The SUN HK

Iresponsableng pangungutang, tinalakay sa Card HK seminar

Posted on 25 September 2019 No comments

Ni George Manalansan

Sa simula’t sapul ay utangan na ang siyang pinakamalaking problema na ng mga migranteng Pilipino sa Hong Kong. Napakadali kasing mangutang ng isang migrante dito. Magpakita lang ng pasaporte at kontrata, patunay na may trabaho, at isang guarantor o reference, at maaari nang makautang ang kahit isang bagong saltang manggagawa.

Ang siste, marami sa mga nangungutang ay naglalahong bigla, kaya ang hinahabol ng utangan ay iyung guarantor o reference. Ang isa pang problema ay ang napakalaking interes ng pautang, dahil pati ang legal na patong ay maaaring umabot sa 60% ng halagang inutang sa loob ng isang taon.

Ang mga ganitong negatibong dulot ng pangungutang ang isa sa mga naging tampok na paksa sa financial literacy, o pag-aaral sa pananalapi, na isinagawa ng Card Hong Kong Foundation sa Konsulado noong Linggo, ika-22 ng Setyembre, at dinaluhan ng 47 migrante.

Image may contain: one or more people and people sitting

Nagbigay pugay si Konsul Heneral Raly Tejada sa mga dumalo sa financial literacy workshop

Iyon ang unang fin-lit na isinagawa ng Card HK sa Konsulado, na nakatakdang masundan muli dahil nangako si Konsul Heneral Raly Tejada ng pakikipagtulungan para maisagawa ng regular ang makabuluhang pagsasanay.

Masuwerte ang mga dumalo dahil nagkaraon sila ng pagkakataon na makadaupang-palad si Congen Tejada na nagbigay pugay sa kanila, at pinuri ang kanilang pagpupursigi na matutong gumastos ng tama.

Call us!

Naging panauhin din ang Card HK founder na si Edna Aquino at Board member at The SUN publisher na si Leo A. Deocadiz, kasama ang editor na si Daisy Mandap.

Kabilang sa tinalakay ang pagkumpiska ng may 1,500 na pasaporte ng ginamit na prenda sa ilegal na pautangan. Pinag-usapan din ang pagpapakamatay ng isang Pilipina kamakailan nang dahil sa patong-patong na utang.

Call us now!

Tinuruan ang mga kalahok ng mga trainor ng Card HK na pinangungunahan ni Victoria Munar ng mga paraan kung paano makaahon sa utang sa pamamagitan ng tamang paggasta ng kanilang perang kinikita buwan-buwan.

Unang una na dito ang pag-iipon - para sa sarili, at sa mga biglaang gastusin. Ayon kay trainor Cecille Eduarte, ang ipon para sa sarili ay dapat ilaan sa pagre-retiro, samantalang ang para sa emergency ay kailangan para hindi na mapilitang mangutang kapag nagigipit.

CALL US!

Kadalasan, ang pagiging sobrang mabait sa kapamilya ang siyang dahilan kaya hindi nakakapag-ipon ang isang migrante, at lalong napapatagal sa kanyang paghahanap-buhay sa labas ng bansa.

Tinalakay din ang mga paraan para makaiwas sa scam, katulad ng mga networking na wala namang tunay na produkto at nangangako ng sobra-sobrang tubo.

Nguni’t hindi lang sa usapin natapos ang talakayan dahil tinuruan ang mga kasapi ng pagsusulat ng kanilang mga adhikain, pag-alam kung ang isang bagay ay pangangailan o luho, pagprotekta sa sarili laban sa mga hindi-inaasahang pangyayari, pag-alam sa kalagayang pampinansyal, pagbabadyet, at pati sa pagpapalago ng puhunan.

