The SUN HK

National dengue epidemic declared: 622 dead

Posted on 06 August 2019 No comments

The Philippines is now paying for the controversy that has stopped vaccinations against dengue, amid a controversy that critics called an attempt to discredit the administration of ex-President Benigno S. Aquino III.

A national epidemic was declared today by Department of Health (DOH) today (August 6, 2019) as cases of the mosquito-borne disease increased to 146,062 cases from January to July 20 this year, or double the cases reported in the same period last year, with 622 deaths.

“It is important that a national epidemic be declared in these areas to identify where a localized response is needed and to enable the local government units to use their Quick Response Fund to address the epidemic situation,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said.

BOOK NOW!

With the government’s rejection of dengvaxia, DOH is left with nothing more to fight the viral disease than a call for people to help prevent mosquitoes from breeding.

“Starting today, the DOH, together with other government agencies, the LGUs (local government units), the schools, the offices, and communities will conduct the ‘Sabayang 4 o’clock habit’ para dengue out, focusing on search and destroy in mosquito breeding sites,” Duque said in a press briefing. “This is one of the primary interventions to prevent and control dengue.

Last July 15, the Department of Health had declared a National Dengue Alert after the number of cases reached 115,986 in the first half of the year, nearly double last year’s 62,267, and killed at least 491 people.

Call us!

Among regions where epidemics have been declared are MIMAROPA (Region IV-B), Western Visayas (Region VI), Central Visayas (Region VII), and Northern Mindanao (Region X), the DOH said.

DOH is also monitoring the rise of cases in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, CALABARZON, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and Cordillera Administrative Region.

In these places, hospital capacities have been exceeded, such as in
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said that since dengue is a viral disease with no known vaccine or specific antibiotics, only effective surveillance and preventive measures can be used to reduce cases and deaths.

CALL NOW!

These measures exclude the use of Dengvaxia vaccines, which has been denounced by top government lawyer Persida Acosta, who accused the previous administration of President Noynoy Aquino of irregularities in their procurement. The accusation was prompted by a November 2017 global advisory by the manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, warning of risks of administering Dengvaxia to “seronegative” people, or those with no history of dengue, saying a small proportion of them might contract severe symptoms of the disease.

This resulted in Sanofi refunding the government P1.16 billion in unused doses of Dengvaxia. Lawmakers earmarked the money as medical assistance for those who had already been administered the medicine.

As this developed, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said: “Congress gave the DOH ample funds to monitor the health condition of children who received Dengvaxia shots. Surely, the department should be able to provide us a detailed report in a future hearing.”
==
I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer. Pindutin ulit upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin ang mga numero.

Add caption

CALL NOW!

Naninigurado

Posted on No comments

Noong isang taon pa gustong dispatsahin si Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre. Tinanggal na siya nang 2 beses, ngunit naibalik — noong una dahil sa people power ng mga OFW sa Hong Kong, at noong pangalawa dahil bawal sa batas ang paglilipat sa kanya noong election period.

Ngayong nakatakda siyang ilipat sa Saudi Arabia, may gustong manigurado na paalis na talaga siya sa Hong Kong.

Kumakalat ngayon ang isang sulat para kay Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III na nag-aakusa sa kanya ng katiwalian sa pagpapalit ng isang computer system sa POLO na ginagamit sa pagpapatupad ng alituntunin sa mga employment agency.

BOOK NOW!

Ayon sa nag-aakusa, ito raw ay hindi dumaan sa public bidding, at ang napiling kumpanya para sa kontrata ay malapit sa isang ahensiya, ang Fair Employment Agency.

Mali ang mga bintang.

Halimbawa, napili ang gagawa ng system matapos imbitahan ang mga may kakayahang gumawa nito, kasama na ang kasalukuyang provider ng serbisyo. At ang inaakusang taga Fair ay wala na palang koneksyon dito bago pa mag-bidding.

Call us!

At sa pagbabasa ay nakita naming mas mahigpit pa ang kontratang ito kesa sa papalitan nito.

