Post-Lunar New Year fair clean-up ends

 

All 15 venues used for the New Year flower fairs were restored to normal as of 6:30pm Sunday

Fifteen venues for this year’s Lunar New Year fairs were thoroughly cleaned and restored to their original state by 6:30pm Sunday, according to a statement from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.

The FEHD said that the fairs which were held for seven days from January 16 ended at about 2am yesterday, after being visited by more than 1.14 million people.

The crowd peaked on the eve of the festivities, with more than 100,000 people visiting the fair and buying flowers at Victoria Park on a single day.

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The FEHD said it was pleased to resume organizing the Lunar New Year fairs this year, after a three-year halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

To enhance safety at the fairs, the FEHD said it increased the size of the stalls, widened the passageways, and applied technology for crowd management.

Stall vendors were also helped in terms of security, illumination and refuse collection to ensure the smooth running of the fairs.

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The department adopted various waste reduction and recycling measures such as collecting general recyclables like waste paper, plastics and metals, while contractors were hired to collect bamboo sticks, wooden pallets, polyfoam and wilted or unsold flowers with reusable value.

Throughout the week-long flower fairs, 85.6 tonnes of materials with reusable value were reportedly collected in the 15 fair sites for recycling.

150 unsold pots of flowers were donated to 30 care homes and 2 hospitals

Staff of the department also gathered some 150 unsold pots of flowers and plants donated by the vendors, and delivered them to 30 residential care homes and two public hospitals to liven up the places.

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The biggest team of 170 staff members, 24 refuse collection and street cleaning vehicles were deployed to Victoria Park to tidy it up, while cleaning contractors did the work at the 14 other sites.

But not all fairs ended Sunday as the 2023 Che Kung Festival fair and the Fong Ma Po New Year Fair at Lam Tsuen in Tai Po will continue to operate until Feb. 5.

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Anyone planning to visit the two fairs may check out information beforehand, including the opening times and queuing situation at the sites at www.fehd.gov.hk.

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Filipina mother & daughter lose bid to stop repatriation

 

The CA says allowing applications filed way beyond the deadline could lead to abuse

A Filipina former domestic helper and her seven-year-old daughter who had previously decided to abandon their non-refoulement application, failed to get the High Court to reopen their case.

In a judgement handed down Monday, Appeal Court justices Aarif Barma and Carlye Chu upheld the lower court’s decision to deny the applicants’ bid for a judicial review, as it was filed way beyond the deadline.

Applicants Reggie Cayanan Villanueva, 41, and her daughter, Gienish, had sought to get Judge Bruno Chan to allow them to challenge the Torture Claims Adjudication Board’s decision not to reopen their case as it was filed way out of time.

The two had earlier applied to abandon their resistance to being sent back to the Philippines, and after it was approved, changed their mind and asked the TCAB to restore their original non-refoulement claim.

But in doing so, they failed to make the application in time, and the CA said allowing them to pursue the case despite the time lapse could lead to abuse.

Villanueva, 41, who is married with two children in the Philippines, last arrived in Hong Kong to work as a foreign domestic helper on Aug. 23, 2014.

Shortly thereafter, she had an affair with an Indian man in Hong Kong, and got pregnant. She gave birth to Gienish on Aug. 5, 2015.

On Nov. 30, 2015 her contract was terminated but she did not go home within the mandatory 14 days. About four months later, or on Mar 15, 2016, she surrendered to authorities.

On Oct 5 of the same year she applied for non-refoulement, saying her husband would kill her and her daughter if they returned to the Philippines.

The Director of Immigration denied their application on Apr 27, 2017, saying there was just a low risk of mother and daughter coming to harm in the Philippines.

On May 10 of the same year, the applicants went to the TCAB to appeal against the Director’s decision.

But 10 months later, or on Mar 5, 2018,Villanueva wrote to both the Director and the Board, requesting to withdraw their appeal, stating that:

 “…We want to go back to our home country Philippines since it is safe for us to go back. I want to withdraw our non-refoulement claim appeal as soon as possible so that we can go back. I have no money to buy air ticket. Please arrange as soon as possible.”

