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Philippines: Sydnet Advises Filipinos on New Amendments to Australian Migration Act

PRESS RELEASE
Department of Foreign Affairs
2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines ▪ Tel. No. 834-4000
▪ www.dfa.gov.ph

PHILIPPINE CONSULATE GENERAL, SYDNEY ADVISES FILIPINOS ON NEW AMENDMENTS TO
AUSTRALIAN MIGRATION ACT

12 April 2007 ? Consul General Maria Theresa P. Lazaro of the Philippine
Consulate General in Sydney, Australia reported to the Department of Foreign
Affairs that recent amendments the Australian Government passed to its
existing Migration Act of 1958 imposing stiffer sanctions on employers who
take in overstaying foreigners or those individuals who are in breach of
visa conditions will make employment more difficult for Filipino overstayers
and ?tourists,? as well as the Filipino-Australian employers, recruiters and
migration agents who exploit them in the guise of compassion or ?pakiusap?.

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Diagnosing Mindanao


Most Affected. Poor families in the rural areas, such as this father and his two children, are most affected by the lack of resources for health. (davaotoday.com photo)

Mothers feeding their infants with condensed milk. A flea from a buffalo is considered a cure for toothache. The sick crossing rivers and climbing mountains to get to a nearest hospital. Most pregnant women not being able to see a midwife, let alone a doctor. These are the stories from poor communities that a health group gathered in its attempt to diagnose the state of people’s health in Mindanao.

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY ? The conventional wisdom is that, poverty being so widespread in the Philippines, the state of health of poor Filipinos leaves much to be desired. In Mindanao, where most of the country?s poorest provinces are located, the problem is particularly more acute.

A recent survey conducted by the nongovernment health group Community Based Health Services Association (CBHSA) affirmed many of the sad realities of the Philippine health care system, particularly in Mindanao. Many of the afflictions Mindanaoans suffer were preventable, the study found out, but these diseases became chronic and incurable because of the widespread poverty and lack of health services.

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The Happy Life and Violent Death of Grecil Buya


(Photo courtesy of MindaNews)

Grecil Buya was a lively girl who liked to play with spiders and thought TV noontime show host Willie Revillame was a great artist. She excelled in school, finishing Grade Two with honors and with the award “Most Neat and Clean.” She took on chores, like minding the carabao. On March 31, the nine-year-old girl was killed by soldiers during an encounter with the New People’s Army. The soldiers claimed the nine-year-old girl aimed an Armalite rifle at them, forcing them to shoot her. Family and friends were saddened by Grecil’s death but are outraged at the allegation that she was a communist guerrilla.

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