Responsive Ad Slot

Latest

Sponsored

Features

Buhay Pinay

People

Sports

Business Ideas for OFWs

Join us at Facebook!

Travel ban stays as Phl reports 70 new coronavirus cases

Posted on 04 February 2020 No comments
By Daisy CL Mandap


Strict screening in airports everywhere is in force in bid to stamp out the coronavirus

The Philippines has kept firm in its decision to ban flights to and from Hong Kong, Macau and China, despite appeals for its partial lifting so Filipinos who work and live in the affected areas will be allowed to leave the country.

Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta Romana has reportedly interceded on behalf of the hundreds of stranded Filipinos, particularly the overseas Filipino workers who could lose their jobs, but did not appear to make headway.
President Rodrigo Duterte met his cabinet yesterday, Feb 3, to discuss the measures taken to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, but did not mention the appeal made on behalf of the stranded passengers.

Nor did the President talk about the travel ban at a news conference held after the meeting in Malacanang, where his main message was the coronavirus was not as scary as it is thought to be.
 
CE Lam promised compassion in dealing with Filipino domestic workers stranded in HK
But Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam did express concern about the plight of the stranded Filipino workers during a media briefing earlier in the afternoon, during which she announced the broadening of the border closure with China.

She said FDWs stranded in Hong Kong because of the travel ban will be helped “in a compassionate manner”. She also said she had asked the Labour and Immigration Department to see what they can do to help the workers.
In addition, she said she would meet with consuls general in Hong Kong to explain to them what her government has been doing to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Consul General Raly Tejada acknowledged CE Lam’s pledge to help and said he was looking forward to discussing the Filipino workers’ plight with her as he was himself worried for them.
 
CG Tejada is appealing for Filipinos in HK to be allowed to fly back in
But he was disheartened that Ambassador Sta Romana’s appeal to get Filipino migrant workers and residents back to Hong Kong did not seem to have been taken up during the Cabinet meeting in Malacanang.

The developments came as Philippine health officials disclosed that the suspected number of coronavirus cases in the country had reached 80, with nearly all the patients being Chinese nationals.

Two of the cases, identified as a couple from Wuhan City, have been confirmed. The man reportedly died within 24 hours before the news conference announcing his infection and death was held.



Reports said the two had been in the Philippines since Jan. 21 and had gone to Cebu and Dumaguete before ending up in Manila, where they fell ill. People who had been in close contact with them, especially in the various hotels they had stayed in, are being sought.

Of the 80 suspected cases, 10 proved negative of the coronavirus while 67 are in isolation in hospitals.

United Filipinos in Hong Kong have denounced the travel ban as coming too late, as it was declared only after a death from the coronavirus had occurred, and after hundreds (if not thousands) of Chinese were allowed to enter the Philippines freely.

But the group also called the ban an “exaggerated response” for including Hong Kong and Macau.

The group called on the government to allow Filipinos to return to Hong Kong, especially OFWs whose jobs have been left hanging in the balance because they are unable to leave.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has reported its 15th confirmed coronavirus case, and the first human-to-human infection. The patient is said to be the mother of a 39-year-old male coronavirus case from Whampoa Garden in Hung Hom.

The 72-year-old woman had not traveled during the 14-day incubation period, and was quarantined at the Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village after her son was taken ill.

As a further step to stop the spread of the virus, all border crossings have been closed, except for the Hong Kong -Macau-Zhuhai Bridge, Shenzhen Bay Port and the international airport.

Masked Filipina workers enjoy their day off despite the virus outbreak
Closed as of Feb 3 were the two major land crossings at Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau, as well as the Hong Kong –Macau Ferry Terminal.

The decision to further restrict cross-border travel did not seem to impress public health workers at the frontline of the battle to contain the global epidemic. They vowed to continue escalating their strike over a five-day period until the government bows to their demand for a total closure of the border.

Concern is mounting as China’s death toll from the contagion rose to 362, with a total of about 17,500 confirmed cases, mostly in Wuhan, the outbreak’s epicenter.
--

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.





Polo reverts to manual contract processing after 13 years

Posted on No comments
By Vir B. Lumicao

Workers and agency representatives transact business at Polo's counters on Feb 3

Business was “normal” at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office on Feb 3, the first day that staff had to revert to the manual processing of work contracts after the automated system they had used for 13 years went out of service.