The  Board promptly replied by letter dated Mar 13, 2018, informing the applicants that they had a week to reconsider their application. But once accepted their appeal would be dismissed.

As the applicants did not respond to the letter the Board informed them on Mar 21, 2018 that their request to withdraw their appeal was accepted.

However, on Apr 4, 2018, Villanueva wrote to the Board, saying she and her daughter wanted to reopen their appeal as her husband got angry on hearing of their plan to return to the Philippines.

The Board rejected the request on Apr 19, 2018, saying their appeal had already been disposed of, and that this action was final.

Villanueva’s subsequent application for leave to challenge this decision was also rejected by Judge Chan on the ground that the Board had become “functus officio” (or no longer in office) as soon as it decided to close the file on their case.

Again, Villanueva failed to appeal against this decision on time.

On Nov. 23, 2020, or seven weeks after the required 14-day period for appeal had lapsed, she filed for an extension of time, saying she did not know how to make the application and had no money to do so.

Judge Chan heard the application on Apr 20, 2021, and on May 4 of the same year, refused it.

In upholding his decision, the CA said:  “Had it been otherwise, not only would there be no finality in the determination of such claims, it could also lead to abuse by claimants who are desirous of delaying their removal from Hong Kong by making last minute withdrawals and then applying to reinstate or reopen the appeals…”

The appeal court added the judge was right in finding that the intended judicial review by both applicants has no reasonable prospect of success.

 

 

Balik-Macau ang mga Pinoy

 The SUN

Inimbitahan ng Macau ang mga travel agent sa HK para tumulong magpasok ng mga turista

Ngayong tinanggal na ng Macau ang mga mahigpit na patakaran kontra Covid para sa mga bisita mula sa Hong Kong ay nag-umpisa na muling dumagsa doon ang mga Pilipino, lalo na tuwing Linggo na araw ng pahinga ng karamihan sa mga migranteng manggagawa dito.

Kadalasan, iisa ang kanilang tanong – maari na ba muling mag "exit" doon ang mga foreign domestic helper?

Sagot ng isang grupo ng mga Pilipina na bumalik sa Hong Kong galing ng Macau nitong Linggo, Jan. 15: “Oo at hindi.”

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Paliwanag ng isa sa grupo, may kasama silang tinatakan ng “journey completed” ang pasaporte dahil malapit nang matapos ang isang taong palugit na binigay para sa kanyang employment visa. Ibig sabihin, maari siyang hindi na muna umuwi bago matapos ang ikalawang taon ng kanyang kontrata.

Ayon sa sinuwerteng Pilipina, hindi naman sa ayaw niyang umuwi ng Pilipinas kundi gusto niyang piliin ang mga araw ng kanyang pagbabakasyon doon. Kung umuwi daw siya ngayon ay malamang na hindi na siya payagan ng kanyang employer na bumalik sa Pilipinas para sa importanteng okasyon na pinaghahandaan niya.

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May isa naman sa kanilang bigo na makuha ang kaparehong tatak sa kanyang pasaporte. Kasi naman ay may bisa pa ang kanyang visa hanggang sa darating na taon, kaya malaki pa ang tsansa na makauwi siya, at matatakan ng tama ang kanyang pasaporte.

Sa mga gusto namang ma-extend lang ang kanilang visa para mas magkaroon sila ng oras na lumibot o makahanap ng bagong amo matapos silang ma-terminate, nasa Immigration officer pa din na sasalubong sa kanila pagbalik sa Hong Kong ang desisyon, sabi ng grupo.

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Nananatili ang karapatan ng Immigration na bigyan pa sila ng ilang araw na palugit ang kanilang visa, o pauwiin na agad.

Kasabay ng pagtatanggal ng quarantine sa mga bagong dating sa mainland simula noong Jan 8 ay nagluwag din ng mga patakaran sa Hong Kong at sa Macau.

