Bira Burgos volleyball team seeks more players

Burgos Association Volleyball
team during training.

Volleyball, be it on the beach or on hard court, has long been a favorite sport of OFWs here, and one of the new additions is a team formed by the Burgos Association of Hong Kong.

The team is just a few months old, but it has already logged five wins against older, more favorable opponents, according to Burgos Association president Shane Key Gonzales.

And the victories came despite the team “borrowing” players from other friendly squads who want to see their league expand.

Right now Gonzales is inviting interested volleyball players to join her team, officially named Bira Burgos.

Gonzales said putting up the volleyball team was a way for the OFWs group from Burgos, La Union, to help Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong to relieve themselves from the stress of working long hours in the city’s tiny flats for most of the week.

“Being an OFW is not easy. Aside from the demands of daily work and the challenge of living in a foreign land, there is a constant battle that you have to face…homesickness,” Gonzales told The SUN.

 “But OFWs from Burgos, La Union, find ways to keep themselves occupied in an attempt to brush off homesickness by joining sports and community activities,” she said.

Gonzales said Bira Burgos is short on players. “We have no steady players but the team keeps competing with other groups, making do with borrowed players, and winning games in the process,” Gonzales said.

Bira Burgos has joined the St John Liliw long league, where it has so far strung five wins.

Coached by Gonzales, the team comprises captain Lorna Estioco and fellow spikers Millet Gallardo, Girlie Sulit, Virginia Lantano, Shirley Peter, Charmaine Peñaflor and Charo Genil.

Players who are interested in joining Bira Burgos may contact Shane Gonzales at 5449 8080. – Vir B. Lumicao

Top court reserves judgment on family rights of resident minors

By Daisy CL Mandap

The Court of Appeal has reserved its judgment in a long-running case involving minor children who are Hong Kong permanent residents seeking to reverse the Director of Immigration’s decision denying their non-resident parents the right to remain here.

Three separate cases were heard in the landmark case from July 10-12 by a full court led by Chief High Court Judge Andrew Cheung and Justices Johnson Lam and Jeremy Poon.

Before them were cases brought by Filipinos Milagros Tecson Comilang on behalf of her minor child Zarah Noor Ahmed; and Desiree Rante Luis for her three minor sons: David John, Carl Benz and Mark Joelry. A third case was filed by Mali national Salifou Dembele and his wife, Huang Luyun, a Hong Kong permanent resident, along with their 5-year old daughter.

A key issue in the case is whether the Basic Law, specifically Art 37 which provides Hong Kong residents the right to enter into marriage and “raise a family freely” could be invoked by the minor children to keep their non-resident parents with them.

Art 39 of the Basic Law was also cited by the appellants through their lawyer, Gladys Li, SC, in challenging the Immigration Director’s decision.

The said article provides that “The rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents shall not be restricted unless as prescribed by law”. Such restrictions, said the article, shall not run counter to the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and international labour conventions as applied to Hong Kong.

Li said that taken together, these two laws imposed a duty on the Director to protect the appellant’s family rights. He should not, by law, be allowed to use his discretion in deciding whether the parents should be allowed to stay.

“The essential point of the three cases is whether the Director has a legal obligation, when making decisions that will impact family members...that he is legally bound to do something about family rights,” said Li.

She said the issue was not just money, but the parental care that the minor children need while growing up. She cited as an example the case of a daughter going through her first menstrual period with no mother around to ease her concerns.

Also cited was the possibility that the children could lose their right of abode if they were taken out of Hong Kong and are not able to return within the required three years.

Li said granting that the children could be brought to the Philippines or wherever their parents have residency, “would they have the same benefits, like free education and free medical care” as in Hong Kong.

In reply, Benjamin Yu, SC, for the Director, said art 37 of the Basic Law is “not engaged” or does not apply in the case. Neither does art. 39

“If article 39 is not engaged, what is the correct approach?”, said Yu. “A decision maker (like the Director) is only bound by relevant statutes.”

In this case, he said it was right for the Director to rely on the Immigration Ordinance which gave him power to consider applications by non-residents to remain in Hong Kong.

He also said that in the case of Filipino parents, they can easily fly in and out of Hong Kong to visit their children as they don’t need a visa to get into the territory, and are allowed to remain for at least two weeks.

The first case in the appeal dates to as far back as 2007, when Comilang, a former domestic helper, sought court leave to contest the Director’s decision denying her application to remain in Hong Kong and look after her then one-year old daughter, Zahrah Noor Ahmed. Zahrah, now 11, was born to Comilang and Pakistani permanent resident Shaker Ahmed.

In the second case, Desiree Luis gave birth to the three children in Hong Kong while married to a fellow domestic worker. The eldest of the three, now 15, years old, has been granted right of abode. The two younger ones, 13 and 6 years old, do not have the same status. Mrs Luis has been allowed to get in and out of Hong Kong as a visitor since losing her employment in 2006.

In the third case, Dembele first arrived in Hong Kong as a visitor in 2006. He met Huang in 2010 and married the following year. Their daughter was born in 2012. The Immigration Director refused Dembele’s application for a change of status, saying he was not satisfied that Huang, who is receiving comprehensive social security assistance, is able to support him.

UP wins Hong Kong’s mock court battle on human rights

Law students from the University of the Philippines bested rivals from the National University of Singapore in the grand final. Photo from Hong Kong Unison

Law students from the University of the Philippines bested rivals from the National University of Singapore to emerge as champions in the inaugural Pan-Asian Human Rights Moot Competition held at the University of Hong Kong on June 20-30.

The event was the first international mooting competition that focused on the rights of ethnic minorities and served as a platform for law students from Asia-Pacific to debate the region’s emerging human rights norms.

Organizers HKU Centre for Comparative and Public Law and Hong Kong Unison, selected the UP group and six other teams from law schools in Australia, China, Hong

Kong and Singapore for the two-day oral rounds of the competition.

