Hindi na uulit

Napagalitan si Kristine kamakailan dahil lang ibinaba niya ang alaga niyang babae para makipaglaro sa ground floor ng kanilang building.

Dalawa ang kanyang alaga na kambal, isang babae at isang lalaki. Magmula nang ipanganak ang mga ito hanggang ngayon na nasa K2 na sila ay siya ang nag-alaga.

Bagamat matagal na siya sa pamilya ay kailangan pa rin niyang sumunod sa patakaran ng kanyang among babae na Canadian. May ginawa itong schedule ng mga bata at gawain sa bahay na kailangang sundin ni Kristine. Halos lahat ay naka-program, at may time table pa na kailangang sundin, pati kung kailangan dapat dalhin ang mga bata sa playgroup.

Noong Martes, Peb 21, ay nagpasya si Kristine na ibaba ang babaeng alaga dahil naiinip ito sa loob ng bahay. Ang kakambal kasi nito ay dinala ng ina sa after-school activity kaya naiwan silang dalawa sa bahay. Ibinaba niya ang bata at pinayagang makipaglaro ng 45 minutes sa isang batang lalaki na kapwa nito apat na taon, at mag-iisang taon na batang babae.

Kinagabihan ay nalaman ng among lalaki ang ginawa nilang pagbaba, at isinumbong sa asawa. Katakot-takot na sermon ang inabot ni Kristine, na agad na nag-text sa isang kapitbahay tungkol sa sinapit.

Sumumpa siya sa kapitbahay na hinding hindi na niya ulit susuwayin ang kanyang amo. Wala daw siyang magagawa dahil katulong lang siya, at may mga regulasyon ang amo na kailangan niyang sundin. Si Kristine ay limang taon na sa mga among Canadian at American at nakatira sa Stanley. — Merly P. Bunda

Pinay’s ex-boss cleared of indecent assault

By Vir B. Lumicao

The elderly employer of a Filipina domestic helper rescued by officers of the Consulate in June last year was acquitted on Feb. 23 of two counts of indecent assault.

Shatin Magistrate Colin Wong found Ong Choon Kwee who is in his ‘60s, not guilty of the charges, saying there were inconsistencies in the evidence given by the alleged victim and another Filipina witness.

The Filipina, referred to as Miss X, had accused Ong of making her touch his private parts and in a separate incident, of touching her breast.

On hearing about her claims, Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre and Consulate staff  Hermogenes Cayabyab Jr, rushed to the employer’s house in Fotan to fetch the Filipina.

The complainant, who is 24 and single, testified that the first incident happened around 3pm on April 30 last year, just two days after she and the second witness arrived from the Philippines to work for Ong and his wife.

She said she was washing the dishes when the man arrived and asked if anyone else was at home. When told that it was just the two of them, he reportedly went up to his study and shortly later called Miss X on the intercom to bring him a lemon tea.

In the study, Ong allegedly asked her to massage his shoulder and his feet, to which she agreed. Miss X said the defendant, who had shed his shorts and left only flimsy briefs on, suddenly grabbed her wrists and laid her hands on his crotch, telling her to massage it. She said that episode lasted about two seconds because he pulled her hands away.

She said the employer offered her $80 to do it, allegedly the same amount he paid in massage parlors, but she left the room, telling him she still had work to do in the kitchen.

Miss X told the second witness, the other Filipina, about the incident when the latter and a third maid, an Indonesian, returned home after fetching the children. She also reported the incident to their employment agency via WhatsApp.

The second incident allegedly happened on May 9 when Ong called Miss X and the other Filipina to the study, purportedly to teach them how to use a rifle to shoot the monkeys in the trees that had been invading his garden.

Ong first called the other Filipina to try the rifle, but she said she already knew how to use it because her policeman-husband had taught her, so the man asked Miss X to try it.

Noticing that her arms fell when she raised the rifle, Ong allegedly stood behind Miss X and helped her hold the gun up while telling her how to squeeze the trigger. But, at the same time, Ong allegedly fondled her breasts for about 2 minutes.

She said she felt “harassed and violated” so she put the gun down and went back downstairs to finish their work.

Miss X also said she messaged the agency about this incident, saying, “Sir did something to me. I’m afraid,” adding that he touched her breasts.

During cross examination, defense counsel Graham Harris, SC, asked Miss X if it was true that she stated in her application that she gave massages as she had taken up massage therapy courses. He then suggested it was her idea to massage Ong, which she denied.

The lawyer pointed to some inconsistencies in the statement of Miss X to police investigators in June last year and in her court evidence.

These included her statement to police that Ong had held her breast for 5 seconds but on the witness stand she said it was 2 minutes.

Harris also said Ong, in his 60s, had a heart condition and prostate cancer.

In his verdict, Magistrate Wong first dismissed the evidence given by the second witness, Bernadeth, saying they had no value to the case.

Wong then said he found “minor inconsistencies” between Miss X’s evidence in court and the statement she gave investigators.

He also said the third witness, the agency staff to whom Miss X claimed to have reported the first incident, testified that it was only the second incident that Miss X reported to the agency.
Wong also said in the massage incident, the witness was not consistent on the duration of when Ong  placed her hands on his crotch.

In the second incident, Wong said he did not doubt Miss X’s evidence, but the defendant might have also told the truth when he said he could have accidentally touched the Filipina’s breast while teaching her how to hold the rifle.

Employment agency stripped of license

By Vir B. Lumicao

An employment agency in Tsuen Wan was divested of its license by the Labour Department on Feb 21 following two separate convictions last year for overcharging three Filipina domestic helper applicants.

A Labour spokesman identified the agency as Jen’s Employment Agency Limited, which has been recruiting Filipino helpers both in Manila and Hong Kong for deployment here.

On Sept 1, Jen’s was convicted and fined $24,000 by Tsuen Wan Court for charging a Filipina job applicant nearly 30 times the allowable commission of $411 at the time.

Then on Nov 24, Jen’s was again found guilty by the same court of overcharging two other helpers.
The agency was also fined $26,000.

After the second conviction, the Labour Department said it was in the process of revoking the agency’s license.

The two helpers filed overcharging complaints against Jen’s  in May with the Labour Department’s Employment Agencies Administration.

They said Jen’s charged them excessive placement fees with employers in Hong Kong. Investigators found sufficient evidence against the agency and filed the charges.

Despite the convictions, Jen’s apparently continued to recruit domestic workers in Manila.

On Dec 31 last year, it announced on its Facebook page that its next job interviews in Manila would be held in Ermita on Jan 13.

The Labour spokesman warned agency operators to comply with the law or they would face prosecution and risk having their licenses revoked or not renewed.

“Under the Employment Ordinance, the Commissioner for Labour may refuse to issue or renew or may revoke a license of an EA if the person operating or intending to operate (it) has contravened any provision of Part XII of the Ordinance such as overcharging job-seekers, or if he is considered not a fit and proper person to operate an EA,” he said.

Labour also reminded agencies to comply with the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies, which was promulgated on Jan 13.

The code sets out the salient legislative requirements that agency operators must observe, as well as the minimum standards that the commissioner expected of licensees.

