High Court judge typed out theft complaint vs maid, court told

Judge reportedly typed out the theft complaint by his domestic helper against his other maid

By Vir B. Lumicao  

A High Court judge allegedly typed a statement by his Filipina domestic helper accusing his other Filipina maid of stealing an envelope containing $3,700, the Eastern Court heard on May 15.

The supposed theft victim, Rossini Cagalitan, made the admission during the trial of her fellow domestic worker Marites Canacio.

On cross examination by defense counsel Mohammed Shah, Cagalitan admitted that her statement was made by Justice Jonathan Russel Harris, before it was passed on to the police.

The judge, who employed both Filipinas in his residence on Mt Kellett Road, The Peak, was at the courthouse the whole day, but stayed outside the courtroom.

Eastern Magistracy

Canacio originally faced two charges of theft, including her alleged pilfering of the judge’s wallet which contained $600. That charge was later withdrawn by the prosecution before the case went to trial.

Cagalitan also admitted that Harris instructed her to pack the belongings of Canacio on the day she was terminated and sent to her employment agent on Jan 13.   

“My employer told me to pack the defendant’s things just in case I find my wallet,” said Cagalitan, whose testimony and cross-examination by the defense lawyer lasted the whole day, and was still not finished when Magistrate Cheung Kit-yee adjourned the trial at around 5pm.

Cagalitan was put on the spot when Shah presented her sworn statement in which she said Harris had told her he was terminating Canacio, and replacing her with his former Indonesian helper Jamini, who had returned home shortly after the defendant arrived in the household.

Cagalitan confirmed that the signature on the document was hers, but denied saying that Harris told her Jamini would return to replace the defendant.

“I put it to you that the statement is true and that you are not telling the truth,” the lawyer said.

Cagalitan said she did not notice the questioned part of the statement as she was being interviewed by Harris while typing the statement.

“You didn’t do the statement in the police office?” Shah asked and the witness agreed.

“So you prepared the statement in the house of Judge Harris, then gave the statement to the police?” the lawyer asked and the witness said yes.

Shah told the magistrate that he would like to call the judge to the witness stand, but Cheung said that would be asking him to give evidence based on hearsay.

The defence lawyer again raised doubts about Cagalitan’s evidence when he asked her if she had good relations with the defendant, and she said their dealings were limited to work-related matters as she distanced herself when she suspected her of stealing.

Shah then provided the court copies of Whatsapp messages between Cagalitan and Canacio in which the accuser had earlier asked the defendant to buy $2,200 worth of Googleplay cash card to remit money to her family. The lawyer asked why she had entrusted that much money to the defendant?

In reply, Cagalitan said she was not the only victim of the defendant, adding that Jamini lost $500, Harris initially lost $100, and then $600, when his whole wallet went missing, She said when the envelope containing the $3,700 went missing on Jan 6, she told the employer’s Japanese wife Yuka about it.

On Jan. 13, a day after Harris allegedly lost his wallet, the judge told Cagalitan to help the defendant pack her things, as she had signed a termination letter. Harris reportedly paid the defendant $3,335 representing transportation money and her 13 days’ salary.

Cagalitan said Harris watched while she packed Canacio’s belongings in front of the first floor main door while the defendant sat crying nearby. The witness said Harris then called a taxi and helped load the dismissed maid’s luggage onto the vehicle.

On the evening of Jan 14, police arrested Canacio at the Hong Kong International Airport as she was about to board a flight to Manila. She was charged with theft and was interviewed by the police before being allowed to post bail.

The trial resumes on May 23 with the continuation of Cagalitan’s cross examination and the testimony of the second witness, Mrs Harris.

    

    

Replicas of ancient Filipino sailboats arrive in HK to relive history

By Vir B. Lumicao

A fleet of three balangays, hardwood sailboats that natives of the pre-Hispanic Philippines used to sail the seas, arrived in Hong Kong in the early hours of May 14 to reenact a historic voyage to China by a sultan of Sulu 600 years ago.

One of the three balangays which docked at the HK Yacht Club in Causeway Bay. 

The boats arrived at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club on Kellet Island in Causeway Bay at 3am on Monday after setting out on May 12 from the Chinese city of Xiamen, the first stop of their estimated 3,000 nautical mile voyage that began in Zamboanga on Apr 28.

The fleet, led by the motorized command vessel “Sama ng Tawi-tawi” berthed for three days at the Yacht Club quay along with the “Lahi ng Maharlika” and the “Sultan Sa Sulu.” The crew was treated to a welcome dinner at the Consulate on May 14.

The balangay or Butuan boat is known as the oldest pre-Hispanic watercraft found in the Philippines, and was the first wooden watercraft excavated in Southeast Asia.

