The SUN HK

Lakbay Dangal, sinariwa ang simulain

Posted on 07 May 2019 No comments

Mga lider ng Lakbay Dangal bumisita sa tinirhan ni Rizal sa Mid-Levels.

Ni George Manalansan

Muli ay nagsagawa ang Lakbay Dangal ng isang pagbabalik-tanaw sa kasaysayang nag-uugnay sa Pilipinas at Hong Kong sa pamamagitan ng paglalakad tungo sa mga lugar na may kaugnayan sa ating Pambansang Bayani, si Dr. Jose Rizal.

Ang pagsariwa sa nakaraan ay isinawa noong ika-31 ng Marso, bilang paggunita sa ika-9 na taong anibersaryo ng grupo na ngayon ay pinangungunahan ni Cecil Eduarte.

Press ad to find out 5 selected agent
locations, and terms of this promo.

Ang Lakbay Dangal na itinatag ni Fr. Robert Reyes noong 2010 ay isang samahan ng mga migranteng manggagawa na naglalayon na ilapit sa publiko ang kuwento tungkol sa naging ugnayan ng Pilipinas at Hong Kong, ilang siglo na ang nakakaraan.

Tampok sa ugnayang ito ang pagtira ni Dr. Rizal sa Hong Kong mula sa taong 1891 hanggang 1892.

PRESS FOR MORE SPECIAL OFFERS!

Kabilang sa mga lugar na pinupuntahan ng grupo sampu ng kanilang mga bisita ang Rednaxela Terrace sa Mid-Levels kung saan tumira ang bayani, at ang dalawang lugar sa Central kung saan nagtayo ng klinika si Rizal na isang doktor sa mata.

Isinasama din minsan ang lugar sa Morrison Hill sa Wanchai kung saan tinahi ng isang grupo ng mga kababaihan sa pangunguna ni Marcela Agoncillo, ang kauna-unahang watawat ng Pilipinas.

CALL US NOW!

Nais ng grupo na ipagmalaki ng lahat ng mga Pilipino, kabilang ang mga migrante, ang makulay na kasaysayan at kultura ng kanilang bansa para taas-noo din nilang bagtasin ang landas na tinahak ng kanilang mga ninuno, ang “Lakbay Dangal.”

Kamakailan ay muling binigyan ng buhay ang grupo ng isa sa mga dating namuno dito, si Sonia Zerrudo, na sa Thailand na namamalagi. Nag-eleksyon ng mga bagong mamumuno, at nanghila ng ilang bagong miyembro.

Call us!

Matapos mahalal bilang lider, inumpisahan muli ni Eduarte ang pagsasaliksik sa kasaysayan ng mga piling tambayan ng mga Pilipino sa Hong Kong, kabilang ang Chater Garden. Ayon sa kanilang nakalap, ipinangalan ang hardin na ito kay Paul Charter, na tinaguriang “Father of Modern Hong Kong.”

Mui ay binisita din nila ang dating tirahan ni Rizal, at pati na rin ang dalawang klinika nito. Sa umaga ay sa D’Aguilar street ito nanggagamot, at sa hapon naman ay sa Duddell St.

Call now!

Ibinahagi din ni Eduarte ang ilang piling pangyayari na naganap sa Hong Kong, na ang pangalan ay naggaling sa salitang “heung geung” na ang ibig sabihin ay mabangong daungan. Ayon sa kanyang salaysay, ang dating daungan lang ng mga mangingisda noong unang panahon ay isa na ngayong sentro ng kalakalan.

Call us now!

Ikinuwento din niya na ang estatwa na tinaguriang “Black Man” ng mga migrante ay rebulto pala ng Scottish banker na si Thomas Jackson, na noon ay chief manager ng Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, na mas kilala ngayon bilang HSBC.

Ayon pa sa kanya, ibinalik ng Britanya ang Hong Kong sa Tsina noong 1997, bilang pagtupad sa kanilang kasunduan na maari lang manatili ang dayuhang mananakop dito sa loob ng 100 taon.

CALL US

Matamang nakinig ang mga miyembro sa kanyang paglalahad para kung sakaling may mga kaibigan o bisita sila na interesado ay maaari din nilang isama ang mga ito sa tinagurian nilang Lakbay Dangal walk.