The EAA will conduct regular and surprise inspections of agencies and issue warning letters to those found violating the Code.

The commissioner may exercise his power under the Employment Ordinance to refuse to issue or to renew, or even to revoke an agency’s license if he is satisfied that the licensee concerned is not a fit and proper person to operate an agency.

Enquiries or complaints about unlicensed operation, overcharging job-seekers’ commission by agencies or concerning the Code may be relayed to the EAA at telephone number 2115 3667. You may also visit its office at unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon.

Carrie Lam vows ‘personal attention’ to EM schooling

Former Chief Secretary Carrie Lam (in red jacket) admits the $200 million funding to address the education concerns of ethnic minority children lacks effective monitoring.

By Vir B. Lumicao

Carrie Lam, considered most likely to become Hong Kong’s next chief executive, promised the city’s ethnic minorities on Feb 18 that she would give personal attention to their children’s education if she won the March election.

Lam also said she would review the Race Discrimination Ordinance, or RDO, but did not make concrete promises during an hour-long, closed-door dialogue with members of the city’s ethnic minorities organized by NGO Hong Kong Unison.

She met with the media after the dialogue in the Unison offices in Tai Kok Tsui to update them on what had been discussed.

“If elected, I will give my personal attention to the educational concerns of ethnic minorities and ensure full implementation of this policy,” Lam replied when asked how she would address the minorities’ education problem.

“If Hong Kong is to be a home for people of different nationalities, it should support programs that ensure students of different ethnicities can learn English and Chinese well for better opportunities in terms of employment,” the former chief secretary said.

But a Unison officer told The SUN the group was “unhappy” that the meeting with the leading candidate for the position to be vacated by C.Y. Leung had received no reply to the issue of ethnic minority children’s education concerns.

“In fact, there’s no reply this morning apart from the fact that she would look into it,” said barrister Margaret Ng, a member of Unison’s executive committee.

Ng said if the government had put $20 billion into ethnic minority education, “then one should have expected the government to take a very serious view about monitoring the effects. I mean, she shouldn’t have needed us to tell her now that the execution, the implementation of that policy is far from ideal.”

“But at least she promised to look at it,” Ng said.

Lam said she understood that a $200 million recurrent government funding per year for local schools to support non-Chinese-speaking students’ Chinese learning was not effective.

“I think the implementation of the learning framework can be improved and the government should do more regarding monitoring and implementing the CSL (Chinese as a Second Language) program and the upcoming Free Quality Kindergarten policies, and let students have a good Chinese language environment from a young age,” Lam said.

The ethnic minority representatives pointed out that the Hong Kong government should honor its obligation as a signatory of international conventions to protect human rights and racial equality and plug the holes in the RDO.

Lam, who introduced the Race Discrimination Bill in the Legislative Council when she was the permanent secretary for home affairs, said more stakeholders should be allowed to participate in policymaking.

Ethnic minority representatives said their children do not enjoy fair and equal opportunity to education as kindergartens hesitate to accept them, stripping them of an early childhood Chinese learning environment and affecting their future primary and secondary school choices.

They said parents cannot enroll their children in mainstream schools because of policies that overlook non-Chinese-speaking students’ learning needs.

These include the “Mother Tongue Education Policy” and “Using Putonghua as the Medium of Instruction for Teaching the Chinese Language Subject.”

Meanwhile, they do not have any information from the Education Bureau on whether the funding for the Learning Framework has been well-spent by schools to support ethnic minorities in Chinese learning.

Announcement

Teachers' Oath-Taking Registration
Calling all Board Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (BLEPT) passers and also all the proctors and watchers for the years 2014, 2015, and 2016 in Hong Kong SAR to contact NOPT-HK for the registration for the Oath-Taking. Please contact them on or before March 12, through https://www.facebook.com/nopthk2016.c0m/ or call or text or whatsapp at their hotline: 52960156 or email at nopthk@gmail.com

What's on where

International Women’s Day Celebration
Mar 12, Sunday, 1-5pm
New Horizon Building, 2 Kwun Tong Road (Choi Hung MTR exit A2
Organized by: International Organization for Migration (IOM) Hong Kong
Guest Speaker: Consul General Bernardita Catalla
Theme: “Commemorating the Acts of Courage and Determination of Women Migrant Workers in Hong Kong”
Those who want to join, please register via email through iomhongkongoffice@iom.int o info@christian-action.org.hk or Whatsapp sa 56408251 until Mar 8. A certificate of appreciation will be given to Filcom organizations that participate

Philippines at Hong Kong Flower Show
Mar 10-19, whole day, Victoria Park, Causeway Bay
The Philippine Consulate will have a booth for the first time
Details, contact the PCG’s cultural section at 2823 8535

Nurses’ Forum II (CPD Updates and Possible NLE)
Mar 12, 8am – 12nn, Bayanihan Kennedy Town Center
Speaker: Dr. Josefina Tuazon, former dean of the UP College of Nursing
Organized by: Filipino Nurses Association
For seat reservation: leave a comment on the Filipino Nurses Association’s FB page, stating yor full name, and whether you’re a RN or a BSN graduate; or through Whatsapp message to 61625584.

Asian Contemporary Art Fair
Featuring: Award-Winning Artists from the Philippines
Mar 17-20, Rm 4023, 40th Floor, Conrad Hotel in Pacific Place
Opening Night, Mar 17, 4-9pm: By invitation only
Thereafter, opening hours are:
Saturday, Mar 18:   12 pm to 9 pm
Sunday, Mar 19:     12 pm to 8 pm
Monday, Mar 20:    12 pm to 6 pm
Organized by Galleria Camaya

Junk Boat Escapade
Mar. 19 (Sunday), 11am-12noon
Cruise around Sai Kung. Organized by: OFWs in Hong Kong
Contact:  Regina Collado Aguirre on FB or whatsapp 96864510 (Sunday only)

Special Favor 2017
(His Sanctuary Anniversary Celebration)
With Dr. Bong Hermoza, Apr 23, 9am-5pm

Multi-cultural Charity Event
Jun 11, 12nn-6pm
Bayanihan Centre Auditorium, Kennedy Town
Organized by:  Zamboanga-Basilan HK Association
Open to the everyone, from whatever nationality
Categories are:
1. Ms ZamBas-Asian Beauty Pageant (female, any Nationality 18 to 40yrs old)
2. Ms Handsome (Tomboy fashion show, any Nationality, no age limit)
3. Dance Group Contest (3to5 dancers, any dance style choreography, any Nationality)
3. English Solo Singing Contest (any Nationality)
4. Indo-Singing Contest Solo ( Indonesian only)
5. Ms Kebaya Fashion Show (indonesian only)
Submission of entry will be until Apr 2.
Contact (whatsapp or viber): Becky 69726355 & 92523046 viber; Linda 97000780; Liezel 96866346.

Applications open for 2017 Hong Kong Youth Music Camp

The 2017 Hong Kong Youth Music Camp, organised by the Music Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, will be held in July and August at Lei Yue Mun Park. Highly acclaimed international musicians will be invited to give orchestral, band and choral training to young musicians, exploring the wonderful world of music in a green setting. Applications are now open for qualified young musicians aged 10 to 25.