Sa bandang huli ay tinuruan din silang sagutin ang tanong na “Magkano ka ba?” sa pamamagitan ng paggawa ng kanilang sariling SALN, o statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

Natapos ang maghapong pagsasanay sa pagsusulat ng mga kalahok ng kanilang reaksyon sa mga bagay na itinuro sa kanila. Halos lahat ay nagkakaisa sa pagsasabing nabuksan ang kanilang mga isip sa kahalagahan ng tamang paggasta, pag-iipon at pagsasa-alang alang sa mga bagay na makabuluhan.

Marami ang nagsabi na sana ay napaaga ang kanilang pagdalo sa ganitong programa para noon pa man ay natutunan na nila ang pasikot-sikot sa paghawak at paggasta ng kanilang pinaghirapang pera.

Ang Card HK ay nagbibigay din ng pagsasanay sa mga gustong magnegosyo, at skills training gaya ng paggawa ng tocino, longanisa, siopao at iba pa na maaring pagkakitaan. Para sa mga gustong sumali sa mga pagsasanay, magpunta lang sa Facebook page na “Card Hong Kong Foundation”.

---

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 US TODAY!

CALL US

CALL US NOW!

Filipina DH named one of 8 HK women’s rugby envoys

Posted on No comments

Brizuela (left, seated) with HK Island team, this year's Battle of Origins winner.

By Vir B. Lumicao

A 32-year-old Filipina domestic worker has been named by the Hong Kong Rugby Union as one of its eight ambassadors to promote women’s rugby in the city.

Mary Flor Brizuela will participate in the effort to push the growth of women’s rugby in Hong Kong as part of World Rugby’s “Women in Rugby” global campaign.

All eight ambassadors were presented on Sept 11 at the launch of the KPMG Premiership, the HKRU domestic women’s league this season.

Brizuela (2nd from left) with the seven other women rugby ambassadors for HK

Call us!

Brizuela, a single mother of two boys from Bula, Camarines Sur, who has been working in Hong Kong for seven years, was specifically tapped to encourage the huge community of foreign domestic helpers in the city to participate in the sport.

Even before her nomination this year as a rugby envoy, Brizuela had already been promoting women’s rugby among Filipina helpers in Hong Kong since 2016.

Brizuela said in an interview that she was introduced to rugby in March 2016 after she was asked to become an Enrich “ambassador” to get more fellow domestic workers to sign up for the NGO’s workshops.

Call us now!

An Enrich trainer introduced rugby to her as a leisure activity and Brizuela tried it out of curiosity.

“At first, I had no idea what kind of sport rugby was. I’d been playing basketball, ping pong, and volleyball, but never in my life did I hear about rugby,” said Brizuela, a graduate of midwifery and caregiver course from Naga City Foundation College.

Her first encounter with the sport inspired her and seven other Filipina helpers to form a team, aptly called “Exiles,” and trained on Sundays at Happy Valley sports ground. From that core group, Exiles has grown into a 36-woman strong team.

The all-Filipino Exiles team

“Exiles intends to reach out and encourage more household service workers to play rugby and join different friendly tournaments,” Brizuela said.

This way, she said, the team can carry through its vision to integrate domestic workers into Hong Kong society and “help build a global community that nurtures friendship, respect and empathy to everybody.”

CALL US!

That is in line with World Rugby’s strategy of fuelling the sport’s growth by developing women’s rugby to “realize a more equitable game for all”, in the words of World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont.

“We firmly believe that development of women in rugby is the single greatest opportunity for our sport to grow in the next decade,” Sir Bill has said. “Not only is women’s rugby experiencing unprecedented growth around the world but we are well on the way to realizing our vision of a more equitable game for all through the implementation of our ambitious strategic women’s action plan…”

Brizuela and her team exemplify that vision.

As a young team, Exiles made a “big breakthrough” in 2018, Brizuela said. “We had the privilege to join the Hong Kong Corporate Sevens on Dec 9. On Jan 13, we were invited to play in an international all-women beach festival in Discovery Bay.”