===I-TRY MO ITO, KATRIBO!

Mas madali nang tawagan ang mga advertiser natin dito. Pindutin lang ang kanilang ad at lalabas ang automatic dialer. Isa pang pindot ay matatawagan mo ang advertiser na hindi na kailangang i-dial ang numero nila. I-try mo!

Record turnout in mid-term election seen this year

Posted on 06 May 2019 No comments

By Daisy CL Mandap

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing and outdoor

May 5 saw the biggest daily turnout for a mid-term overseas election among Filipinos in HK

A last-minute surge in the number of voters at Bayanihan Centre has raised hopes of a record turnout in Hong Kong for the mid-term election in the Philippines.

As of yesterday, May 5, the overall turnout had reportedly gone up to more than 26,000, according to Consul General Antonio Morales. The day’s total tally alone reached more than 4,500, a record for this year and the previous mid-term election in 2013.

Press ad to find out 5 selected agent
locations, and terms of this promo.

The number was reportedly boosted by three busloads of voters from El Shaddai, a Catholic charismatic group whose leader, Mike Velarde recently endorsed the administration’s senatorial candidates.

Congen Morales says that at this rate, he is confident the final tally will exceed the total turnout of 28,252 posted in the 2013 mid-term vote. That result represented 32% of the 87,000 total registered voters for that year.

PRESS FOR MORE SPECIAL OFFERS!

“So even in terms of percentage, the results this year would likely be higher, given that the total registration figure is even lower now,” said Congen Morales.

He said the high interest among voters appears to show how involved Filipinos have become in choosing their next leaders.

With vote-counting machines working smoothly, the voting takes only a few minutes to complete

The day’s record turnout came as a surprise to many, since it was raining heavily throughout most of the day, and such weather used to deter voters from going to Bayanihan to cast their ballots.

CALL US NOW!

Also, the previous practice of busing voters from far-flung places in Hong Kong was not done this year, after Congen Morales thumbed down the idea, saying it violated election laws.

Congen also noted that the Commission on Elections has been strict in enforcing its rules on de-listing voters who did not cast their ballots in two consecutive elections.

Call us!

Only those who could show proof that they had voted in either, or both of the two previous elections, have reportedly been allowed to get their names back on the registry so they could vote.

But Comelec has reportedly been more flexible in allowing overseas voters registered in other countries to cast their ballots in Hong Kong. A new staff member of the Consulate whose name is still in the voters’ list in Kuwait was reportedly allowed to vote here.

Call now!

“This applies only to overseas voters, though, and not those who are registered to vote in the Philippines,” said Congen Morales.

As in the previous Sunday, however, there was an unusually number of "overvotes", or those where the voter ticked the boxes for more than 12 senatorial candidates, or one party-list, in the ballot. In such cases the ballots are deemed spoiled, and no votes from them are counted.

Call us now!

The month-long overseas voting which started on Apr 13 will continue until this coming Monday, May 13, when voters across the Philippines will also go to the polling stations.

CALL US

Voters abroad are asked to elect 12 senatorial candidates and one party-list group, while those in the Philippines will cast their ballots for both national and local candidates.

===

I-TRY MO ITO, KATRIBO!
Mas madali nang tawagan ang mga advertiser natin dito. Pindutin lang ang kanilang ad at lalabas ang automatic dialer. Isa pang pindot ay matatawagan mo ang advertiser na hindi na kailangang i-dial ang numero nila. I-try mo!

Opposition supporter files police complaint vs DDS member after fracas

Posted on No comments

By Daisy CL Mandap

A supporter of the Otso Diretso senatorial bets in the Philippine mid-term elections has filed a police complaint against a campaigner for the administration candidates who allegedly hit her in the face during a melee outside the voting centre in Kennedy Town.

Police are shown video of the alleged assault

Elsa Carpio said she decided to pursue the complaint after learning from a doctor at Queen Mary Hospital that her inner eye was injured when she was punched in the face by an unidentified DDS (Duterte Diehard Supporters) member yesterday, May 5.

Press ad to find out 5 selected agent
locations, and terms of this promo.

She proceeded to the Western Police after being diagnosed by the doctor, and given an antibiotic for her eye. Earlier she said her eye had been hurting badly, and one of her friends said it turned black although there appears to be no picture to back this up.