Two music camps will be organised this year to provide training to over 400 campers, both local and non-local. Camp A will be for music groups of Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band and Junior Chinese Orchestra from July 30 to August 6. Camp B will be for groups of Chinese Orchestra, Youth Choir and Junior String Orchestra from August 6 to 13.

The fee is $1,510 for local campers and $2,180 for non-local campers. To encourage international music exchanges,  Parsons Music, the event sponsor, will offer scholarships for non-local musicians with excellent musical standards to join the camps.

Conductors at this year’s Music Camp will include the Music Director of Taoyuan City Jungli Youth Orchestra Association and Vice-Chairman of the World Federation of Amateur Orchestras, Joe Yamaji; renowned Japanese composer of wind music and faculty member of SHOBI Music College, Tokyo, Satoshi Yagisawa; Resident Conductor of the Jilin Chinese Orchestra and China Ethnic Song and Dance Ensemble, Wen Feng-chao; Resident Conductor of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and Music Director of the Singapore Youth Chinese Orchestra, Quek Ling-kiong; the Director of Music, the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge (United Kingdom) and Conductor Laureate of the BBC Singers, Stephen Cleobury; and Violist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and former Assistant Principal Violist of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Kuo Wei-ting.

In addition, masterclasses, workshops and sharing sessions will be arranged for campers to hone their musical skills. Speakers will include renowned percussionist Choy Lap-tak; suona performer of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Law Hang-leung; Gehu Principal of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Tung Hiu-lo; and Assistant Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Vivian Ip. Campers and choir members will participate in two public concerts to be held in August to showcase their achievements.

A day camp entitled “A Wonderful Music Day Tour” will also be held every Monday to Friday from July 31 to August 11. Organisations, families and other groups of individuals are welcome to visit rehearsals, attend mini-concerts and take part in music games. Day camp participants will also be able to use various recreational facilities at the camp. The fee will be $80 per person per day. A concessionary rate of $58 will apply to children, full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 and above and people with disabilities.

Application forms for the music camps and day camp are available at all Music Office Music Centres and downloadable from the Music Office’s website at www.lcsd. gov.hk/musicoffice. The application deadlines are March 30 for the residential camps and May 31 for the day camp. For enquiries, please call 2582 5334.

Masuwerte ka ba sa Marso?

TANDANG. Isinilang noong 1921/33/45/57/69/81/93
Samantalahin ang panahong ito upang mapabuti ang trabaho. Mabibigyan ka ng mahirap na gawain na kailangang gawin ng maayos, pero maganda ang magiging kapalit nito. Piliting kontrolin ang galit upang hindi makagawa ng bagay na pagsisihan mo, at iiwasan ka ng  mga nasa paligid mo. Sa ngayon ay mas mahalaga sa iyo ang ibang bagay kaysa materyal na pangangailangan. Lucky numbers: 4, 17, 22 at 31.

ASO. Isinilang noong 1922/34/46/58/70/82/94
Bigyan ng katuparan ang matagal mo nang gustong gawin, pero iwasang mag-isip ang mga negatibong bagay. Maguguluhan ka dahil sa problema sa pananalapi. Iwasang magplano ng mga bagay na mahirap gawin. Manatiling nakatapak ang paa sa lupa, at isaalang alang kung hanggang saan ang kakayanin mo at ng mga kasamahan. Mahalaga ang pagkakaibigan upang matupad ang inaasam na proyekto. Lucky numbers: 9, 16, 25 at 41.

BABOY. Isinilang noong 1923/35/47/59/71/83/95
Kung anuman ang naging problema dati ay unti- unti na itong malulutas sa masayang paraan. Maayos ang kalagayan ng pananalapi, pero iwasang gumastos ng malaki. Tumataas ang pagtingin sa iyo ng marami dahil napapahanga mo sila at napapaniwala sa iyong kakayahan, kaya naipapagmalaki nila na kaibigan mo sila. Malamang na tumaas pa ang estado sa buhay kaya panatilihin ang pagsisikap. Lucky numbers: 1, 12, 29 at 36.

DAGA. Isinilang noong 1924/36/48/60/72/84/96
Mahihirapan kang makibagay ngayon sa mga anak, na parang ang anumang sabihin mo ay nakakasama sa kanila. Huminahon ka at manahimik muna. Pinaglalaruan mo ang damdamin ng taong alam mong mahal na mahal ka. Alam mong kontento ka, pero parang hindi ka masaya sa sitwasyon.  Huwag gaanong seryosohin ang mga problema, na parang nakadikit na sa iyo ngayon. Alalahaning kakambal na ng buhay ang mga problema. Lucky numbers: 11, 32, 35 at 45.

BAKA. Isinilang noong 1925/37/49/61/73/85/97
Mas gugustuhin mong manahimik muna at pag-isipang mabuti ang mga dapat mong gawin. Mas mahalaga ang kaligayahan ng pamilya kesa sa ibang bagay, dahil ang mga anak mo ang nagbibigay saya sa iyo. May mga pagbabago sa pamumuhay dahil sa magandang kita sa isang transaksyon na magpapadagdag ng saya sa pamilya. Matatag pa rin ang pader na itinayo mo laban sa mga taong nagsasabi sa iyong sumubok na umibig muli.  Lucky numbers: 19, 28, 42 at 46.

TIGRE Isinilang noong 1926/38/50/62/74/86 at 98
Ganado ka ngayong maipakita ang iyong pagkamalikhain sa iyong trabaho. Maging matigas sa iyong sinasabi upang paniwalaan ka. Mag-ingat sa mga kinakain na nagdudulot ng kidney stones. Magiging tampulan ka ng tsismis ng mismong mga kaibigan mo, na ikakasama mo ng loob. Upang maiwasan ito, mag-ingat sa iyong mga sinasabi at piliin ang mga kaibigan mo. Lucky numbers: 13, 24, 39 at 40.

 KUNEHO Isinilang noong 1927/39/51/63/75/87
Tanggapin ng maayos ang obligasyon upang maiwasan ang kumplikasyon sa hinaharap. Anumang problema mo ay malulutas lahat ito ng kusa. Sa kabila ng pagiging abala, huwag kaligtaang mag-ehersisyo o sumali sa sports. Ugaliing maging malinis lagi sa katawan upang makaiwas sa sakit. Makukumbinse mo ang mga kasamahan na tulungan kang matupad ang iyong plano.  Lucky numbers: 16, 18, 23 at 38.
.
 DRAGON Isinilang noong 1928/40/52/64/76/88
Masusubok ng husto ng pasensya mo sa pagiging agresibo ng mga anak. Kung may anak na dalaga, lalo kang mag-aalala ngayon. Dagdagan pa ang pasensya at maging kalmado. Hindi ka interesado sa mga love affairs na pa-easy easy lang, pero huwag din namang hanapin ang imposibleng bagay. Mataas ang enerhiya mo ngayon, at kaya mong makuha ang gusto mo kung susbukan mo. Lucky numbers: 7, 15, 29 at 33.

