The SUN HK

Pinay who accepted drug parcel from online boyfriend set free

Posted on 04 June 2019 No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao

Be wary of accepting parcels from people you hardly know, as they could contain drugs such as this

A Filipina domestic helper was freed from nine months of detention today, June 4, after the prosecution withdrew a charge of drug trafficking against her for receiving an air parcel sent last year from Ecuador by her online boyfriend.

Michelle Mardo, a 41-year-old mother of three, was speechless when the prosecutor told Kowloon City Magistrate Lam Tsz-kan that the charge of “trafficking in a dangerous drug” against her was being withdrawn.

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But she reportedly told prison chaplain Fr. John Wotherspoon afterwards that she wanted to file a claim for damages against the Customs and Excise Department for her wrongful arrest.

“Michelle has phoned me and I've put her in contact with a lawyer. I hope publicity about her case can warn others,” said the priest, who has been helping women jailed for acting as couriers, wittingly or unwittingly, for drug syndicates.

Consul Paulo Saret also welcomed the news of the acquittal, but again warned Filipinos to be wary of accepting parcels sent to them, especially by people they hardly know.

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“Mabuti pa, ireport ninyo sa pulis kung duda kayo sa padala o sa nagpadala,” he added.

Saret said he has been telling newly arrived Filipina domestic workers attending post-arrival orientation seminars not to be too trusting with men they meet online or on chance encounters, as they could use them for illicit purposes.

Mardo was arrested on Sept 27 by customs officers, one of whom was disguised as a UPS delivery man, after accepting the parcel containing nearly 300 grams of pure cocaine.

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The drug was found hidden between layers of four wooden boxes sent via air mail to Mardo’s Yuen Long address.

Earlier, on Mar 14, another Filipina maid was freed four months after taking delivery of a parcel which turned out to contain ketamine tablets. Prosecutors also withdrew a drug trafficking charge against her.

Calin Baybayan was fetched from the West Kowloon court after her release by her employer, who also retained her services.

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No directive yet on canned foods ban, says HK shipper

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By Daisy CL Mandap

Ma Ling is popular 'pasalubong' among Pinoys

Is it illegal to send or bring in canned pork products to the Philippines, particularly Ma Ling?

This is the question often asked by Filipino migrant workers now, in the wake of a controversial confiscation of several cans of Ma Ling from an overseas Filipino worker from Hong Kong who arrived at Clark Airport on May 25.

The move was said to be in line with a Philippine government ban on the importation of pork and pork products from countries infected with African swine fever, including China.

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ASF is a highly contagious and deadly disease affecting pigs and wild boars, but is not passed on to humans.

But according to Rosabelle Woolf, general manager of AFreight in Hong Kong, their company has not received any directive about the reported ban on canned meat products, so their customers are not being told yet not to include these in their door-to-door boxes.

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“Iyan nga ang pinag-uusapan namin kahapon (Jun 3), pero wala pang directive kahit sa Door to Door Cargo Association of the Philippines, kaya hindi pa rin naming pinagbabawal, Woolf said.

She said many of their customers have been asking about this, either through their social media accounts or in person, but they have advised them to just wait for any new development.

Woolf

“Sa ngayon wait and see pa kami kasi wala pa namang order, e,” said Woolf.

Many of the queries pertain to China-produced Ma Ling luncheon meat, which many Filipinos often pack into the cargo boxes they send to their family members back in the Philippines.

It was the same canned product seized from Norma Agtarap at Clark Airport when she went home for a vacation in her hometown in La Union early this month.

Agtarap complained about the seizure to broadcaster Raffy Tulfo, who promptly took the airport personnel to task, and got them to return the canned goods to her.

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That sparked an angry response from Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol who disclosed that his office had issued a directive as early as August last year prohibiting the importation of pork or pork products from countries infected by ASF.

Piñol warned that violating this directive could result in a fine of up to Php200,000.

Acting on his request, the Food and Drug Administration ordered the recall on May 27 of all pork products imported from countries hit by ASF. These include, apart from China, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Mongolia, Moldova and

Belgium

The order also directed "all importers, distributors, retail outlets, and other dealers" of processed pork products from ASF-hit countries to immediately implement the recall.

But as of this writing, the FDA order appears to have been largely ignored, with only Cebu City ordering as of May 30 the removal from grocery shelves of all canned meat products from the named ASF-infected countries.

In a follow-up broadcast on May 28, Tulfo showed off Ma Ling products he bought from some of the biggest grocery chains in Metro Manila, and hit out anew at Piñol for supposedly targeting only small direct consumers like OFWs and not the big importers.

Agtarap said in a phone hook-up that grocery stores in her La Union hometown are also openly displaying and selling the same products.

But given that a precedent has been set, it may not be advisable to bring Ma Ling with you on your next vacation to the Philippines. You can probably pack it into the next balikbayan box you send home – at your own risk.

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Filipina writes, directs play on abortion

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The cast during rehearsal.

A young Filipina tackles the delicate subject of abortion and a woman’s right to choose in ‘The Waiting Room,” an upcoming “physical theatre” she self-produced and directed, and written in collaboration with an all-women cast.

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Jessica de Borja said in an interview that the play is meant to show “the full faceted experience of being a woman” and that the issue of abortion is not just “black or white”.

The show will feature physical movement and verbatim story telling in multiple languages.

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The show’s blurb promises to convey the “raw, unapologetic and diverse views on the subject of abortion and the female body told through the gripping stories of women faced with unplanned pregnancies and the sometimes funny, oftentimes heartbreaking struggles of a choice nobody ever dreams of having to make.

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“The Waiting Room”, produced by De Borja’s A Common Collective, will be staged on the 8th floor of The Hive Studios in Kennedy Town on June 7 and 8 at 8pm, and June 9 at 2pm. There will also be a theatre workshop at noon on June 8.

Early bird tickets at $180 are available at Everbrite - http://accwaiting.eventbrite.hk .

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Pinay clings to life after apparent stroke, another suffers mild heart attack

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By Vir B. Lumicao

Queen Mary Hospital in Pokfulam

Two Filipina domestic helpers remain confined in Queen Mary Hospital today; one of them comatose following an apparent stroke on Saturday, Jun 1, while the other is suspected to have had a mild heart attack on Jun 2.

The stroke victim, Lernie S. Buscas, was rushed to the hospital in Pokfulam after she collapsed while serving breakfast to her employer. This was according to her friends who were contacted by the employer immediately after Buscas fell unconscious.

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Buscas is said to be in intensive care and has not regained consciousness despite a brain surgery soon after her admission.

Rodelia Villar, leader of Domestic Workers Corner and a friend of Buscas, told The SUN that a doctor attending to the patient said her brain was not functioning but she was still breathing.

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Virsie Tamayao, welfare officer of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, said an OWWA team would visit Buscas on Monday evening to find out about her condition.

Villar said the helper’s employer wants a member of her family to come to Hong Kong to attend to her in hospital, but the passport of her mother, a former OFW, has expired.

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“Kawawa naman yung friend ko kasi walang kasama at di pa alam yung status o chance niya na maka-survive,” Villar said.

Her condition was also widely shared on Facebook by friends. One of them shared a photo showing the unconscious patient with her head shaved and attached to a life-support system.

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One of her friends, Lindy Paclibar, said Buscas is in her 40s, single and is from Santa Barbara, Iloilo.

Paclibar also relayed the news about the other OFW patient, Ma Corazon Leynes, who was rushed to hospital after showing symptoms of a mild heart attack. But her condition won’t be known until OWWA’s visit to the hospital this evening.

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