Carpio's doctor shows the injured part of her eye

This was despite earlier attempts by no less than Consul General Antonio Morales to pacify both camps, fearing the incident could result in the protagonists, who are both foreign domestic workers, losing their jobs.

PRESS FOR MORE SPECIAL OFFERS!

“As far as I know, nagka-ayos na,” Congen Morales told The SUN after being informed that Carpio decided to pursue a complaint.

Morales had called leaders of both camps to a meeting late in the afternoon, and asked them to agree to a truce. Supporters of the candidates were also asked to refrain from chanting slogans that could inflame rival camps.

CALL US NOW!

But Carpio said she was not at the conciliation meeting arranged by the Consulate because she was interviewed by the police, before being taken to the hospital for a check-up.

Image may contain: 3 people, people standing

Alleged assailant shows how she might
have hit Carpio in the face by accident

She also said her employers know about the incident, and were even the ones who told her to pursue a complaint because she was hurt.

Call us!

Videos taken of the alleged assault did not show Carpio being hit, but the DDS supporter who was shown with her arm raised near her face later admitted during a video interview that she could have smacked her when she pumped up her fist.

But the alleged assailant said she was the one who was hit first, and she just retaliated by raising her fist.

“Siguro sa sobrang ganito ko (raising her fist), nasuntok ko siya,” she said in the video filmed by her fellow DDS members.

Congen says he has asked police
to beef up security next Sunday

Carpio allegedly kicked her back, but this was not shown on the video.

The DDS member also said she was the first to be hit in the face by Otso supporters.

Call now!

The altercation reportedly happened at around 4pm near the bus stop across the Bayanihan voting centre.

Carpio said she and a few friends were distributing flyers near the bus stop when they were accosted by DDS members who were apparently angered by a poster made by an opposition supporter saying “Huwag iboboto, magnanakaw.”

Call us now!

But according to a DDS member, it was because the Otso supporters were chanting Duterte was a thief and a drug lord.

Carpio countered this happened because the DDS put up a poster of Duterte near their tarpaulins, when he is not even a candidate in the election.

CALL US

Congen Morales said he has already asked police for additional security detail to prevent anymore altercation happening on the last Sunday of the election.

The month-long overseas voting will end on May 13, a Monday.

===

May Day surge brings overseas voting tally to over 20k

Posted on 04 May 2019 No comments

May Day queue in Bayanihan (photo by Marites Palma)

By The SUN

Another big turnout in the ongoing overseas voting for Filipinos in Hong Kong on May 1 has raised hopes the total tally could at least match the number of votes cast in the previous mid-term election in 2013.

According to Consul Fatima Quintin, the turnout for May Day was just short of 3,500, raising the total figure to more than 20,000 so far. That represents nearly 23% of the 87,441 registered voters.

If the previous Sunday’s record tally of 4,200 is to be used as gauge, the final result could approximate the 28,258 recorded for the 2013 mid-term election, with two more Sundays to go before the voting ends on May 13.

Consul General Antonio Morales had earlier urged more Filipinos to vote, expressing fears the turnout could dip to only about 24% of the total registered voters.

According to Consul Quintin, the other good news for the day was that no major issue was recorded throughout the day, not with the vote counting machines or with voters protesting about some anomaly.

In the first two weeks of the election, some of the VCMs malfunctioned, prompting Congen Morales to ask for replacements from the Commission on Elections.

Staff administering the vote have, however, found that blow-trying the ballots during humid weather has kept them from being rejected by the machines.

Call us now!

Another recurring problem concerns ballots spoiled by overvoting. Most of the voters involved did not challenge the outcome shown in their ballot receipts, but a few have decided to file protests, which were duly passed on by the Consulate to the Comelec.

Image may contain: 2 people, people standing, tree, crowd and outdoor

The line starts across Bayanihan (from Marites Palma)

To beef up the voter turnout, Quintin has urged those registered in other places abroad but who are now already in Hong Kong, to request Comelec through them, to allow them to vote here.

CALL US

About 3,000 voters whose registration were deactivated for failing to vote in two consecutive elections, can also apply to Comelec to get their names back on the official list so they can cast their ballot.

===

Call us!