PCG gets mandate to oversee month-long election

OFWs check the voters’ lists to see if they are included.

By Vir B. Lumicao 

It’s all systems go for the month-long overseas voting for Filipinos in Hong Kong this year, after the Consulate received a mandate from the Commission on Elections to act on its behalf in administering the vote.

Consul General Antonio A. Morales and Comelec Executive Director Jose Tolentino signed a memorandum of agreement on Feb 24 relating to the holding of the midterm ballot from Apr 13 to May 13 this year. Filipino voters in Hong Kong will choose 12 senators and one party-list during the month-long election.



Consul Robert Quintin, head of the Consulate’s cultural section, said the MOA gives the Consulate the legal personality to represent Comelec in Hong Kong in conducting the midterm election.

“We did that (signing) to … establish our legal personality to represent Comelec in Hong Kong so we can enter into a contract with Bayanihan for the use of the center,” Quintin said on Feb 26. 



He said the Consulate has come up with a few ideas on how to proceed with the electoral process, but nothing has been made final. He added that a meeting with Filipino community leaders would be called soon to mobilize their support for the election.

In the meantime, his office will start posting more announcements on the Consulate’s Facebook page about the upcoming election to encourage Filipino registered voters to cast their ballots.



The preparations also include recruiting volunteers to serve on the Special Board of Election Inspectors that will oversee the voting in each of the precincts to be set up in Bayanihan Center in Kennedy Town.

Five applications have so far been received by the Consulate in response to its invitation for 18 people to work in the nine SBEIs, each of which will be chaired by a staff from the Consulate, and two volunteers.



The invitation for SBEIs was posted by the PCG on its bulletin boards and on its Facebook page on Jan 31. But the response has been lukewarm, most likely because only Filipino residents are being sought for jobs that will last for just over a month, including training.

Earlier, the Consulate released the Comelec-certified list of 87,441 voters  in Hong Kong.

The number is 6.4% fewer than the 93,049 who had been certified as eligible voters in the May 2016 national elections.

A scroll-down only version of the certified list was initially posted online by the Consulate, and was soon followed by a printed version, accessible in folders placed beside the entrance to the public area.

The list is accessible to the public during the Consulate’s office hours.

Duterte won’t help Pinoys committing crimes abroad

President Duterte speaks at an assembly of barangay leaders in Pasay City. 

Filipinos committing crimes abroad could not expect assistance from the Duterte administration, specifically for acts involving illegal drugs.

“To the Filipinos outside (the country), do not do that because you will get killed. Do not (commit) crimes, your crimes in other countries. I cannot help you and I won’t help you. Remember that,” President Duterte said in a speech at an assembly of barangay leaders in Pasay City last Monday.

The statement came as rumors flew thick in Manila that death-row inmate Mary Jane Veloso had been executed in Indonesia. Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has, however, denied the rumors.

“No, no it’s not true,” AGO spokesperson Mukri was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post on Sunday. “There have been no [executions]. Just wait for information about the next round.”

Veloso’s Indonesian lawyer, Agus Salim, confirmed that she was still being held at the Wirogunan women’s prison in Yogyakarta.

Veloso was sentenced to death by the Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta in 2010 after being caught with 2.6 kilograms of heroin hidden in her luggage at Adisutjipto International Airport.

She was set to be executed during the wave of executions in April 2015 but was granted a last-minute reprieve after a woman came forward in her home country to admit that she had duped Veloso into smuggling drugs to Indonesia.

While warning Filipinos overseas that he would not bail them out of criminal offenses, Duterte also threatened foreigners that they would not be spared if they bring illegal drugs to the Philippines.



“Whether as a drug lord, I do not care if you are from China, if you are from Taiwan, if you are from Malaysia. If you come here and you do that (bring illegal drugs), I will really kill you,” Duterte said. 

“I will make this statement very, very clear. I promised you that at this time of our national life, it is the time during my time that it would be very, very dangerous for anybody to do drugs,” he said.



As of the end of 2016, at least 4, 000 Filipinos, including 140 on death row, were languishing in jails across 52 countries and territories, according to a report from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

As to reason for incarceration, illegal drugs topped the list, responsible for putting 2,265 Filipinos in foreign jails, with 1,131 in Malaysia, 459 in Saudi Arabia, 146 in China, 106 in United Arab Emirates and 63 in Italy. 



Of those facing drug charges, 473 were Filipino women, including 50 jailed or facing prosecution in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Seeking to clarify Duterte’s statement, Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the president would not travel to another country to seek the pardon of Filipinos who committed crimes.



“What he means by that is he cannot be violating the laws of other countries, just like his position that you cannot violate our laws,” Panelo said. 

“Now, if Filipinos will be engaged in drug trafficking, he will not lift a hand in the sense that he would be traveling there and asking the president for a pardon. What we can do is just to provide lawyers from them,” he added.

Panelo said helping Filipinos involved in narcotics goes against the Philippines’ campaign against illegal drugs.

Go home, teach and inspire, ConGen urges LET passers

By Vir B. Lumicao

ConGen Morales administers oath to 64 new teachers who took the licensure test in HK

Filipino teachers working as domestic helpers in Hong Kong who have earned their licenses should return to the classrooms at home or seek teaching jobs abroad, according to Consul General Antonio Morales.