Sa likod nito, ang sistema ay matagal nang reklamo ng taga POLO dahil mabagal, kulang-kulang at hindi na tugma sa kanilang pangangailangan.

Isa pang kontrobesiya na ikinakabit kay Labatt Jolly ay ang paglalathala sa mga pahayagang Pilipino ng notice ng mga ahensiyang gustong magpa-accredit sa POLO. Pinaboran daw nito ang The SUN, samantalang ang paliwanag ni Labatt ukol dito — upang malaman kung may atraso sila sa mga OFW — ay inilathala ng kabilang dyaryo, na nakakuha rin ng ganitong anunsiyo.

CALL NOW!

Linawin po natin: walang kinalaman ang The SUN sa paggawa ng patakarang ito, at kami man ay nagulat nang magdatingan ang mga ahensiya, kaya bilang tulong, nagbigay kami sa kanila ng malaking discount.

Walang duda na dahil nililinis ni Labatt Jolly ang recruitment sa HK, ang tingin ng ilan ay balakid siya sa kanilang kalokohan. Tandaan natin ang sinabi ni Yorme Isko Moreno ng Manila matapos niyang linisin ang Divisoria: “Kapag ang Divisoria napuno uli, kayo na mag-isip na nalagyan ako.”
==
I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer. Pindutin ulit upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin ang mga numero.

CALL NOW!

And so, farewell?

Posted on No comments

“The trouble with hello is goodbye,” so the song goes. And that’s exactly how many of us in Hong Kong felt recently, when our highly popular labor attaché finally bid goodbye to us, ending a stint that will always be remembered for two dramatic protests held to stop him being recalled to Manila.

Barely three years since he was posted in Hong Kong, Labor Attache Jolly dela Torre was given his walking papers for the third time in much the same manner it was done previously: abruptly, harshly, even arrogantly.

BOOK NOW!

The brief memo from Labor Secretary Bebot Bello stated that Labatt Jolly’s last day at work was July 7, or a scant few days away. His deputy, Tony Villafuerte, was to act as officer-in-charge until a replacement was found.

In what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to further bruise his ego, Labatt was told he was to proceed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a hardship post he was sent to nearly two decades ago.

It’s a post generally reserved for rookies, or those outside of the appointing power’s elite circle. At age 62, and having distinguished himself in the various places he was sent previously, this was not obviously a posting Labatt would relish.

Call us!

In short, it was a punishment. An obvious attempt to cut him down to size, possibly because he dared turn himself into a labor rock star - never mind if it was all due to his hard work, brilliance and remarkable service - and not because he wanted to upstage his superiors.

Bello must have been chafing, too, because his two previous attempts to pull Labatt Jolly out were stalled. First, because someone closer to the power-that-be had interceded on Labatt’s behalf, and second, because some labor underling failed to secure an exemption from a four-month election ban on the movement of government personnel.

Desperately trying to save face, Bello did get Labatt to go home early last year and made him stew for six months until, in petulant fashion, ordered him to write a letter of apology and own up to initiating the protests staged to thwart his recall. If this wasn’t so nasty it would have been laughable. Imagine Unifil-Migrante being told what to protest about!

CALL NOW!

So Labatt got to serve nearly the full three years he was promised when he was sent here. But then again, labor officers are now sent abroad for five years, instead of just three, so they still owe him two years. That must have been how the Riyadh post was conjured, and one could almost imagine Bello chuckling to himself as he drafted his memo.

For sure, Filipinos in Riyadh, especially those who had known him when he was posted there, have been raring to get him back. One even posted on Facebook that it was time the Filcom in Hong Kong released him so he could help them in turn. We heard even the country’s ambassador to the kingdom had personally sent a message to Labatt to entice him to come.

But Riyadh’s gain shouldn’t be Hong Kong’s loss. Labatt still has a lot of plans for us, and as he said in one of his farewell messages, he is sad to be leaving at a crucial time in the community. Already, Bello has announced a slowdown in the deployment of Filipino workers here because of the ongoing anti-government protests which many fear, could escalate further.

