A Prayer for OFWs

A Prayer for
OFWs

Dear God,

You crossed every border between divinity and
humanity to make your home with us. Bless our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters
who have travelled to foreign lands with faith in their heart leaving their
families behind as they break through the barriers of people, cultures, and languages
to escape oppression and poverty.

There are
many things going on that are beyond us even with our collective power. We come
to thee in supplication and heartfelt pleadings as we are mindful of the ordeals
of others.

We thank thee for hearing the prayers of your
people as China grant reprieve to our three OFWs and may the Chinese government
grant a lesser penalty to their case.

We pray for the thousands of OFWs who were incarcerated
and imprisoned in the Middle East, Asia and other continents, may thou please grant
them the chance to get back to their families and find a new life, justice and
freedom as they entrust their lives into thy hands. May Thou enlighten our leaders
to put the plights of distressed OFWs as a priority and withdraw from plans to
cut the DFA social service and legal assistance funds.

We
pray to Thee that our OFWs in Taiwan will soon be reprieved of taking all the
heat of the current Taiwan-Philippines rift. May the government emissary would
soon find resolution to this issue so that those more than five thousand
scheduled for deployment will now be allowed to take on their jobs, and
the nearly a hundred thousand currently employed may keep their jobs and be
able to sustain their families. 

We pray that may Thou please keep our overseas
Filipinos safe in the escalating conflict in countries where democratic
renaissance in Muslim nations is unfolding from Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain
and Libya as they await the immediate repatriation efforts being taken by our
government agencies.

We pray for Thy protection
and guidance of the more than thirty thousand OFW’s in Libya. May their
families in the Philippines be freed from fear and worries of their condition
and that the OFWs safety is assured despite the worsening condition.

We
pray that may Thou save from harm our Filipino workers in war torn countries of
Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as OFWs in Nigeria, Somalia, Lebanon and Jordan,
who have taken great risks to continue their fight against poverty to support
their families in the Philippines despite of the work deployment ban imposed in
these countries.

We pray for the safety of the Filipino nurses trapped in the
rubbles during the earthquake in New Zealand, and the rest of the OFWs and
Expats around the world who are suffering from natural calamities, diseases and
injustices that they may find comfort through faith in Thee.

Hear our prayer Lord, to end the corruption that has
become the plague of our nation, to end poverty that afflicts and besets Thy
people, to end violence and war that displaces millions of our Filipinos from
their homes, which separate, divide and break families.

As we await for the signs of time when the Filipinos around
the world, the fathers and mothers brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters
may be reunited as one happy family.

We pray for Thine tender love and kind mercy, with our
faith, with our hope, with our love to thee, we pray for power greater than us
all, we pray for divine intervention.

This is a joint call from the Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards, or
PEBA, Inc, along with its 300+ KABLOGS, the RMN News Bantay OFW radio program
and the Blas Ople Policy Center and we are asking for your prayers or support
by reposting this to your blog, posting this link in your FB, Friendster and
Twitter accounts or sending this as email to your networks.

The original photo where the image was taken in this post was an official entry by
Erwin Serrano from Riyadh Saudi Arabia, 10^th rank winner to the 2010
PEBA International Photo Contest.

©2011 KABLOGS, Blogs ng mga Kababayan sa Abroad

DESERT AQUAFORCE DECLARED A BLOG WAR AGAINST ARVIN DE LA PENA

12midnight, Saudi Time, the post of Arvin de la Pena's Mukhang Pera is gone. He either deleted or unpublished it. But no apology expressed.May this will serve as a lesson that blogging comes responsibility.

KABLOGS posted this declaration of war not to wage war, but to be serve as a warning that we are reading and we are watching and we are aware of what's going on.

NJ of Desert Aquaforce said this Declaration of War

Arvin de la Pena's post on Mukhang Pera is a discriminate, reckless, foolish, rash and irresponsible post of one who claimed to be an ex-OFW.

It is a barefaced ridicule and contempt of the sacrifices of the Filipino Expatriates and Overseas Filipino Workers by branding them as money-faced, unprincipled, and good for nothing slaves for money in other more progressive countries.

