Migrants to protest Labour’s inaction in dead OFW’s case

Lorain Asuncion

By The SUN

A migrant workers’ union is set to protest the failure of the Hong Kong Labour Department to investigate the events that led to an overseas Filipino worker being sent by her employer to Shenzhen, where she apparently took her own life more than a year ago.

The response by the Filipino Migrant Workers Union came in the wake of reports that the family of domestic worker Lorain Asuncion was left facing another blank wall in its quest to gain a semblance of justice over her death because of Labour’s inaction.

According to the deceased’s sister, Jenevieve A. Javier, the Labour Department had not investigated the case reportedly because Asuncion died outside Hong Kong.



Lawyer Teddy Lam, a partner at solicitors’ firm Boase, Cohen and Collins, relayed the news about Labour’s lack of action in a private message to Javier earlier this week.

“I have written to the Labour Department to see whether they had done any investigation. The reply is that they did not investigate as the accident happened outside Hong Kong,” Lam said.

He said he is willing to assist the Asuncion family’s quest for compensation if the latter has evidence to prove its case.



“I have to advise you that the legal burden of proof rest(s) on our shoulders. You have to understand that we lawyers have to rely on evidence, in particular, that legal aid is funding this case,” Lam said.

Earlier, Asuncion’s employers who had been out on police bail, were ordered released with no charges being filed against them.

The authorities’ inaction sparked an angry reaction from Eman Villanueva, chairperson of FMWU.



“This sets a dangerous precedent,” Villanueva said. “It sends the message that once a foreign domestic worker is sent out of Hong Kong to work elsewhere, the employer is no longer accountable to her.”

In fact, said Villanueva, the worker should be better protected by both Hong Kong’s laws and those of the foreign place where she is sent to work.

In many countries in Europe and in the United States, for example, he said the rule is that the worker who is brought there should be paid the prevailing salary, and protected by their own labor laws.



He said his group will consider staging a protest action outside the Labor Department’s offices to protest its inaction.

FMWU's Eman Villanueva

They will also seek help from Labour legislator Fernando Cheung on whether he could initiate a legislative inquiry into the case.

Villanueva said the fact that legal aid had already been granted to Asuncion’s family’s quest for compensation indicates there is probable ground their claim is justified.

Asuncion, 28, plunged to her death from the 22nd floor flat of her female employer’s father in Longgang District, Shenzhen, either on July 23 or 24, 2017.

Three autopsies conducted on her remains all reached the same conlusion – that there was nothing suspicious in her death.

However, the question of how she ended up working in the house of her employer’s father, and why she ended up becoming despondent enough to commit suicide, has not been resolved.

Javier, who has been granted a special power of attorney by her elderly parents to pursue their search for justice for Asuncion’s death, is at a loss over what to do now.

An investigation by Labour could confirm what to her was apparent - that her sister was ordered by her employers Gu Haiyu and his wife, Ms Liu, to cross the border and perform work for another person.

If that could be proven, then the employers should at the very least be held accountable for violating their employment contract that said Asuncion should only work at the address provided there, said Villanueva.

“The offence could be worse, because this has all the signs of human trafficking,” said Villanueva.

But since Hong Kong has unfortunately no law against human trafficking, he said Labour and Immigration should at the very least look into why Asuncion ended up working illegally across the border.

News about the department’s inaction came 10 months after the Hong Kong police released Asuncion’s former employers from criminal liability for the Filipina’s death due to insufficient evidence.

The couple were arrested but allowed to post bail a couple of months after Asuncion’s fatal fall. They were cleared after several months of investigation.

“After enquiry and investigation, police had sought legal advice and it was concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge any person,” a police spokesman said in response to an enquiry on May 11 last year.

“The arrested 47-year-old man and the 32-year-old woman were released,” he said, adding that investigation continued on the Shenzhen side. However, there has been no word either if the Chinese side has completed its investigation, and what its findings are.

Forensic experts from the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau and from a local university who examined Asuncion’s remains separately shortly after the tragedy had both ruled out foul play. A third autopsy by Hong Kong police on Nov 14 made the same findings.

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.