The sailboat “Sultan Sa Sulu” is a replica of the sea-going vessels that natives of the archipelago used in bilateral trade with the Middle Kingdom long before the Spanish colonizers arrived.

Art Valdez, leader of the 31-man expedition, said that the port call on Hong Kong completes a voyage to China that he began with a volunteer crew of mixed professions in 2009 to reenact the tributary visit of Sultan Paduka Batara to the Ming Dynasty emperor Zhu Di of Yongle in 1417.

That 17-month voyage began in Tawi-tawi and sailed on to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, and the territorial waters of Vietnam.

But it did not proceed to China as planned because crewmembers decided to return to their families for Christmas.

Last year, exactly the 600th anniversary of Batara’s voyage, Valdez and his crew set out again from Tawi-tawi but called off the expedition when they reached Manila because of rough seas, said John Manginsay, the navigator and only schooled seafarer on the team.

Valdez said the voyage had nothing to do with the ongoing dispute between the Philippines and China over clusters of islands and atolls in the South China Sea, renamed a decade ago by Manila as the West Philippine Sea. 

“What we are trying to do is renew the ties that bind us not only to China but to all of Southeast Asia,” said 69-year-old Valdez, an adventurer from Bacolod who led the first Filipino team that reached the summit of Mount Everest a decade ago.

“This boat has nothing to do with present issues. It simply symbolizes the thousands of years of relations that we have among the people of Southeast Asia,” Valdez said.

Long before the wrangling over the Spratlys, Kalayaan Islands, Scarborough Shoals, and Reed Bank, and other coral formations in the disputed zone, inhabitants of the region were united as a people, connected by waters, as symbolized by balangay, he said.

Then came the western colonizers who divided the globe among themselves.

“My point is, the people of Southeast Asia must be at peace with each other… The key here is let’s renew the ties … because that’s the only way we can progress,” he said.

Manginsay, a graduate of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy who worked on a giant tanker and has migrated with his family to the United States, joined the first expedition in 2009 while on vacation in Butuan City from the ship.

At the time the Butuan middle class was supporting Valdez build a balangay similar to the ones that natives of the city built centuries ago. They were recruiting volunteers and when they learned he was a merchant marine, they said he was just the man they needed because he could “navigate though the stars”.

He was told there was “a Philippine expedition using the balangay to rekindle the maritime consciousness of our people and retrace the migration of our forefathers.”

The seafarer thought he would be skippering a ship, but to his surprise, it was a fleet of wooden sailboats without a navigation system. At first he balked, but then he said he was excited at the challenge and the significance of the voyage.

“Suddenly, along the way, there was a spirit that pushed me into this journey, if you believe in calling,” he said.

Now a father of two who turned 34 in the high seas on May 2, Manginsay considers this voyage as a priceless experience that he would teach his students in future.

   Valdez said his crew of volunteers came from different professions, including doctors, but were mostly mountaineers like him. Two of them are women who joined him on the first Filipino team that conquered Mt Everest, while the third female volunteer is a medic from Pangasinan.

Unlike the crew of the first voyage who were all from Butuan, the present team came from various provinces. They had different religions, including Islam, and one had none, “but we all pray together before sailing and when we reach our destination,” he said.

So, they will begin their voyage home on May 16 with a prayer for safety and good weather as they complete an advocacy that began nine years ago.

Police cleared of conducting undue body searches on Filipina maid

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The magistrate doubted the Filipina's claim of repeated strip searches

By Vir B. Lumicao

An Eastern Court magistrate has rejected an attempt to include alleged repeated body-searches and other misconduct by police in the defense evidence of a Filipina domestic helper accused of theft, as the main trial of her case began.

Magistrate Simon K.F. Ho also cleared the investigators on May 16 of complaints of misconduct brought up by the defense before the trial of defendant Margie Lotino started.

Ho said he did not find any material substance in the defendant’s accusations against the officers who arrested her and handled her case.

Lotino said that during the body searches, female investigators singularly or in pairs allegedly ordered her to strip down to her underwear then looked into her bra and panties for any stolen items. Only one report of the body searches was made.

But Ho said he did not see any reason to doubt the evidence given by the five officers, who all said during cross examination that they did not remember any of the incidents cited by Lotino. They were identified by Lotino in an ID parade and called to the witness stand on Apr 20.

Ho said he rejected the evidence of Lotino that various investigators bodily searched her, starting from the night they arrested her in the house of her employers in January. The bodily search reportedly continued at the Western Police Station, then to the Wanchai Police Station where she was transferred, then back at Western station.

The magistrate said he based his decision on the ground that the complaints against the officers were not mentioned in the affidavit that Lotino submitted in court. He said the charges were added when the case was already being heard in court. 

Lotino pleaded not guilty on Mar 13 to a charge that she stole $500 and a lip balm from her female employer on Jan 2.

