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PCG says all Filipino Covid-19 patients have recovered

Posted on 04 June 2020 No comments
By Daisy CL Mandap


The Consulate announced today, Jun 4, that all Filipinos in Hong Kong who tested positive for coronavirus have recovered.

“Lahat ng mga Pilipino ng mga maysakit na Pilipino ay gumaling na at nakalabas na ng ospital,” said the advisory posted on the Consulate’s Facebook page.

No figures were mentioned, but various reports suggest that about 50 Filipinos, both residents and migrant workers, have been infected with Covid-19.

Pindutin para sa detalye

A majority of these are musicians who fell ill when the virus raged across four bars they played at: Insomnia in Central, Dusk Till Dawn and Centre Stage in Wanchai, and All Night Long in Tsim Sha Tsui.

But around 20 are Filipino domestic workers, who were mostly infected at home by their employers.

They include two who were employed by a socialite member of the Hong Kong Jockey Club who appears to have also passed on the virus to her pet dog, and one whose elderly employer was infected at a hotpot dinner with family members.
A few were found infected when they flew into Hong Kong after accompanying their employers to such places as Britain, France, Canada and the United States.
 
Insomnia was shut after its Filipino band soloist tested positive for Covid-19 in late March

According to Manuela Lo, chairperson of the Hong Kong Musicians Union, there were 24 infected musicians who were on temporary work permit, and were thus able to get financial aid from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

HKMU helped them secure the relief aid from OWWA, as well as from Department of Labor and Employment’s Akap program, which extended US$200 for every sickened and displaced overseas Filipino worker.
A further 49 musicians who did not get sick but were put under quarantine and subsequently lost their jobs when the bars were shut, also reportedly received the Akap cash assistance.

Lo said it was unfortunate no similar help was extended to affected musicians who were already permanent residents in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong health records show that also among those who caught the virus are Filipinos who worked in the bars as food servers. At least two of them passed on the virus to family members: one to her teenage son, and another to her husband.

While bars have been allowed to reopen, live entertainment is still not allowed, so the affected Filipino musicians are now left having to grapple with loss of income.



Filipinos are advised to avoid crowds and observe social distancing

In its advisory, the Consulate reminded Filipinos to remain vigilant, especially in the wake of a new cluster of local transmissions in the city.

They are told to maintain hygiene by washing hands frequently, wearing masks, avoiding crowded places, and by following the rule that no more than eight persons should gather in public places.

The advisory also had a message to employers, telling them to “respect” the day-off of their employees who choose to stay at home.

Some flats in housing estate evacuated amid Covid-19 spread

Posted on No comments
By The SUN

Those evacuated and put under quarantine are residents of flats 12 and 10 in Luk Shuen House, Lek Yuen estate

Health officials have ordered the evacuation of some residents in Luk Chuen House at Lek Yuen estate in Shatin, after another person living in the building tested preliminary positive today, Jun 4.

Six people living in the building have tested positive for Covid-19, and one of them appears to have infected three other people.

The move came as five additional cases were confirmed today, all involving residents who flew into Hong Kong from Bangladesh yesterday. They brought Hong Kong’s tally to 1,098, with four deaths.


According to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan at today’s press briefing, all those who live in flats numbered 10 and 12 in Luk Chuen House were evacuated and sent to a quarantine center for observation.

People living in three flats numbered 12, as well as a resident of one numbered 10, have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Checks conducted in the building earlier ruled out a problem with the sewage pipes, but the officials today said this angle is being looked into again, after a 72-year-old man living in a flat numbered 12 showed initial signs of infection.


“We will inspect in detail whether there are other problems, such as sewage pipes, with those flats,” said Chuang.

Undersecretary for the environment Tse Chin-wan said architectural drawings showed the affected flats numbered 12 and 10 were connected to the same vent pipe and faced the same direction.

“We cannot rule out that the pipe was another route of transmission,” Tse said. He added it could be the virus spread from flats numbered 12 to those numbered 10.


