The SUN HK

Push employers to provide masks, workers urge HK gov’t

Posted on 06 February 2020 No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao

Migrant leaders call for better health protection and an end to discrimination amid the contagion

Leaders of migrant workers groups are asking the Hong Kong government to require employers to provide their helpers with surgical masks, alcohol and other sanitizers to help stanch the spread of the Wuhan novel coronavirus in the city.

In a press conference held on Feb 5 by International Migrants Alliance Hong Kong and Macau chapter, the leaders called on Hong Kong to include helpers in the fight against the contagion by giving them masks, alcohol and antiseptics.

The migrant leaders also urged the government to withdraw its appeal to Hong Kong’s 350,000 foreign domestic helpers to stay at home on their rest day to contain the spread of the disease, calling the move discriminatory and a magnet for workers’ exploitation.

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Eni Lestari, IMA chairperson, asked the Hong Kong government to make it mandatory for employers to provide masks, vitamins, alcohol and antiseptics to their helpers to arm them for the fight.

Her call was echoed by Johanie Tong, representing Mission for Migrants Workers, who urged the government to ensure masks for everyone in Hong Kong. The Mission spokeswoman said no one should be left behind in the fight against the contagion.

“The salary of the workers is very low and the price of masks is very expensive, so it’s not fair for them to buy their own masks. The government should make it mandatory for employers to provide their helpers masks,” Lestari said.

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Prices of these items in Hong Kong have skyrocketed amid the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus that has already claimed nearly 500 lives around the world, and caused close to 25,000 people to fall ill, mostly in China.

Lestari said IMA is trying to provide these protective items to workers but donations of the stuff they had collected from other migrant workers is not enough.

She said IMA has been appealing to the Macau community and other places for mask and sanitizer donations, but they themselves are relying on donations from people overseas.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

Lestari said many people in Indonesia, the US and Canada want to give masks, vitamin C and antiseptics, but the problem is how to bring them to Hong Kong.

She suggested that governments, including Hong Kong, should open up their embassies and even airlines to receive donations and bring them here as one way to help the people.

Tong said the Hong Kong government must also assist migrant workers who experience difficulties in returning to the city due to cancellation of flights.

Likewise, she said the government should ensure the workers won’t be discriminated against, and isolated and excluded in the fight against the new virus.

Tong appealed for donations of masks, alcohol and other protective stuff for migrant workers through the Bethune House.

Lestari said the alliance has received complaints from workers about employers using the Hong Kong government’s appeal to let them perform house chores on their rest day or threatening them with termination if they insist on going out.

Lestari said the “stay home” policy is a “double burden” for helpers who have no rooms, as they have no rest and they are forced to work because they need to stay in the house the whole day.

The lucky ones with their own rooms can rest, but still do cooking and cleaning, she said.

She said if the workers without rooms say they have to go out because they have no room to stay in, the employers tell them “Don’t come back, I will terminate your contract.”

Villanueva says Labour's advice that FDWs stay at home on their day off is discriminatory

Eman Villanueva, Unifil-Migrante HK secretary-general, estimated 30% to 40% of domestic workers were unable to take their day off due to the “stay home” advice issued by the Labour Department in late January.

He said he based his numbers on “informal complaints” by affected members of his 2,000-strong group who don’t want to file formal complaints for fear of losing their jobs.

Villanueva said the reality is that despite the government threatening sanctions against employers who force their helpers to work on their rest day, those are meaningless.

“Because of the power relations inside the household, (the threat is) meaningless; because of the absence of job security, it’s actually meaningless,” he said.

Villanueva also said it was irresponsible for the Labour Department to suggest that the employer pay the worker in place of her rest day.

“The only thing an employer can do is offer an alternative day to replace that Sunday but they cannot offer monetary compensation, that is prohibited by the law. So, I think it is very irresponsible of the Labour Department to make such an advisory,” he said.

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HK to extend expiring FDH contracts until May 31

Posted on 05 February 2020 No comments

By The SUN

Stranded Filipino migrant workers checking flight information in Manila airport

Hong Kong has announced that it will allow foreign domestic worker contracts that are expiring to be extended by up to more than three months, or until May 31 this year.

The move was taken in response to the failure of hundreds of Filipino domestic workers to return to Hong Kong as a result of travel restrictions imposed by the Philippines starting Feb. 2 amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Starting Feb. 4, all FDH contracts expiring on or before Mar 31 will be extended up to May 31 based on mutual agreement by the employer and the helper, a government statement said.

