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5 Pinoy tourists found guilty of attempted theft

Posted on 01 May 2019 No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao

Five Filipino tourists who were arrested in April last year after trying to steal the purse of a Korean woman inside the Central MTR station were found guilty of attempted theft on Apr 30 in District Court..

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The attempted theft happened on an escalator inside the Central MTR station

They will be sentenced on May 14.

The 50-page verdict by Judge David Dufton took one Tagalog and five Cebuano court interpreters nearly the whole day to read to the three female and two male defendants.

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The five – Zenaida Aviles, Rasim Linambos, Arlene Gerodias, Manuelito Camacho and Delia Tagalo – sat passively in the dock as their interpreters read the verdict to them. The reading began at 10am and continued at 2:30pm after the interpreters took a lunch break.

The judge said that in finding the defendants guilty, he used his local knowledge of the location of the Wanchai MTR station; the routes of both the MTR and the tramways and the location of Bank St and World-Wide Plaza.

He also carefully considered all the evidence and the oral and written submissions of prosecutor Bina Sujanani and defense lawyers Andrew Raffell, John Marray, James Sherry, Paul Stephenson and Maurice Peter Tracy.

This included the absence of evidence the five came to Hong Kong together, or knew each other before meeting at the Southern Guesthouse in Jordan, Yaumatei.

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“I am satisfied so I am sure the prosecution has proved all the elements of the charge beyond reasonable doubt,” Dufton said as he pronounced all defendants guilty.

Aviles, Linambos, Gerodias, Camacho and Tagalo were arrested on suspicion of trying to pick the wallet of Ko, a Korean female tourist, on the escalator at the MTR Central station on Apr 24 last year. They have been detained since their arrest.

During their trial, which began on Feb 11, Raffell, for Aviles, insisted police had not positively identified the defendant.

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But Sujanani said the five defendants knew each other and had tried to carry out the theft in April last year. An undercover police officer noticed them going up and down the escalators in the MTR station in Wanchai and alerted nine other officers.

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The suspects then reportedly went out of the station and boarded a tram to Central, got off at the Bank St and walked to World-Wide House looking for a target. Then they walked to the MTR Central station, where they spotted Ko with a male companion.

The plainclothes officer shadowing the defendants said they sandwiched the pair down the escalator to the Tsuen Wan trains.

Near the bottom of the escalator, Aviles, who was directly behind Ko, unzipped her backpack and pulled out her wallet but released it when she found it chained to the bag.

At that point the officer tailing the group identified himself and radioed his colleagues. The defendants scattered and boarded a departing train to Tsuen Wan. Aviles followed suit but was arrested. Other officers collared the four others in Admiralty station.

Judge Dufton told the court to return on May 14 for the sentencing.

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Filipino migrants call for $5,894 minimum salary at May Day rally

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Migrant workers at May Day rally: 'We are not slaves'

Filipino migrant workers have called for a new minimum allowable wage of $5,894 for all foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong in today’s rally held to mark International Labor Day.

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According to the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) which led the biggest contingent of foreign domestic workers at the rally, the increase in the salary is in line with an Oxfam study on what constitutes a living wage.

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The big AMCB contingent

The group says the current minimum wage of $4,520 per month translates to only $9 per hour for a 16-hour work day, and $12 for those who work for 12 hours each day. That’s a far cry from the $54.7 hourly rate recommended by the Oxfam study.

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“A living wage is a fight of all workers in Hong Kong who endure slave wage level.

For migrants who are mostly domestic workers, the struggle to pull up the minimum allowable wage to a living wage is a constant struggle,” said AMCB in a statement.

Apart from an increase in their monthly salary, the protesting migrant workers also reiterated calls for:

*an 11-hour uninterrupted rest plus meal breaks

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Self-made posters list migrants' deplorable work conditions

*a clear stipulation in their work contracts on what constitutes unsuitable accommodations, an end to illegal collection and overcharging, passage of a comprehens;

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* legislating a comprehensive anti-trafficking law, and;
* abolition of all “discriminatory immigration policies” such as the “two-week rule”, mandatory live-in policy, denial of visa to suspected “job-hoppers” and ban on Nepalese workers

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The migrants said they stand solidly behind local workers in fighting for better pay and working conditions, and deplore efforts, “fanned by government inaction” to drive a wedge between them.

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Low turnout sparks concern in ongoing overseas election

Posted on 30 April 2019 No comments

Voters line up to exercise their right of suffrage.

By Vir B. Lumicao

With just two weeks to go before the month-long overseas voting for Filipinos in Hong Kong ends, the Consulate has appealed to more voters to go out and vote amid a low turnout.

More than 87,000 Filipinos are registered to vote for 12 senators and a party-list representative in the Philippine mid-term elections, but only about 19,000 have cast their ballots as of Apr 28.

Consul General Antonio Morales has urged more Filipinos to vote, and vote early. He expressed concern at the trend that suggested the total turnout could be just 24%, lower than the 28% recorded in the previous mid-term election in 2013.

“We ask you to help us in going out to ask our kababayans to vote early. Sana huwag na sa huling Linggo ng eleksiyon dahil mahirap ang pagboto kapag maraming tao,” he said.