According to Chuang, the elderly man who tested preliminary positive, lives with his wife and a daughter in a flat numbered 12 on the 11th floor.

His initial test result tested negative on Monday, but he developed a mild fever on Wednesday afternoon and was sent to hospital on Thursday morning, where he was tested again, and was found infected.
 
The index patient in the cluster remains in critical condition in Prince of Wales Hospital

The first case in the cluster is a 34-year-old woman who works at a Kerry Logistics warehouse in Kwai Chung and lives in a flat three floors below the man. She was sent to Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin on Saturday, where she remains in critical condition.

Also found infected were her husband, four of her neighbors, two of her colleagues, and the medical worker who attended to her before she was sent to hospital.

Health officials left about 1,900 sample bottles for residents in her building, and about 1,200 have been sent back for testing. All, except the cases reported earlier, tested negative for the virus.

Chuang said residents in six flats have not been located, although there is a possibility that they had left Hong Kong before the infection broke out. But she said they had sought police help to locate the missing residents so they can be tested.


Protesters gather for Jun 4 vigil in Victoria Park, defying police ban

Posted on No comments
By The SUN

Thousands defied the police ban to join this year's commemoration of the June 4th event (photos from RTHK)

Thousands of people gathered in Victoria Park tonight to hold the annual candlelight vigil in remembrance of those who died in the June 4 crackdown on dissent in Beijing’s Tienanmen Square in 1989.

The yearly event pushed through even after the police rejected an application for the mass gathering, citing social distancing regulations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s the biggest show of force by pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong since China’s National People’s Congress passed a controversial security bill for the Special Administrative Region last week.

Local media reports say members of the traditional organizer, the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, lit the first candles by 6:30pm by a water fountain in the park.
 
Protesters, both young and old, observed social distancing during the vigil

By 8pm, the small crowd of about a hundred people grew into the thousands, with more people streaming in from everywhere to fill the two football pitches in the park.

Shortly afterwards, a minute of silence was called to remember those who died in the Tienanmen crackdown.
Police stayed in the perimeters of the park, and continuously broadcast messages warning of arrest for those who violate the prohibition against the gathering of more than eight people, but made no moves to stop the crowd from streaming in.

Alliance chair Lee Cheuk-yan defiantly led chants for the vindication of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, and oppose the security law that Beijing had crafted for Hong Kong.
 
Lee (with microphone) urged people to chant slogans to call for democracy in HK and China
“Vindicate June 4th! End to one party rule! Democracy in China now!” were among their chants.

Inside the park, protesters are seen to make an effort to keep distance between them, so as to comply with the anti-Covid regulation.

But many of those who took part said they had to make their voices heard, despite the looming crackdown from Beijing.


Among them was Han Dongfang, a labour leader who landed in China’s most wanted list after taking part in the Tienanmen protests, and is now a Hong Kong resident.

A report in the South China Morning Post quoted Han as saying, “Victoria Park is an important place. When there is a public gathering, I have to come.”
  
Lee vowed to continue organizing the commemoration even after the security law is passed, and called on Hong Kong people not to give up their fight for democracy.

“We will fight on, and we will let the world know we Hong Kong people will not give up our freedom,” he said.

By 8:45pm, he and the other organizers announced the end of the vigil, and most people started leaving in an orderly manner.

Less than two hours later, however, there were reports of another violent clash in Mong Kok between protesters and the police.




Militant OFWs blast Duterte’s Anti-Terror Law and red-tagging of critics

Posted on No comments
By Vir B. Lumicao
 Eman Villanueva of Bayan HK & Macau shows his sentiment toward the Anti-Terror Bill 
Militant Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong blasted today, Jun 4, the new Anti-Terror Act of 2020, questioning the haste which the Lower House passed the measure yesterday, while other bills addressing more pressing issues remain pending.