When the case went to trial on Apr 20, she accused her employer, purportedly a police officer, of having set her up. Her lawyer raised the issue on the alleged police misconduct and asked Ho to call the officers to the witness stand to answer the accusations.

The maid said she signed a police statement admitting the offenses because she was cold, hungry, tired from lack of sleep and under intense pressure from the body searches and interrogations that lasted more than 14 hours before she was released on bail.

During the ordeal, the police reportedly refused to give her water or make phone calls to the Consulate or to the Hong Kong employment agency that deployed her.

Agency representative Melanie Fisher, taking the witness stand for the defense on May 16, said Lotino went straight to the agency distraught after being released by the police.

Fisher told her to rest, as it was then past 6pm and the Consulate was already closed. The next morning, she took Lotino to the assistance to nationals section where officer Danny Baldon met them, but he told them to return the following day because of a meeting.

As a result of the magistrate’s rejection of the defense’s proposal, the duty lawyer representing Lotino decided to call her again to the witness stand. But as it was already late in the afternoon, Ho adjourned the case to June 7.

After ousting its chief, Supreme Court urged to review Sereno ruling

The 8-6 SUpreme Court ruling that ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno based on a quo warranto case, has prompted calls for a review of the decision amid questions not just about the justices' integrity but also the future of the Constitution itself.

The latest to issue the call were 14 senators who filed a petition on May 17 to assert a Constitutional provision that the House of Representatives and the Senate have the exclusive power to initiate and try, respectively, all impeachment cases.

“The Supreme Court’s decision to grant the quo warranto petition sets a dangerous precedent that transgresses the exclusive powers of the legislative branch to initiate, try and decide all cases of impeachment,” said  Senate Resolution No. 738. 

It was signed by majority members  Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Senate President Pro Tempore  Ralph Recto, Senators Joel Villanueva, Loren Legarda, Sherwin Gatchalian,  Francis Escudero, Sonny Angara, and Grace Poe, as well as opposition senators Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Bam  Aquino, Risa, Hontiveros, Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima.

“Now therefore, be it resolved as it is hereby resolved to express the sense of the Senate of the Philippines to uphold the Constitution on the matter of removing a Chief Justice from office, and respectfully urge the Supreme Court to review its decision to nullify the appointment of Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief of Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,” the resolution said.

In his dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa said: “I view with deep shame and regret this day when the Court has ousted one of its sitting Members upon the prodding of a mere agency of a separate coordinate department... This case marks the time when the Court commits seppuku – without honor.”

The quo warranto petition was filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida – the government’s chief lawyer – who questioned the qualification of Sereno owing to her failure to file a complete set of her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth during most of the years she was teaching at the University of the Philippines, from 1996 to 2006.

Pimentel said the High Court should allow Sereno to file a motion for reconsideration. “The reputation and esteem of this present Supreme Court will now rise or fall on the basis of the soundness or unsoundness of this controversial decision upholding a very unusual remedy to oust a sitting Chief Justice,” he said. “Let us all uphold the rule of law. The people must be given time to review this decision. And the Supreme Court itself must also take the time to review its own decision. If the Supreme Court is not supreme in everything then it is also not infallible in everything.”

Pimentel warned that Sereno’s ouster could trigger a constitutional crisis if the House of Representatives would invalidate the removal of Sereno. “Kasi sa mata ng Supreme Court, tanggal na si Chief Justice eh, [pero kung] sa mata ng Kongreso, hindi pa tanggal si Chief Justice, then we have a problem. Kasi ano talagang status niya? Tanggal o hindi tanggal?” Pimentel said.

In its 153-page decision, the SC said there could not be a constitutional crisis since the Constitution itself had given it the authority to resolve quo warranto cases. “The Court’s exercise of jurisdiction over an action for quo warranto falls within the ambit of its judicial power to settle justiciable issues or actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable,” the high court said in a decision written by Associate Justice Noel Tijam.

But Sereno pointed out tat the quo warranto petition had two defects: it was filed long after the one year it was allowed after her appointment in 2012, and the Constitution provides that impeachable officials can only be removed through impeachment.

She also asked that five of the justices — Teresita de Castro, Noel Tijam, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Francis Jardeleza — inhibit from the case because they testified against her in the impeachment case before the House of Representatives. The six refused to withdraw, and Tijam’s ruling did not bother to defend two of them: de Castro and Jardeleza.

Hours after Sereno was ousted, former President Benigno Aquino III who appointed her in 2012 to replace late chief magistrate Renato Corona, who was found guilty by the Senate impeachment court of misdeclaring his wealth, said she can only be removed through impeachment, not through a quo warranto petition.

Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said the unprecedented decision has opened the floodgates to similar moves against others in the judiciary.

