By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Congen says HK is open to accepting the yellow cards as proof of vaccination in Phl |
Consul General Raly Tejada has clarified that talks are still
ongoing with Hong Kong officials on how vaccination records issued in the
Philippines could be verified to allow residents and contract workers to start
coming here.
But the good news is, Hong Kong authorities are said to be open
to accepting the yellow-colored international vaccination certificate being issued
in the Philippines as specified by the World Health Organization.
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“Hong Kong authorities seem receptive to the WHO International
Certificate of Vaccination (yellow card) being issued by our Bureau of
Quarantine so long as the same contains important information such as the
holder’s vaccination record and other important details such as passport
information,” said Congen Tejada.
Still, he said Hong Kong has yet to give the go-ahead for using
the yellow card or any other system for verifying vaccination records issued in
the Philippines.
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“We are still working out a mechanism to ensure that vaccination
records issued in the Philippines can be certified by a designated authority.
It goes without saying that said certification must be verifiable and easily
validated by concerned authorities,” he said.
He assured the Consulate has been doing its best to get the
issue sorted out.
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“We are working very hard to arrive at a mutually acceptable
arrangement so that we can finally have our workers fly back to HK,” said Congen.
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| CG says the Consulate is working hard to get Filipino workers back in HK |
His clarification comes amid conflicting and often confusing
reports on whether Filipino residents and contract workers hoping to fly to
Hong Kong can do so starting Monday as long as they are vaccinated.
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Congen Tejada told The SUN that there is no question that those
who were fully vaccinated in Hong Kong can do so when the ban on passenger
travel from high-risk countries is partially lifted tomorrow.
“There is no question that they can come back to HK provided
they have had an RT-PCR Test and will undergo quarantine upon arrival as mandated
by HK’s authorities,” said Tejada.
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The sticking point is with those whose vaccinations were
administered in the Philippines.
While Hong Kong has announced that residents from places re-classified
“high risk” countries like the Philippines can enter starting Aug 9, they could
only do so if (1) they are fully vaccinated and (2) and hold a valid
vaccination record.
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The new guidelines added that for the vaccination record to be recognized
as valid, it should have been issued in Hong Kong, Mainland or Macau, or any
country where its national regulatory authority is designated by the WHO as a “stringent
regulatory authority.”
Using this as a guideline, the only high-risk countries that
qualify are the United Kingdom and Ireland. The rest of the places in this
category, comprising the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Nepal, South
Africa and Brazil, do not.
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Thomas Chan, head of an employment agency union, says Hong Kong’s
strict requirement for validating vaccination records does not help ease the
acute shortage of foreign domestic workers here, as most of them come from
either the Philippines or Indonesia.
“I have been telling the media that this new arrangement doesn’t
help to improve the market situation, workers are still stranded there, and
employers still find it difficult to hire workers,” Chan said.
He has said in previous interviews that between two to three
thousand FDWs are stranded in the Philippines and Indonesia as a result of Hong
Kong’s decision to suspend passenger flights from the two countries.
The flight ban in the Philippines has been in effect since Apr
20, while that for Indonesia took effect on Jun 25.
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| Chan says there are reports 'fixers' are selling the yellow cards to desperate FDWs |
Chan also expressed concern that “fixers” in the Philippines are
taking advantage of the confusion brought about by Hong Kong’s recent pronouncements.
He cited reports coming from the Philippines that Hong
Kong-bound workers are being told by some groups to get the international
certificate of vaccination as soon as possible, but each must pay a total of Php370
for it.
Chan asked whether the vaccination certificates are really being
sold, and who might be behind this new ploy to get workers desperate to fly to
Hong Kong to pay up some more.
“It seems fixers are taking advantage (of the situation) to
squeeze workers for money,” he said.
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| PADALA NA! |
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