News Briefs: March 19, 2019

Immigration officers on lookout for underage OFWs

Bureau of Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have been ordered to carefully screen departing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the wake of reports that syndicates are again recruiting underage Filipino women to work abroad.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said he had instructed Port Operations Division chief Grifton Medina to alert officers manning immigration booths at the airport to make sure OFWs were of legal age and eligible for overseas deployment.

Medina said immigration staff would watch out for passengers younger than 23 years old, the age requirement for overseas household service workers.

The strict screening was ordered after immigration officers stopped a 21-year-old Filipino household worker from boarding a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the NAIA Terminal 1. —Tina G. Santos

Fund drive launched to help Otso Diretso candidates

Civil society groups banded on Monday to raise funds for the senatorial candidacies of members of the opposition “Otso Diretso” team.

Organizers of the “Para sa Laban ng Otso Diretso” fund drive expressed hope that they could muster enough support from the public to raise at least P8 million.

According to Jeric Jucaban, chair of Team Pilipinas, the opposition candidates do not have enough campaign materials.

He said the funds they would generate would primarily be used to support volunteers in their house-to-house efforts.

“The advantage of having volunteers [campaign] is that it spreads the presence of the candidate,” Jucaban said.

Manindigan Na convener Vicky Garchitorena said the public could help ensure that the Senate remained “free and independent” at a time when institutions that should serve as check and balance to the administration appeared to have “folded.” —Jovic Yee

4.1 km Boracay road section opened to motorists this month

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Monday said motorists could access the 4.1-kilometer section of the Boracay Circumferential Road this month, as the first phase of the road’s rehabilitation nears completion.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said that by the end of the month, the road’s 2.66-km section from Cagban Port to Hue Hotel, as well as its 1.46-km segment from Hue Hotel to Elizalde, would be opened to motorists.

The project was supposed to be completed in October last year, but rains set back DPWH work schedules.

Villar said they could now begin the second phase of work on the road’s 1.9-km section from Elizalde to Ambassador Hotel and City Mall.

Estimated to cost P300 million, the second phase will also cover the improvement of the 1.5-km stretch from Tambisaan Port to Rotonda. —Jovic Yee

Oil companies raise gasoline, diesel prices anew

Pump prices of gasoline went up for the sixth straight week, this time by P1.45 per liter, while those of diesel increased by 30 centavos as crude prices touched the $67-per-barrel level.

Shell, Eastern, Seaoil, PTT and Caltex announced the price increases on Monday. They will take effect at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

Shell, Seaoil and Caltex also raised the price of kerosene by 40 centavos per liter.

The price of Dubai crude climbed to $67.18 per barrel on March 13 before settling to $66.94 on March 14.

Diesel pump prices this year have a net increase of P6.89 per liter, while those of gasoline and kerosene have risen P6.10 and P4.57 per liter, respectively. —Ronnel W. Domingo