Is Saudi Arabia the Last Piece Before the Dominoes Fall? Part 1 of 2

The uprising fever has now spread into Saudi Arabia - the largest producer and exporter of petroleum liquids and the second largest producer of crude oil in the world behind Russia.

And if Saudi Arabia starts to shake, the earth will rattle. And I'm not talking of the earthquakes that's now rocking countries around the world.

The Middle East situation is starting to really really get serious. We all know that it all started with one man burning himself in public in Tunisia. Then we've seen and continue to see uprisings in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, and Syria.

On the surface, the uprisings in the Middle East looks like a revolt of people clamoring for democracy. Maybe it is. But the real danger is that the turmoil in the Middle East opened the doors for the extremist and radicals to try to gain control.

Look at Egypt. The exit of Mubarak did not end the Egyptian crisis, it was just a pause. The Mubarak allies are still there trying make a come back in disguise. Then we now have extremist coming in the scene. Fact is, they were just waiting for the right moment.

Then there's Libya going into civil war that sent the world price of oil soaring all across the world market.

And now, Saudi Arabia is starting to itch. And Saudi Arabia is one country that the world can't afford to see implode. No, we can't afford to see a Saudi Arabia uprising. At this point I don't see any eminent danger yet in Saudi Arabia. The protests that is already starting there should stop now.

It's all to obvious that the economic analysts in Wall Street are trying there best to downplay the whole Middle East situation. The Obama administration is playing the same tune too as the Wall Street gamers. The US administration is now on the "foreign policy" level of alert.

Oh the US administration are so careful about saying something on the economic impact of the Middle East uprisings to the already weak and troubled American economy which is being continuously dragged down by politics.

Hopefully, the Middle East crisis will wake up the American politicians and the media to put their acts together or else. America cannot afford another economic turmoil. No they can't!

And here's the big one now for America. A situation that America cannot afford to happen. A situation that can bring America down.

Here it is: If America commits a mistake on how it handles the current Middle East crises, a mistake that will cause the revolting masses in the Middle East to turn their anger against the United States, then America is in serious trouble.

And that mistake can start to happen now in Libya and, more importantly, in Saudi Arabia.

Why Did China Postpone the Execution of 3 Pinoys?

In my previous post I raised a question, "Are the Chinese Going to Kill the Filipinos?"

At the end of the article I placed a poll with a question "Do you think China will commute the death sentence of the 3 Filipinos?" 100% of those who participated answered "NO".


Two of the convicted Filipino drug traffickers are scheduled to die by lethal injection on February 21 and the other 1 on February 22. This could be the first ever execution of a convicted Filipino drug trafficker in China.

Well, we will not find out yet because the Chinese "postponed" the scheduled execution. This happened after Philippine vice president Jejomar Binay was finally allowed to officially plea in behalf of the Philippine government by allowing the vice president to visit China.

Part of the joint statement by the Philippine "plea" delegation and the Chinese officials says, 

"The two sides expressed the determination to work together and make joint efforts in further strengthening the relationship of strategic cooperation."

Wow! What a vague political statement. What are they trying to say?

"...strengthening the relationship of strategic cooperation."

My question is why did China postpone the execution of the 3 Pinoys? What did the Binay "plea" delegation promised the Chinese government in exchange for the postponement? I hope Binay did not promise the moon and stars to the Chinese.

I am hoping that a real, fair, and mutual cooperation was the deal. But can the party that is the one that pleads expect a fair exchange?

This could also be a test if Binay has the skill of a high caliber diplomat.

Maybe the deal is that the Chinese will increase it's vigilance against drug trafficking from their own end and the Philippines will do the same. This is as far as it can get.

But can the Philippines do its part? There's just so much money that can be made out of illegal drugs. It can easily corrupt anyone.

Illegal drugs is really menacing and brings unspeakable evil to a country and its people.

China suffered a lot from drug addiction that the country was once called the "nation of addicts". The culprit is a nice looking flowering plant called opium poppy or papaver somniferum.

Remember the Opium Wars in the 19th century where the Chinese lost the not one but 2 wars against Britain and was forced to sign a treaty where China was compelled to allow importation of opium into China monopolized by the British East India Company?

Remember Lim Seng, the Chinese national who was convicted of drug trafficking in the Philippines in 1972?

Capital punishment was in effect and Lim Seng was executed by firing squad and televised on national TV.

The Philippines, in fact, was the first to execute a convicted Chinese drug trafficker and not the other way around.