The inaugural competition focused on the education system in the fictitious state of  Serenatia, leaving teams to examine whether it contributes to the marginalization of its ethnic minorities, and in violating its international human rights obligations.

The Moots raised issues of equal access to education and the systemic racial segregation that ethnic minority children face in public schools. This put Hong Kong’s own education system under scrutiny in light of the many parallels between the city’s educational provisions for ethnic minorities and those described as prevalent in fictitious Serenatia.

The teams from UP, NUS, Singapore Management University and Peking University advanced to the semi-finals on June 29. The UP team then faced NUS in the grand final and was declared the champion after an intense competition.

UP also won for Best Memorandum (Applicant) while Peking University was awarded the prize for Best Memorandum (Respondent). Aaron Yoong from the Singapore Management University was chosen as the Best Oralist.

The arguments and questions raised by the judges centered on whether language serves as a proxy for discrimination in the education system on a prohibited ground, such as ethnicity or race.

If so, as some of the teams submitted, the implementation of Serenatia’s parallel track policy to stream students on the basis of linguistic ability into separate schools would

constitute discrimination. Pressed on whether this was direct or indirect discrimination, the teams struggled to grasp the legal complexities of the Serenatian policy.

Teams representing the Applicant argued that the Respondent state’s educational policies amounted to unlawful racial discrimination and violated the Respondent state’s own legislative provisions and international human rights treaty obligations.

These policies include admission-based disparities, segregation under the parallel track policy, and the preference given to the linguistic majorities in sitting for the dominant-language exam, which is a prerequisite to university admission.

Zervos, the chief judge for the grand final, commended the UP team for presenting with confidence and smoothness a challenging and complex case. But he expressed surprise that neither UP nor NUS replied to his question whether the policies violated the law.

Overall, based on the Moot problem, the judges expressed concerns over the potentially detrimental implications of an education system that resulted in racial segregation and effectively denied ethnic minorities the “ticket” to higher education.

Another judge in the grand final, Gladys Li, SC, encouraged the mooters to balance the facts with the law. The crux of the case, she said, is that “we are all born unequal.

We cannot change the circumstances where we are born,” and that “the reality is the education gap for the wealthy and the poor is enlarging.”

Teacher exam to be held again in HK this September

The annual Licensure Examination for Teachers will be administered again in Hong Kong this September for domestic workers who are aspiring to return to the classroom, according to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office.

“It’s been approved in principle. We’re just waiting for the approval of the venue and the board resolution of the PRC,” Labor Attaché Jalilo de la Torre told The SUN.

A delegation from the Professional Regulation Commission has been coming to Hong Kong every year to administer the exam to teaching graduates and former teachers who still don’t have professional licenses.

Labatt dela Torre said he had proposed that the teachers’ exam be again held in Delia Memorial School Hip Wo in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, where the PRC administered the Civil Service Exams last Nov 27.

But he said the venue deal could not yet be finalized because the person in charge of approving the venue was on vacation.

Until the previous year, the LET was held at the Bayanihan Centre in Kennedy Town, but the venue was not as comfortable as Delia Hip Wo school, which has air-conditioned rooms and a lift.

The deadline for registration of examinees has been extended for two weeks from the initial cut-off of July 14, said Gemma Lauraya, president of the National Organization of Professional Teachers -
Hong Kong.

NOPT has reportedly started holding review classes ahead of the expected test schedule.

Lauraya told The SUN that NOPT submitted to POLO as early as last April a request for the LET to be held in Hong Kong again this year because of a clamor from would-be examinees.

Last year, only 9.77% of the 624 who took the exam in Hong Kong had passed in one f the lowest ever results for the exam in Hong Kong. - VBL

Mass guitar jamming to set record held in Tamar

By William Elvin 

Over 200 Filipinas gathered in Tamar Park, Admiralty on July 1 to publicly perform Freddie Aguilar’s internationally renowned classic “Anak” with their guitars.

The event was the second “Guitar Lesson Jamming” gathering organized by Hong Kong-based Filipino guitarist Frederick Suarez, who serves as the participants’ mentor for their music.

“Mga nasa 210 ang sumali ngayon,” said Suarez, who was able to gather eighty of his students in a similar public performance in April.

The group’s well-attended guitar exhibition coincided with a public celebration of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s Handover from Britain to China at the same outdoor venue.

Competing with the nearby event’s loud music and cheering from the crowd, the large group of Filipina musicians effortlessly strummed and sang through their song to the delight of their friends, guests, and fellow Pinoys who happened to spend the holiday in Tamar.

According to Suarez, the group is planning another gathering in October.

“Sa susunod, susubukan naming 400 na ang sasali,” he said, to possibly set a Guiness World Record.

Guitar lessons are being conducted every weekend in Wan Chai, facilitated by Suarez. Interested parties are urged to join their group by inquiring through a direct message on Facebook. Visit www.facebook.com/pinoyguitarlesson for more details.

Roke disrupts migrant workers' Sunday off

 By Vir B. Lumicao 

Typhoon Roke barely made its presence felt in Hong Kong on Sunday, July 23, despite Signal No. 8 being hoisted in the morning. But it did play havoc on the activities of migrant workers spending their only day off in the week. 

Edinburgh Place and Tamar were wide open spaces as domestic workers gathered under bridges, car parks, covered walks and underneath awnings as a few showers fell. But that was all that came with Roke..

Chater Road was also nearly  empty while Worldwide House was less crowded than usual as workers sought refuge elsewhere while others were reportedly called back by their employers.

The second-highest typhoon alert was raised by the Hong Kong Observatory at 9:20am with the approach of Roke. The alert was downgraded to No 3 at 1:30pm and further to No 1 at 3:10pm as Roke moved away from the territory. By 6pm Sunday, all signals were lowered.

Hit by the typhoon was a scheduled protest march against the new OFW ID and a move by Philippine Customs to impose more stringent requirements for sending home a balikbayan box.