For his part, Senator Panfilo Lacson said the biggest “winners” in the SC decision were the “moronic” lawyers whose dullness would become obvious in an impeachment trial.

Lacson did not name any of lawyers he was referring to, but he was presumed to be alluding to Larry Gadon, known for his loyalty to late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and legal work for former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and who filed the impeachment case in the House; and lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, was also leading an anti-Sereno rally outside the Supreme Court in Manila.

Jose Manuel Diokno, dean of La Salle Law, declared: “As members of the bar we are duty bound, under oath, to be dispensers of justice and protect the “rule of law.” Our reason for being is put to question. We are being forced to relearn or unlearn what we studied or taught in law school.”

During the SC hearing a week before the ruling, Sereno  had fiery exchanges with Associate Justices de Castro and Tijam.

When de Castro asked if Sereno religiously filed her SALN, the chief justice shot back that de Castro filed only 15 out of 39 required SALNs with the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC). She said other justices should also be made to face the high court if their wealth declarations are questioned.

Sereno’s lawyer, Josa Deinla, said they would appeal the Supreme Court’s decision.

‘Ethnic minorities’ label unhelpful, says Pinoy youth

By Vir B. Lumicao

Should we be called “ethnic minorities” or simply Hongkongers?

A Filipino secondary student pointed out whether the commonly used label only perpetuates segregation in a recent forum on breaking racial stereotypes and promoting awareness of racial harmony held at the Lingnan University in Tuen Mun.

The event was the screening of a video documentary, “Own Voices: Breaking Stereotypes”, and subsequent panel produced and directed by Filipino student Jianne Soriano and co-director Alecxis Ramos.

Panelist students receive citations from event organizer. 

The one-hour, 30-minute program at Lingnan’s Lee Ying Lam Lecture Theatre was attended by about 120 teenage students and members of the academe.

Lisa Leung, an associate professor in Lingnan U’s Department of Cultural Studies, said there has been “increasing concern for the rights of disadvantaged groups” because of racial bullying, anti-immigrant and hate speech on social media and in real life and became worse in Hong Kong and elsewhere.

“These merciless eyes remind us that underneath all the gestures of respect and politeness lies some deep-seated views of stereotypes about the others that justify all of this behavior,” Leung said.

Soriano, producer and director of the 25-minute documentary, said she made the video to tell the stories of ethnic minorities who seem to be overlooked by Hong Kong media. In the university, she realized the lack of a bridge between her and the local students.

Filipino-American student Jianne Soriano explains her misgivings about ethnic stereotypes, in documentary shown during the event.

Soriano lamented that stories about ethnic minorities are “often told from a different voice that excludes them. So, she worked on the project for the past year to give ethnic minorities their own voice.

“I feel that in order to be heard, we have to tell our stories genuinely instead of relying on assumptions, generalizations and stereotypes,” she said.

The youth who appeared in the video spoke about the stereotyping and discrimination they had gone through due to their color and appearance.

One example was a Filipino-American teenage girl who said in an open letter to Hongkongers she was constantly fearing that she would have to be one or the other. She said she was often judged and heard remarks by other people asking whether she is a helper’s daughter.

In the panel discussion after the video screening, a Nepali student recounted how he had been mistaken by locals for a Hong Kong man because he spoke Cantonese. “Is it necessary to speak Cantonese to be a Hongkonger?” he asked.

A Hong Kong female student admitted she stayed away from non-Hong Kong students because her English was not good so she was scared of mingling with them. But she said she also wanted to know more about them and would, from then on, approach them.

Prof Leung said that stereotyping is actually people’s refusal to learn more and know more about others. Stereotypes are powerful because they keep one from wanting to open up their minds in order to know more about others.

In the open forum, the first to raise his hand was a Filipino secondary student who asked why non-locals are being called ethnic minorities.

“I think labeling ourselves as ethnic minorities is empowering because we need to introduce ourselves to society, but don’t you think that… the labeling of ourselves as ethnic minorities, as compared to Hongkongers… only serves to segregate society because of all these different kinds of labels?” he asked.

Equal Opportunities Commission chairperson Alfred Chan, a panel member, acknowledged that labels such as “ethnic minorities,” “new immigrants” and “migrants” give different intonation and negative meanings.

He said, in fact, he had suggested to the government to come up with more positive terms, although he said that is not easy.

“I think policy-wise, looking at all immigration legislations in particular, there is a need to (label) the kind of people especially in establishing their residency status,” Chan said, adding that the government is still trying to find out how to do it better.         

KELY Support Group, an NGO that extends help to ethnic minority youth in Hong Kong between 14 and 24 years old, organized the event in celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

“While different measures exist in Hong Kong, it is important that we know how to effectively utilise or improve them in order to better empower and support ethnic minority youth,” said Sky Siu, executive director of KELY, explaining what the support group hopes to achieve through the project.