United Filipinos in Hong Kong chair Dolores Balladares said overseas Filipino workers  are angry over the railroading of the bill, especially amid the continuous spread of the coronavirus.

“In this time of global pandemic, with Filipinos anxious over family and friends getting sick or dying or their OFW family members unable to come home, the…government deemed it necessary to push this bill,” Balladares said in a press release.



The Anti-Terrorism Act is awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature after it was passed by the House of Representatives on Jun 3, as human rights advocates vow to challenge its “unconstitutional” provisions before the Supreme Court.

The legislation passed the Lower House by a vote of 173-31 with 29 abstentions. It gives the Duterte administration sweeping powers, including making arrests without warrants and holding suspects without charge for a longer period,.

As the approved version is copied exactly from the Senate’s version which the upper chamber passed in February, Duterte can sign it any time, lawmakers said.


On Monday, the President certified the bill as “urgent” and called for its passage before lawmakers go on a two-month break from Jun 6.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said today, however, that there will still be a bicameral conference between the two houses of Congress on Monday, Jun 8, before the bill is passed on to Duterte.

Edre Olalia, president of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, said his group would challenge the bill’s “constitutionality” before the Supreme Court. He said the draconian measure stripped Filipinos of freedom of speech and association.


Retired senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said the Supreme Court in some cases would require an actual injury to happen before laws are challenged before them, but the Anti-Terror Law can be challenged “on its face” or right away.

“Facial challenge is allowed because the law touches on fundamental constitutional rights, like the right against arrests without court warrants, and provides penalties for its violation,” Carpio was quoted by Rappler as saying today, June 4.

The Supreme Court in 2013 junked a petition questioning the constitutionality of the 2007 Human Security Act, partly because the Court said that the possibility of abuse was merely speculative, thus ruling that a facial challenge was not allowed.

Carpio said the 2020 Anti-Terror Law’s new provisions are different in that facial challenge is now allowed.

Opposition lawmakers proposed changes to address “unconstitutional provisions” in the bill, but the pro-Duterte House leadership refused them at the second reading on Tuesday.

Jericho Nograles, from Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta, a leading sponsor of the bill, said he had instructions from House public order committee chair, Masbate Rep. Narciso Bravo Jr, “to pass the bill without amendments.”

Quezon City Rep. Jesus Suntay, House human rights panel chair, cited several provisions that he said were “in violation of the Bill of Rights,” including Section 29, which allows warrantless arrests.

Another provision he cited extends the number of days a suspect can be detained without a warrant from three days to 14 days, extendable by another 10 days.

Vice President Leni Robredo questioned the bill’s intent and timing, saying some of its provisions may be used to crack down further on dissent and gag free speech but doesn’t address the nation’s more pressing needs amid the pandemic.

Robredo, a lawyer, said several provisions focus on expanding the definition of a terrorist and reducing checks and balances against wrongful arrest, which “cause a lot of fear.”

“Especially in the hands of people who have no qualms about using disinformation, inventing evidence, or finding the smallest of pretexts to silence its critics – this power is very dangerous,” she said.

Commission on Human Rights spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said prolonged detention of suspects without a warrant “may result [in] cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or torture.”

Amnesty International Philip­pines said the new law “disproportionately restricts human rights in the name of security.”

The Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights said it was “extremely concerning” that, as it, the Anti-Terror Law could be “weaponized” by the administration.

But Senate President Vicente Sotto III assured critics that the bill “has more than enough safeguards” against abuses.

Roque, on the other hand, dismissed “unfounded fear” that administration critics would be Red-tagged and police would abuse their power to arrest supporters of civil organizations.
Some militant groups active in HK have been red-tagged by officials close to Malacanang
This was, however, disputed by Unifil-Migrante-HK, which condemned the red-tagging of Migrante International and other militant organizations like Bayan, Gabriela and Anakpawis.

The groups have been tagged as terrorists by the government arm, National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, or NTF-ELCAC, even when they have elected representatives in Congress.