The protest was called off by organizers United Filipinos in Hong Kong-Migrante (Unifil-Migrante) at 10am, according to its secretary general Eman Villanueva.

“We had no choice but to call off the planned march when the police kept asking us whether we would proceed,” Villanueva said during a phone inquiry by The SUN.

He said the group would proceed with the protest action next Sunday, July 30.

OFWs who were queuing up for services at the Consulate in United Centre were let into the tower via a back entrance as security personnel got the building ready for a possible onslaught by the typhoon. 

Those who had lined up to get into the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Admiralty Centre were a bit alarmed when guards battened down the steel shutters of the walkway going into the building. 

But a Polo officer said it was normal procedure when Signal 8 is hoisted, He also said they asked the building management to keep one passageway open so those who had to transact business could go directly to the Polo offices..

Both the Consulate and Polo continued to serve those who were inside their premises during the typhoon.

Anticipating the hoisting of Signal No 8, the Consulate opened its gate at 8am to those with business transactions and the public area was packed with people by the time the alert was raised, said an officer.

“We let in all those with business to transact and by 11:30am all the transactions were done,” the officer said.

At Admiralty Centre, OEC exemption processing continued the whole day, with about 200 exemptions issued and some 50 BMOnline registrants assisted..

The crowd at Polo thinned by about 4pm as a big number of OFWs had turned back when they saw the gates to Admiralty Centre already shuttered at the height of the typhoon.

Bad weather notwithstanding, a batch of 32 participants in an agriculture livelihood training program of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration held their graduation in the POLO office on the 11th floor of Admiralty Centre Tower 1.

In Kennedy Town, a group of OFWs braved the stormy weather to attend a new financial literacy training session provided by CARD Hong Kong.

2 Filpinas locked up for hitting young wards

By Vir B. Lumcao

A Filipino maid was sentenced to two-and-a-half months in prison on July 21 for assaulting the “unruly” four-year-old son of jailed business tycoon Carson Yeung a year ago.
Rochelle Lintag Dreck, 32, wiped away tears as she was sentenced by Eastern Court's Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai. exactly a week after she pleaded guilty to five counts of common assault.
Dreck was sentenced to two months and two weeks in jail on each of the five charges, to be served concurrently.
It was far more lenient than the six-month prison term imposed on 41-year-old Carmella Sotto, on July 18 by another Eastern Court magistrate for slapping an 18-month-old baby girl on June 3.
Sotto was caught in the act of hitting the baby twice on a vide camera monitored through remote control by her female employer.  The Filipina claimed she was drowsy from lack of sleep, and did not intend to hurt her ward.
Chainrai imposed the sentence after hearing from the prosecution that there were no medical and psychological reports because the assaults happened more than a year ago.
The prosecution also said the victim had suffered no permanent injuries, and submitted three photographs of the boy to the magistrate.
The magistrate had delayed the sentencing to wait for the psychological and medical reports on the victim, and a psychological report on Dreck.
Dreck’s counsel from the Duty Lawyer Schem begged Chainrai for leniency, saying the boy had been naughty and that the maid herself had three children who had lost financial support since her arrest last year.
The helper admitted to assaulting the boy in the kitchen of Yeung’s house on Baker Road in Mid-Levels, at the Convention Plaza Apartments on Harbour Road in Wan Chai, and at Canossa Hospital on Old Peak Road in 2016.
Dreck was hired by Yeung in 2010, six years before the former chairman of the Birmingham Football Club was returned to jail after losing his appeal against a six-year jail sentence in 2014 for money laundering.
The attacks took place between Mar 9 and Apr 15, 2016, when the boy’s mother was in Shenzhen attending to her business and returning home on weekends, leaving the boy in the care of the two helpers.
In early 2016, Mrs Yeung reportedly noticed wounds on the boy but did not ask what caused them. In May the same year, she again saw injuries on her son’s ears and asked the maids about them.
One of the helpers showed her videos she had taken of Dreck’s attacks on the boy, and the mother immediately called the police. In the videos, Dreck was seen slapping the boy, hitting his hands with a comb, and poking his lip and nose, causing him nosebleed.

New documentary film about domestic helpers produced

A new documentary about Hong Kong domestic helpers entitled “Yaya” has recently finished production.

The movie is partly produced by Justin Cheung Ko-ming, son of famous Chinese director Alfred Cheung Kin-ting, and will follow the story of their family’s Filipino maid Tessie and her personal life and family back in the Philippines.

“I am only more troubled by my family’s role in her lost time with her family, and more troubled by the treatment and racism they experience in Hong Kong,” the young filmmaker posted in the film’s official Facebook page after coming back from the Philippines to finish the film.

He added that domestic helpers are the “secret engine to Hong Kong’s economy”.

The 45-minute movie was produced with help from online crowd-funding sites that  raised a total of $150,000.

A trailer can be seen on YouTube by searching for the “Yaya Documentary” channel.

More details on the film’s distribution and screening dates are expected to be posted on the documentary’s FB page:  www.facebook. com/yayadocumentary.
—William Elvin 

Kin’s grief, doubts linger over DH’s death fall

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Ruby Ann Diola, Jessie and their only son.

Nearly three years after the fatal fall of domestic worker Ruby Ann Diola from a residential tower in Mid-Levels, life has not yet returned to normal for her pained  husband and son as questions surrounding her death linger.

“Mahirap pala ang mag-move on. Kapag naaalala ko si Ruby Ann ay hindi ko mapigilang umiyak,” said Virginio “Jessie” Jose, the 63-year-old common-law husband of the deceased helper.

Jose, or Mang Jessie, as he is called by friends and relatives, met over lunch with this writer three weeks ago in a seafood restaurant in Lingayen City, Pangasinan where he and his son live.

“Maski ang anak namin, sinasabi sa akin na nami-miss daw niya ang nanay niya,” the widower told the SUN.

