The PASSWORD

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF WEBPASSMember: National Public Schools Publications Vol. XXX No. 2

TESDA rolls out training courses on ships’ catering services

Filipinos aiming to develop a career at sea can now turn to the Ships’ Cater-ing Services courses recently rolled

out by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The curriculum on Ships’ Catering

Services NC I, NC II and NC III are now available to training providers and techni-cal vocational schools to develop potential workers skilled in preparing, handling and serving the food and drink requirements of

the seafarers, delivering basic housekeep-ing services, practicing food safety, sanita-

tion and hygiene. Secretary Joel Villanueva, TES-DA Director General, signed a circular that deployed the new Training Regulations on Ships’ Catering Services. The circular took

effect on July 19, 2013 The units of competency com-prising the Ships’ Catering Services cover

practical cookery, food and personal hy-giene, food storage, stock control, environ-mental protection and catering and health

and safety. The development of the new Training Regulations on Ships’ Catering Services is in compliance with the require-ments of Regulation 3.2 of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, which will come into force on August 20, 2013.

“In line with this, all TVET insti-tutions offering programs related to Ships’ Cook, Ships’ Catering and Ships’ Culinary must align their programs to conform to the new Training Regulations. They are given one month upon the roll-out of the TRs or until August 19, 2013 to do so,” Villanueva

said. Villanueva also announced that TESDA has started accrediting Lead As-sessors and Assessment Centers in Metro Manila and in the Regions. One of the accredited assessment centers in Ships’ Catering Services NC I, NC II & NC III is the Norwegian Training Center-Manila (NTC-M). It is hoped that the system will produce qualified catering staff compliant

to MLC 2006. In order to empower the current Filipino catering staff onboard, the TESDA website (www.tesda.gov.ph) can be ac-cessed wherein Self-Assessment Guides for the relevant Training Regulations is available. In the process, the Filipino cater-ing staff can be prepared to take the Na-tional Competency Assessment when they disembark, thus enhancing the chances of

hurdling the

2 The Password

7 Napoles conduits named in NBI affidavits

Senior staff members of four senators and a staff mem-ber of a congressman served as conduits for chan-neling funds to Janet Lim-Napoles, according to the whistle-blowers in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

In affidavits submitted to the National Bureau of Investiga-tion, which is investigating the racket allegedly mastermind-ed by Napoles, the whistle-blowers identified the conduits as Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Gonzales-Reyes, chief of staff of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile; Jose Antonio Evan-gelista, Enrile’s deputy chief of staff; Pauline Labayen, deputy chief of staff of Sen. Jinggoy Es-trada; Richard Cambe, chief political adviser to Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.; Jen Corpuz, a member of the staff of Sen. Vicente Sotto III; and Lourd Dexter D. Manalo, chief of staff of former Rep. Conrado Estrella. The whistle-blowers also named Ruby Tua-son, former social secretary of former President Joseph Estrada, now mayor of Manila, as Na-poles’ conduit in the offices of Enrile and Senator Estrada. They also named a certain Mae Catherine Santos as Napoles’ connection to Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sen. Loren Legarda. The whistle-blowers did not link Legarda and Sotto to Napoles’ alleged racket in their earlier dis-closures. Legarda said Mae Catherine Santos was nei-ther a member of her staff nor a consultant to her. “I know her as she has been in the government, in the National Anti-Poverty Commission,” Legarda said. “Anyone who uses my name or my office may be held criminally liable,” she said in a text message. Asked if she denies any dealing with any nongovernment or-ganization associated with Napoles, Legarda said, “I do not know any of these people and have never dealt with them.” Legarda said, “Any person outside of my of-

fice who claims to be handling my projects is unau-thorized and indulging in malicious and vicious im-putations and should be held criminally liable.” She added, “We continually conduct due diligence as we al-ways do in the monitoring of all our projects.” Sotto said he knew a Jen Corpuz, but denied having links to Napoles. “The Jen Corpuz I know is with the media and helps my office in our media requirements. I’m not aware

of any Napoles connec-tion to my office,” Sotto said in a text message. Senator Estrada’s chief of staff, lawyer Raquel Mejia, confirmed that Labayen is connected with their office. “She is the appointment sec-retary of the senator. As for Ruby Tuazon, we don’t have any staff by that name,” Me-jia said in a text message. “The senator had not read nor heard of the allegations about Ms. Labayen’s con-nection or relation with Ms. Napoles,” Mejia added. The other senators had yet to comment on the whis-tle-blowers’ statements as of press time last night. Enrile was not imme-

diately available for comment, but an earlier text mes-sage from his former chief of staff, Reyes, involving an-other issue indicated her denial of being a “contact” of Benhur Luy, when he was involved in the racket. In another controversy earlier this year, En-rile said that he had authorized his former chief of staff to sign documents on his behalf. “I do not know Benhur Luy and I chal-lenge him to prove his claim that I am ‘their con-tact’—whoever he was referring to,” Reyes said. Luy is the principal witness in the pork barrel scam. Marcos’ staff said his phone was out of the cov-erage area, while the staff of Revilla said he was in the middle of relief distribution in Laguna.