The return to manual processing had not much impact at the Polo counters because the front-line staff had been prepared for it, Office-in-Charge Antonio Villafuerte said.

Normal ang situation sa Polo, but it is the agencies that are complaining. Nahihirapan daw sila sa pag-type ng mga data na kailangan sa form,” Villafuerte said.
The decision to go manual again came from the Department of Labor and Employment in the Philippines, which declared last year that the bidding process for the new automated system chosen to replace EmployEasy was tainted.

Villafuerte said Polo staff had been briefed ahead of time for the switch back to manual processing, so they were prepared for the task before them.
  
Villafuerte says paperwork is voluminous but work is faster with manual processing
He also said that doing things manually could speed up the process as attachments are checked and rejected right away, then sent back to the agency if something was missing.

But the workload is more voluminous because all the documents have to be submitted for checking.

In the EmployEasy system, agencies sent forms and documents online, and staff who’d go through them afterwards could reject the incomplete ones, extending the processing time to four days. With the manual way, documents are checked instantly, cutting the processing time to just three days.
But agencies still use the form for EmployEasy submission as guides when they type in their codes and entries. Then they print out a transmittal form, which contains the list of contracts to be submitted for the day.

About this time last year, former Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre signed a contract with a new technology company, Polaris Tools Ltd, to replace employEasy, which was deemed no longer efficient and secure for contract submissions.

Under the deal, Polo would not spend a single cent as Polaris would copy the old system’s way of billing the agencies for using the system, including the added feature of tracking their employment visa applications at Immigration Department.



Polo, on the other hand, would have acquired a system that allowed it to keep track of agency violations, and an employers’ blacklist that was updated automatically.
 
Ex-Labatt dela Torre signed the deal with Polaris with welfare officer Marivic Clarin (right) as witness
Despite this, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III called the contract with Polaris a “midnight deal” entered into illegally by Labatt Dela Torre because no bidding was involved. 

Bello formed an investigation team that looked into the Polaris deal after receiving an anonymous letter from a shadowy group of agencies stung by the system change.

But Labatt dela Torre has always denied the allegation, saying bidding was not required as the contract was at no cost to the government. Despite this, he said he formed a vetting team that chose Polaris from among several groups that were asked to make a presentation of their respective systems.

He also said employEasy had a conflict of interest as it was also the registered owner of an employment agency.
--

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.



More OFWs stranded in both Manila and HK as travel ban bites

Posted on No comments
By The SUN
With nearly all flights to Manila from HK cancelled, Ann and her friend are thinking of flying to Taiwan first

Anna Jean Zamora, a domestic helper in Hong Kong for just three months, struggled with her large luggage and a heavy backpack as she phoned a friend on Feb 3 on the sidewalk of World-Wide Plaza in Central.   


She said she had just been terminated by her employer and was waiting for her friend to escort her to the employment agency in Kowloon so she could pick up her air ticket and fly home to Iloilo as soon as possible.

She said she’d already received her one month’s wage in lieu of notice but was clueless as to when she could fly back to the Philippines because of a travel ban to and from Hong Kong that the Manila government had imposed the day before.

CALL NOW!

Zamora was meeting another helper with the same dilemma. In her case, her employers had allowed her to go home while they were overseas.

At least three other helpers had gone to Philippine Overseas Labor Office on the same day to seek help because their flights to Manila were cancelled.

It was a story told several times during the day, as the travel ban imposed by President Rodrigo Duterte for all inbound and outbound flights between Manila and Hong Kong, Macau and China, went on its second day.
POLO officer-in-charge Antonio Villafuerte said his office was kept busy the whole day by employment agencies, employers and workers all asking how to respond to the ban.

Not a few were worried because their visas were expiring, but they didn’t know when they could head home, or where to stay in Hong Kong while they waited out the ban.

Over in the Philippines, hundreds of Filipino overseas workers were left wringing their hands at several international airports because they, too, could not fly to Hong Kong because of the ban.


Anxious OFWs hoping against hope they could still board their flight to HK

Villafuerte said that those in Hong Kong whose visas are expiring should go to the Immigration Department to ask for an extension, which he said would most likely be given as Hong Kong was aware of the travel ban.

