Transit Lounge at NAIA: You can Rest While Waiting for Flight

For all OFWs and travelers, this is now the answer for your exhausted travel. You don’t need now to worry about your accommodation upon arrival in the Philippines. An affordable, cozy and awesome lounge accommodation is waiting for you.

The NAIA Terminal opened a transit lounge where they called “The Wings Transit Lounge” right inside the airport that can accommodate up to 100 passengers every day. Its location is at NAIA Terminal, 4th Level of the Mall Area.

The lounge has stretchable seats where they could be also turned into flat beds. You can lie down in these seats to ease the pain you have in your body especially at your back from the uncomfortable seating of your long travel. The Wing Transit Lounge also offers foot scrub, manicure, and pedicure while seating and having your rest. The sleeping lounge cost P500 for 5 hours, P700 for 7 hours and additional P600 if you want to have foot spa, P300 for manicure and P300 for pedicure. For foot spa with manicure and pedicure, it also cost P1000.

The types of room are available for single person, duos and for family good for 4 people. The single or capsule type cost P1000 for 7 and half hours. Each of this room has a sliding shade which can be adjusted if you need some light or not even. It also equipped with a security box and reading lamp where you can totally rest. The twin type of room also cost P1800 for 7 and half hours. This is an ideal room where two persons can stay together but if you are 3 in a group and wants to avail this room, then charges may apply for the 3rd person except for 3 feet and below (it’s already free of charge).  For the family type, the room fee is P3200 for the same duration of time and the 5th person who wants to stay may also be charge (3 ft. and below are free of charge).

The Wing Lounge is also offering massage service for all interested passengers. We all know that massage therapy is good for reducing stress, pain and muscle tension so if you want to have a complete relaxation you can reward yourself with their package. The Wings Massage rates are P650 good for 60 minutes, P550 for 50 minutes and P350 for 30 minutes.

5,000 Jobs in Qatar Soon To Open with 23K to 80K Pesos Monthly Salary

Another good news for our Filipino jobseekers is the opening of almost 5000 jobs in Qatar. AQs reported by the Philippine Overseas Employment Association (POEA), the economy of Qatar is strongly developing though the country is experiencing a diplomatic crisis between its adjacent countries in the Middle East.

The said country needs skilled position including electrician/ship electricians (1389), mechanical engineers (497), carpenters (313), laborers (266), masons (220), welders (151), foreman (61), mechanics (61), plasterers (24) and nurses as the most in demand and with biggest number (1882).

Besides on the positions mentioned above, there are other job opportunities in Qatar which are 4,875 in total based on POEA official website.

Mr. Ronald Gabing who was a Filipino jobseeker and unfortunately was bankrupt on his business who worked in Saudi Arabia before and has a 4 years’ experience as welder has now his chance to apply in Qatar as a welder as it is one of the in-demand jobs there today. It is around 1,700 Qatari Rials or amounting to P23,000 and above the salary of a welder and other construction workers in Qatar. For a mechanical engineer or electrician, it is also almost P80,000 and above or 6,000 Qatari Rials is their salary monthly and  for nurses which has the highest demand can receive 3,200 Qatari Rials or P40,000 and above.

The country of Qatar will have a continuous job opening. According to POEA, there is numerous project to be established because of the preparation of Qatar for the upcoming Fifa World Cup on 2022 which will be held in the country.

However, the diplomatic crisis between Qatar and other four Gulf countries which remains unresolved caused doubts to others that the planned projects will not push through but Qatar said that it wouldn’t affect the economy of their country since there have a lot of job employment.


POEA advised all the job applicants that it’s no longer necessary for them to go directly to their office to check or inquire about Qatar jobs but they can access now the POEA official website in order to know the details about the hiring including the accredited recruitment agency who handles the job opening.

source: ABS-CBN news

How Much an Annulment in the Philippines?

The case of annulment in the Philippines is very rare. The main reason why is because of its very expensive cost. Most of the Filipinos choose to be practical and not everyone could afford to apply for it. Maybe even a rich man would double his mind before applying for annulment unless he has really the strong desire to void the marriage.

From the beginning, what is first an annulment? Are they similarities with divorce? In the Philippines, divorce is never been applicable because it is not in the book of law but an annulment could be. Annulment is a legal process where the courts declare a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to invalid from the very beginning. To simplify it, a marriage has never happened. There were no husband and wife unite together, ever. 