Whether it was a satire or whatever figure of speech he may have wanted to portray in his post, he failed to achieve it. He may have added the statistics of visitors to his blog but it was done in a very distasteful manner.

He is one blogger who has overstepped the bounds of sensitivity and responsibility of a decent mind of an accountable and responsible blogger.

We therefore declare a blog war against this person who continuously persist in exploiting, abusing, and maligning the Overseas Filipino Worker.

This declaration of blog war will only be lifted upon this person's retraction and an apology for his irresponsible blogpost!

Read the rest of this entry here.

I am honestly appalled by his nasty comments and blatant mockeries of the hardships of the millions of the OFW's around the world.

-Mr. Thoughtskoto

KABLOGS STATEMENT AGAINST AN ANTI-OFW BLOGGER MIKE AVENUE

On Mike Avenue Pinoy Blog’s ‘Tsokolate’

PEBA and KaBLOGs MANIFESTO

So that the bloggerworld and everyone may know...

We believe in the right to freedom of speech as a human right.

We believe in the freedom to hold opinions without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

We believe in the right to freedom of expression to receive and impart information.

We believe that blogging is an expression of one’s opinions, personal experiences, hobbies, commentaries, diaries and we further believe that every blogger has the right to publish his personal expressions and opinions.

We believe that the exercise of these freedoms is not an absolute right but carries with it duties and responsibilities, that may be subject to restrictions or penalties on specific grounds as prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests and protection of the reputation or rights of others.

We believe that majority of the Overseas Filipino Workers have chosen to leave the Philippines to seek and search for better livelihood opportunities abroad so they may be able to support themselves and their families back home.

We believe that the OFW’s search for a greener pasture is not at all that easy and yet hundreds of thousands of OFWs have created names for them and have excelled in their chosen fields of endeavor, setting the world standards for nobility and for hard work.

We believe that there is nothing wrong with doing an honest day’s work as a domestic help or as construction worker or doing any other menial and blue collar jobs.

We believe that OFWs whether professionals or not should be given honor and respect.

We believe that the OFW is the Hope of the Nation, Gift to the World!

With these guiding beliefs:

We regard Mr. Mike Avenue’s Pinoy Blog post on "Tsokolate" as one that lacked research and a flagrant ignorance of the truth about Overseas Filipino workers and expatriates.

We regard this lack of truth and ignorance as especially inexcusable from one who feigns intelligence and high learning and coax people into belief and following.

We regard his statements: “minumura ng amo kapalit ng dolyar” and “humahalik sa paa ng mga dayuhan” as blatant mockeries of the sacrifices of the Overseas Filipino Workers and expatriates and are hasty generalizations of the living and working conditions of the Filipino expatriates and OFWs.

We regard his post as tactless and offensive, trying to make a lame attempt to sarcasm that failed to be funny, at the expense of the Overseas Filipino Workers.

We regard his post as a clear display of arrogance, done in a distasteful manner with blind indifference and unjust condemnation of the millions of hardworking OFWs who work long hours to earn an honest buck.

We regard his post to have overstepped the bounds of sensitivity and responsibility of a decent mind and an accountable and sensible blogger.

Therefore, we at PEBA and KaBLOGs and the THOUGHTSKOTO family will not allow this kind of humiliation to pass without us making a stand.

We strongly condemn this irresponsible blog post and Mike Avenue.

We consider Mike Avenue as an Anti-OFW persona.

We demand a retraction and an apology from Mike Avenue of Pinoy Blogs for this irresponsible blogpost!

We are Filipinos and we should stand together and strive for a better Philippines!

©2009 KaBLOGs

ANTI-OFW 'TSOKOLATE' by MIKE AVENUE

ITO ANG KABUUANG POST NIYA.

TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 2009

TSOKOLATE

Ang kabuuang post ni Mike

THOUGHTSKOTO ANSWER SA ENTRY NA ITO DITO

We strongly condemn ang ano mang pang-aapi at panglalait sa mga Pinoy na patuloy na nagpapakahirap para sa mga mahal sa Buhay sa ibang bansa. Si Mike AVENUE ay isang Filipino Blogger na irresponsable at di dapat pamarisan. Please forward this to as much people as you can. Pakikisama sa mga OFW's na kagaya namin.