“If they still encounter problems then they could come and see us in Polo,” Villafuerte said.



He advised those who do not have accommodation to seek temporary shelter with their employment agencies. Otherwise, they could stay in low-cost boarding houses, or shelters run by NGOs like the Mission for Migrant Workers or the Catholic Centre.

For the workers stranded in the Philippines due to the ban, Villafuerte said they should explain the situation to their employers to avert dismissal.

“Paliwanagan nila ang mga amo nila kung ano ang nangyayari. Kung may malawak silang pag-iisip, tatanggapin kayo,” Villafuerte said.

He acknowledged that the biggest potential problem could be terminations, especially those who are badly needed in Hong Kong by their employers.

One of the stranded workers had this in mind when she sent a message online to appeal for help.

“Bakasyon po ako dito sa Pinas. Ang flight ko pabalik sa Hong Kong ay na-cancel… Paano po pag i-terminate ng amo, may makukuha pa po ba ako sa employer ko? May 7 days pa ako na sahod na naiwan sa kanila,” Joan Tolentino said in her message.

Villafuerte said that if a termination does occur, all Polo could do is to help the worker go after the employer for the compensation due her under the employment contract.

But if there is a chance that the employer could be convinced to change his or her mind, Polo could try to intercede on the worker’s behalf.
 
Villafuerte says Polo will extend help to OFWs who might be fired for failing to return to work as scheduled
At least one positive news came the way of the stranded passengers in Manila, when Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said they’d get each P10,000 financial assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. Those stuck at the airport will also be housed at OWWA’s halfway-home.

OWWA Welfare Officer Marivic Clarin said the guidelines for the distribution of the Php10,000 was still being finalized. “It’s for workers who are on vacation in the Philippines and have confirmed flights back to Hong Kong. We had a similar assistance (program) before.”

Unfortunately for those who are in Hong Kong and have been bumped off their flights to the Philippines, the financial aid won’t be made available to them. Clarin said it’s because they can still fly out to the Philippines, and allowed entry.

President Duterte imposed the ban after a Chinese man from Wuhan died of coronavirus infection in Manila, making him the first casualty of the deadly disease outside China.

The government moved to stop the contagion by banning all non-Filipinos who had been to China, Hong Kong and Macau from entering the country. Filipinos would be allowed in, but they will have to undergo self-quarantine for 14 days.

On flights back to the three destinations, however, only foreigners are allowed to book seats, Filipinos can’t, even if Hong Kong and Macau, or even China, will not bar their entry.
 
PAL canceled all its flights to China, HK and Macau until Feb 29
There was immediate chaos after the ban was announced, with Filipinos, including those permanently residing in Hong Kong, scrambling to find ways to get past immigration scrutiny in Manila.

Not a few booked flights to Thailand and Singapore and other nearby destinations, but secretly made onward flights to Hong Kong, in a bid to get around the prohibition.

Travel industry insiders say a number of Filipino professionals successfully got out using this trick, but Manila Immigration caught on by noon on seeing an unusually large number of departures to Bangkok and Singapore, and immediately clamped down on the practice.

One of those in the know said the dead giveaway for immigration officers was if the traveler is, or used to be, an overseas Filipino worker in Hong Kong.

At least one foreign domestic worker who tried to pull off the same trick was offloaded at Ninoy Aquino International Airport despite showing an invitation letter from a supposed host in Singapore. In truth, her Hong Kong employer was just determined to fly her back to the city after her vacation so she could resume taking care of her young ward.

Another desperate employer also tried to get his Filipina domestic worker to fly to Bangkok, then on to Hong Kong, but on being shown a message from Polo advising against this move, he relented.
 
Quarantine card issued to all Filipinos who arrive in Manila from the affected routes
Polo’s advisory read, “Do not attempt to fool Manila Immigration by going to another country en route to Hong Kong. Immigration officers there have banned HK OFWs leaving for whatever reason, and in at least one case, traumatized one who tried to go to Singapore.”

Those due to fly out of Hong Kong are similarly trapped. While the ban says they will be allowed entry in the Philippines, all three major airlines flying to Manila had cancelled all their flights, inbound and outbound, until Feb 29.