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The flexibility arrangement is aimed at helping employers whose contracts with their FDHs are due to expire soon, but the replacement helper cannot fly in because of the Philippines’ temporary ban.

The statement said employers in need may apply directly to the Immigration Department for their helpers’ extension of stay on or before Mar 31. Upon receiving the applications, Immigration will process them in accordance with established procedures and policies.

Under current practice the standard employment contract may be extended by not more than one month by mutual agreement between the employer and the helper, with approval from the Director of Immigration. Longer periods need the consent of the Commissioner for Labour.

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“We hope that the flexibility arrangement can help the families affected by the situation so that they can continue to retain their current FDHs temporarily while waiting for the new FDHs that they hired or intend to hire to report for duty upon the lifting of the ban by the Philippine government,” a government spokesman said.

Applications may be submitted directly during office hours or by post to the Foreign Domestic Helpers Section at Immigration Tower in Wan Chai, along with the following required documents:

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· Visa/Extension of Stay Application Form for Domestic Helper from Abroad (ID 988A) completed and signed by the FDH;

· The current SEC, or ID 407 (copy only if applying by post), kept by the employer and the helper with an amendment clause on extending the period of employment duly signed by both parties at the end of page 4;

· A supporting letter signed by the employer stating the reasons for extending the period of employment;

· The helper’s travel document (copy only if applying by post); and

· A visa fee of $230.

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Misery grips OFWs hit by China travel ban

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By Daisy CL Mandap

If you're flying to Cebu but are not from the province, be ready for forced quarantine

There appears to be no end to the tales of woe from Filipinos, especially migrant workers, who have been affected by the travel restrictions to China imposed by the Philippine government on Feb. 2.

From being turned away from their flights to being threatened with termination, to seeing their hopes of witnessing their child’s upcoming graduation crushed, the stories are endless.

Yesterday resulted in an even sadder story, that of a Filipina mother rushing home to look after her daughter who has dengue, but was unexpectedly put under quarantine in Cebu, where her Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong landed.

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Under guidelines issued by the Department of Health, all Filipinos arriving from China and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau, need only to undergo self-quarantine in their own homes on arrival in the Philippines.

But in the case of Cora O., she and three other non-Cebu residents on the flight were told to proceed to the Eversley Childs Sanitarium in Mandaue City, where they were to be quarantined for 14 days.

Cora is not alone in her grief, for two others being held with her had flown home only to bury family members who had passed on. Now they aren't allowed to go anywhere for two weeks, nor receive visitors from outside.

Most other passengers on the plane were hoping to stay for only a week to be with their loved ones.

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Cora’s friend, Rea Ottara of the Filipina Migrant Workers Union, said only a routine temperature and blood pressure check was carried on each passenger aboard the aircraft, but nothing significant was apparently found.

But on arrival at the Mactan-Cebu International airport, all 10 passengers were put in a separate queue. They were all taken to the Sanitarium but the 6 Cebu residents were released. The four others were told they were being quarantined in line with existing health protocols.

In a Facebook post which she subsequently deleted, Cora said, “Quarantine is real but sad to say that it’s unfair. We’re 10 passengers on board Cathay Pacific but only 4 passengers including me have to be quarantined. The other six passengers are free to go home because they live in Cebu…so sad on our side.

Cora with her luggage beside the Sanitarium

She added, “I need to go home coz my daughter is confined in the hospital with dengue.”

Cora’s family lives in nearby Tubigon in Bohol province.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

She was among only 10 passengers on board the 8:40am flight to Cebu on Feb. 4, and all of them were Filipinos. Under the ban imposed by the Manila government, all foreign nationals flying from China, Hong Kong and Macau, are not allowed to enter the Philippines.

Despite the tense situation in Hong Kong brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, Cora was initially upbeat. In a Facebook post she made at 8:06am, just before boarding her flight, she said: “Boarding time…Go home for good…To God be the glory.”

It didn’t take long for her joy to turn to sadness because of the forced quarantine, and then concern when told by a doctor that word had gotten around town that one of those held in the sanitarium had coronavirus.

Ottara, said: “Di niya alam kung paano kumalat ang ganung balita dahil vital signs lang naman ang kinukuha sa kanila every now and then.”

She added that other than being forced to remain in quarantine, the OFWs are being treated well, with each being put in a clean isolation room and fed well, although they are not allowed visitors.