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Batay sa kautusang ito, ang sino mang papasok sa Macau mula sa Hong Kong ay hindi na kailangang magpakita ng negative na resulta sa isang rapid antigen test para sa coronavirus – o mas matindi, ang mag quarantine sa isang hotel na pinili ng mga awtoridad.

Pabalik sa Hong Kong ay dapat silang mag rapid test muna  at kuhanan ng litrato ang resulta sakaling hanapin ng mga awtoridad pagdating nila. Wala nang health declaration na kailangang kumpletuhin muna.

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Bandang huli, ang dapat talagang isaisip kapag pumunta ng Macau ay ang mag-aliw na muna, at namnamin mabuti ang kalayaang lumibot sa mga karatig-lugar ng Hong Kong na tatlong taon din na ipinagkait sa karamihan.

(Para sa mga gustong magpunta sa Macau, pinakamura at pinakamaganda ang tanawin na makikita sakay ng Hong Kong–Macau-Zhuhai bus na masasakyan sa border ng dalawang lugar.

Para naman umabot sa border ay maaring mag Airbus na dadaanan muna sa HK International Airport bago tumuloy sa Immigration checkpoint.

Katulad ng dati, maari ding sumakay ng ferry sa Sheung Wan o Tsim Sha Tsui, pero sa halagang halos triple ng bayad sa bus.

Sa kasalukuyan ay may alok ding libreng pamasahe pabalik sa Hong Kong ang mga bibisita sa Macau, basta titigil sila doon ng kahit isang araw. Tatakbo ang pakulo hanggang sa katapusan ng Marso).

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NAIA inches back to normal flight schedules

Planes line up for takeoff at NAIA.

With 360 flights and 65,000 passengers already affected by the shutdown of the country's air traffic management system, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport today chipped at the backlog of incoming and outgoing flights.

It has announced it will be open for 24 hours a day for at least three days, while gradually bringing operations from a maximum 15 arrivals per hour to the normal level of 20.

“It will take around 72 hours or thereabouts for the airlines to normalize their operations,” Cesar Chiong, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority told ANC news channel.

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But Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista is looking beyond that.

He said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has asked him to prepare a proposal for a backup system to prevent future flight suspensions. He expects it to cost more than the P13 billion spent to build the system that failed.

The Air Traffic Management Center – which oversees all flights in Philippine airspace -- was inaugurated in 2019 by then President Rodrigo Duterte, who had it built in 2018 with financing from Japan International Cooperation Agency.

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With the current systems, Bautista estimated that the Philippines was 10 years behind its peers.

“This is not really an airport issue. This is an air traffic management system issue. If you will compare us with Singapore, for one, malaking difference (there’s a big difference). They are at least 10 years ahead of us,” he said.

“Although it’s a system that was introduced in 2010, na-implement natin ito (we implemented this) in 2018, so parang midlife na itong system na ito na kailangan na talaga natin sigurong iimprove or i-modernize (the system is already in its midlife, so we really need to improve or modernize it). Siguro (Maybe) we can still use it, but we need to upgrade this to a better system.”

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The shutdown, which Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) had initially described as “technical issues”, began at about 9:40am on Sunday, Jan. 1, when the primary power supply failed. It was not explained how such failure occurred, and Meralco has clarified that its supply of power to the facility was normal at that time.

The generator kicked in, but because it was already faulty, it was not providing enough power needed by the center.

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When they connected the system directly to the Meralco line, they experienced over-voltage and power surge from 220 volts to 380, burning out crucial equipment called very small aperture terminals (VSAT), which receive satellite data used by planes and air traffic management systems.

It will take days to import these components to bring operations back to normal.

But such explanations are not enough for politicians.

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Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Services,  wants a legislative inquiry because it is a national security concern.

“The failure points to [Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines] and their navigation equipment,” she said. “There needs to be transparency and accountability from CAAP. We will, therefore, conduct a hearing as part of the Senate's oversight function, to determine who is liable, and what we need to do to avoid the malfunction from happening again.”