A marriage could be declared void according to Art. 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines thru annulment on the following grounds. The lack of parental consent if either party is at least 18 but below 21 years old, the involvement of fraud, the consent for marriage by the parent but obtained by force, intimidation, or undue influence, the impotency or physical incapability of consuming the marriage, for having serious sexually transmitted disease and the most common ground used as a defense is being psychologically incapacitated by your partner. All of these grounds, when proven by the court, could annul the sanctity of a marriage. It can also lead a family to be miserable especially for children where at the first place, the spouse use only the process of annulment for his own interest. 

According to Att. Raymund Fortun, he revealed in an episode of “Bawal Ang Pasawa Kay Mareng Winnie” that annulment in the Philippines could cost around P450,000. Fortun said that he gave one of the lowest expected amounts because there are bigger firms that may charge by the hour and the final bill could easily double the figure he gave.

Aside from the money, the length period of time for processing should also be considered. Att. Fortun said that the duration of years for his longest case was 3 years. This is due to several factors. A typical case can last up to 1 year and 2 months. 

Atty. Fortun and Pro-Divorce PH Chair Asliyah Limbona bring out a message during the show to mandate the office of the Solicitor General to protect the sanctity of marriage as another factor complicating the process. Abolishing this mandate could change the constitution, Att. Fortun said.

source: GMA news

LOOK: NCR Wage Board Approves P21 Wage Hike

The private sector workers in Metro Manila who are receiving minimum wage will soon be getting an additional rate of P21 daily in their salaries. Based on Wage Order No. NCR-21, issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), the salaries of these workers in NCR with minimum pay will increase from P491 to P512.

This may not be a big increase but an early Christmas gift for almost more than 6M minimum wage receiver in 17 cities and municipalities of Metro Manila.

As stated on the Wage Order No. NCR-21, the additional wage rates per day will only apply to all minimum earners in private sectors in the region of Metro Manila regardless of their designation, position or the status of their employment. This will benefit the minimum wage receiver for non-agriculture workers in the region to P512 from P491 starting the end of September. Those in the agriculture sector, small retail, service and manufacturing establishments will get P475 from the previous P454.It is then concluded that domestic workers, employees of Barangay Micro Business Enterprises and even person under personal service of another are not covered by the P21 hike.

Photo credit: ABS-CBN youtube

The big question mark now is that, does it really enough to sustain the daily needs of these minimal receivers? Allan Tanjusay, the spokesman of Associated Labor Union (ALU) said that the P21 salary increase for minimum-wage earners is not sufficient to alleviate the current situation of our workers.

The P21 increase in daily wage remain insufficient for families to cope with rising prices of goods and increasing costs of goods. The P21 is only 4.27% of the current P491 so it obviously did not lift workers out of poverty. Workers do not deserve this very small amount,’’ he said.

The effectivity of the wage order will take effect within 15 days after its publication in general newspaper.

BPO Automation will Open 700,000 Jobs to High-Skilled Workers

The new automated system in business process outsourcing industry will open almost 700,000 new job opportunities to our high-skilled Filipino workers but unfortunately may eliminate 40,000 jobs for low-skilled workers including receptionist and clerks in the country.

According to the Director of IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Alex Tined, their committee needs to teach the workers new jobs. The challenge now is to make sure to have enough manpower to do the mid and high-skill jobs. In order for this plan to pursue, the BPO will open thousands of jobs sooner to establish high-skilled workers.

 
Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines’s Chairman Lito Tayag accepted the new challenges set forth by automation and the effort that may affect workers on the new set of skills specifically the use of cloud, analytic and mobile application.
focal goal of the ‘’ASEAN Community in 2015’’ which the ASEAN Country Regions has convened to form last 2007.


 
‘’We are working closely with Industry, Academe, and Government in terms of preparing our skill or pool of talent for the next set of skill,’’ Tayag said to ANC.
 
For the present days, the BPO industry is one of the highest producers of jobs in the Philippines. Their operation is nearly 15 years where they earned their reputation and gained as the leading provider of outsourced service. Meanwhile, their industry is expecting to have 1.8M employees by 2022 from 1.14M workers today. They also aim to reach the $40B target in annual revenues by 2022.
focal goal of the ‘’ASEAN Community in 2015’’ which the ASEAN Country Regions has convened to form last 2007.