AHAS Isinilang noong 1929/41/53/65/77/89
Hindi inaasahang mga bagay ang sisira sa katahimikan mo. Pakaiwasan na maging bayolente sa reaksyon mo dahil lalo lang lalala ang sitwasyon. Sa kabila ng sipag at siglang ipinapakita sa trabaho, hindi mo makontrol ang agam-agam na pilit na pumapasok sa isipan. Mahihirapan ka ngayong lalo na magbawas ng timbang. Lucky numbers:16, 31, 39 at 44.

KABAYO. Isinilang noong 1930/42/54/66/78/90
Malaki ang suporta at tulong na matatanggap kaya hindi ka gaanong mahihirapan sa nais mong gawin. Magkakaroon ng konting sugal sa pribado man o sa propesyonal na gawain. Pag-isipang mabuti bago magsalita dahil nakakasakit ka na ng damdamin ng iba. May pag-asa kang pumasa sa kukuning pagsusulit o admission test. Makakaiwas ka rin sa malaking pagkakamali at aksidente. Lucky numbers: 9, 15, 27 at 43.

KAMBING. Isinilang noong 1919/31/43/55/67/79 at 91
Kailangang pagbutihan din ang iniatang na gawain sa iyo kahit na hindi ka gaanong makikinabang dito. Mag-ingat sa pakikipagrelasyon sa mga dayuhan o mga taong nasa malalayong lugar dahil mas malaki na ng tsansa na hindi maganda ang resulta nito. Kung may asawa, bigyan ng sigla ang pagsasama, at sumubok ng mga bagong bagay gaya ng pamamasyal sa ibang lugar. Maganda ang lagay ng kalusugan ngayon. Lucky numbers: 5, 21, 32 at 46.

UNGGOY. Isinilang noong 1920/32/44/56/68/80/92
Huwag ilagay sa pedestal ang minamahal dahil magiging delikado ito sa iyo. Sa oras na makita mo ang mga kapintasan nito, gaya ng iba, ay magugulat ka at mahihirapan kang tanggapin ito. Mag-ingat sa impeksyon sa sakit na mula sa pag-ubo, magpatingin agad. Sikaping maging masaya sa mga bagay na mayroon ka, at huwag nang pangarapin pa ang mga bagay na mahirap abutin, o pagsisihan ang bagay na wala na. Lucky numbers: 3, 9, 14, at 36.

PCG dispels organ harvest rumor about dead OFW

By Vir B. Lumicao and Marites Palma 

The Consulate has dispelled rumors about a plan to harvest a Filipina domestic helper’s vital organs after she died on Feb. 23 from brain hemorrhage due to a stroke.

Corazon P. Cabansag, 53, died at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Hospital in Chaiwan, six days
after collapsing in the lift of her employers’ residential block in Shaukeiwan.

Shortly after she died, some of her acquaintances posted on social media that the hospital was set to harvest the maid’s organs because she was an organ donor card holder. A close friend waded in, saying the procedure did not happen because one of Cabansag’s three siblings opposed it.
But an officer of Consulate’ assistance to nationals section rejected the talks.

“There was no such thing as an organ donation from Cabansag,” said the officer.

Another ATN officer explained that the hospital doctors cannot just take out patient’s organs without the consent of her nearest kin, who must secure approval from the Philippine government through the Department of Foreign Affairs.

“Hindi nila basta-basta pwedeng galawin ang katawan niya, mahigpit ang gobyerno natin sa ganyan,” he said, adding that the hospital has to get the approval of the Consulate because the victim is a Filipino citizen.

“Of course, they can’t just donate her organs without going through official channels. Our government is very strict about such process,” he added.

Organ trafficking is one of the problems that the inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking is watching closely amid reports impoverished individuals have taken to selling their vital organs for good money because there is a lucrative market them overseas.

Cabansag, single and a native of Mallig, Isabela, had served her employer for the past 21 years, according to ATN and her friends.

Her uncle and his wife reportedly flew to Hong Kong on learning about her condition to be at her bedside and attend to her needs. Relatives say the uncle, a brother of Cabansag’s father, returned home shortly after the helper died.

The daughter of Cabansag’s employer reportedly went to the ATN twice, on Tuesday, Feb 20, to report her illness, and three days later, to seek advice on the requirements and documentary procedures in the event of the maid’s death.

Cabansag died later that day, said the ATN officer, who added that the employer’s daughter relayed the news to her on Monday morning.

The elderly employers and their 30-year-old daughter were reportedly sad because they had considered Cabansag as a family member as she had been working with them for a long time.
The employers were scheduled to move Cabansag’s remains from the hospital morgue to the Hong Kong Funeral Homes on Friday, Mar. 3, the officer said.

Cabansag was said to be supporting one of her brothers who is ill. One sibling is in Canada, while another is a teacher.

Last July, Cabansag went home for a vacation to visit her father, who was very sick at that time. A few days later, her father pased away.

HK Immigration rejects 100 green contracts submitted late

The new contract is blue in color.

By The SUN staff

About 100 green foreign domestic helper contracts were rejected by Hong Kong Immigration for missing its Jan 27 deadline for submission.

After this date, only the new blue contracts with the provision on window cleaning restriction for foreign domestic workers were accepted for processing.

Assistant Labour Attache Henry Tianero said that the rejected contracts had to be cancelled from the records by the Consulate, and the affected workers had to get the new blue forms and pay fees all over again.

To process a new contract, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) charges $80 for verification, and the Consulate, $200 for authentication.

But in all these cases, Tianero said the green contracts were released by POLO way ahead of Jan. 27, and the workers concerned were advised to immediately submit them to Immigration.
His statement came as a migrant workers’ group lambasted POLO for the fiasco.

“It is a double whammy for OFWs due mainly to the lack of information and foresight of the Philippine Consulate General through the Philippine Overseas Labor Office,” said Dolores Balladares-Pelaez, chairperson of Unifil-Migrante-HK, in a press statement on Feb 16.

The accusation was labeled as unfair by Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre, who said the affected workers must have delayed going to Immigration after their contracts were processed and released by POLO.

“Maybe their employer went away and the worker did not submit the contract to Immigration immediately,” said Labatt de la Torre.

In some cases, he said the workers delayed going to Immigration because they had obtained an appointment date later than the Jan. 27 deadline.

“They were specifically told to forget about their appointment and go straight to Immigration, either as walk-in applicants, or to use the drop box to make sure they beat the deadline,” he said.

“At every step of the way, we alerted the workers about the need to ensure that their contracts got to Immigration before the deadline.”

At least one Filipino community leader found herself in this predicament. Her contract was released by POLO way ahead of Immigration’s Jan. 27 cut-off date, but despite warnings from several people, she insisted on waiting until her appointment date of Feb. 3.

When her contract was rejected by Immigration, she immediately rushed back to POLO and the Consulate in an attempt to get a waiver of the charges. Still, she had to get the new blue document, get her employer to sign, and go through the whole process of getting it approved by the Consulate before passing it on to Immigration.

Unifil’s leaders are, however, not convinced.

“They knew that Hong Kong’s Immigration Department will not be processing old contracts anymore after Jan 27 and yet they (POLO) processed old contracts they knew the applicant would submit to Immigration by the said date or even after,” Balladares-Pelaez said.