When we met, Jose said he still operated the mineral water station where Diola, a young Leyteña who strayed into Lingayen to look for a job, worked as a sales staff until they fell for each other and lived together. She bore her a son, Vivejo, now 9 years old and in Grade 5.

The water business had weakened due to competition and Jose’s lack of time to manage it as he drove his son to school and back on his tricycle bought with Diola’s death benefit from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

But in a text message he sent on July 11, Jose said he had finally shut the water business and was now relying on income from driving passengers on his tricycle.

Since Ruby Ann’s death on Oct 23, 2014, questions regarding her untimely demise have been haunting Jose.

“Natanggap ko na ang report ng pulisya pero marami akong tanong na hindi nila nasagot,” Jose said.

His questions include why, despite the numerous CCTV cameras installed inside the house of Ruby Ann’s employer on Robinson Road, police have not mentioned in their report any CCTV footage they might have recovered from the flat.

Another lingering question, Jose said, was why the Tagalog SMS message he received that broke the news about Ruby Ann’s death fall on that fateful morning was sent to him using his wife’s mobile phone.        

Shortly after his wife’s death, Jose submitted a sworn statement to the Hong Kong police recounting his phone conversations with her regarding her employment situation.

The statement detailed how the helper, then 26, was taken to Beijing by her employer, Cheung Yeuk Lee, shortly after her arrival in Hong Kong in July 2014 and made to work in the latter’s house for about a month without a contract.

It also related how she was taken afterwards to Macau by the employer’s grown-up son to stay for two months in the enclave while waiting for her Hong Kong work visa. She finally got it in September 2014.

On Dec 8, the District Court will begin hearing a claim for employee’s compensation and burial benefits filed by the Mission for Migrant Workers on behalf of Jose and his son against Ruby Ann’s employer.

Judge Katina Levy was to have begun hearing the case on June 2, but she adjourned the hearing as Diola’s next of kin and the respondent were absent.

Only Edwina Antonio of the Mission was in court to represent the claimants, but the judge said she did not have the capacity to represent them.

Antonio said the case has dragged on also because the police have yet to issue the results of their investigation into Ruby Ann’s death.

The Mission is now applying for legal aid on behalf of Jose for the Dec 8 hearing in District Court.

During the meeting in Lingayen, Jose handed this writer a set of documents, mostly Diola’s remittance receipts and bank statements that the Mission needs to support the application for legal aid for the claimants.

Jose will, however, also need the help of Good Samaritans to help bring him back to Hong Kong for the hearing.

Cayetano promises ‘faster, cheaper’ 10-year passports for overseas Pinoy workers

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano addresses the Filipino community at the Consulate.

By Vir B. Lumicao

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano has promised overseas Filipino workers he would try to get the best deal so the new, 10-year passport could be delivered to them “faster but cheaper”.

He also said the Duterte government is talking to several countries in its bid to find new markets for OFWs so they can have a wider choice of opportunities other than domestic work.

Cayetano spoke before about 250 leaders and members of the Filipino community in Hong Kong on July 2, when he stopped over after a visit to Beijing.

The foreign secretary tried to dispel concerns among workers that the new passport will cost double the current fee of $480.

The new price was quoted in an interview in Manila earlier by a spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who justified the higher price by saying the new passport will be of better quality and will have double the number of pages.

During an earlier dialogue with militant leaders in Hong Kong, Cayetano reportedly belied this report, saying the new passport will only cost more if the applicant asks for the one with more pages.

Eman Villanueva of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body said his group asked if the passports issued abroad could be priced the same as those in the Philippines, where each costs only Php980 ($150 at current exchange rate).

Cayetano reportedly promised to look into why the passport costs so much higher abroad, and if there is a way to make it lower. However, he did not make any firm promises on how much the new passport would cost.

At the forum, Cayetano said a smart chip will be embedded in the passport cover containing the details of its holder, so one need not go through the tedious application process again when applying for a renewal. However, this does not apply for those who are below 18 years old, who will still be issued passports valid for five years.

Cayetano delivered to the Consulate two additional data-capture machines that he said would speed up the processing of passport applications. The passport section previously had four data-capture machines that could process only 220 applicants on Sunday, the busiest day of the week. With six, it can now process 330 applicants.

The bill providing for the new 10-year passport has already been passed by both houses of Congress, and is now waiting to be signed into law by the President. But before the new passports could be issued, the implementing rules and regulations for implementing the new law will have to be crafted and published first.

The official also said the Department of Foreign Affairs is going to address the problem  of offloading of relatives of Hong Kong OFWs by holding a dialogue with relevant  government agencies including the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration  and monitoring offloading incidents on a weekly and monthly basis to know how many  were being offloaded and whether the ejections are justified or not.

Cayetano reiterated President Duterte’s goal of securing peace and stability by eliminating drugs, terrorism, conflicts, criminality and corruption, and direct threat in order to speed up economic development, which would generate more jobs quality jobs  in the country so that Filipinos need not leave their families behind to work abroad.        

“The more that we help (Duterte), the more we support him, the more that we have peace, stability and development in our country, the faster that every Filipino will have a quality job in our country,” Cayetano said.

He said he was under instructions from the President to give priority to the welfare, rights, comfort and convenience of OFWs.

In the open forum, community leaders raised other issues including the abolition of the  overseas employment certificate, pressing the Hong Kong government to bring its labor standards for foreign domestic workers up to par with those for local workers, and  opening new labor markets for OFWs.

Cayetano cited Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III’s promise to introduce the iDOLE  multipurpose OFW ID card soon to replace the OEC. As for labor standards, he said OFWs should not expect too much from their host countries, saying each place has its  own set of standards.

He said that by opening new labor markets, the government wants OFWs to move up the  value chain by upgrading their skills and finding suitable markets for them so they do not  get stuck in Hong Kong, where they can only work as domestic helpers.