Maybe, just maybe, a lesson will be learned out of all of this.

OFWs are suppose to bring pride to their families and the country, not shame and disgrace.

Are the Chinese Going to Kill the Filipinos?

The execution by lethal injection of the 3 Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking in China on Monday, February 21, is not about the laws in China. It's about where the Philippines is standing with its relationship with China. Period.

Why? Because if we base it on the Chinese law, it's simple - death penalty!

Yes, China said that this is an independent case. Independent from what? Oh come on please.

Independent from the disastrous, awry, bungled, messed-up, or whatever you wanna call it hostage "drama" last year that killed 8 Chinese tourists?

Independent from the ever-unresolved Spratly Island dispute?

If the Americans can't budge China in many ways than one, can the Philippines negotiate a commutation of the death penalty? And the case is drug trafficking!

The Chinese government had executed drug traffickers before from Japan, Britain, and Nigeria.

Let me ask you, do you think China will spare the 3 Pinoys from death on Monday?

Yes or no?

Happy Valentine's Day

To all Filipinos around the globe,

Happy Valentine's Day!!

May the uniquely-Filipino LOVE in your hearts continue to keep you and your family together, near or far.

Cheers to the Global Filipinos.

Global Filipino Manny Pacquiao Invited to White House

It brings me great pride to know that our very own Global Filipino, Manny Pacquiao, got invited by the world's most powerful man, US President Barak Obama, to visit the White House.

Is the Philippine Government Ready to Evacuate Pinoys in Egypt?

Source: heraldsun.com.au

Is the Philippine government ready to evacuate Filipinos in Egypt?

I don't think so.

What I hear so far from an official statement from the Malacanang is that Filipinos are safe in Egypt. Reports also say that the Philippine embassy in Cairo is still to finalize exit routes and relocation sites.

Recommended Website for OFWs, Filipino Job Seekers

Are you an OFW who wants to move to a better job?

You are not an OFW but wish to get a job abroad and don't know where to start?

Do you know of anyone (a relative or a friend) who wants to become an OFW?

Or you simply want to know something about jobs abroad? What it's like to be an OFW?

Solita Magahum Wakefield: TOFA Awardee 2010

"...visible in one's community and profession."
"...visibly active in promoting things Philippines, and in assisting the Philippines."
"...must highlight positive Filipino image."

These are among the criteria of Washington DC-based FIL-AM IMAGE Magazine's TWENTY OUTSTANDING FILIPINOS ABROAD (TOFA). FIL-AM IMAGE Magazine also runs the Pinoy Global Online News.

Kudos to Solita Magahum Wakefield for being 1 of the 20 TOFA awardees for the year 2010!

Years ago I had the opportunity, as a volunteer, to join Solita in several of her philanthropic community service missions in the Philippines and those experiences were really heartbreaking and made me realize that I am a lucky individual.

Not One But Two Pinoys Gets United Nations Award

Congratulations to Global Filipinos Edwin Cuenco and Edith Marie Garingalao for being among the winners of the 2010 United Nations Online Volunteering Awards!

Cuenco was cited for his free graphic design services to various NGOs. In particular, Cuenco, a graphics design teacher in Arkansas Tech University, made promotional graphic design services for the Nigerian-based Association Against Women Export (AAWE) which greatly helped the organizations's advocacy against human trafficking and fund raising objectives. Click here to find out  more what Edwin Cuenco did for the United Nations.

More achievements of Edwin Cuenco.

Garingalao (hmmm.. Ilonggo-sounding last name) was part of the online volunteer team that put together a breakthrough health care program for the rural village of Kitega in Uganda, Africa. Find out more on this page.

Do you want to be a UN online volunteer? Click this United Nations Online Volunteer.


Mabuhay ang Global Filipino!

Pinoy Makes it to the Top in the U.S.

Did you know that another Filipino made it to the top in the United States?

How to Earn Dollars Without Leaving Your Home, Series Post No. 2

In my first post on How to Earn Dollars Without Leaving Your Home , I featured  the top five hundred online outsourcing website - oDesk.

Now I will introduce you to another top five hundred website called eLance.

eLance works pretty much like oDesk in many ways except that, and this is big time for me, the former charges a one-time registration fee for employers and more fees for "connects".

But surely there must be something about eLance that keeps it on number 383 on Alexa's rating. oDesk is number 313.