Dream Love

Kamakailan ay nagkabiruan sina Milet, Ilongga na 51 taong gulang, at ang kanyang mga katropa na karamihan ay katulad niyang dalaga. May nagpadala kasi sa kanila ng link sa isang dating site na nagsasabing kahit ang mga edad 50 pataas at single pa ay maaari pang makatagpo ng “forever.”

Agad sinabi ni Milet sa kaibigang si Glenda na 41 taong gulang, na subukan na lang nila na gumamit ng pabangong Dream Love, at balita niya ay mabisa talaga ito. Sagot naman ni Glenda, “Sige ate, mauna ka at kung may naghabol sa iyo ay bibili din ako.”

Nagtawanan silang lahat sa kanilang chat sa sagot ni Glenda. Ang hindi alam ng mga kausap ay isa si Milet sa mga napabilib ng Dream Love dati. Hindi niya makalimutan ang nangyari noong taong 2009, nang pauwi sila ng.kanyang ate sa Pilipinas.

Nag check-in sila ng kanilang mga bagahe sa Central station ng Airport Express, at dahil gabi pa ang kanilang lipad ay naisipan ni Milet na subukang bumili ng Dream Love, na noong mga panahong iyon ay sikat na sikat sa mga OFW sa Hong Kong. Nakabili naman siya sa halagang $80 lang, at nakatuwaang gamitin agad.

Walang kakatwang nangyari sa kanilang biyahe mula Hong Kong hanggang Maynila, pero pagdating nila para maghintay ng kanilang connecting flight sa Iloilo ay nangyari ang hindi inaasahan. May nakakuwentuhan si Milet na isang Pinoy na marino galing ng Brazil.

Bumaba daw ito ng barko dahil biglang namatay ang kanyang ina kaya kinailangan niyang umuwi agad sa Cotabato. Napahaba ang kanilang kuwentuhan, mula sa trabaho hanggang sa kanilang buhay OFW, hanggang niyaya na sila ng lalaki na magmeryenda.

Nang malapit nang sumakay si Milet at ang kanyang ate sa kanilang eroplano ay biglang sinabi ng marino na sasama ito sa kanila sa Iloilo. Pero hindi pumayag ang ate ni Milet, at sinabihan nito ang lalaki ng, “namatay ang nanay mo, saan ka pupunta? Dumiretso ka sa bahay ninyo.”

Nang hindi mapilit ang dalawa ay hiningi na lang ng lalaki ang address ni Milet sa Hong Kong. Pagkatapos ng tatlong linggong bakasyon ay bumalik na sina Milet sa Hong Kong. Ilang araw pa lang siya nakakabalik ay nakatanggap na siya ng sulat galing sa marino mula sa Cotabato.

Nagulat si Milet nang ipagtapat ng lalaki sa sulat na na love-at-first-sight daw ito sa kanya. Hindi daw nito maintindihan, basta iyon ang naramdaman niya. Sa kasamaang palad ay kasasagot lang ni Milet noon sa isang ka penpal na engineer sa Taiwan, at agad na sinabi sa marino na may kasintahan na siya.

Hindi naman nabahala ang lalaki, at sinabi na baka magbago pa ang kanyang isip. Ilang beses din itong sumulat na nanliligaw pero hindi natigatig si Milet dahil ayaw niyang mamangka sa dalawang ilog.

Kinalaunan ay nalaman niyang ang kasintahan pala niya ang two-timer. Umuwi pala ito sa Pilipinas nang hindi nagsasabi, at may ka live-in na. Hindi na muling nakarinig si Milet ng balita tungkol sa marino, pero sa pagdaan ng panahon ay hindi niya mapigil na sumagi sa isipan niya ang tanong na, ano kaya kung ito ang sinagot niya? Baka nagkatuluyan sila. Pero malamang, aniya, nakahanap na ito ng iba, at may anak nang napatapos sa kolehiyo.

Sana, napaaga daw ang paggamit niya ng Dream Love at baka yung lalaking totoong nabighani sa kanya sa tunay na buhay at hindi sa panulat lang ay hindi magtataksil. Si Milet ay nakatira sa Clear Water Bay at patapos na ng pang apat na kontrata sa kanyang mga among Pranses. Hindi pa rin siya nawawalan ng pag-asa na magkakaroon din siya ng “forever.” – Merly Bunda

Siningil ng $24k para sa bintanang binasag

Alalang-alala si A.E., na isang buwan pa lang nakakarating sa Hong Kong, dahil sinisingil siya ng amo niya para sa salamin na bintana na binasag niya dahil na lock-out siya habang mag-isa sa bahay. Lumabas si A.E. sa balkonahe ng bahay ng amo sa Yau Tong, Kowloon, at hindi sinasadyang nai-lock niya ang pintuan.