She called on the Consulate and POLO to waive the processing fees for workers who had to submit contracts twice, and refund the payment of those who had been charged a second time.

“Should OFWs be punished and penalized for the incompetence of government officials?”, she asked.
But Tianero said that since Jan. 3, the first working day of the year, POLO had been telling individual workers who were rehired or moving to new employers about the Immigration deadline for green contracts.

Contracts processed by agencies posed no such problems, he said, as the agencies had been duly informed about the transition.

POLO also gave workers written instructions that their documents would be released at the Consulate six working days after submission.

Despite all the warnings, OFWs continue to arrive at POLO with signed green contracts. On Feb. 26 alone, Tianero said three workers came to his office to get the old contract forms processed.

He said the workers were told they should replace them with the new blue version and to advise their employers that they needed to pay the reprocessing fees.

Code of Practice for Employment Agencies

By Cynthia Tellez

Last month, January 2017, the Labour Department released a booklet entitled The Code of Practice for Employment Agencies (CoP). Obviously, the purpose is to guide and regulate the practices of the recruitment agencies including those agencies engaged in the placement for work of foreign domestic workers.

In general, all that is written in the said booklet was taken from the Employment Ordinance. In other words, they were taken from already passed legislation. Of course the purpose of the Labour Department may have been to come up with an easy guide for all placement agencies and also for the general public, especially the worker-applicants.

In this article, we will only deal on clauses which are relevant to foreign domestic workers (FDWs). The Mission’s purpose in discussing this is for FDWs to be aware of this newly released Code of Practice and also, for prevention or forward action like collecting relevant evidences and keeping them for possible use in the event of any violation on the part of the agencies that affected them.
Let us discuss then some of the most important among the relevant clauses.

In the CoP, it is stipulated that the applicant (FDW) will only pay after the FDH is successfully placed or employed. Thus the payment will be taken from their first month salary. We know for a fact that this is not the case. In reality, anyone is required to pay first before anything else. And usually the payment is always more than 10% of the legally allowed placement fee. In reality too, no receipt is issued. And if ever, the agency will only put the amount equivalent to the 10% of the first month’s salary.

In the CoP, there is a clause about the agency being required to provide true, accurate and all information about the FDW to the employer and vice versa. Misleading information or not giving information at all is an offence on the part of the agency and if proven guilty will be meted with fine and imprisonment.

How is this relevant to FDW?

When applying for job, the agency is obliged by law to give to the applicant all the necessary information about the employer and,vice versa to the employer, all the necessary information about the applicant FDW. So, when already employed and you, the FDW, found out major information the agency did not provide, you can file complaints to the Labour Department through the Employment Agencies Administration (EAA).

Some example of this are:

The agency did not inform you that the elderly is sick of tuberculosis.

The information sheet only shows that there are only four in the family but in reality there are 8 in the family including extended family members.

That there is privacy in the place of the house that you will sleep. But in reality you sleep in a folding bed in the living room or kitchen etc.

These are but some of the examples. But beforehand, it would be better if you can get a copy of the information on the employer provided by the agency and keep a copy of it. Or if it is verbal, then list down all the information provided by the agency. This is for your own benefit.

Employment agencies (EA) shall not aid or abet job-seekers or employers to breach the job-seekers’ conditions of stay in Hong Kong; otherwise the EAs concerned shall be held liable for an offence, subject to a maximum penalty of a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for two years.

This is related to FDW being required to work in the office, shops or other house of relatives of employer. Definitely the EAs will not put this in writing. But they may verbally tell this to you as part of the requirement of the employer. Of course it would be better if somebody is with you to witness. But in the absence of a witness, better get the name of the staff or whoever gave you the verbal information/requirement, the date, time and place. List this down in your diary.

According to Employment Ordinance, employers must pay their employees on time and not deduct wages unlawfully. EAs shall not aid or abet employers to underpay their employees, or make unlawful deduction of wages. An employer who fails to pay wages to an employee on time commits an offence and is liable, upon conviction, to a maximum penalty of a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years. Making unlawful deduction from wages of an employeeis also an offence and shall be liable to a maximum penalty of a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for one year. EAs or any persons aiding or abetting the commission of such offences shall be guilty of the like offence and be liable to the same penalty.

This is another relevant Clause in the CoP. Example of this is when the EA is pressuring the employer to deduct monthly from the salary as payment for the placement fee. It may appear that the payment is for loan (which in reality is a fraudulent loan because the amount of loan all went directly to the agency as payment. There are 3 possible areas of violation here.

The EA fee is a maximum of 10% of the monthly wage of FDW only. So be sure to keep all pieces of evidence for use in complaining or filing a case against the EA.

The deduction from wages:the Employment Ordinance prohibits deduction of more than ¼ from monthly wage.

Assuming that the loan is legal or legitimate, the employer cannot act as collector of any loan company. Thus, the agency cannot force the employer to automatically deduct from the monthly wage of the FDWtogive to the loan company.

These are the clauses in the CoP which we think is relevant to FDWs. But again, evidences or witnesses are a must in order for the case to succeed. Remember also that in criminal cases, in order to convict somebody, the case has to be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
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This is the monthly column from the Mission for Migrant Workers, an institution that has been serving the needs of migrant workers in Hong Kong for over 31 years. The Mission, headed by its general manager, Cynthia Tellez, assists migrant workers who are in distress, and  focuses its efforts on crisis intervention and prevention through migrant empowerment. Mission has its offices at St John’s Cathedral on Garden Road, Central, and may be reached through tel. no. 2522 8264.

Kung walang OEC, sasaya ang OFW

Ni Vir B. Lumicao

Nitong mga nakalipas na buwan ay puspusang pinagbubuti ng Philippine Overseas Labor Office o POLO ang pamamaraan ng pagbibigay ng OEC, ang dokumentong kinasasalalayan ng paglabas sa bansa ng isang manggagawang Pilipino.

Maliit na halaga lamang ang bayad para sa maliit at payak na dokumento, ngunit marami nang OFW ang naperhuwisyo at marami pa ang maaaring dumanas din ng ganoon habang patuloy ang pagpapatupad ng gobyerno natin sa nasabing sertipiko.

Ayon sa mga opisyal ng gobyerno, kailangan ang OEC upang maiwasan umano ang human trafficking, o ang ilegal na pagpupuslit ng mga manggagawa na hahantong sa kanilang pagkakaalipin o pagkakapariwara. Hindi umano sapat ang kontrata sa paggawa bilang hadlang sa salot na ito.

Ngunit sa pagmamatyag at pakikihalo namin sa mga manggagawang pumipila para sa OEC sa mga nakalipas na panahon ay nasaksihan at nadama namin ang pahirap sa kanila na bunsod ng patakarang kinakailangang may OEC sila upang makalabas muli sa Pilipinas ang nagbabakasyong manggagawa.

Napakaliit nga lang ng bayad sa OEC, $20 sa Hong Kong, ngunit ang penitensiyang dulot nito sa mahigit 187,000 manggagawang namamasukan sa lungsod na ito ay hindi matutumbasan ng salapi.