Consul General Bernardita Catalla said the Consulate was quietly pressing Hong Kong, through the Technical Working Group, on the welfare of workers.

One accomplishment she credits to the Consulate was the introduction into the standard work contract of a ban on the cleaning of window exteriors by helpers. She also cited the HKSAR’s recent move to crack down on rogue job agencies by penalizing them with jail terms and hefty fines.

The workers also aired complaints against the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration  for its alleged selective scholarship, member hospitalization issues, and missing membership certificates, all of which OWWA welfare officer Judith Santos addressed.

One Filcom leader proposed more government-run shelters for terminated OFWs, and  Cayetano said that issue could be addressed when budget allocations were discussed with the Department of Budget Management.

Labour Tribunal rules China work of DH is ‘legal’

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipina domestic helper lost a claim for damages against her former employer after the Labour Tribunal rejected her accusation that the female boss breached Hong Kong Immigration rules by making her work illegally on the mainland.

Presiding Officer Jacqueline Lee also dismissed Gladys Chua’s allegation that she was punched, cursed and treated badly by her employer Cheung Lai Ling, saying if this were the case, she should have escaped as she had many opportunities to do so.

Lee said what happened to the maid on the mainland was outside her jurisdiction.

“Item 5 of the General Remarks of the Immigration rules states that conditions for foreign domestic helpers apply only while the FDH is in Hong Kong,” Lee said, reading an excerpt from Item 5 the Immigration’s General Remarks website.

“It’s not illegal for Ms Cheung to bring Ms Chua to the mainland if there was mutual consent between the employer and the maid. There was no evidence that Ms Chua was taken to the mainland without her consent, so no breach of Immigration rules,” Lee said.

Chua ended up paying Cheung $4,644.02 for the Shenzhen company director’s costs in the three-day trial hearing, originally calendared for four days.

Lee ordered the Filipina to pay $6,067.80, or 60% of Cheung’s more than $9,000 in costs.

But the presiding officer told Cheung to pay back $1,797.75 deducted from Chua’s final pay by employment agent Alice Tang for the maid’s plane ticket to Bacolod that Tang had booked, as well as her $100 travel allowance.

Lee rejected Chua’s claim for arrears in wages from Dec 1 to 16 last year based on an agreement she signed with Cheung on Nov 20 moving back her last day of service to Dec 16, after the employer allegedly told her to leave on Nov 30.

The presiding officer dismissed the two parties’ Nov 20 agreement, citing an Immigration rule that supplementary agreements reached by the employer and her employee outside their employment contract are void.

Instead, Lee accepted a one month’s notice of resignation that Chua signed on Nov 16, 2016 and told her to pay Cheung for not finishing the Dec 1-16 part of her notice period.

The Filipina went to the tribunal claiming payment for the remaining 22 months of her two-year contract, insisting that she was unduly terminated by the employer and forced to sign the resignation notice. She was also claiming $900 in costs including MTR fare.

But confusion and inconsistencies in her statement and her mother Donna Mae’s evidence in court led Lee to reject their evidence, calling them “unreliable witnesses”.

In contrast, Lee accepted the evidence given by Cheung and her witnesses – her mainlander friend Mr Tang and driver Mr Lam.

The tribunal heard that Chua was placed with Cheung by Tang, owner of the now defunct Blessings Employment Agency, in July 2016, but she went back to the Philippines to wait for her work visa. She began working for Cheung on Oct 24 and was taken to Shenzhen on a tourist visa by her employer on Oct 29.

During her stay in Shenzhen she said she was made to work in Cheung’s house and then was made to work as cleaner in her office until the evening. Aside from the long work hours, she said she was given food that had been in the refrigerator for two weeks.

On Nov 14, Cheung allegedly punched Chua in the upper arm for a mistake in her work. The next day she was made to work the whole day without rest and food until she fell ill in the evening. The next morning she was told to pack up her things and was driven to the border bus terminal where she took a ride back to Hong Kong.

She stayed with her mother for four days in Tsing Yi and after a Nov 20 meeting with Cheung and Tang, the maid moved back to the employer’s flat in Hong Kong to finish her service until Dec 16.

But at 3am on Nov 30 Chua left Cheung’s house after Tang arrived at midnight to let her sign the agreement saying she was being released that day. Tang also booked her an air ticket to Bacolod.

VP Robredo launches OFW project in HK

VP Robredo with supporters at HK Airport

Vice President Ma. Leonor "Leni" Robredo made a quick weekend trip to Hong Kong to launch a new project that focuses on the positive achievements of ordinary people, including overseas Filipino workers.
VP Robredo said her "Istorya ng Pag-Asa" project promotes the use of social media as a tool to bring hope and inspiration to many.

The VP checked-in herself

"We want to feature inspirational stories of ordinary people who have gone through a lot of struggles and triumphed in the end," she said.
The VP was speaking to a group of supporters at Hong Kong airport, shortly before boarding the Cebu Pacific flight that took her home to Manila yesterday, July 16.
She was accompanied on her visit by middle daughter Tricia and an office staff. 

VP at Victoria Park with OFWs

Unlike other government officials who come to visit, she checked in for the flight herself, and was not accompanied by any protocol officer from the Consulate.
"Private visit naman ito," she said.
Earlier that day, she spent a few hours at Victoria Park with a few OFWs who shared their life stories with her. 
Her short visit merited the usual flak on social media from her detractors, but VP Robredo merely shrugged them off, saying, ""If the other camp hurls invectives and negativity, we must do the opposite,"
She said she was not worried about the upcoming court challenge filed by former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, who lost to her in last year's vice presidential election.
"Bongbong knows he doesn't have anything. Wala siya talagang basis sa kanyang kaso," she said. "Kasi yung mga witnesses niya  e witnesses din namin, at hindi daw nila alam kung bakit inilagay ang mga pangalan nila doon."
Still, she said one cannot be too complacent with everything that's been happening in the country.
"Ipagdasal pa rin natin," she said.