The number of people quarantined in the Sanitarium has reportedly grown since the four were taken there early yesterday, but it is not clear where the new arrivals had come from.

Meantime, an appeal for humanitarian consideration on their behalf was sent to the administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Hans Cacdac.

The isolated OFWs are hoping that with his help, they could be released, even for self-quarantine at home, just so they could see their loved ones again soon.

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OWWA says P300m set aside for OFWs stranded by travel ban

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By Daisy CL Mandap

Hundreds of stranded OFWs flock to OWWA's office in Pasay City for the promised cash assistance

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration says it has allocated Php300 million in financial aid to Filipino migrant workers who have been barred from flying back to their work in Hong Kong, Macau and China because of travel restrictions that took effect Feb. 2

OWWA Administrator Hans Cacdac told The SUN that this much was set aside “kasi we are expecting 20,000 claimants in a span of two weeks.” So far, he said about 500 affected OFWs have each received the Php10,000 payout.

That appears to indicate that the travel ban, imposed in the wake of the death of a novel coronavirus patient in Manila, is expected to remain in place for that long at least, or even longer.

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Cacdac said that while the claims being processed are those from OFWs who have confirmed bookings to the affected areas until Feb. 9, OWWA is ready to pay stranded workers for as long as the ban is in place.

Told that the queues at the OWWA office in Pasay City extended to beyond 700 for today (Feb 5) alone, Cacdac said: “Fund distribution is a continuing process po. If not today, tomorrow. Basta we will give the Php10k po sa lahat ng entitled dito.”

Admin Cacdac says all entitled OFWs will get the Php10k payout

That means, the hundreds of OFWs who have been stranded in Hong Kong, Macau and China because of cancelled flights home are not entitled to the payout, even if they incur expenses for visa extension, accommodation and food until they could find a way out.

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Cacdac’s clarification was sought in the wake of complaints from several migrant organizations and the workers themselves, that only a few OFWs had received the Php10k for various reasons.

One OFW who failed to catch her flight on the first day of the ban on Feb. 2 was reportedly told when she called OWWA’s hotline that the cash handout was “fake news.”

After her employer helped press her claim, she was told to go to OWWA’s main office in Pasay city where she was given a tag saying she was number 749 in the queue, but that the cut-off for the day was 1,000 claimants.

By noon, the money had run out, and was quickly replenished. But at about 6pm, after about 600 had received the money, OWWA office staff again told the hundreds still in the queue that “naubusan ng pera.” Eventually everyone in the queue did get their money.

OWWA Deputy Admin Mocha Uson talks to claimants on second day of cash distribution

Many OFWs who queued up for the first day of cash distribution on Feb 4 also went away empty-handed.

“ATM- naubusan na daw cash sa OWWA main. Sabi mag-intay lang daw sila at yung iba ay binibigyan ng option na sa regional na pumunta,” said an OFW called Jonathan in a chat message to Filipino community leader Satur Tiamzon.

Later, Jonathan texted again to say that he called OWWA’s Region 5 office and was reportedly told that he couldn’t get any financial help unless he undertook not to return to his workplace, an apparent reference to the livelihood assistance given to returning OFWs.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

The same complaint was aired by several other OFWs who told Filcom leader Eman Villanueva that they had been told after inquiring with OWWA regional offices on Feb. 3 that there was no directive yet from the main office on the cash payout.

Other OFWs who sent out the same message mentioned in particular the OWWA offices in Region 1, La Union, and Region 5 in Bicol.

However, Cacdac assured that everyone entitled would get the money, even those who claim it from the regional offices.

“Basta they can produce an OEC (overseas employment certificate) and plane ticket to Hong Kong po, we will provide the cash assistance,” he said. OWWA's advisory lists also the passport as a requirement.

On top of the Php10k, applicants who file their claim at the OWWA main office are also given Php300 transportation money. Some OFWs claimed to have been given air tickets to their hometowns, but this has not been confirmed.

Still, this is little comfort for the thousands who are stranded in various airports in the country, whose utmost concern is that their employers won’t sack them for not returning to Hong Kong as expected.

Aside from this, they also worry about not getting paid their salary for the time they had to sit it out in the Philippines while waiting for the ban to be lifted.

The new travel restrictions also barred foreign nationals who had been to any part of China within 14 days before arriving in the Philippines, but they could leave, even for the affected areas. Arriving Filipinos are allowed in, but have to undergo self-quarantine for 14 days.