RP may lift ban on OFWs in Iraq

Agence France-Presse

Posted date: February 05, 2009

MANILA, Philippines —The Philippine government is to send a delegation to Iraq next week to evaluate whether to lift a ban on Filipinos working there, a labor department official said Thursday.

The mission will include members of the labor and foreign affairs departments, said Jennifer Manalili, administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo banned the deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq in 2004 after a Filipino truck driver was kidnapped and threatened with beheading.

The driver was later released unharmed after Arroyo withdrew the country’s small contingent of troops and police.

Despite the ban an estimated 10,000 Filipinos work in Iraq.

An official Iraqi delegation was in Manila recently and called on the government to lift its ban, saying the country needed foreign workers to help it rebuild.

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http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20090205-187627/RP-may-lift-ban-on-OFWs-in-Iraq

DFA SAYS : Green passports valid until expiration

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net

Posted date: February 05, 2009

MANILA, Philippines — The green passports issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are still valid until their date of expiration, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Domingo Lucenario said Thursday.

In an interview, Lucenario belied the news circulating in e-mail groups that those who renew their green passports will get new ones valid only until the end of 2009.

He said he has already requested the international community — through the Philippines’ foreign posts and the foreign embassies based here — to continue recognizing the green passports, which are not machine-readable.

At the same time, he encouraged all Filipinos with valid green passports to apply for machine-readable passports to avoid being inconvenienced at various points of exit and entry worldwide.

According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), all countries must issue machine-readable passports by April 1, 2010. The Philippines started issuing the new travel documents starting September 2007.

“The green non-machine readable passports issued before the ICAO deadline are valid until their expiration,” he said.

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http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20090205-187607/Green-passports-valid-until-expiration