Balladares warned that a simple criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte could result in  one being arrested under the proposed new law.

“Imagine, just posting your criticism of the government on social media can make you punishable by law. It is clear Duterte has no need for citizens who can think critically,” Balladares said.

“What he wants is a society of mindless sheep so that his government can carry on with corruption and favoring oligarchs, his local cronies and foreign masters over his own people,” she added.

Balladares called for the junking of the anti-terror bill which she said “has no place in a Filipino society that loves democracy.”


Ex-DH about to give birth jailed 8 months for loan fraud

Posted on No comments
By Vir B. Lumicao 

The defendant was assured jails have facilities for giving birth and raising babies

A Filipina who is nine months pregnant was sentenced to eight months in jail today, Jun 4, in Eastern court after she pleaded guilty to fraudulently taking out a $26,000 loan last year and overstaying her domestic helper’s visa.

Magistrate Bina Chainrai sentenced M. J. Aquino to eight months imprisonment for a charge of obtaining money by deception and two months for breach of condition of stay, to be served concurrently.

Aquino will now have to give birth while in custody. The magistrate assured her there are facilities for delivering babies and taking care of them inside the women’s correctional.
Chainrai said she considered the 28-year-old expectant mother’s condition but the sentencing guidelines for her offences called for immediate jail custody.

Aquino has been in jail since her arrest on Apr 29.

The prosecution applied for compensation of $26,000 to the money lender, Prime Credit, but Chainrai rejected it because the defendant said she had no money.

The prosecution said that the defendant, who arrived in Hong Kong in February 2018 to work as a domestic helper for a local family, went to Prime Credit in North Point on Jun 17, 2019 and applied for the loan. She was fired by her employer a few days later.
On Jun 23, the defendant collected the loan but did not inform the lending company that she had lost her job. The prosecution said this amounted to fraud as she had used an invalid employment contract as proof that she would able to repay the loan.

Immigration gave Aquino until Sept 19, 2019 to stay and find a new employer, but did not leave after that date.

In her defense, her lawyer said Aquino took out the loan to help two friends, also Filipina domestic helpers. She agreed to pay two of 14 monthly installments but lost her job. In the meantime, her two friends did not continue the repayment.
The counsel said Aquino filed a Labour case against her employer and won a $2,700 settlement in September. When Chainrai asked why she did not pay the loan with the money, the lawyer said his client had used the money to pay her boarding house.

The lawyer said Aquino has three children, aged 3, 5 and 7, with her boyfriend in the Philippines. While in Hong Kong, she got into a relationship with an Indian national, the father of the child she is carrying.


Test delays still plague many travelers arriving in Manila

Posted on No comments
By Vir B. Lumicao

More Filipinos are due to return home over the next few days, as NAIA opens to more international flights

Filipinos who have recently arrived, or are due to fly home to the Philippines in the next few days, are up in arms over the lack of clear guidelines about the mandatory quarantine they face on arrival in Manila, and reports of long delays in travelers’ swab test results.

The travelers bombarded the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Facebook page with angry comments or inquiries after the Manila airport announced it would accept more international flights beginning Jun 1.

For those who are due to fly to Manila, the biggest concern is when they could finally reach their homes, given the well-publicized delays in the release of Covid-19 test results.
Philippine health officials have promised a wait of only between three to five days, but many who are already under quarantine in Metro Manila have reported being stuck in their hotels for days, with no idea of when their test results would come out.

At least one angrily disclosed that no test kits were available when he arrived at NAIA on Jun 1, and he was still waiting for when he could have the swab test, two days after checking into his hotel for quarantine.

One female OFW who did not say where she was deployed  said she was a domestic helper who left her job after her employer’s mother tested positive for the coronavirus disease while his sibling died of the illness. She was concerned that she would be made to pay for her swab test and quarantine.


Theresa Valdez Pascual, apparently a non-OFW, commented that if there is no test kit, then the authorities should just let them test in the provinces.