Sa katarantahan dahil malapit na niyang dapat sunduin ang alaga sa eskuwelahan at wala naman siyang hawak na cellphone para sana tumawag ng saklolo ay binasag niya ang makapal na bintanang  salamin para makapasok muli sa bahay. Ni hindi niya naisip na sumigaw na lang at humingi ng tulong sa mga kapitbahay.

Galit na galit ang kanyang amo nang malaman ang ginawa niya, hindi lang dahil sa abala kundi pati na rin sa laki ng gagastusin para ipagawa ang nabasag na bintana na may cladding at curtain wall pa. Pina-estimate nila sa gagawa ang halaga ng gagastusin, at $52,800 ang ibinigay na kuwenta sa kanila.

Agad na sinabihan si A.E. ng amo na kailangan niyang sagutin ang $24,000 bilang parte sa pinsalang ginawa niya. Nataranta nang husto ang Pinay dahil ni hindi pa nga siya nagsusuweldo, at marami pa siyang utang sa Pilipinas.

Mabuti at may nagsabi na humingi siya ng tulong sa isang grupo na tumutulong sa mga kapwa niya bagong-salta. Agad naman siyang sinabihan na kumalma dahil ayon sa batas  ng Hong Kong, hindi dapat lumampas sa $300 ang halaga ng anumang bagay o gamit ng amo na masira niya.

Gayunpaman, pinayuhan pa rin siya na lumapit sa Mission for Migrant Workers para makakuha ng paliwanag tungkol sa batas. Pinangaralan din siya ng mga tumulong na magpakahinahon sa anumang problema o pagsubok na pagdaraanan niya, dahil nakasalalay dito ang kanyang trabaho.

Sa nangyari, halimbawa, hindi siya dapat nagpadalos-dalos dahil baka may iba pang paraan para makapasok siyang muli sa bahay ng amo nang hindi niya kailangang gumawa ng malaking pinsala. Natural lang na magalit ang amo dahil ang problema ay bunga ng kapabayaan niya. – Rodelia Villar

Polo volunteers told: do not join rallies, give up your orgs

By Daisy CL Mandap

Targeted by the new Polo directive are the volunteers
who joined the protest against the recall of Labatt Jalilo dela Torre

Recent moves by the Philippine Overseas Labour Office (Polo) officer-in-charge Ma. Nene German, to take retaliatory steps against those who took part in protests against the recall of Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre, have left Filipino community leaders up in arms.

As a first step, German ordered that all existing Polo volunteers be subjected to a screening so only those who pledged not to join future protest actions would be retained.

German ordered the purge of volunteers' list

During the interviews first conducted on May 6 by two male staff members of Polo, invited volunteers were also told they must give up their memberships in other organizations so they would be “neutral”.

The Polo staff reportedly said the names of selected volunteers would be submitted to the Consulate for approval, then to the government in Manila, before they are given IDs.

Further interviews, this time by a panel headed by the Polo OIC herself, were held the following Sunday, May 12. It’s still not clear when the selected final batch will be made known.

Asked via email to confirm or clarify the reports, German initially replied: “May we asked (sic) from whom you got the herein information re: volunteer interview questions?” 

Told that the information was supplied unsolicited by three Filipino community leaders, German said: “The Office in the exercise of its discretion will continue to determine who will qualify as its volunteers vis-a-vis the services that we need to deliver to our clients. I have no further comment on the issue.”

Most of those who admitted joining the protests, even those who said they did it for personal and not political reasons, were not allowed to stay on as volunteers.

Eman Villanueva of Unifil-Migrante Hong Kong called German’s act unconstitutional.

“Her so-called ‘exercise of discretion’ is in direct violation of the fundamental rights of the Filipino people enshrined in our constitution,” said Villanueva.

He cited in particular section 4, art III of the Bill of Rights which guarantees freedom of speech, expression or of the press, and “the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”

He also pointed out to sec. 8 of the same article, which guarantees the right of all people employed in both the public and private sectors to form unions, associations or societies for purposes not contrary to law.

Deputy Consul General Roderico Atienza who was acting head of post at the time of this interview, said no such re-accreditation process was initiated by the Consulate for its own volunteers. All they did at the start of the year was to ask for an exemption from a new Department of Foreign Affairs directive that posts not enlist the help of volunteers, and they got it.

Atienza said he had not heard, or was told, of Polo’s new rules for volunteers. He also was not aware of any plan by Polo to submit the list of vetted applicants to the Consulate once it is finalized.

However, he said this could come at a later time, when Polo is ready with its approved list.