Only Hong Kong Airlines was still flying its sole direct flight to Manila, but with prices as high as $7,300, one way. The cheapest ticket on the route still comes out to $3,000 one way, which is just a third of what the budget airline used to charge.

The challenge of getting home despite the ban does not faze Zamora and her friend. They are now talking of flying to Taiwan, then on to Manila from there.

The two could be quarantined when they get to Manila once immigration sees them as having come from Hong Kong, but that’s the easier part of the problem. The bigger part is, will Zamora’s friend still be able to fly back to Hong Kong?

Only the lifting of the ban could guarantee that.
--

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.




Chaos as Phl imposes travel ban on China, HK and Macau

Posted on 03 February 2020 No comments
By Daisy CL Mandap

Cathay Pacific staff at NAIA Terminal 3 tell Filipino passengers that they aren't allowed their HK flight  

Hundreds of travelers, many of them Filipino migrant workers, were left stranded in airports in the Philippines and Hong Kong, after the Manila government imposed a travel ban today, Feb. 2, for people coming in - and out - of China, Hong Kong and Macau.

The ban, first announced on a radio show by Senator Bong Go, came as government health officials disclosed that a second patient in the Philippines, a 44-year-old man from Wuhan, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and died.

The victim was the first to die of the Wuhan coronavirus outside of China. He was the companion of the 38-year-old woman who was the first confirmed coronavirus case in the Philippines.

CALL NOW!

The travel ban carried a mysterious prohibition against Filipinos leaving the country for China and its two administrative regions, resulting in many overseas Filipino workers bound for Hong Kong being held up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.

Officer-in-charge of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office Antonio Villafuerte said he had been receiving anxious calls from employment agencies whose recruits had failed to board their flights.

“But I am as surprised as they are,” said Villafuerte. “We didn’t get any advisory from the head office about the travel ban so maybe they were also not told in advance.”

All that his office could do for now, he said, was to advise the agencies and the workers to check with the airlines if their flights would go ahead as scheduled, or postponed. Those on the way home could probably postpone their vacation as they won’t be allowed to return to HK under the travel ban. 

Polo is also awaiting word from the Department of Labour and Employment on when the ban might be lifted so Hong Kong-bound workers could begin to leave again.
 
Congen Tejada (left) and OIC Villafuerte say they are working on getting the OFWs back to their HK workplace
Consul General Raly Tejada has also expressed concern about the OFWs stranded in various airports in the Philippines.

“I am terribly sorry for what they are going through,” he said, then added that the Consulate is appealing to the government to reverse the ban on the OFWs leaving for Hong Kong. “I am praying hard,” he said.
Also among the stranded today were a few Filipino residents who were supposed to return to Hong Kong after a vacation or work trips.

Among them was a Filipina who was held up at the airport, but her foreigner-husband was allowed to leave.

Pam Smith said, “I didn’t even make it past immigration.” Her husband reportedly tried to ask for humanitarian consideration on her behalf, but “they said he can stay with me instead,” he said.

Apart from preventing Filipinos to leave the country for China, Hong Kong and Macau, the ban also applies to any person, regardless of nationality, who flies in directly from the three places, or had visited them 14 days before traveling to the Philippines.

Filipino citizens are allowed to come in but they will be put under self-quarantine for 14 days on arrival in the Philippines.

The ban appeared to have been anticipated by flag carrier Philippine Airlines, as all its flights to and from Manila were cancelled on Feb 1 and 2. Later it issued an advisory that all flights to the affected destinations won’t resume until Feb 29.

Cebu Pacific followed suit, announcing later in the day that it was cancelling all its flights between Manila and Hong Kong and Macau from Feb 2 to Feb 29. Flights to China will remain suspended until Mar. 29.

Filipinos appeal to Cebu Pacific crew to allow them to board their flight to HK
According to Manila airport authorities who held a news conference on the presidential directive, those who will be put on self-quarantine will be visited regularly by doctors and epidemiologists who will monitor their condition.

And while Filipinos will not be allowed to travel to China and its two administrative regions, foreigners will be able to, which raises another question as to the logic – or the real reason - behind the ban. Hong Kong and Macau, and even China, have not barred Filipinos entering their territories, so the Philippines banning its own nationals from traveling to these places raises a big question.