And by the way, I'd you to take a look at Alexa. This is one fantastic website-rating company that calls itself a "Website Information Company". And rightly so. So if you want to research the stats websites, check out Alexa.

Now going back to my feature site, eLance, I like you to be the judge. Click here to go to the eLance website.

Happy job hunting.

LIVE-IN CAREGIVERS IN CANADA GETS BIG BOOST

Did you know that Ontario, Canada has one of the best protection laws for live-in caregivers?

Enacted into law by the provincial legislation of Ontario, Canada in December of 2009 and took effect in March 2010, the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act (EPFNA) of 2009, specifically protects foreign national live-in caregivers in Ontario greater protection against recruiters' fees.

According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), the following are the highlights of the EPFNA:

• Ban on fees charged to live-in caregivers by recruiters, either directly or indirectly, or by anyone on behalf of a recruiter;
• Preventing employers from recovering, directly or through a third party, recruitment or placement costs from live-in caregivers; 
• Imposing fines of up to 50,000 Canadian Dollars and a year in jail if anyone charges a placement or recruitment fee;
• Prohibiting the practice of taking a caregiver’s personal documents such as passport or work permit;
• Prohibiting reprisals against caregivers for exercising their rights under the legislation; and,
• Allowing live-in caregivers up to 3 ½ years to make a complaint.

The EPFNA will certainly make life for foreign live-in caregivers in Ontario, Canada a lot lot more rewarding. I hope other countries will follow suit.

To see more of the POEA's page click on this link EPFNA of 2009.

For more resources on the EPFNA of Ontrario, Canada, click on the following links.
http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/is_fn_epfn.php
http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/other/filipino/is_fn_epfn.pdf

Nurses and Caregivers for Japan

The POEA has recently announced that Japan is now open for application for the 3rd batch of nurses and caregivers.

According to the POEA, the deadline for submission of documents is already on January 6, 2011. That's barely 2 days from this blog posting.

So I will not add anymore to this post. If you're a nurse or a caregiver or know someone who is, you will be doing them a big favor by letting them know.

Go ahead and click on this link now to find out more. Nurses and Caregivers for Japan.

Happy job hunting.

HOW TO EARN DOLLARS WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR HOME, Series Post No. 1

I would like to start the New Year of 2011 by sharing with you great ways of making money without leaving your home.

But before I start I'd like to clarify a couple of things:

• I am doing this post, and all succeeding posts, on this subject matter under my Global Filipino blog because i believe that one does not have to be working or residing outside of the Philippines to be a Global Filipino;
• To those Filipinos who are already working outside of the country as OFWs, this could be a way of earning more (dollars);
• I am assuming that people do not have a lot of time reading and absorbing tons of information they encounter in the worldwide web. And for that reason, I will do this as a series of posts (take note of the "Series Post No. 1" in the title of this post); and

My real intention really is to help or, more appropriately, "encourage" people to maximize their time and turn those "idle" moments into real money making activities.

So let's get on with it!

Today, I'm going to show you how to make money online that requires no direct expense. All it takes is your time and, yes, the desire to earn. I said "no direct expense" because obviously it will cost you something to access the internet. Right?

Are you an 8 to 5 worker who need an extra source of income? Or are you someone who plan to retire and is looking for something worthwhile to do after retirement? Are you a housewife who wants to make money at the luxury of being in your house? If so, then this is for you.

In this post, I'm going to feature oDesk - a website where freelancers get to meet people or companies who need services such such as data entry, research, computer programming, marketing strategists, and even virtual assistant, etc. You name it, it's all there.

I find this website user-friendly with some cool features such as:

1. Email notification of the available type of jobs that you opted to follow. For instance, if you chose to be notified of all available data entry jobs, oDesk automatically sends you the latest available data entry jobs right into your email;
2. A Skills Test that will help you boost your qualification. I suggest you take as many skills test as you can. The good thing is, if you are not satisfied with the result of a skills test, you can choose not to show it and you can schedule a retake. And the cool thing is- it's free. Other similar websites charges you a fee for taking skills test. A turn off actually.

In short, what you do is register in oDesk and carefully study it's features and what it can do. Take time to set up your oDesk profile which include setting up your resume, take skills test, etc.

When you're ready, search for jobs being posted, review them if it suits your preference, then bid for the job.

You will find out everything you need to know once you get to the oDesk website.

I wish you all the best!! And watch out for my next post.

Make that move now and click on the link to find out more about this post's feature - oDesk.