Volunteers spend long hours maintaining the queue outside Polo
and giving help to OFWs, especially during peak vacation periods

The crackdown sparked indignation among other Filipino community leaders, particularly those who joined the call for Dela Torre to be retained in Hong Kong.

Dela Torre was ordered recalled by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on March 26, citing various reasons, from “favoritism” to “corruption.” Dela Torre’s deputy, German, was made OIC.

Two subsequent protests against the recall apparently stalled the implementation of the order, but Dela Torre was eventually told to return to the Home Office to answer the “charges” on Apr 18.  His fate remains unknown.

In the meantime, a former deputy labor attaché to Hong Kong, Leonida Romulo, will reportedly take over Dela Torre’s post.. Atienza confirmed that Romulo’s nomination had already been submitted to the Hong Kong government for approval, and that she could take over as the new labor attaché within a month.

Among those who took issue with the apparent move to cleanse Polo of Dela Torre’s supporters was Leo Selomenio, chair of Global Alliance.

Selomenio said her group was not even told of the re-accreditation interviews, even if she and other members had been helping out at Polo for years, even during weekdays.

But she said being taken off the volunteers’ list was “not a big deal” to her group because they are busy with so many other projects. She also knew that the new Polo head is bearing down hard on her group as it’s been identified as the leader of the “No to Recall” petition for Dela Torre.

Nuval's Global Alliance is one of the biggest OFW groups in HK

Proof of this was an attempt to bar one of Global’s officers, Marites Nuval, from joining the Filipino community meet-up with President Duterte on Apr 12. Nuval said she was stopped at the entrance to the venue and was passed on to security officers who asked if it was true that she was a protester.

The leaders said they made no attempt to hide their support for Dela Torre, citing his many achievements while in office, and his strong stand against corruption.

DelaTorre was known to have cracked down in particular on the previously prevalent practice of employment agencies giving gifts to Polo officers and staff. In line with this, he had CCTV cameras installed near the counters where the agencies transact business with Polo, but these have since been removed, reportedly on German’s orders.

Instead of Dela Torre, the protesters asked that German be recalled as she had already been “overstaying,” having been retained for another year by Bello after her initial three-year appointment.

Another leader stricken off the volunteers’ list was Rodelia Villar, who founded a big online group that assists OFWs, especially newcomers, on all matters pertaining to their work and stay in Hong Kong.

Villar said she admitted joining the protest to support Dela Torre, but added it was just her personal conviction, and not a political stand against the government. She, however, agreed to the condition not to join further rallies, but still failed to make the cut.

On learning that she did not make it to the second round of interviews, Villar just said: “We plan to volunteer na lang sa Help for Domestic Helpers at sa Mission for Migrant Workers. Mas marami pa kaming matutulungan.”

But concerned about the huge number of OFWs who regularly line up on Sundays for help with registering online for the overseas employment certificate, Villar said she plans to set up an outdoor station somewhere near Polo just so her group could continue helping.

Another leader, Gemma Lauraya, president of the National Organization of Professional Teachers, admitted breaking down in tears when asked if she was willing to give up her group for Polo volunteer work.

Lauraya's NOPT has been helping Polo since 2015

“Loyal po ako sa NOPT,” she said, indicating she was not about to leave her post just to continue helping Polo.

She also said she was fine with not being asked to continue being a volunteer because “hindi ko naman po yan kawalan kasi naka focus naman ako sa organization,” she said.

Lauraya, who was among those who spoke to the press at the height of the “No to Recall” protests, was also not asked to join the Polo selection process, but went on anyway, after hearing about it.

NOPT had been fielding volunteers to Polo since it moved to its previous offices in Admiralty Centre in March 2015.

Another protester who failed to make the grade was Bhebs Leonardo, who said she and two other fellow Bicolanos, including longtime leader Art Buban, were excluded from the second round of interviews for volunteers.

Leonardo said: “Tinanong din ako kung kasama ako sa rally, first and second. Sabi ko,  nagsalita pa kako ako...Two years and 10 months (ako nagvolunteer), laglag din.”

She also said she was made to choose between her organization and staying on as volunteer. “Pinili ko organization ko (kasi) marami nang bawal, parang wala ng freedom.”

Dela Torre was recalled before being
told to answer supposed allegations
of corruption and favoritism

Villanueva said that as a sign or protest, “We are calling on all OFWs to refrain from volunteering with Polo until this draconian rule of Nena German is scrapped. They should not allow themselves to be stripped of their dignity as community volunteers.

He also reiterated a call for President Duterte to reinstate Dela Torre and let him finish his term “and immediately recall ALA German who is already overstaying her term and is abusing her authority as OIC.”

Dela Torre himself was concerned that weeding out the protesters from among the ranks of volunteers could isolate Polo from the community, and will negate the gains achieved during his term.