Ilang OFW na nakausap namin sa pilahan noong mga nakaraang “high season” ng pag-uwi sa Pilipinas ang nagsabing alas-6 pa lang ng umaga ay nakapila na sila sa tulay ng Admiralty upang manguna sa pag-akyat sa tanggapan ng POLO para sa OEC. Ngunit alas-10 na ay nandoon pa rin sila sa tulay.

Nang dumating sa POLO si Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre ay nag-isip siya ng paraan para mapadali ang pagkuha ng OEC, kabilang na ang pagbubukas ng mga OEC mobile outlet sa WorldWide House at United Centre, at sa pagpapa-overtime sa kanyang mga tauhan upang magbigay ng nasabing dokumenton hanggang alas-8 ng gabi.

Kapag araw ng Sabado ay bukas din ang POLO sa ika-16 palapag ng Admiralty Centre Tower 1 upang mag-isyu ng OEC mula alas-10 ng umaga hanggang alas-4 ng hapon.

Kasabay niyon ay pinag-ibayo ang pagrerehistro ng mga OFW sa BM Online upang sa internet na lang sila kukuha ng OEC sa susunod, at nang maiwasan ang pagpila. Noong tag-araw ay ipinatupad ng POLO ang temporary OEC exemption slip kung saan magbayad lang ang mga OFW ng $20 ay iisyuhan na sila niyon at saka na lang nila aasikasuhin ang pagpapalista.

Ang siste ay ilang mangggawa ang nagreklamong nasabit sila – hindi pinalabas ng mga taga-Bureau of Immigration sa airport – dahil ayaw kilalanin ng nasabing ahensiya ang mga temporary form.

Ang pinakahuling hakbang ng POLO ay ang sapilitang pagrirehistro ng mga kukuha ng OEC sa BM online na ipinatupad noong bago mag-Disyembre. Napilitang magrehistro ang mga OFW na dati ay nagtitiis pumila nang maghapon sa tulay sa Admiralty dahil nahihirapan silang kumalikot sa kanila mga mobile phone.

Inatasan din ng POLO ang lahat ng mga ahensiya sa Hong Kong na kapag nagproseso sila ng manggagawang Pinoy ay irehistro na rin nila ito sa BM Online.

Kahit umaabot sa 300 araw-araw at 600 tuwing Linggo ang nairirehistro sa BM Online, umabot lang sa 38,000 ang nakapagparehistro noong Disyembre. Ang ibig sabihin ay aabutin pa marahil ng dalawang taon bago marehistro ang lahat ng OFW sa Hong Kong.

Sa sipag at tiyaga ng POLO at mga volunteer nito sa pagrirehistro ng mga OFW sa BM Online ay mawawala rin ang mahabang pila para sa OEC. Ginhawa ito para sa mga malatupang manggagawa na sunud-sunuran lang sa mga patakarang ipinatutupad ng pamahalaan.

Ngunit sa mga manggagawang mapanuri, malilimi nilang ang kapirasong papel na kinasasalalayan ng kanilang pagtatrabaho sa ibang bansa ay isa lamang dagdag na pabigat o pagpiga ng gobyerno sa kanila.

Kung tutuusin ay madali namang hingian ng tulong ang mga OFW kung kinakailangan. Ngunit ang pararaanin sila sa butas ng karayom upang kulektahan ng opisyal na pataw, gaano man kaliit, ay ituturing nilang isang pahirap na nararapat lamang labanan.

Section Juan launches ‘ Kuya-Ate’ mentorship program

Filipino youth support group Section Juan launched a mentoring project called the “Kuya-Ate Program” at the Consulate on Feb. 5. The project is aimed at helping Filipino secondary students in their problems or struggles with the Hong Kong education system.

Section Juan Finance and Marketing Officer Janina Celine
Vitto discussing the group's "Kuya-Ate Program".

Section Juan is currently gathering a group of mentors to support its student members in their academics and school life and coordinating with their parents as well. The students will also get assistance in their career goal setting and planning.

To ensure their ability to give valuable help to their matched mentees, the assigned mentors are all Filipino Hong-Kong born recent graduates who have gone through the local education system from the primary to secondary levels. They should also be currently working in local companies.
The program will officially start in March, and will run until August.

The “Kuya-Ate” program is open  for 8-10 mentees, and is free for student and parent members of Section Juan. Interested parties can coordinate with the group via e-mail at sectionjuan@gmail.com. You may also contact them through Facebook (www.facebook.com/sectionjuan). - WLM

Pinoy WISE HK holds two events for migrants

Guests and participants of the back to back event of Pinoy WISE HK, the Reintegration Planning and Counseling and Market Place held at Best Western Plus Hotel.

More than 100 Filipino domestic workers attended an advanced level seminar held by Pinoy WISE HK or Pinoy Worldwide Initiative for Investment Savings and Entrepreneurship at Best Western Plus Hotel in Sai Ying Pun on Jan. 29.

The organizer, which provides free financial education to Filipinos in Hong Kong, urged participants to focus on their migration goal in the Reintegration Planning and Counseling session held in the morning.

The afternoon session called Market Place, gave migrants the opportunity to look at the different investment vehicles for their money.

The two events, organized by OFWs trained by Atikha last year to become speakers and lecture organizers, are part of the ladderized program of Pinoy WISE HK, with the first level being the basic financial education offered by other NGOs like Enrich, Ateneo-LSE and CARD HK
This is the reason why Atikha executive director Mai Dizon-Anonuevo, who spear-headed the opening of Pinoy WISE in Hong Kong, said she is thankful to all the financial education providers in Hong Kong. “Mas pinamadali nila ang aming trabaho,” she said.

Dizon-Anonuevo said she  is optimistic to get more migrants to invest in their own provinces since they already have basic financial education.

She said family members of migrant workers who join the program could benefit from Atikha’s  free seminars, livelihood trainings, business link-ups, investment programs and even social welfare intervention in their hometowns, when needed.

The event was highlighted by the signing of partnership agreements between representatives of Ifugao province led by board member Victor Bunnol Jr, Atikha and Pinoy WISE HK. The agreement is to forge cooperation to promote the culture of savings in all ten Ifugao organizations here in Hong Kong. Ifugao is one of provinces where Atikha has formed a partnership with the local government. The others are Agusan del Sur, Batangas, Bicol, Iloilo, Laguna, Mindoro, Tarlac and Surigao del Sur.
Pinoy WISE provides free financial education to anyone interested. Its basic course, or level 1, will be held on Feb 26, 9am-5pm at Bayanihan Centre.- Cris Cayat

The ‘carinderia’ is here to stay

By Jo Campos

Previously, I featured new food trends that are sweeping the food business and new concepts to keep up with the demands of setting up a restaurant in the Philippines.

For this issue, we go back in time to the conventional and traditional way of starting a food business in the Philippines, the carinderia or “turo-turo”.

No matter how many glossy and huge restaurants are set up all over the country, the carinderia will always remain a fixture in the country. There will never be a shortage of Pinoys out for a quick, affordable, and familiar home-cooked meal, never mind if the dishes served are the same every day, and the ambiance is not so inspiring.

For this reason, these small shops or stalls always turn in a good profit — as much as 100%, depending on the quality of the food sold and the location. Best to set up near schools, churches or busy intersections where your potential customers – including the taxi, jeepney and tricycle drivers- abound.

