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Pinay jailed for 3 months for stealing jewelry says she'll appeal conviction

Posted on 18 April 2019 No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipina helper was sentenced today, Apr 18, to three months in jail for stealing a platinum ring and other jewelry pieces from her employer’s mother-in-law.

Her lawyer immediately said she will appeal the conviction.

Defendant Gladys Manuel stood calm and emotionless as Eastern Court Magistrate Peter Yu, reading from a written judgment, said he was convicting her based on the strong evidence against her.

The magistrate issued his verdict more than a month after the trial on Mar 5 during which the alleged owner of the jewelry, Lee Man-ying, gave evidence.

Manuel decided not to give evidence and the defense did not present any witness.

Lee said she lost a 1.06 carat yellow diamond ring, a platinum ring, a small piece of diamond, a pair of earrings with 0.6-carat and 0.7-carat diamonds, and a pair of purple crystal earrings. She valued the gold ring at $3,000 and the platinum ring at $6,600.

The magistrate gave credence to Lee’s testimony, saying he found her honest and reliable.

During the trial, Lee said she took off the ring and the pair of earrings after coming home from a party on Dec 12 and kept them in a small plastic box in her bedroom. At the time, she said she had just returned from a trip to the United States.

She told the court that before the left for the US on Nov 28 last year, she gave Manuel her spare keys so the maid could enter her flat and take care of her grandchild.

Manuel, meanwhile, went home to the Philippines for her Christmas vacation. During her absence, when Lee noticed that her rings were missing, she and her son searched Manuel’s room and found pawnshop receipts.

The helper returned to Hong Kong on Jan 2 and the next day Lee asked her to accompany her to the pawnshop so she could redeem the pawned jewelry.

Lee paid $1,700 to redeem the pawned items. Seeing the item were hers, she called the police and Manuel was arrested. The officers found the earrings in the maid’s bag.

The magistrate said he did not believe the maid’s claim that the two rings and the earrings were hers. He also said he did not find it unreasonable that Lee would call the police after seeing the pawned items were hers.

In mitigation, Manuel’s lawyer said she was a single mother with two daughters one aged 9, and the other who turned 2 today.

He asked for a very lenient sentence, saying that Manuel had repaid the $1,700 redemption money. However, Yu said the case was a breach of trust that called for an immediate custodial sentence.

He did not give any discount for the prescribed sentence of three months’ jail.

The defense lawyer immediately applied for bail for the helper so she could appeal the verdict in the High Court, but the magistrate refused the application.

The lawyer said after the hearing that he would file the appeal just the same even if his client would have served out her sentence by the time the appeal is heard.
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Kulang sa salawal

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Kahit kulang sa budget ay may lamang pa rin si Leng sa kanyang amo, ang pagkakaroon niya ng mas maraming panty.

Ito kasing amo niyang kuripot ay aapat ang panty na pinagpapalit-palit lang niya.

Kabisado na tuloy ni Leng kung ano ang paborito nitong suutin, iyong puti o grey, at ang pinakaayaw ay yung kulay itim.

Noong Chinese New Year, akala niya ay bawal maglaba kaya natambak ang maruming damit nila habang siya ay naka day-off.

Nagkataon namang may espesyal na lakad ang kanyang mga amo, at wala na palang susuutin na salawal ang babae, kaya galit na galit ito.

Ang ginawa ni Leng ay dali dali niyang kinusot yong apat na panty at binanlawan. Itinapat niya ang mga ito sa heater at natuyo naman agad.

Gustong gusto na niyang sabihan ang amo na bumili ng bagong panty pero nahiya naman siya.

Si Leng ay isang Ilongga na mula sa Guimaras, 37 taong gulang, may asawa at dalawang anak na parehong nasa elementary.

Dumating siya sa Hong Kong noong Disyembre 2018 at naninilbihan sa mga among taga Tiu Keng Leng. – Merly Bunda

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Hong Kong resident jailed for hiring illegal workers

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Shatin Court

A Hong Kong resident who employed six illegal workers was jailed at Shatin Magistrates' Courts on April 9.

The resident was among those arrested during operation “Twilight” conducted on May 3, 2018, and an anti-illegal worker operation conducted on Sept. 5, 2018.