Saulian ng ambag sa mga naipundar

Mahigit limang taon nang magkarelasyon sina Pip at Posy at naging parang tunay silang mag-asawa kaya maging sa usaping pinansiyal at nagtutulungan silang dalawa. Sa gitnang silangan sila nagkakilala at nagkaibigan, ngunit nag-isip na lumipat sa Hong Kong sa pag-asang mas gaganda ang kanilang kinabukasan balang araw.

Pagdating nila sa Hong Kong ay bumili sila agad ng mga ari-arian sa kanilang lugar, at nagkasundo na paghahatian ang pagbabayad dito. Pareho silang mahilig sa sports kaya doon nila ginugugol ang kanilang oras tuwing araw ng pahinga.

Ngunit nangyari ang hindi inaasahan nang magsimulang magselos si Posy kay Pip. Dahil sa madalas nilang pag-aaway dahil dito ay lumamig ang kanilang pagsasama at tuluyan na silang naghiwalay.

Noon naisip ni Posy na singilin ang perang naiambag niya sa pagbili ng kanilang ari-arian, at pati na rin ang naiambag niyang tulong sa pamilya ni Pip.

Ayon naman kay Pip, handa naman siyang ibalik ang perang sinisingil ng dating sinisinta, ngunit hindi biglaan dahil medyo malaki din daw ang kabuuan ng halagang binabawi.

Ang dalawa ay parehong mula sa Mindanao at kasalukuyang naninilbihan bilang kasambahay sa kani- kanilang mga among Intsik  sa New Territories. – Marites Palma

Napaglipasan ng panahon, pero sige pa rin

Noong dumating si Ate Jenny sa Hong Kong ay 28 taong gulang pa lang siya, ngayon ay 63 na siya, at 34 taon nang naninilbihan sa iisang amo. Sa nagdaang mga taon ay ilang mga pamangkin niya ang napag-aral na niya.

Ang una ay isa nang nurse sa Britain, ang pangalawa ay public relations officer sa Canada, ang pangatlo ay computer engineer, ang pang-apat ay nagtapos ng IT at nagtuturo na sa isang computer school, at ang pinakahuli ay isang researcher sa PhilRice, na mas pinili ang ganitong gawain kaysa magpatuloy bilang seaman.

Tuwing nakikita ni Ate Jenny ang mga larawan ng mga pamangkin na matagumpay na ay naiiyak siya sa tuwa, bagamat naaalala din niya ang ginawa niyang pagtalikod sa kanyang lovelife para lang mapag-aral sila.

Pauwi na sana siya sa darating na buwan, ngunit nagdalawang-isip nang himukin ng amo na pumirma ng isa pang kontrata kapalit ng $25k. Marami na kasing na-interview ang kanyang amo bilang kapalit niya sana ngunit wala daw pumasa sa standards nila.

Pumayag na rin si Ate Jenny bagamat naipadala na niya ang kanyang mga gamit at natanggap na rin niya ang malaking bahagi ng kanyang long service. Naisip niya kasi na malaking karagdagan din ang ibinibigay ng amo sa kanyang ipon para sa kanyang pag-uwi. Bagamat marami na siyang pamangkin na napag-aral ay ayaw niyang siya naman ang umasa sa kanila sa kanyang pag-uwi. Si Ate Jenny ay mula sa Ilocos Norte. – Marites Palma

PCG warns anew vs Russian jobs as 20 deported

By Vir B. Lumicao

Filipino workers in Hong Kong are again being warned against grabbing offers by illegal recruiters to place them for jobs in Russia.

The latest warning was issued by the Consulate on July 5, a week after the Philippine embassy in Moscow repatriated 20 OFWs who ended up as illegal migrants after their initial tourist or commercial visa there expired.

“We would like to remind the public … there is no visa category in Russia for (domestic workers); holders of tourist or commercial visa are not allowed to work (there), and improperly documented workers are subject to detention, fines and deportation,” the advisory said.

The Consulate urged the public to report illegal recruiters and illegal recruitment in Hong Kong through its email: hongkong.pcg@dfa.gov.ph or at telephone number 9155 4023.

A similar warning was issued by the Consulate at least twice in recent years, but the illegal recruitment of Filipino workers to Russia appears to have continued.

On June 28, the embassy in Moscow facilitated the repatriation of what it described as “the highest monthly figure so far” of OFWs deported by Russia.

The embassy said in a press release that the OFWs were forced to return home rather than stay in Russia illegally and risk arrest and heavy penalties.

Embassy officials helped the OFWs undergo deportation proceedings to obtain expulsion orders that
served as their exit visas.

Of the 20 repatriates, two had been arrested by police while the rest sought help from the embassy. They were given shelter and food by the embassy’s assistance to nationals section while their papers were being processed.

 “We understand that no OFW wants to go home abruptly, especially through deportation. The fact that our nationals came to the Embassy for assistance in this regard means that they were really left with no choice,” said Ambassador Carlos D. Sorreta.

The embassy estimates that there are between 5,000 and 10,000 Filipinos in Russia, the majority of whom are women who work as nannies and cleaners.

There is currently no work visa category for domestic workers in Russia and Filipinos. Those who go there for work obtain their visas through illegal recruiters who pay large fees to so-called “visa agencies” that misrepresent them as highly qualified professionals in managerial positions. Others go there as students or tourists.

Such arrangements have made the OFWs vulnerable to arrests, detention and fines, the embassy said.

It added that many Russia-based Filipinos are no longer able to obtain such work visas.

“We observed that the recruitment of Filipinos by unauthorized entities – especially from Hong Kong and other third countries – led to a situation where the number of work visas available for Filipinos, even the ones that misrepresent their actual work and employers, is no longer enough,” said Vice Consul Jeffrey A. Valdez.

