By Vir B. Lumicao
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| The detained group enjoying Shenzhen's attractions while Escamillan slipped away |
Fourteen Filipina domestic workers who have gone back to
Hong Kong late last night, Jan. 30, after being detained at the Lowu border for
about 26 hours, say they are relieved
that most of their employers welcomed them back.
However, they are furious at a member of their tour group,
Josephine Escamillan, who went missing during the Shenzhen tour, causing
authorities there to detain them.
The 14 who joined a tour organized by the social media group
OFWs in Hong Kong,
were released by the Chinese authorities after a whole day
of negotiations with officers of the Philippine Consulates in Hong Kong and
Guangzhou.
At least one of them said her employer was concerned upon
learning that she had been prevented from returning to Hong Kong on Jan. 29.
“OK naman si amo, nasa
China siya. Kung di pa nga kami nakauwi kagabi pupuntahan niya dapat ako ngayon,
kasi kahapon nasa bundok sila,” she said in an SMS to another member of the
group.
Regina de Andres, a moderator of OFWHK who led the tour,
said she did not encounter any problems with her own employer.
“Wala namang sinabi
basta alam nila ang nangyari,” she said in a FB chat message. Lahat naman kami mostly OK.”
She said the helpers were all back at work on Tuesday,
despite it being the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday.
De Andres was profusely thankful to Hermogenes Cayabyab Jr,
the assistance to nationals officer who was sent to Lowu to help negotiate the
release of the 14.
She said she was forced to drop the name of Cayabyab when
she got into an argument with the Chinese immigration officers who stopped them
from leaving.
“Kaya nung nagsabi ako
na kilala ako ng taga-ATN like nila makausap si Sir Junie (Cayabyab). Kaya dun
na ako nakipag-argunento dahil sa totoo lang, kung wala si Sir Junie till next
week pa kami doon. Pero nagpwersa at halos lahat ng contact na ang kinontak din
kaya nakauwi kami agad,” De Andres said.
In contrast, De Andres slammed the ATN at the Consulate in
Guangzhou. “Nakipag-argumento ako sa taga-Guangzhou dahil unang salita nila parang
ayaw pa kami atupagin,” she said.
However, Hong Kong ATN head, Vice Consul Alex Vallespin, said
it was the PCG in Guangzhou that sent a note
verbale (a diplomatic missive) to Chinese authorities to secure the group’s
release.
Vallespin credited his counterpart in Guangzhou, in particular,
for taking all possible steps to get the OFWs back home as soon as possible.
“I requested my batchmate vice consul in Guangzhou to call
their contacts in immigration and security departments, “ said Vallespin in a
text message to The SUN last night, explaining how the two diplomatic posts
worked for the OFWs’ release.
From their side, he said they contacted Hong Kong
immigration to help facilitate the entry of Cayabyab to Shenzhen.
Meanwhile, De Andres was similarly furious at the Chinese
immigration staff at the border who she said did not even attend to their
needs. She said it was their tour guides
who provided them with food, and helped her page the missing
tour member, Escamillan.
But her anger was mostly directed at Escamillan, on whom she
heaped scorn in her Facebook posts and in online chats.
“Kapal ng mukha ng babae
na yun, kuya. Till now nanginginig
ako sa galit,” she said in an FB chat message.
De Andres said it was Escamillan who begged to join her group
when they had to be split from a bigger batch of 28 travelers at Lowu.
Everybody in the group said they had no idea that the woman was
set to run away.
Asked if she would lead another group tour to China again in
the future, De Andres said: “For sure,
Kuya. Pero ibahin ko na ang pag-organize.”
She organized the tour with the help of Kathy Travel HK,
whose owners rushed with Cayabyab to Lowu after hearing of the snag. - The SUN Hong Kong