We need Labatt’s pro-active and pro-worker stance to help us through these difficult times. We need someone as trustworthy, as capable, and as caring as he has been in the brief but productive years he was with us.

In short, we need to continue to find ways to make him stay, now or never. --By Daisy Catherine L. Mandap
==
I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer. Pindutin ulit upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin ang mga numero.

Add caption

CALL NOW!

POLO suspends agency in failed Canada recruitment

Posted on No comments

A Hong Kong employment agency that failed to place a Filipina helper in Canada despite collecting $46,000 from her, and then refused to return her money, has been suspended for a month by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office.

Villafuerte at Polo office

Polo officer-in-charge Antonio Villafuerte identified the agency as Excellent Employment Service & Trading, which operate from a flat in Tung Wui building on Kimberly Road, Tsimshatsui.

BOOK NOW!

Villafuerte said on Aug 4 that he suspended the agency's accreditation the week before for violating Manila’s ban on third-country deployment, and for refusing to return the money it collected illegally.

He said when the agency realizes that the work contracts it had submitted for processing at POLO are not moving, it would be easier to get it to refund the worker’s money.

Call us!

“Kahit pa ayusin niya iyan, isang buwan para siya magtanda. Kasi kung hindi mo gaganunin, hindi magtatanda ang mga iyan eh,” Villafuerte said.

The worker sought Villafuerte’s help when the prospective job fell through because the employer had neglected to file the work contract within the filing period allegedly because he was traveling abroad.

CALL NOW!

By then, the Filipina had already paid the $46,000 placement fee, Villafuerte said. -Vir B. Lumicao

==
I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer. Pindutin ulit upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin ang mga numero.

CALL NOW!

Pals bid farewell to debt-plagued Pinay in fatal fall

Posted on No comments

Many were teary-eyed while looking at J.T.'s remains and saying a final goodbye

By Vir B. Lumicao

Friends of a 40-year-old Filipina helper who plunged to her death from her employer’s flat in Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, on Jul 22 said they were aware of her financial problems but she kept them mostly to herself.

About 20 of her friends and church mates gathered at the Universal Funeral Parlour in Hung Hom at noon on Aug 4 to bid her a final farewell. Her remains were flown to Manila the next day, and transported by funeral car to her final resting place in Candelaria, Quezon.

Image may contain: 12 people, including Melody Sotero, people standing

J.T.'s friends stayed until her casket was placed in a wooden box prior to her flight back home

Most of her friends wiped away tears as they viewed the remains of J.T., who was single and had a 14-year-old son.

“Mas mahirap ang dinanas niya sa Kuwait at Jordan pero ang lakas ng loob niya noon, Pagkatapos nagawa niya ito,” said one friend, who did not want to give her name.

BOOK NOW!

The friend said she and other members of their informal group Mayward Flyers, who got together in their church in Kwai Chung on their day off, knew about the victim’s financial woes but did not ask her about these out of respect for her privacy.

Another friend said one loan fell due in June when the victim failed to pay her monthly amortization.

Call us!

Another helper, said to be J.T.’s best friend in the group, did not have the courage to see her remains despite bearing a bunch of daisies for her. She only peeked into the victim’s coffin after some prodding by others who said that it would be the last time she’d see her friend.

Hong Kong police have said J.T.’s death appeared to be related to her debt problems.

Ironically, her family now stands to receive around Php600,000 in insurance payouts as a result of her death.

CALL NOW!

Welfare officer Virsie Tamayao said more than Php500,000 will come from the deceased’s mandatory insurance, and Php120,000 in death benefit from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration

She said the victim was a first-time overseas Filipino worker in Hong Kong and was still covered by the two-year mandatory insurance and was also an active OWWA member. Her two-year contract would have lapsed this coming September.

Tamayao said suicide is covered in both payouts because stress is considered as a health-related concern of OFWs.

Call us!