He said working with visas sourced from the visa agencies is against Russian and Philippine laws.

“What makes things worse is that Filipinos are being recruited using tourist, commercial (business) and even student visas that do not allow a foreign national to work in Russia,” Ambassador Soretta said.

Soretta said while there is a demand for Filipino helpers, “we need to find a long-term solution that clearly defines their legal status for their own protection. The continuous entry of Filipinos in violation of immigration rules makes that task even more challenging.”

On May 28, Sorreta and Valdez met and held a dialogue with around 100 Filipino victims of a Russian visa agent who vanished with their money and passports, to discuss the options available to them under Philippine and Russian laws.

Russian authorities subsequently raided the office of the visa agent and has since detained several Filipinos, the embassy said. The other victims sought refuge in the embassy.

The embassy has recovered some of the passports and formally requested the Russian authorities to turn over any passports they still held.

Pinay wins ‘suitable accommodation’ test case

By Daisy CL Mandap

Mariel Tadalan wins Labor case against
employer who made her sleep in the kitchen,
fed leftovers and made her sleep only 4 hours each night.

A Filipina has won the right to be paid a month’s salary in lieu of notice despite walking out on her employers. That’s because they made her sleep in the worst possible places – including their terrace on a wintry night – fed her leftovers, and gave her only four hours’ rest each day.

Mariel P. Tadalan, 35, was awarded $5,568 at the end of a four-hour negotiation with her employer before an officer of the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board on July 7. The amount represented Tadalan’s claim for one month’s salary in lieu of notice, return air ticket and food allowance.

It was the second meeting between her and her employer, who at first denied any liability, saying it was the Filipina who walked out on her job on Apr. 4.

But the officer dismissed this argument, saying that Tadalan could have left without notice from the time the employer and his wife made the maid sleep in their terrace shortly after arriving to work for them early this year.

Tadalan had confessed to not knowing about this so-called “constructive termination” clause in the employment ordinance that would have allowed her to leave her job without serving a month’s notice on her employer.

She didn’t know that once her employer failed to give her “suitable accommodation” or did other acts that violated the terms of their contract, she could walk out the door and still be entitled to a month’s pay. She said everyone she had spoken with told her she needed to pay her employer the equivalent of her salary for a month if she broke their contract.

That is, until she decided to leave her job and sought help from the Mission for Migrant Workers.

What also helped Tadalan win her case was her prodigious work at documenting the abuse she suffered during the two months that she worked for her employers. She took pictures of the cramped spaces where she was made to sleep, the shards from the cup and plate thrown at her by her female employer, and the mushy slop she was fed.

There was also a picture of her bandaged forehead, taken after she fainted from lack of sleep and overwork, and hit her head on a faucet, resulting in a wound that required four stitches. She said it took her employer three hours to decide to take her to the hospital, and only because he was already on his way to work.

Confronted with the photos, her employer accused Tadalan of plotting her escape and setting them up to get compensation, but the MECAB officer brushed the claim aside.

Asked why Tadalan was allowed only four hours of sleep, the employer said it was because the helper did not do her work properly during the day, an excuse that did not impress the officer either.

Tadalan was no stranger to hard work. She spent two years working in Dubai, then moved to Qatar where she managed to stay for nearly five years, with hardly any day off.

She had thought that moving to Hong Kong would allow her more time, freedom and comfort. But she was wrong.

At her employers’ former residence, Tadalan said there was a room intended for her use, but she was told to sleep either in the terrace, or close to the main door in the living room. When her employers moved to their new house in Ma On Shan, Tadalan was given as sleeping space a tiny corner in the kitchen, wedged between a washing machine and the cold tiled wall.

But this alone would not have entitled her to break her contract at will.

According to the High Court in a recent case, a space in the kitchen could be deemed “suitable accommodation” under the terms of a domestic worker’s contract. In a more recent ruling at the Eastern magistracy, even a makeshift structure on the terrace, air-conditioned but no bigger than a doghouse, also qualified as such.

But the Mission is appealing both decisions, determined not to let them set a precedent.

In its study released earlier this year, the Mission found that 3 out of 5 foreign domestic workers are not given their own room, and around 500 could be sleeping in toilets.

Tadalan documented her ordeal through
pictures (left, top and above) she sent to the agency
that placed her with the family.

Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre is also doing his part to end the malpractice. He says he and his Indonesian counterpart are working on a plan to make employers and employment agencies disclose the exact place a domestic worker will be made to sleep. The information is then passed on to the worker, who will have the option of backing out or continuing with the employment.

It will not be the first time such a move is taken by governments that deploy domestic workers to Hong Kong. According to the Mission report, Thailand is already imposing this requirement as part of its efforts to promote the well-being of its workers in the territory.

Pinay admits assaulting 4-year old son of HK business tycoon

Accused will be sentenced on July 21

A 32-year old Filipina domestic worker will be sentenced on July 21 in Eastern Court on five counts of common assault last year on the four-year-old son of disgraced business tycoon Carson Yeung.

According to local newspaper Sing Pao, the accused, Rochelle Lintag Dreck, admitted the assaults when she appeared at Eastern Court on Friday, July 7.

Dreck admitted to assaulting the boy in the kitchen of Yeung’s house on Baker Road in Mid-Levels, at the Convention Plaza Apartments on Harbour Road in Wan Chai, and at Canossa Hospital on Old Peak Road in 2016.

She began working for Yeung in 2010, or six years before the former chairman of the Birmingham Football Club was put back behind bars after losing his appeal against a six-year jail sentence imposed on him in 2014 for money laundering.

The boy’s mother, who has a business in Shenzhen, returned to Hong Kong every weekend, leaving her son in the care of helpers.

In early 2016, she reportedly noticed wounds on the boy but did not ask what caused them. In May the same year, she again saw injuries on her son’s ears and asked her domestic workers about them. One of the helpers then showed Mrs Yeung some videos she had taken of Dreck’s attacks on the boy. The mother called the police.