3The Password

Ship runs aground in Palawan

MANILA, Philippines—A foreign ves-sel ran aground in Palawan on Saturday morning, according to a Philippine Coast

Guard (PCG) report released late Saturday afternoon. According to PCG spokesperson Cmdr. Armand Balilo, the MT Glenn Australia ran aground some 600 meters from the shore south of Barangay Panlaitan, Busuanga, Palawan. The vessel, skippered by Burma (Myanmar) na-tional Capt. Myint Swe, is said to be owned by Glenn

Defense Marine (Asia) Pte. Ltd. and operated by Singa-pore-based Shokuyo Navigation Co. Apart from the ship captain, also on board the ship were nine crew mem-bers—eight Burmese and one Filipino. PCG District Palawan Command-er Erick Evangelista immediately directed PCG Station Coron to coordinate on towing operations to free the vessel. I n i -

tial investigation showed that the vessel was loaded with 1,010.794 tons of palm oil. Balilo said there was no oil spill at the site of the incident as the ship was a double-hulled vessel. Tina G. Santos

Migrant workers in Hong Kong started Thurs-

day the chain of mass protests for the abolition of the Priority Develop-ment Assistance Fund or “pork barrel”, Radyo In-quirer 990 AM reported.

Hundreds of Hong Kong Overseas Filipino Work-ers (OFWs) will march to the Philippine Consulate General’s office to express their displeasure over the alleged misuse of the “pork barrel” fund by legislators.

The protest stemmed from a series of exposes by the Philippine Daily Inquirer

against the “pork barrel” and a Commission on Au-dit report that virtually confirmed these allegations. “The corruption stemming from the pork barrel given to the members of the congress and even to the President is unraveling,” United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK) secretary general Eman C. Villanueva said. Aside from scrapping the “pork”, the Hong Kong-based group called for the prosecution of government officials involved in the rechannel-ing of billion-peso funds meant for social servic-es such as public education, health, services and housing to bogus non-governmental organizations.

OFWs in Hong Kong start chain of protest vs ‘pork barrel’

Editors-In-Cheif: Doris Yvone C. DurangoAssistant Editor- In-Cheif : Cheilo D. PalawanManaging Editor: Hazel B. LasalaFeature Writer: Donabel G. PaguiaNews Writer: Bria P. Federicos

Know your Enemy and Know Yourselfand You can Fight a Hundred Battles

Without Disaster.

Sun Tzu

4 The Password

Filipinos in Egypt told again: Leave now

MANILA, Philippines—Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has renewed his call on Filipinos in Egypt to leave that country, citing the worsening violence there. The Philippine Embassy in Cairo again advised Phil-

ippine citizens across Egypt to immediately contact the mission and sign up for repatriation. They were also advised to stay indoors while awaiting evacuation as the country remained under a state of emergency. “Our two visits to Cairo within the last 12 days to assess the security situation has convinced us that the marked deterioration of peace and order, exacerbated by the complex political challenges, has called for the raising of our alert level to mandatory repatriation,” said Del Rosario, who arrived this week from his second visit to that city. Crisis alert The foreign secretary ordered the raising of crisis alert level 4 for the estimated 6,000 Filipinos in Egypt on Monday. This means a mandatory repatriation to the Philippines paid for by the government. The Philippine government meanwhile has issued an order barring the deployment of new workers to Egypt and the return there of Egypt-based Filipinos currently on vacation out of the country. “This is the highest level possible, and we therefore strongly urge our countrymen in Egypt to register with the Philip-pine Embassy in Cairo for early repatriation,” said Del Rosario. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier reported that the ini-tial offer of repatriation was being met with indifference by the majority of the Filipinos in Egypt who did not want to leave and lose their jobs. Most Filipinos in Egypt are employed as skilled and household service workers in Cairo and Alexandria. The DFA is currently arranging the repatriation of at least 16 Filipinos from the Arab country, the second batch of return-ees following the group of five that arrived last Wednesday. Up to 900 people have died across Egypt this month amid clashes between security forces and support-ers of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

One Filipino-Egyptian teenager was hit by a stray bullet on Aug. 15 near her home in Helwan, Cai-ro, where frequent clashes have occurred. She was reported to be recovering from her wound. vigilant On its Facebook page, the Philippine Embassy in Cairo urged Filipi-nos to get in touch with the mission and be vigilant about their personal safety.