’We have articulated this in our Roadmap 2022 that we want to bring this industry to 1.8M people in 6 years, making us one of the biggest job suppliers in the country together with other multiplier effect in real estate, transportation, and food,’’ Tayag said.

During the previous years, the BPO industry added a high impact to the economy thru the dollars that enter the Philippines because of the different businesses involving BPO.  Currently, our country ranks as the 3rd top BPO destination worldwide.

source: businessnews.com.ph

The Importance of ASEAN integration in the Philippines

The Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) Integration is one of the major pillar and ultimate goal of the ASEAN Community. It is the focal goal of the ‘’ASEAN Community in 2015’’ which the ASEAN Country Regions has convened to form last 2007.



The Philippines as one of the members of the ASEAN countries is an active contributor to the organization since its creation in August 1967 which is expected to expedite their social growth and other aspects of living through a support from the Association.

 According to an expert at the Punongbayan And Araullo CEO Business Forum in Makati City, Philippines is ‘’on track’’ with efforts to integrate its economy with those of its co-member in the Association of South East Asian Nations. Asean Integration as the major pillar of the ASEAN Community will really a big foundation that could help the Philippines to strive more when it comes to trade and finance. Although the Philippines compliance with integration targets through policies and tariff rules decreased to 74% in the 2010 to 2011 review period from 94.55% in 2008 to 2009, the country is still ‘’on track’’ and have chance to play a key role in seamless registration trade, travel and banking, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Dr. Lim Hong Hin said.



The ASEAN Integration in 2015 aims that the Region’s 10 member countries including the Philippines be transformed into a single market and production base that is highly competitive, and fully integrated into the global economy.

As Ayala Corporation Chair Jaime Augusto Zobel De Ayala stated in an interview, Philippines should play an active role in pursuing the integration of Southeast Asan economies. Contrary to fears that the Philippines could lose out in a regime of tighter market competition in the region, Zobel opined that the country actually had comparative advantages that should make integration beneficial to Filipino businesses.

ASEAN Integration would help to lower the cost of living. “Goods produced domestically may not be the cheapest option for the value you want,” Ronald Mendoza, Dean of the Ateneo School of Government, told Rappler on Tuesday, April 25. “If we open up our borders to trade, this is a possibility for us to lower some of the costs that we are faced with, and in a way, what we’re doing here is increasing the purchasing power of the population.” The ASEAN Economic Community aims to minimize or negate levies incurred between countries, which will let the prices of goods to go down. This will now end to a Filipino citizen into a salary which he will really feel its value because he can be able to afford the low cost of services and foods.

ASEAN Integration would also help to boost investment to develop industries in the country and to increase the foreign investment by removing restrictions and adopting international best practices. Another goal of ASEAN Integration is to facilitate the free flow of skilled labor. This would allow the national from ASEAN countries to seek and apply for work abroad. It’s aiming to facilitate the visas and employment passes for professional and skilled workers which will really compensate them and would increase their productivity in work.

The chance to go abroad to work is not only limited for workers but also for students who want to study. ASEAN universities are augmenting their cooperation which will allow increased movement for students in the region. Why is this important?

“Our young people are able to experience going to ancient sites in Myanmar and Cambodia, and going to school in places like Singapore and Indonesia, making friends not just with Filipinos but those of many other nationalities with many other religions, that will hopefully make the next generation a lot more open minded and stronger than this one,” said by Ronald Mendoza.

“They will be much more capable than ours will ever be because of the limitations of what we grew up with. So this I think is what we’re building here,” he said. “When you open up to something like this, and you have a vision of what that can do especially to your young people, it's going to make them a lot stronger. That’s really what we aspire for.”

One thing more, through the ASEAN Integration, member countries support each other in preventing the rampant piracy, terrorism, and drug trafficking which is actually happening at the moment.
 ASEAN integration makes it quicker to achieve these goals by working together, rather than individually. Finally, with their strong determination helping one another and full of cooperation, Philippines, and other South East Asian nation will soon turn to a more and better nation.

source: rappler