For what sells, best to settle on standard favorites like bopis, dinuguan and binagoongang baboy. As for the cooking method, you can’t go wrong with cooking the traditional way, better if you can do them the Capampangan way. In the weekends that I have sold food at our village clubhouse, I would often be asked if my recipes are Capampangan, or if the cook is Capampangan. That’s how well regarded Pampango cuisine is in our country.

Of course, there is also fusion cooking, but even this is anchored in a traditional way of cooking, and jazzed up a bit by fusing Asian or Western recipes are with local ingredients, or by the addition of Filipino recipes.

If you want to be successful in the carinderia business, best not to be too adventurous. Time-honored recipes and home-cooked dishes are still what those who go to small eateries look for.
In one of my daily trips to the market in Marikina for example, I came across a makeshift stall just outside a residential house in a narrow alley selling puto and suman. The puto’s taste caught my attention in particular, so I approached the old lady sitting at the stall to ask if it was what they call “putong matanda”. She smiled at me and said that it was absolutely how her puto was cooked, meaning it was from an old and traditional Marikina recipe handed down through generations. It is made from freshly ground rice flour and coconut milk, and steamed the old-fashioned way in banana leaf moulds, unlike the modern puto which is made from self raising flour. The old lady said she makes about a hundred of her special puto before daybreak and gets sold out before 9 am.

For this issue’s recipe, I am featuring home-cooked sardines, a healthier and tastier alternative to the canned ones seen in all supermarkets. I plan to master this recipe so I can start selling them in jars in the future, hopefully to vacationing OFWs and balikbayans on the lookout for pasalubong. Another food business idea that is worth exploring.

By Jo Campos

Ingredients:
1 kilo baby bangus or sardines, cleaned
2 carrots, sliced
2 bell pepper, sliced
4 pieces bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tomatoes, sliced
salt to taste
whole black peppercorns
2 cups olive oil
½ cup water
2 chilies or chili oil

Procedure:
1) Thoroughly wash and clean fish
2) Lay some carrots, bay leaves and bell pepper at the bottom of a pressure cooker.
3) Arrange fish carefully on top, then cover with the rest of the carrots, bell pepper and bay leaves.
4) Mix tomato paste with water and pour onto the prepared fish. Add olive oil.
5) Cook in low heat as soon as the pressure cooker starts to whistle.
6) Let the fish cook slowly for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Tears behind the dazzle of Sunday Beauty Queen

 Sitting for Q and A during the premiere of the Sunday Beauty Queen are , from left:, Rudelie Acosta, cast; Leo Selomenio, cast, Baby Ruth Villarama, director; Hazel Perdido, cast; Micheal Wong, co-producer; and Liza Dino Seguerra, Film Development Council of the Philippines chairperson. CBC

By Cris B. Cayat

The screening of the independent documentary film Sunday Beauty Queen at Asia Society on Feb 7 was awash with tears, as men and women alike unabashedly shed tears as the movie ran its course.
The movie, which won the Best Picture award at the Manila Film Festival last December, centers around Filipinas who escape the drudgery of working as domestic helpers in Hong Kong by joining beauty contests.

But Sunday Beauty Queen is as much about living on borrowed glamor, as it is about the difficulty and loneliness of working abroad to fend for families back home.

Vice Consul Robert Quintin set the tone for the rest of the evening when he said in a speech before the film started that everyone should step back and rethink how to deal with the lure of beauty contests to overseas Filipino workers.

“I hope that after the film, after the glitter, after the crown came down their heads, they know that they are mothers, sisters, daughters here to provide livelihoods for their families back home,” Quintin said.

He also challenged those in academe to look more closely into the phenomenon.

“To those in the academe, this topic is worth studying. Try to explain why this is happening,” Quintin said, noting that beauty contests are rooted from where the workers came from, and are not about to go away anytime soon.

After the screening, the movie’s cast which included several OFWs in Hong Kong, joined a Q&A with those who were in the audience.

One of them, Rudelie Perdido, said joining pageants was her escape from her daily work grind. Though the pictures she posts on Facebook, she also tries to assure her children back in the Philippines that she is doing fine.

“Gusto kong makita ng mga anak ko na masaya ako,” she said, with tears in her eyes.
But at the same time, she said she hopes the movie would help open the minds of OFW families back home that a domestic worker’s life in Hong Kong is not easy.

Also in the audience were several local Chinese people, one of whom asked if there was a version of the film with Cantonese subtitles.

Chinese co-producer Michael Wong said there was. Wong was said to have been instrumental in convincing the employers of the OFW cast members to participate in the film and open their homes for filming.

Another OFW cast member, Leo Selomenio, said she organized beauty pageants to raise money for charity. She admitted that candidates were asked to sell tickets, but added that after the movie’s success, she may no longer have to do this as several business establishments in Hong Kong have expressed interest in sponsoring her beauty pageants.

SBQ’s director Baby Ruth Villarama said former Consuls Joy Banagodos and Charles Macaspac were the ones who got her interested in delving into the phenomenon way back in 2011.

Villarama said the movie was filmed over four years, and that she was not confident at first about completing it because of the unstable work situation of the main cast members who are all OFWs: Selomenio, Acosta, Mylyn Jacobo, Cherry Bretania and Hazel Perdido.

But in the end, the film was not only finished, but also went on to win top honors, bringing accolades to its maker and renewed interest on the Sunday beauty queen phenomenon among OFWs.
SBQ is just one of several independent films being shown at Asia Society this February.

The others are Entre Medio del Fin, Sakaling Hindi Makarating, Imbisibol, and Curiosity, Adventure and Love.

OFWs to protest against VAT hike on remittance fees

By Vir B. Lumicao

Villanueva

A militant Filipino workers’ group in Hong Kong is set to lead a big protest rally on March 5 against moves by the Duterte government to increase value-added tax on remittance fees, which they say would ultimately add to their burden.

Eman Villanueva, Bayan Hong Kong & Macau chairman, said in an interview with The SUN that the rally, to be timed with International Women’s Day, would combine the VAT hike issue with their ongoing protest against the OEC and the P550 terminal fee.

“Ang matindi naming tinututulan kasi diyan, ang kanilang tax reform package ay nakatuon sa pagre-raise ng tax revenue mula sa mga ordinaryong mamamayan eh, hindi sa business, kaya talagang papasanin ng mga tao iyan,” Villanueva.

Villanueva said migrant groups in Hong Kong and Macau are now preparing for the planned Mar 5 mass action that will start with a march to the government complex on Tamar to call for better wages and fixed working hours for migrant domestic workers.

The march will then move to Chater where the VAT issue will be added to the two other main issues of wage hikes and shorter working hours, he said.

He said the plan to raise the VAT on remittance fees to 12% is part of the reform package that President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic team is cooking up.

The first part of the tax reform proposal or House Bill No. 4774 was submitted by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III to both houses of Congress on Sept 26 last year.

Government press statements said the first of four packages of reforms includes the reduction of the personal income tax rate from 32% to 25%, and the reduction of the coverage of VAT exemptions.