House Minority Leader France Castro (ACT Teachers party-list) noted that the supposed power outage happened just two days after Transportation Secretary Bautista said that the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. proposed NAIA’s privatization.

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“With the announcement of the DOTr on privatization of NAIA on December 30 and the ‘power outage’ yesterday, we cannot blame the public to think that this was meant to fast track its selling even though citizens were not consulted and were not told of the results of higher airplane fares,” she said.

Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares said: "The latest breakdown of the flight systems in our airports is another sign of the government's inability to provide even the most basic needs of our people--whether it is managing airports or controlling the price of onions,"

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Pinay na OS, ikinulong matapos bigong iapela ang torture claim

Ang mga tumututol sa pagpapauwi sa kanila ay sa Immigration muna lumalapit (UNHCR photo)

Hinatulan ng 12 linggong pagkakakulong ang isang Pilipina matapos umamin sa kasong pag-overstay ng mahigit apat na taon nang humarap sa korte sa Shatin noong Dec. 14.

Bago ito ay nabigo si Loida T. Dontogan, 53 taong gulang, na makuha ang permiso ng High Court na dinggin ang pagtutol niya sa desisyon ng Torture Claims Adjudication Board at Immigration Department na payagan siyang manatili sa Hong Kong dahil sa tangka diumano sa kanyang buhay.

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Ayon sa desisyon na inilabas ng Mataas na Hukuman nitong Abril ng kasalukuyang taon, walang basehan ang reklamo ni Dontogan na nagkamali ang TACB sa pagbalewala sa sinasabi niyang banta sa kanyang buhay ng isang pinagkakautangan niya.

Kahit tinanggap ng TACB na maaaring nanganganib ang kanyang buhay, marami naman daw siyang maaring pagtaguan sa Pilipinas liban sa kanyang bayan sa Benguet, at pwede din siyang humingi ng proteksyon sa mga pulis.

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Sabi pa ng korte, ordinaryong kaso lang ito ng utangan at hindi sapat na dahilan para payagan si Dontogan na manatili pa sa Hong Kong kahit matagal nang paso ang kanyang visa.

Ayon sa mga dokumento sa korte, bumalik si Dontogan sa Hong Kong para magtrabaho bilang domestic worker noong Feb. 18, 2008. Una siyang dumating dito noong 1986 pero umuwi pagkalipas ng 11 taon.

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Nang matapos ang kanyang kontrata noong Set. 15, 2010 ay sinikap niyang makahanap ng bagong amo nguni't siya'y nabigo. Nagdesisyon siyang huwag munang umuwi.

Lumipas ang mahigit apat na taon bago nagdesisyon si Dontogan na sumuko sa Immigration Department noong Feb 16, 2015, pero agad ding nagsampa ng non-refoulement claim, o ang pagpigil sa pagpapauwi sa kanya sa Pilipinas.

Pinayagan siyang makalabas pansamantala habang dinidinig ang kanyang kaso.

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Si Dontogan ay ipinanganak sa Lepanto Mankayan, Benguet. Hindi niya tinapos ang kanyang pag-aaral at diretsong nagtrabaho sa Hong Kong noong 1986.

Noong 1997 ay bumalik siya sa Pilipinas para samahan ang kanyang mga magulang. 

Taong 2004 nang magdesisyon siyang mangutang para makapag-umpisa ng negosyo. Sa kasamaang palad ay biglang nakitaan ng cancer ang kanyang ama at nagamit niya ang inutang na pera para ipagamot ito.

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Nang mamatay ang tatay niya sa sakit ay siya pa rin ang gumastos sa pagpapalibing, kaya hindi niya nabayaran ang inutang na pera.

Bumalik siya sa Hong Kong noong 2008 na ang intensiyon ay bayaran ang kanyang utang unti-unti mula sa kanyang sahod. Pero nang hindi siya makahanap ng bagong amo noong Sept 2010 matapos ang kanyang kontrata ay nagtago na lang siya dahil sa takot na saktan siya ng mga nagpautang sa kanya.