After that, HKRU put her through training and coaching courses, as well as a referee course that she finished on May 15 this year. With that, Brizuela became qualified as a U8 coach and Level 1 referee of the local rugby union.

Brizuela’s skills on the pitch did not go unnoticed. In the last summer league at King’s Park, local team Blue Dragons signed her to play touch and tag, two versions of rugby that require less physical contact.

This season, she has switched to the more physical contact rugby to be able to play for Valley Ladies.

Brizuela says playing rugby since 2016 has changed her life.

“For almost four years of experiencing, exploring and trying new things in rugby, this sport has changed my life in a way. It taught me to keep my eyes on my goals, no matter how unreachable they may seem, and that bumps along the way will be met.

“But it’s your choice whether you want to take a step back or go head-to-head and emerge bruised yet victorious,” she declared.

Rugby has taught her that sometimes admitting weaknesses is the bravest thing to do. “With admission, we drop our shield of pretense, find the courage to face reality and reach out for the help we need,” she said.

---

CALL US TODAY!

CALL US

CALL US NOW!

High Court judge scolds man acquitted of raping Chinese-Filipina woman

Posted on No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao

The judge showed her displeasure at the acquittal by giving the defendant a tongue-lashing

He may have been acquitted of a rape charge at the High Court, but a 34-year-old Japanese businessman did not escape a tongue-lashing from the judge who heard the case and was visibly disappointed by the jury’s verdict.

“You are acquitted, but I have to tell you the conduct that you displayed is unacceptable,” Judge Remedios D’Almada told defendant Kaise Hiroki in disgust at the end of the trial on Sept 24. “I can say you are very fortunate now.”

Hiroki was acquitted by a jury made up of five men and two women of a charge of raping a Chinese-Filipina restaurant worker in Mong Kok in August last year. The jury deliberated for three hours before deciding on a “not guilty” verdict by a vote of 6-1.

Call us!

They disregarded the prosecution claim that the woman, described by the judge as having come from the Philippines and was partly educated there and in Hong Kong, was unconscious due to drunkenness when the alleged rape took place.

In his defense, Hiroki admitted in court that he had sex with the 24-year-old woman referred to in court as “Miss X”, but it was consensual.

The incident happened in Hiroki’s home after he and Miss X rode on a minibus from Central to Mong Kok in the wee hours of Aug 5, 2018.

Call us now!

Judge D’Almada noted that the defendant took a complete stranger to his home when he knew she was very drunk and not totally in control of herself. But instead of allowing her to rest before taking her home, he had sexual intercourse with her.

“It is my advice to you not to engage in sex with a complete stranger,” D’Almada said, adding that, “obviously, people who get on a minibus to do not expect to be taken to a stranger’s house. No doubt they will be freaking out.”

She said Hiroki should have asked the police, the building guard or the driver for help.

CALL US!

“X,” giving evidence at the start of the trial on Sept 16, said she had drunk more than she could take between 11pm and 2am as she celebrated her birthday with friends. She was very drunk, dizzy, and “paralyzed” when she boarded the minibus in Central.

She said that when she got off the minibus terminus in Mong Kok, she was unaware of her surroundings and had blacked out. When she regained consciousness, she found herself naked in bed in a dim room. Despite her weakness, she got into her panties and shorts.

In his testimony, Hiroki said the woman sat beside him next to the window on the minibus from Central and was asleep the whole journey, sometimes leaning on him.

So he supported her with his arm around her shoulder and she took his hand and put it on her lap. In the last five to 10 minutes of the trip, she laid her head on his lap, he said.

In Mong Kok, “X” was too weak to get off the minibus but was half-conscious so he asked if she would like to rest in his flat on Nathan Road about 150 meters away. The woman reportedly replied “Unnng.”

He supported her with his arm for some distance but, as she was heavy, he carried her on his back and took her home. He then laid her on his bed, undressed her and wiped her whole body with wet towel.

They then kissed and hugged before having sex, he said.