“Kung walang testing kit, sa uuwiang bayan na lang magpa-test at pauwiin na sana mga non-OFW para di na gagastos pa sa hotel... Pahirap ang ginagawa sa mga non-OFW,” she added.
 
 Many recent arrivals are complaining about the lack of test kits at the airport


Another OFW, Joy Martinez, said she had been under quarantine in a hotel in Pasay City for 36 days, and had already tested negative, but she was yet to be picked up by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration so she could fly home to Iloilo.

“Sobrang nakakainis na talaga. Lagi kong kinakausap sarili ko na kelangan pa ng patience, makakauwi din ako at sabi ko pa sa sarili ko baka wala pang scheduled flight pa-Iloilo kaya siguro di pa nila ako sinusundo dito. Pero nalulungkot na po ako.”


Their frustrations about the delayed test results was worsened by a report in a Manila daily that the Philippine Coast Guard, which is conducting swabbing at the airport, had stopped the procedure since Jun 1 as test kits ran out.

This means a longer wait for thousands of OFWs and other overseas Filipinos who will be arriving in waves from various work locations in other parts of the globe.

One Manila daily reported that around 100,000 OFWs stranded in various jobsites, mostly in the Middle East, are expected to be repatriated in the coming days.

This was just days after 24,000 OFWs stuck in various quarantine facilities in Metro Manila for up to two months after testing negative for the coronavirus, were taken home on mercy trips over a week-long period.  

Philippine Airlines resumed its international flights between Manila and Singapore today, Jun 3. On Monday, the carrier restored its Manila to San Francisco flights as it struggles to return to normal operations after a four-month stoppage due to travel restrictions that were imposed in the wake of the pandemic.

PAL flights between Manila and Hong Kong, however, will resume on Jun 19 and only every Friday, according to the carrier’s published flight schedule for June.

On its domestic network, however, PAL cancelled and moved back some flights it had earlier scheduled for key provincial destinations, attributing this to “fine-tuning of local government entry restrictions and requirements.”

It’s been widely reported in local media that local government units have resisted the resumption of domestic flights, citing the possibility of contamination, given the high rate of infection in Metro Manila and other key areas in the country.

The carrier’s flight to Cebu City earlier scheduled for Jun 3 has now been moved to Jun 5 and the flight to Davao City earlier scheduled for Jun 5 has been rescheduled for Jun 8.

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific, meanwhile, announced it is resuming domestic flights from Jun 4 until Sunday to General Santos City, Naga City and Cagayan de Oro City.

“As this is a developing situation, flight schedules may change, subject to approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force, the local government units and other concerned government agencies,” CebuPac said in an announcement.

Those who posted comments on the NAIA page mostly said they are due to arrive in Manila this month from various places such as the United States, Middle East, and other parts of Asia.

The page administrators patiently explained the protocols imposed by the quarantine authorities who comprise the Inter-Agency Task Force overseeing the anti-Covid-19 tests for all passengers arriving at the airport from various points abroad.

One OFW asked whether she will have to pay for the quarantine facility and testing costs, to which a certain TK Alvarez replied: “Kung OFW ka po, Ate, shouldered ng OWWA at PhilHealth ang expenses mo sa hotel facility hanggang sa makauwi ka. Kung non-ofw naman po, galing po lahat sa bulsa ang gastos.”

“What a joke! No test kit and forcing the people to wait in the designated hotel? Ashame! (sic),” blasted a certain Frank Leone, who suggested requiring inbound Filipinos to have a Covid test in their places of origin and have their negative result stamped by their embassy then undergo rapid testing  upon arrival.

A certain Juan Maria asked whether pregnant women also need to undergo mandatory quarantine, while another asked whether senior citizens can be spared the long wait for results.

The webpage admin replied that arriving passengers are required to undergo mandatory swab testing. Senior, persons with disability, pregnant women and children should seek assistance from Coast Guard personnel for special treatment upon arrival, he said.


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