A Filipino living in Hong Kong with ties to a Philippine Airlines supervisor claims the government has been using the planes of the flag carrier to fly Chinese nationals to the city of Guiyang, from where they could apparently return home to locked down Hubei province, or be quarantined.

A check of the website of Philippine Airlines showed all its flights from Hong Kong to Manila and back, from Feb 1 (when the ban was not even in force)  to Feb 5 had either been “sold out” or “not offered.” The same signs show up for flights from Manila to Hong Kong until Feb 6-8.

Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that some 500 Wuhan residents who were in the Philippines would be flown back to their hometown, amid an outcry from Filipinos about the possibility of them bringing the coronavirus to the country.

Only Cathay Pacific Airlines appeared oblivious to the planned ban. Its flight to Cebu City earlier today, CX921, landed as scheduled at about 11:30am at Mactan International Airport and was immediately put in a lockdown.



Government officials reportedly surrounded the aircraft and allowed only Philippine passport holders to alight. About 100 non-Filipinos were held inside the plane for about five hours before they were allowed to fly back to Hong Kong.

The Filipino passengers became the first group to be put under quarantine in line with the travel ban that was put in place only hours earlier.

On the flipside were the Filipinos who were prevented from leaving the country as a result of the ban, many of whom were foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong.

One, who gave her name as Jackielyn, said her connecting flight from her hometown in Isabela left as scheduled, so she was surprised on being told at Manila international airport that she couldn’t proceed to Hong Kong as her Cebu Pacific flight had been cancelled.

“Kasi wala namang pasabi pero pagdating dito biglang canceled ang flight,” she said.

Jackielyn said she would spend the night at the airport, hoping to be allowed to leave for Hong Kong tomorrow, even if the airline couldn’t tell her when the ban on travel to her workplace would be lifted. She said she had loans to pay and was worried about the interest payments that would surely be levied on her if she failed to make her monthly payment on time.
 
Galla gets a certificate from PAL which she hopes will help her keep her job
Another vacationing OFW, Marivic A. Galla, traveled all the way from Laguna to the Manila airport for her 2pm flight but was told on arrival that the plane would leave at 7pm instead. But at 6pm she was told it had been canceled.

One of her friends said Galla was crying on the phone, thinking of her badly-needed salary that she was looking forward to getting on Feb 9. She also couldn’t contact her employers to tell them about the travel ban as they were all supposed to arrive in Hong Kong at about the same time after a week-long vacation.

Galla was worried, too, about losing her job as both her employers work and need someone to stay at home to look after their child.

Another OFW, Hylien Calado, was supposed to fly back to Hong Kong on Feb 3 but Cebu Pacific sent notice that her flight had been canceled so her employer checked online for another flight.
 
Calado traveled from Baguio to Manila only to be told that she was banned from boarding her CX flight
She said their websites showed that both PAL and Cebu Pacific had canceled all their flights to Manila starting Feb 1 so her employer booked a Cathay Pacific ticket for her for Feb 2.

“Confirmed naman pero pagpunta ko dito di daw kami pwede umalis kasi kasasabi lang kanina yung ban,” she said in a message.

At Manila airport, she said all Philippine passport holders were told they could not fly out to China, Hong Kong and Macau.

“Uuwi na lang po ako ulit, naiintindihan ni amo,” she said.

But going back home for Calado is not that easy, as she lives far away in Baguio City, about 450 km north of Manila, a travel of at least four and a half hours.

Two other countries today joined the growing list of those that imposed travel restrictions to and from mainland China, Indonesia and Australia. But both only banned inbound and outbound travels to the mainland, and did not include Hong Kong or Macau. 

The only other countries that have extended the restriction to Hong Kong apart from the Philippines are North Korea, Italy and Kuwait. Vietnam added Hong Kong to its China ban originally, but subsequently limited it to only the mainland.

Meanwhile, in China, the death toll from the rapidly spreading Wuhan coronavirus has risen to 304 as of today with 45 new deaths being reported within a 24-hour-period. There were 2,590 more confirmed cases, bringing the total to nearly 14,500.

The number of confirmed infections from the coronavirus is now far higher than those recorded from Sars, or severe acute respiratory syndrome which killed 774 worldwide between 2002-2003. The epicenter of the contagion then was Hong Kong, where 299 people died.
--

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.




Don't Miss