In the videos, Dreck was seen slapping the boy, hitting his hands with a comb, and poking his lip and nose, causing his nose to bleed.

When asked about the assaults, Dreck reportedly asked the magistrate for leniency, blaming the boy for being very naughty. She also said she had lost her job after she was arrested and could no longer send money to support her own three children in the Philippines.

The  magistrate dismissed Dreck’s explanations as mere excuses. The Filipina was remanded in custody pending sentencing. – reports from Sing Pao and Apple Daily

DH jailed 2 weeks for stealing from boss’ bank account

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipina maid was jailed for two weeks on July 4 after admitting in Eastern Court that she used her employer’s ATM card which was lent to her to buy groceries, to withdraw a total of $2,000 cash for her own use.

Chita Rovero, 48, sniffled as she pleaded guilty to each of five counts of theft filed against her.

Magistrate Bina Chainrai rejected an application from the prosecution to order Rovero to compensate the victim, Australian lawyer Stuart Alexander Jessup, saying the helper was not financially capable of paying back the stolen money.

The prosecution said the thefts took place each time Rovero, a single mother, went to Market Place at Seymour Place in Mid-Levels to buy grocery for Jessup.  The employer had authorized Rovero, his domestic helper since October 2016, to use his HSBC ATM card to pay for grocery purchases, entrusting her the card’s PIN.  

Between May 16 and May 25 this year, Rovero went to Market Palace five times to buy grocery and, at the same time, withdraw cash from Jessup’s bank account without his knowledge.

She made a total of five cash withdrawals amounting to $500 on May 16, another $500 on May 22, $500 again on May 23, $300 on May 24, and $200 on May 25.

Jessup checked his HSBC account online on May 25 and discovered the grocery purchases at Market Place were noticeably significant. He later saw the discrepancies between the receipts Rovero gave him and the online transaction records.

On June 3, the employer requested Market Place for receipts of purchases made with his ATM card and found five unauthorized cash withdrawal transactions on the same days Rovero went to the shop to buy goods.

Jessup confronted Rovero and she admitted making the withdrawals. The employer dismissed her and she moved out of the house. On June 4, Jessup reported the theft and a day later the helper surrendered at the Central Police Station.

Rovero was arrested and charged with five counts of theft.

After Rovero pleaded guilty to all five charges on July 4, the defense lawyer said in mitigation that the maid committed the offenses “out of need and desperation, instead of greed”. She noted the helper’s father died in March this year and her 18-year-old son needed money to pay for his school examination.

In sentencing, the  magistrate said the thefts from the employer’s ATM account were a serious breach of trust that called for a custodial sentence. She sent Rovero to jail for two weeks, discounted from three for her guilty plea.

2 Pinoy drivers die of heart attack; heat could be trigger

By Vir B. Lumicao

Two Filipino male domestic workers died of suspected heart  attacks within days of each other recently, according to the Consulate.

Their deaths came as soaring temperatures have again led the Labour

Department to advise both employers and employees to adopt measures to prevent heatstroke.

The first death occurred on June 29 when Ronald dela Cruz, an Ilocano driver in his 50s, collapsed in his workplace and was rushed to Queen Mary Hospital.

He was certified dead on arrival at the hospital, an officer of the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section told The SUN.

The ATN officer said Dela Cruz was a long-time domestic helper doing all-around tasks for a Catholic priest in Pokfulam.

De la Cruz’s wife was due to arrive on July 11 to process the documents for his repatriation and benefit claims from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

Another driver was taken to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wanchai on the morning of July 2 afterhe collapsed, but he was also certified dead on arrival.

The victim, also an Ilocano whose name the ATN officer could not immediately furnish, was employed by a German as domestic helper with driving duties.

Both deaths had been reported to the Consulate by fellow Filipino workers, the officer said.                                                                                                                                          

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Observatory had issued very hot weather warnings in past weeks as temperatures climbed to 30 degree Celsius before the recent rainy spell.

Both the Observatory and the Labour Department advised that to prevent heat stroke, everyone should avoid prolonged activities outdoors.

If engaged in outdoor work or activities, wear a wide-brimmed hat and light-colored, loose-fitting clothes, and stay in shaded areas as much as possible. Those working outdoors should drink plenty of water, and avoid beverages with caffeine or alcohol.

“If you feel sick, consult a doctor right away,” the advice said.

Maid faces jail term for slapping baby twice

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipina domestic worker was convicted on July 4 in Eastern Court of a charge of ill-treating her 18-month-old ward after admitting that she hit the toddler two times to get her to sleep.

“That’s no excuse for hitting the child,” Magistrate Bina Chainrai’s voice boomed as she rejected the defense lawyer’s remark, in mitigation, that Carmela Sotto slapped the baby as it was acting up in bed at 11:50 pm on June 3 while she still had work to do.

Sotto, 41, was charged with “ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of child or young person.”

The maid fought back tears as Chainrai ordered her remanded in custody and set her sentencing on Jul 18 pending a background report.

Sotto, who was hired in January 2016 as a domestic helper of a Hong Kong couple at Queen’s Terrace in Sheung Wan, Central, was doing her house chores when the child’s parents decided to go out for entertainment shortly before 11:50 pm.

The couple left their baby girl in the care of Sotto.

On board the car, the female employer used her mobile phone to check the security camera monitoring the child’s condition and was shocked to see Sotto hitting the baby on the head and body.

The assault was reported to the police and the child was taken to Queen Mary Hospital for a check-up, but no apparent injury was observed, according to the prosecution report.

Sotto was arrested and, during a video-recorded interview, she admitted slapping the baby. She said she intended to tap the child gently to help her get sleep, but ended up slapping her because she was drowsy.

“Assault is a serious offense. The child was entrusted to you and you were in breach of that trust,” Chainrai said as she ordered Sotto remanded in jail.