving work to illegals. These tough actions — though a reprise of previous years’ crackdowns — come as the region’s governments mull proposed enhancements to the 2007 ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, signed in Cebu in the central Philippines during one of Manila’s past tenures as the group’s chair. Two years after the Cebu declaration, ASEAN countries started moves toward a set of region-wide legal norms, but progress has been slow. With Manila again chairing ASEAN this year, there has been a renewed push to address migrant rights — an important social and political issue in the Philippines.