In these operations, Immigration Department (ImmD) officers raided Chinese restaurants in Fanling and Yuen Long respectively.

Six illegal workers were arrested for working as dishwashers, and subsequently jailed on orders of the Shatin and Tuen Mun Magistrates’ Courts.

The Hong Kong resident employer was charged at Shatin Magistrates’ Courts with six counts of being an employer of a person who was not lawfully employable. She was found to have failed to take all practicable steps to ascertain whether the workers were lawfully employable prior to employment.

After trial, she was convicted and sentenced to four months' imprisonment for each count, with parts of the sentences to run consecutively, making a total of five months' imprisonment.

The ImmD reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable.

The maximum penalty is imprisonment for three years and a fine of $350,000. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence.

According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment.

Apart from inspecting a prospective employee’s identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings.

It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker's valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card.

The maximum penalty for failing to inspect such a document is imprisonment for one year and a fine of $150,000.

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Labatt Jolly likely to stay until Aug 11

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Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre

By Daisy CL Mandap

A provision in the Philippines’ election law appears to have thwarted an attempt to recall Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre from Hong Kong at the end of last month.

According to Commission on Elections Resolution No 10312 dated Apr 27, 2018, the “transfer, promotion, extension, recall or otherwise movement of foreign service corps from current post or position” will not be allowed from May 13, 2018 to Aug. 11, 2019.

To prevent being covered by the election ban, the concerned government department should seek an exemption from Comelec, which however, should have been done on or before a date designated by the Commissioner in charge of overseas voting.

The so-called “authority to recall” appears to have been overlooked by the Department of Labor so that, technically, Dela Torre will now have to remain in Hong Kong until Aug. 11.

The news that his term had been extended indefinitely was met with much rejoicing by some of the biggest Filipino migrant groups when they learned about it late on Apr. 1.

In a last-minute turnaround, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III issued a memo on this day stating that Labatt Dela Torre was to continue in his post “until further notice.”

The order reversed an earlier directive dated Mar 28 designating Assistant Labor Attache Antonio Villafuerte as office-in-charge at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office effective Apr 5 “until the arrival of a new Labor Attache.”

Despite the reversal to status quo, DOLE’s International Labor Affairs Bureau sent an urgent email to Consul General Antonio A. Morales on Apr 3 asking for a certification that was required by Comelec so Dela Torre could be recalled to the home office.

But the request was apparently not met, or was no longer honored by Comelec for not meeting the deadline.

Dela Torre’s three-year tour of duty was supposed to end on Mar 31, but many Filipino community leaders had petitioned for his retention for at least six more months, the length of time he was recalled by Bello to the Home Office to respond to apparently unfounded accusations of impropriety.

The leaders of the petition were elated by the news Dela Torre was to stay until a replacement for him was designated, or until after the lapse of the election ban.

“To God be the glory,” said Bishop Gerry Vallo of the Global Ministers Association of Hong Kong in a chat group.

“Yes! God is really good. Ang saya saya!,” said Leo Selomenio, chair of Global Alliance.

“Yahooo…tagumpay. Napalukso ako,” said Merlinda Mercado of Metrobank and financial education speaker at POLO.

The move to get Dela Torre to stay in Hong Kong got off the ground about a week earlier, after he was issued marching orders, along with the news that he would be sent back to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he served as a deputy labor attaché in the early 2000s.

That news was not received well by Filcom leaders, as a Middle East post is rarely given to a senior labor envoy like Dela Torre, who apart from being a lawyer and administrator of note, is also well-regarded by the Filipino community in countries where he served.

Despite their misgivings, about 100 of the leaders gathered at a farewell tribute hosted in Dela Torre’s honor on Mar 25, at the invitation of Hong Kong former legislator Emily Lau and some of her fellow human rights advocates.

On Mar 27, the group submitted a copy of the petition along with some 5,000 signatures, to Consul General Antonio A. Morales, who assured them that he would immediately endorse the request to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin.

An online petition urging Dela Torre’s extension of office was also started, and to this date, has been signed by well over 1,000 individuals, many of whom also left touching messages explaining their support for him.

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