The package also aims to raise fuel excise tax, revamp the excise on cars with exemptions for buses, trucks, cargo vans, jeeps, jeepney substitutes and special purpose vehicles.

The plan to raise the VAT on remittance fees, was however, the one the drew the most flak from overseas Filipino workers.

“Kahit pa sinasabi nilang i-impose nila ito sa remittance fee at hindi necessarily doon sa amount of the remitted money, still ipapasa naman iyan ng mga bangko eh, hindi naman nila ia-absorb iyan,” Villanueva said.

The migrant leader said the tax reform package includes the lifting of tax and VAT exemptions on certain basic goods, such as medicines for rare diseases, as well as VAT exemptions on purchases by senior citizens.

At the same time, the tax reform would raise duties on oil, potentially triggering a “domino effect” because power plants, industries and transports rely on crude oil, so prices of all goods and services would also go up, Villanueva said.

“Kapag tinamaan si oil, tataas si pamasahe, tataas si kuryente, kasi yung ating mga power generators, oil ang (ginagamit), babawiin nila yun siyempre. In the end, sabi nga namin, iyang mga increase na iyan sino ang sasalo kundi ang mga OFW, dahil lahat ng mga increases na iyan ay sasaluhin ng mga dependents ng OFWs,” he said.

Villanueva said that ultimately, all the new taxes would be borne by OFWs because they are the breadwinners, he said.

Hustisya pa rin ang hinihintay

Hindi matahimik ang isang grupo ng mga Ilonggo bagamat nabalitaan nila na nahuli na at nasentensiyahan ng dalawang buwang pagkabilanggo ang isang Batanguena na nag-alok sa kanila ng pekeng trabaho sa Hong Kong kapalit ng malaking halaga.

Hindi raw sapat ang sentensiya kay Cerila dahil sa dami ng taong niloko nito. Ayon sa kanila, 54 silang lahat na naloko ni Cerila, at umabot sa $166,000 ang lahat ng naibayad nila sa kanya  apat na taon na ang nakakaraan.

Marami sa kanila ay Ilonggo, pero mayroon ding taga Batangas at iba pang lugar.

Nagpakilala daw si Cerila na kasambahay ng isang nagtatrabaho sa Gammon, isang kilalang construction company sa Hong Kong. Sinabihan daw siya ng kanyang amo na maghanap ng mga interesadong magtrabaho bilang construction worker sa malalaking proyekto ng Gammon, katulad ng mga itinatayo na bagong MTR station.

Nagtangka daw tumakas pauwi si Cerila matapos manloko, ngunit nasabat ng immigration sa Hong Kong kaya nahuli at nakulong. Hinihintay na lang ng mga biktima na makalaya si Cerila para doon muling ipadampot sa Pilipinas sa kasong illegal recruitment, na ang kaparusahan ay maaring umabot sa habambuhay na pagkabilanggo. – Merly Bunda

Nanghingi ang lalaki ng larawan niya na nakahubad

Si Madelyn ay isang Ilongga na sa edad na 49 taong gulang ay dalaga pa rin. Maganda siya bagamat may pagka pihikan, at dahil na rin sa kagustuhang maiayos ang buhay ng pamilya ay nakalimutan na ang sariling love life.

Noong Hunyo ng nakaraang taon ay may isa siyang kababayang biyudo na naki-chat sa kanya at nanligaw. Tinanong si Madelyn kung tatanggapin daw siya nito pati ang kanyang tatlong anak. Ilang linggo pa ang nakalipas at ginulat si Madelyn ng lalaki dahil nanghihingi ito ng kanyang seksing litrato.

Sinabi ni Madelyn sa kanyang dalawang kaibigan ang tungkol sa lalaki at agad siyang sinabihan na huwag agad bibigay, at kilalanin pa muna nang maigi ang ka-chat. Huwag daw siyang magbigay ng litrato, at lalong huwag mag video call para ipakita ang kanyang hitsura.

Hindi naman nawalan ng interes ang lalaki; katunayan ay ang sunod nitong hiningi ay larawan ni Madelyn na nakahubad. Sinabi pa nito na kapag ipinadala ng dalaga ang kanyang hubad na larawan ay magpapadala din ito ng kanya.

Para hindi maisahan ay sinabi ni Madelyn na ito na muna ang maunang magpadala, na agad namang sinunod ng lalaki. Talagang hubo’t hubad ito, at para pang ipinangangalandakan ang kanyang pagkalalaki.

Hindi naman tumupad sa pangako si Madelyn, dahil ayaw daw niyang magpauto. Marami na kasi siyang nabalitaan na mga OFW na na-blackmail pagkatapos magpakita ng hubad sa ka-chat o sa nobyo. Dahil hindi nito nauto si Madelyn ay galit na galit sa kanya ang lalaki ngayon.

Ayon naman sa dalaga, hindi dapat agad nagtitiwala sa kanino man, kahit kababayan mo pa. Kung matino ang intensyon ng isang lalaki sa iyo, dapat ay iginagalang ka niya at hindi hinihingan ng litrato na maari mong ikapahamak. — Merly Bunda

Nakakabobo ba ang pagiging OFW?

Naabutan ni Judy si Rina na naglalakad kasama ang alaga sa playground, at nagkumustahan sila ng sitwasyon sa amo at ng kani kanilang pamilya. Maganda sa una ang kanilang kwentuhan hanggang sa nasambit ni Rina ang ganito kay Judy.

“Alam mo Judy, nakakabobo pala ang maging domestic worker dito sa Hong Kong, hindi gaya sa Taiwan lalo na sa mga nagtratrabaho sa mga factory doon. Dito maghapong alaga lang kasama, linis, luto, laba, plantsa, sobrang nakakabobo talaga.”

Sabi pa niya na malapit na siyang uuwi at babalik na lang sa Taiwan.

Nagpipigil si Judy na hindi magalit kaya ipinaliwanag na lang niya kay Rina na marami namang paraan para hindi mabobo habang naninilbihan na kasambahay. Marami daw na mga paraan para mapagyaman ang sarili at hindi mapurol ang utak, gaya ng pagbabasa ng mga diyaryo at magasin, pag surf sa internet, pagsali sa mga organisasyon at mga seminar, at pag-aaral ng di pormal sa mga livelihood program na iniaalok ng OWWA.

Nakumbinsi naman si Rina sa kasagutan ni Judy pero huli na ang lahat dahil nakapagbigay na siya isang buwang pasabi sa mga amo at nakatakda na rin siyang umuwi pagkalipas ng ilang araw. Sa madaling salita, hindi na niya pwedeng bawiin ang wala sa oras na pagbabalik niya sa Pilipinas.

Sa ngayon ay kasalukuyang nag-aaply si Rina sa mga ahensiyang nagpapapunta sa Taiwan. Gagastos siyang muli sa agency fee, samantalang si Judy ay patuloy na humuhugot ng lakas at inspirasyon sa kanyang pagsasayaw at pagsali sa mga patimpalak na nakakatulong para lumawak ang kanyang kaalaman at interes. Si Judy ay may anak at tubong Visayas, na kasalukuang naninilbihan sa Shatin. – Marites Palma