Duterte wants department, bank for OFWs

A department devoted entirely to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and a bank to accept their remittances: these are just some of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte's plans to help OFWs if he is elected president.

Duterte said reading about the abuses heaped on OFWs by their foreign employers has become almost an "everyday spectacle." This is the reason why he wants to set up an entire department to help these overseas Pinoys, which now number at least 4.21 million, according to 2013 data from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO).

He said the OFW bank will help overseas Pinoys send their money quickly.

He said envoys and other Filipino officials in foreign embassies should also keep track of overseas Pinoys.

"At the first sign of abuse and if they want to go home, libre na yan. We will fund it. If they get sick, I will pay the hospital. We will have a credit line in all the hospitals. Kung nabugbog...bigyan na ng ticket," he said.

"If they want the contract suspended , they will have the legal aid."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Duterte tops new SWS survey

MANILA - Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte wrestled the top spot of presidential race away from Senator Grace Poe, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The poll, conducted on March 30 - April 2 and commissioned by BusinessWorld, saw 27% of the candidates picking the tough-talking mayor.

In the survey conducted after the second presidential debate in Cebu, Duterte surged four points from his 23% in the March 8 - 11 SWS survey.

Poe, meanwhile, ranked second with 23%, six percentage points down from her 29% in the previous poll.

Given the survey's margin of error of +/-3, the senator was statistically tied with Vice President Jejomar Binay who got 20%.

Binay jumped two points from the previous poll's 18%.



At third place was Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas with 18%.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago steadied at 3%.

The BusinessWorld-commissioned survey was done using face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide.

Speaking to dzMM, political analyst Prof. Edmund Tayao attributed the rise in Duterte's popularity to the 71-year-old mayor's performance in the March 20 #PiliPinas Debates compared to that of Poe, the ertswhile frontrunner.

"Hindi lang naman iyung mensahe ang napapansin ng mga nanonood kundi pati na rin iyung composure at personalidad ng kandidato... Si Senator Grace, halimbawa, kahit malaman ang sinasabi at alam nating preparado, e parang napikon at kumbaga, hindi na nga siya sumusunod sa rules," Tayao said.

"Siguro isa ito doon sa pinagkumparahan ng mga nanonood at nakita si Mayor Duterte na cool na cool. Mas alam niya ang ginagawa at sinasabi niya."

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) professor added that Duterte's memorable one liners during the face-off may have also appealed to voters.



MOBILE SURVEY

The popularity figures of the candidates in the face-to-face polls differed slightly from the Bilang Pilipino-SWS Mobile Survey conducted last March 30.

Duterte's rating was down four points if compared to the 31% he got in the last mobile survey.

Poe, meanwhile, was the frontrunner with a preference rating of 34 %.

in the mobile poll, Binay placed third with 20% while Roxas followed him with 17 %.

Roxas saw his number decrease by 1 percent from 19 percent in early March.

On the other hand, Santiago was flat at 3 percent.

Aside from the second presidential debate, the poll was conducted also after the Supreme Court's ruled in favor Poe's presidential bid.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com