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Filipina escapes jail 3 years after coming to HK to take up bogus job

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

Marsha Love manages to smile outside court at the end of her 3-year nightmare

Her nightmare of the past three years ended today for 31-year-old Marsha Love Anabeza, when she was sentenced at Shatin Court to three months’ imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, for offences she reluctantly admitted to end her ordeal.

Anabeza faced two counts of false representation and one of giving false particulars to immigration officer. These all stemmed from her having been brought to Hong Kong to work as a domestic helper by a recruiter named Li Bik Shuen Anita, who told her at the last minute that her intended employer had migrated to Australia.

For the false representation charges, Magistrate David Cheung sentenced Anabeza to two concurrent sentences of three months each; plus an extra month for giving false information.

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Cheung said he was suspending the sentences after taking note that Anabeza was forced to remain in Hong Kong for three years while her case was being investigated, and that this led to “substantial hardship” on her part because she was not allowed to work during this time, and could not send money to her two children in the Philippines.

The magistrate also considered Anabeza’s clear record, her being a newcomer in Hong Kong  and her willingness to act as a witness against Li, who had pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting on Wednesday and will be sentenced on Dec 16.

Cheung also said that while Anabeza had known that her potential employer had already left Hong Kong, he understood that she was “easily be manipulated by her employment agent.”

Before the sentencing, Cheung called for a short break so prosecution could verify that this was the first time that Anabeza had come to Hong Kong to work as a domestic helper, indicating this would have a significant impact on the sentence he would impose.

This led to a tense situation in court when an observer asked Anabeza if she would consider reversing her plea, as it had become apparent after Li’s admission in court that she was the one at fault for abetting her coming to Hong Kong on false pretenses.

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Confused, Anabeza broke down and for a while, gave the suggestion serious thought. Esther Bangcawayan from the Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge where Anabeza has been looked after for three years, patiently explained the situation to her.

In the end, Anabeza said she would just go ahead with her guilty plea, as she had already waited too long for her ordeal to end.

Marsha and Esther, her guardian from Bethune House, get a treat after the court case

The charges against Anabeza stemmed from her having been enticed to come to Hong Kong by Li on August 15, 2019, even while knowing that the employer who had signed her contract, Zhang He, had already left the city.

The first charge was over her declaration on arrival at Hong Kong airport that she would work as a domestic helper for Zhang.

The second was for declaring on Aug 28, 2019 when she applied for a Hong Kong ID card that she was living at her contractual address, which was Tower 1 of The Waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui.

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The third was when she went to Immigration on Oct. 8, 2019 and told an officer that Zhang had terminated their contract three days earlier. That was when her lies were uncovered, and she was put under investigation.

But Anabeza has all along said that in all those occasions, Li had coached her on what she was supposed to tell the immigration officers. Having been in Hong Kong for less than two months, she said she did not know that she was committing a serious offence. She was also desperate for work so she could send money to her children.

When Li told her shortly before she was to fly out to Hong Kong that her employer had backed out and had migrated to Australia, Anabeza was already in dire straits. She had already spent quite a sum, including the P48,000 she was charged for undergoing training in Manila, and the work she had looked forward to was the only way for her to recoup what she had already spent.

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In desperation, she asked Li to find her a new employer, and the agent said yes.

Li then met the Filipina at the airport and took her to a house in Kwun Tong, assuring her that it was only a temporary arrangement, and she would find her another employer. Anabeza said she was treated so badly in that household and was not even given breakfast, so she asked Li to find her another employer.

After about two months, Li told her to go to Immigration and report that Zhang had terminated her contract. That was how all the lies that the agent had made her tell, unfolded.

Anabeza, who is separated from her husband, had provided solely for her daughter, now 14 years old; and son, 12 when she worked at a pharmacy in their hometown of Koronadal, South Cotabato, before she decided to find work abroad.

Her only consolation during the three dark and lonely years that she was forced to remain in Hong Kong was how well her children have done in school, with their grandparents looking after them, and how fiercely they have clung to the hope that she would be home soon.

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