“I think you should look at the future with more confidence. Kung maaari tayong bumalik sa ating bansa, pag-isipan nating mabuti. Gumaganda rin naman ang ekonomiya natin, tumataas na rin ang sahod ng mga guro,” ConGen Morales said.

Alternatively, he said they could go to other countries, recalling that when he was posted in San Francisco more than 10 years ago, he was surprised to see many Filipinos teaching mathematics and science there. He said they could also explore possibilities in Canada.

Go home or teach in another country, says Morales

 Morales was guest speaker on Feb 24 at the 17^th Oath-taking Ceremony of the National Organization of Professional Teachers-Hong Kong for last September’s passers of passers of Licensure Examination for Teachers.

He later administered the oath to the 64 new professional teachers in a ceremony at the Consulate.

Morales thanked National Organization of Professional Teachers – Hong Kong, led by Gemma Lauraya, for pushing the holding of the special licensure exams here and preparing the teacher-helpers for the test.

He congratulated the new crop of licensed teachers, saying the country is proud of them.

He also said employers prefer to hire Filipinos because they speak English.

“I think it is not surprising that employers would prefer Filipinos because not only do they get household workers, they also get teachers at the same time. Nakaka-discount pa pala sila sa atin,” he said in jest.

He urged the teachers to explore better opportunities, to “teach and inspire” and to not forget those who taught them to aspire for a better life.

Labatt Dela Torre says teachers are catalysts for change

Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre, who actively supports the return to the classroom of former teachers now working as helpers in Hong Kong, said he singled out NOPT-HK as a community organization that he was happy to be associated with.

He joked that it is baffling and ironic that when the new teachers were still in the Philippines, they could not pass the licensure exam, but did so now that they were in their present job, away from their loved ones. “That is your source of inspiration,” he said.

 

Labatt Dela Torre compared the teacher-helpers to the first wave of Filipino migrants to Australia in the 1970s who set up and populated their own villages by marrying indigenous people, as well as to the Filipino seamen on Spanish galleons who jumped ship and settled in Texas cities such as Houston.

“That’s how important the impact of Filipino migrant workers is, just like you. I look at you as social catalysts responsible for initiating change in our society, truth-seekers and, of course, value formators, the most important one being value formation,” the labor official said.

He exhorted the teacher-helpers to start pursuing their dreams through the government’s “Sa Pinas Ikaw ang Ma’am, Sir”, or SPIMS, program to and become teachers in their own districts back home. He repeated this in a post on Facebook on Feb 25. 

A total of 18,409 elementary teachers out of 90,750 examinees, or 20.29%, passed the LET held last Sept 30 all over the Philippines, Hong Kong and Thailand, according to the PRC.

There were 60,803 secondary teachers who passed the exam, or 48.03% out of 126,582, the regulatory body announced on Dec 7 last year.

Manlolokong pag-ibig

Umuwing luhaan si Melanie kamakailan matapos mabiktima ng nobyong taga India.


Si Melanie, 28 taong gulang at dalaga, ay galing sa broken family kaya sabik sa pagmamahal. Lumaki siyang naninilbihan sa mga kaanak kaya natutong mnagtipid at alagaan ang sarili.

Pero kahit hirap ay nakatapos naman siya ng dalawang taon sa kolehiyo bago naisipang mag-aplay ng trabaho sa Hong Kong.



Nang naka 11 buwan na siya dito ay nakilala niya si Dyrek na na nanligaw sa kanya.

Pagkalipas ng tatlong buwan na lagi silang nag-uusap ay nahulog na nang husto ang damdamin ni Melanie sa lalaki.



Isang araw ay nagsabi si Dyrek na magpapadala sya ng package kay Melanie dahil gusto daw niya itong bigyan ng tsokolate at iba pang regalo kaya sa tuwa ay agad namang ibinigay ni Melanie ang address ng kanyang amo.

Pagkatapos ng isang linggo ay may tumawag kay Melanie na nagpakilala na isang Immigration officer at sinabing ang kanyang package ay naka-hold para sa check-up.



Ilang araw pa ang lumipas pero wala pa ring package na dumarating kay Melanie kaya binalot siya ng takot at pangamba. Noon lang niya naalala ang madalas na maibalita na may nakukulong na mga Pilipina dahil ang package na ipinadala sa kanila ng ng inaakala nilang nobyo sa internet ay may lamang droga.

Dahil sa takot ay hindi na makapagtrabaho ng maayos si Melanie at minsan ay may pinadalhan pa ng message na gusto niyang magpakamatay, mabuti at napigilan naman siya agad.



Kahit pinadalhan siya ni Dyrek ng mensahe na nagsasabi ng diumano’y laman ng pakete na ipinadala sa kanya ay hindi na naniwala si Melanie.

Pinutol niya ang kanyang kontrata at binayaran na lang ang amo para makaalis agad.

Personal ang sinabi niyang dahilan sa desisyong umuwi na. Bago siya lumipad ay alalang alala si Melanie na baka hindi siya palabasin ng Immigration, mabuti na lang at hindi naman ito nangyari.

Ilang araw na siyang nakakauwi sa Maynila ay hindi pa rin makatulog si Melanie dahil sa nangyari. Pinutol niya agad ang lahat ng contact kay Dyrek at nangako sa sarili na mag-iingat na sa susunod. - Rodelia Villar