“The procedure narrows the field of volunteers to those not belonging to any organization, and goes against the very goal of encouraging the formation of   organizations for mutual help, welfare and empowerment,” he said.

Dela Torre also said excluding those who didn’t and wouldn’t join rallies is not democratic and is of dubious legality.

Pinay trafficked to China flees after assault

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipina domestic helper walked out on her job just 13 days into her two-year job contract in Hong Kong after her employer took her to China shortly after her arrival and told her she would be working there.

The worker, Irene Nolasco, made the statement when her claim against her employer, Wei Ying, was heard at the Labour Tribunal on May 9.

Nolaso also told the tribunal that she was struck in her right arm by the elderly mother of Wei, prompting her to leave the house and report to the Chinese police and to the Hong Kong authorities at the border.

Presiding Officer Isabella Chu adjourned the hearing indefinitely as investigations by the Chinese police and the HK Immigration Department are continuing.

Wei did not appear in the hearing.

Nolasco is seeking a total of $17,000 in arrears in wages, air ticket, food and travel allowance, and damages.

The Filipina said she arrived in Hong Kong on Nov 20 last year. Three days later, she was taken by Wei to her mother’s house in Guangdong province.

She said she did not expect to be sent there because her contract stated that she would be working at Wei’s Hong Kong address.

Chu said that as the assault case against Wei’s mother and the Immigration investigation of the employer are not yet finished, she had to adjourn the case without a fixed date for a resumption of the hearing.

But she told Nolasco to inform the tribunal once she receives word from the authorities that the criminal cases had been concluded, so that her claim could be restored.

Outside the courtroom, Nolasco told The SUN that she left Hong Kong on Feb 20 to be with her family while she reapplied for a job in Hong Kong.

Before she came to Hong Kong, she worked for two years in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, where she said she had good Arab employers.

‘Trafficked” Filipina settles claim against mainland employer for $21k

By Vir B. Lumicao

After staying away from the Labour Tribunal for months, a female Chinese employer finally showed up for a hearing on May 10, and agreed to settle the claim of her Filipina domestic helper whom she forced to work illegally in China.

Lin Haiyan did not hesitate to pay up the $21,400 settlement proposed by Presiding Officer Isabella Chu, who warned her a trial judge could dig up criminal offenses she had committed if the case went to trial.

It was the first court appearance of Lin, who had avoided all previous summonses  relating to the claim filed by her former maid, Myles A. Alfaro.

Alfaro, who had overstayed her China visitor’s visa while serving her employer in Guangzhou, also accepted the settlement, although it was just a fifth of her $112,000 claim.

Chu said that signing up the worker in Hong Kong and then taking her across the border to do her job is a breach of Immigration rules, and therefore a criminal offense.

“It is all right if you take her there for a visit of four days, but since Jan 7, 2018 you let her work on the mainland. That’s illegal,” Chu said.

She said another criminal offense was Lin’s false declaration in the work contract that Alfaro would work in an address in Taikoo Shing, instead of on the mainland.

Chu noted that the first time a bailiff went to Lin’s declared address to serve court documents, no one was there. On Apr 11, another bailiff went to deliver the documents, but one Ms Ng who opened the door said Lin did not live there.

A third attempt on Apr 18 to deliver the documents also failed because the flat’s occupant refused to receive the bundle. A building security staff told the bailiff that Lin owned the flat but was renting it out.

“That’s a consideration for the defendant and the Immigration Department. The particulars of this employment contract are not correct,” Chu warned.

Citing a contract for assistant manager in a shop in China that Lin made Alfaro sign, Chu said this was also illegal because the maid had an existing contract in Hong Kong.

“This is a very serious offense – the domestic helper becoming an assistant manager in a new contract. This criminal offense may get you a prison sentence, no excuse,” Chu said.

She said Lin might have seen the many TV commercials warning employers against letting their domestic helpers work in shops or offices.

Lin terminated Alfaro’s Hong Kong contract on learning that the maid’s visa had expired. She then told the maid to fly straight to Manila, not via Hong Kong.

Chu said this may be a good reason for the two parties to settle instead of going to a trial.

Then Chu reviewed the items on Alfaro’s claim: $630 in arrears in wages, one-way air fare to Manila of $1,120, food and travel allowance, $100, damages of $97,492.50 for the unfinished portion of her contract, and expenses totaling $12,384.87.

The presiding officer took out the $97,492.50 damages, rounded the total to $21,400 and asked both Lin and Alfaro if that was acceptable to them. Chu gave them a break to think it over.

When they returned to the courtroom, they both agreed to the amount. Li asked if she could deposit the amount in Alfaro’s bank account but the Filipina said she had none. The court clerk said she needed to pay cash.

The court waited until 4pm before the person who Lin requested to bring the money arrived in the tribunal.