Hiroki’s counsel, Oliver Davies, disputed “X’s” claim that she was unconscious. He cited a CCTV footage of the pair arriving in Hiroki’s apartment block that showed she was on her feet when they entered the lift.

However, the cameras also showed the woman looking very weak and unable to walk after her brief stay in Hiroki’s flat, so that the defendant had to carry her to a taxi.

The jury reviewed the CCTV footage and pictures of the pair’s arrival and exit from the block, in addition to hundreds of pages of police statements and transcripts of video recorded interviews of Hiroki.

---

CALL US TODAY!

CALL US

CALL US NOW!

PCG to work with CARD HK in giving fin-lit to OFWs

Posted on 24 September 2019 No comments

By Daisy CL Mandap

Image may contain: 15 people, including Emelia Dellosa, Fidelita Lagud Galia, Leo A. Deocadiz, Marites Palma, Victoria Reyes Munar, Edna LolaAktibista Aquino and Venus Alunday, people smiling, people sitting

Congen Raly Tejada with Card HK's officers and trainors

Consul General Raly Tejada has given the go-ahead for the Philippine Consulate to serve as the venue for the free financial literacy seminars given to Filipino domestic workers by Card HK Foundation.

His assurance came as Card HK held its first financial education seminar at the Consulate on Sept 22, with 47 Filipino household workers taking part.

Before the start of the seminar, Congen Tejada met with a delegation from Card HK who briefed him on what the foundation has been doing to help migrants plan for their future and avoid the debt trap, the biggest bane of Filipinos who go abroad to work.

Call us!

Tejada acknowledged the big problem faced by the community in weaning Filipino workers away from high-risk loans, and enthusiastically agreed to provide the venue for Card’s future fin-lit seminars.

The group from Card HK was made up of founder Edna Aquino, Board member Leo Deocadiz, lead trainor Victoria Munar, trainor Marites Palma and Card, Inc. area manager Jireh Duhina, who came to observe the training process.

Aquino said more than 3,000 OFWs in Hong Kong have undergone Card HK’s fin-lit training since it began nine years ago.

Call us now!

What’s unique about the program, she said, is that migrant workers who had undergone the training are now conducting it themselves, like Munar and Palma. This is in line with Card HK’s advocacy of empowering migrants not only through emancipating them from money-related problems, but also in allowing them to help others.

CG Tejada addressed the fin-lit participants

Aside from the fin-lit program, Card HK also conducts entrepreneurship and livelihood trainings for OFWs.

Deocadiz noted Card HK’s tie-up with its mother organization, the Ramon Magsaysay Award-winning micro enterprise Card MRI in the Philippines, in providing a follow-mechanism for the families of OFWs who have undergone training.

CALL US!

He said that an exposure trip to the community work done by Card MRI, especially with family members of Hong Kong-based OFWs, was what convinced him to join the foundation.

Aquino cited Munar as an example of those who have been helped, saying her two daughters had been recruited to work with Card in the Philippines.

Duhina, who has been following up on HK-based trainees, said that of the 3,040 OFWs who have joined the fin-lit program, Card MRI has managed to visit the families of 2,248.

Of these, 1,1621 families have joined Card’s programs, which include savings, loans for business, health care and insurance.

Image may contain: 27 people, including Leo A. Deocadiz and Victoria Reyes Munar, people smiling

CG Tejada with Card officers pose with participants

Card HK Foundation was founded by Card MRI in April 2010, on the belief that through its educational and training programs, Filipinos in Hong Kong can be helped in building their capacities toward financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

Its website adds: “The goal is to support them in realizing their aspirations to have a better future for themselves and their families back home, and to eventually promote harmony between Filipino employees and their employers here in Hong Kong, thereby ultimately benefiting the entire city.”

Those interested to join Card HK’s future trainings can visit its Facebook page, Card Hong Kong Foundation, to sign up and get more information.

---