PBSN Chairperson Meets with VP Noli de Castro

27 March 2009 — Philippine Vice President Noli de Castro held a meeting with PBSN Chairperson, Mrs. Esperanza Derpo this morning, at his office at President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay City. Also in the meeting were Special Envoy of the President to Middle East and African Countries, Gen. Roy Cimatu; and Mrs. Derpo’s other half, Engr. Nestor Derpo.

Meeting with VP Noli de Castro

Mrs. Derpo appealed to the Vice President to strongly endorse the lifting of the OFW deployment ban to Nigeria which has been in place for more than two years. She discussed at length the many reasons why the ban should be lifted, noting the issues on security; working and business opportunities for Filipinos in Nigeria; and the current working conditions of the OFW’s there, among others.

The Vice President was impressed to hear of the high regard companies in Nigeria have for Filipinos brought about by our OFW’s working ethics, skills and professionalism, which make them a preference for supervisory, managerial and other key positions in various industries all throughout Nigeria. He also commends PBSN’s charity efforts to the Philippines and its host country Nigeria as seen in the various projects the organization has pushed through with the leadership of Mrs. Derpo.

The Vice President says that he is fully convinced that the ban should be lifted and believes that taking this up in the cabinet meeting can enlighten other officials to make a sound decision. He invited Gen. Cimatu to present the issue in the cabinet meeting in Malacanang on Tuesday, including Mrs. Derpo as a resource person.

Mrs. Derpo is scheduled to attend the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

as reported by: Carlota Derpo

Nigeria punishes 13 Filipinos for oil theft in delta

ABUJA, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Thirteen Filipinos were sentenced to five years in jail or a $6,770 fine on Friday after pleading guilty to handling oil products suspected to have been stolen in the Niger Delta.

The military arrested them in November after intercepting a vessel suspected of carrying 12,000 tonnes of stolen crude oil in the delta, the heart of Nigeria’s oil sector.

Nigeria is the world’s eighth biggest exporter of crude oil but thieves take a sizeable proportion of its output by drilling into pipelines or hijacking barges loaded with oil, theft known locally as “bunkering”.

“The accused persons, who initially pleaded not guilty on arraignment, later changed their plea and they were found guilty based on their plea,” said a spokesman for Nigeria’s anti- corruption police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Some estimates say 100,000 barrels of crude are stolen from the Niger Delta each day, about five percent of the country’s production and equivalent to around $4 million daily or $1.5 billion a year at current prices.

It is shipped out of Nigeria and sold on the international market. Human Rights Watch has put the amount stolen at two or three times that level.

Last week, the military impounded 22 barges of stolen crude oil in the delta in what it said was its biggest seizure for months. (Reporting by Randy Fabi, edited by Richard Meares)

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http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKLK13877320090220