He made his statement during a media briefing on Apr 27, a Saturday, when only about 700 people voted throughout the day. “Usually, kapag Saturday malaki ang bilang,” Morales, said as he appealed to everyone to urge their friends to vote.

The early days of the election were marred by vote-counting machine failures amid the rainy weather, which also appeared to discourage many voters from going to the Bayanihan Centre in Kennedy Town where the election is being held.

But these were all resolved by replacing the malfunctioning VCMs, or resorting to home remedies like using blow-dryers to get the moisture out of the machines.

Complaints from voters were also unusually high, mostly from those deemed to have overvoted, or chosen more than the allowed maximum 12 senatorial candidates and 1 party-list.

Others complained of getting receipts showing they voted for another candidate, instead of the one that they chose. Still others ended up with a spoiled ballot, after making stray marks on the paper while choosing their candidates.

But these hiccups aside, the election in Hong Kong has been relatively smooth.

Hong Kong has been the focus of overseas voting during Philippine elections because it accounts for the highest registration and turnout rate per capita among all OFW destinations.

How the voting went:

Day 1, Apr 13 – Almost 1,000 Hong Kong-based Filipinos cast their ballot in what was described by Morales as an “uneventful” Day One. He said there were about five minor issues, such as one voter complaining the name of a party-list candidate already shaded when she opened her ballot. One voter was reported to have marked by mistake the bar code, invalidating her ballot. Another “overvoted”. A VCM jammed in precinct 9.

Day 2, Apr 14 – Failure of two VCMs marred what would have been a seamless day. Light showers interrupted the stream of voters to Bayanihan. Morales announced after 5pm that close to 2,500 voters cast their ballot on Sunday, more than double the previous day’s turnout, bringing the two-day total to 3,400. The wet weather was blamed for the VCMs rejecting ballots cast by 15 voters.

Day 3, Apr 15 – The SBEIs began a ban on cellphones and cameras being used by voters when filling their ballots. This after some voters openly used phones while filling up ballots. No VCM malfunction. Election supervisors said only Congen Morales would conduct media briefings.

Day 4, Apr 16 – The number of voters was estimated to average around 30 in each of the nine precincts, just two hours before the polls closed. The automated VCMs “behaved” with just one malfunctioning, and was immediately replaced.

Day 5, Apr 17 – Voter numbers picked up as the weather improved. Consul Fatima Quintin expressed hope the turnout will continue to improve after a low result for the first two working days of the week. Most election inspectors said their VCMs had so far been “cooperative” with no malfunctions.

Day 7, Apr 19 – Heavy rain dampened Day 7 of the midterm elections. The Hong Kong Observatory issued an SAR-wide thunderstorm and amber rain warning. None of the previously problematic VCMs malfunctioned. Congen Morales said about 320 voters cast their ballots, bringing the tally to close to 5,100, or 5.78% of the total after seven days.

Day 9, Apr 21 – More than 3,500 voters cast their ballots as good weather encouraged voters to flock to the overseas voting center at Bayanihan. Morales told a media briefing the number of voters brought the total for the past nine days to over 9,300, or 10.6% of the 87,441 registered overseas voters in Hong Kong. It was a seamless day for the VCMs, with no breakdowns or glitches reported, he said.

Day 11, Apr 23 – More than 320 voted, taking the total for the first 11days of overseas voting beyond 10,000. The day’s total was less than half the 750 votes on Apr 22, a public holiday. Election inspectors reported one case of over-voting by a male voter, who vehemently claimed he shaded exactly 12 tick boxes on his ballot. He filed a protest, which the Consulate forwarded to the Comelec.

Day 13, Apr 25 – Nearly 400 voters cast their ballots, taking the 13-day total votes past the 11,000-mark. Consul Bob said the cumulative number of votes in Hong Kong now made up nearly 13% of the 87,441 registered voters in the SAR. He also said he expects the voter turnout to reach 50%. But Quintin said that, personally, he would count it a bonus if the turnout exceeds the 28% in the 2013 midterm elections.

Day 14, Apr 26 – The daily turnout in the overseas voting for Hong Kong-base Filipinos fell to its lowest at just over 260, Consul Fatima Quintin said. She said the day’s voting was marred by one VCM failing to read a voter’s ballot and was replaced. Three over-votes were reported.

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Ex-rookie officer set to return to HK as ConGen

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A Philippine diplomat who was posted in Hong Kong for his first overseas assignment nearly 20 years ago is reportedly set to become the new Philippine Consul General to the Special Administrative Region.

Reports from Manila say Rally L. Tejada, a lawyer who is currently Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul General in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will take over from Consul General Antonio Morales who is due to return to the Home Office in June.

Tejada was first posted as vice consul in Hong Kong in the early 2000s, where he met his wife, a journalist who was then working at the South China Morning Post.

He stayed in Hong Kong for only three years, then moved on to Geneva, Switzerland to serve as First Secretary to the United Nations Mission. He then served as Deputy Consul General in Vancouver, Canada, before assuming the post of Consul General in Guangzhou, China.

In the Home Office, ConGen Tejeda held several executive positions, such as Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Policy from 2007 to 2009, and as Director of Treaties Division, Office of Legal Affairs from June to October 2007.

To cap his term, he was named Assistant to the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations from 1996 to 2001.

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