The Sun Writers Club: Meet the maids reporting Hong Kong’s hidden stories

By Shaun Turton 
Republished from Coconuts Hong Kong (www.coconuts.co)

We are republishing here a glowing tribute from Coconuts Hong Kong to the intrepid and purposive group of Filipino domestic workers who contribute articles to The SUN on a regular basis These volunteer writers have helped The SUN fulfill its avowed mission of serving the Filpino community in Hong Kong through fearless, fair and insightful reporting.

After she finishes cooking dinner, cleaning up and reading her employer’s children a bedtime story, Marites Palma aims to be in bed by 9pm — especially if a deadline is looming.

With the rest of the house asleep, she rises at 2am, sits at the table where her television usually rests, and, in the glow of her laptop, begins work on her articles.

The 42-year-old domestic helper usually writes until 5:30am, then takes a bath and begins preparing her employer’s breakfast.

Sun contributor Marites Palma conducting an interview at a demonstration against mining in the Philippines in Central last month. Picture: Shaun Turton

Though tiring, her early morning routine, she says, is the realization of a life-long ambition.

“When I was in school, I wanted to study [mass communication], but my parents could not afford it because that course was only in other provinces, so I took agriculture instead,” says Palma, a native of northern Luzon.

“But I always read newspapers and I love to write. I think maybe this is the dream.”

Palma is a contributor to the Filipino community newspaper The Sun, one of about 100 overseas workers in Hong Kong that the free bi-monthly publication has trained in journalism since it was founded 22 years ago this week.

A few times a year, the paper holds workshops for any readers interested in news writing. Some of the attendees, mostly domestic helpers, then join the Sun Writers Club and contribute a handful of stories to the paper each month.

It’s a taxing double life. The contributors use their one day off each week to report, and often correspond with sources in the brief spare moments between housekeeping, running errands and cooking.

But for members of the all-volunteer Sun Writers Club, it’s a role they cherish and excel at.

Their stories cover the gamut of the experience of the roughly 189,000 Filipinos living in Hong Kong. From community events, travel features and sports write-ups, to the all-too-common stories of abuse, indignity and misfortune suffered by their fellow maids.

And though each enjoys improving their writing, their overriding motivation stems from helping their community.

“It’s sort of activism and journalism,” Palma told Coconuts Hong Kong last month in Central, where she had been covering an environmental group’s demonstration against destructive mining in the Philippines.

“If you know more, you know about your rights and how to fight for them.”

Paper with a purpose
In its first four-page edition, printed on Dec. 3, 1995, the Sun vowed to serve Filipinos as they “toiled in this strange land.”

And toil they do. Recent research has highlighted the “appalling” living conditions of many maids who are forced to sleep in toilets, showers, storage rooms and on balconies. Another, government-backed, report revealed that more than 70 percent of employment agencies charge exorbitant fees, withhold passports, or act as de facto loan sharks, ensnaring maids in debt.

One year-long study found a “significant proportion” of the maids it interviewed were working in conditions that would constitute “forced labor”.

Publisher Deocadiz and editor Mandap at the Sun newspaper office. Picture: Shaun Turton

Newspapers, a page 1 editorial in the Sun’s inaugural edition reads, can be pieces of paper tossed away after reading, or they can become institutions. Leo Deocadiz and Daisy Mandap — the Sun’s founders and veterans of the Filipino and Hong Kong journalism scenes — promised to be the latter.

More than two decades later, the husband and wife team continue to run a publication that is much more than the sum of its parts, adopting what might be called a hybrid approach to journalism — melding reporting, advocacy, social work and community service.

Behind adjacent desks ensconced in the Sun’s 15th-floor North Point office, the couple works late most nights, surrounded by shelves piled high with files, mementos, and back issues.

With a small full-time team of three — Deocadiz, the publisher; Mandap, the editor; and associate editor, Vir Lumicao — the paper tackles an endless torrent of troubling tip-offs: from shady recruitment agencies offering bogus jobs, to helpers abused by employers, to those stricken by illness or terminated in the dead of night.

Reporting the facts is draining enough, but their work goes far beyond simple reporting.

Behind the scenes, the team arranges lawyers, coordinates the rescue of maids in distress, refers helpers to shelters, accompanies them to police stations, and helps them file complaints or compensation requests. Its these efforts outside a newspaper’s traditional mandate that have earned them the unofficial title of “second consulate.”

“We grew into this role because there was a need for it,” Deocadiz said, sitting behind his desk last month.

“We were schooled in the journalism principle of always being in the middle, but in this case, since we started this, we have found that it’s not enough. You have to take sides, and you know which side you’re on. We’ve always taken the side of these people, and we recognize that.”

Rodelia and the rescue
Sun contributor Rodelia Villa, who began writing for the paper this year after 13 years of publishing a church newsletter, occupies a middle ground of her own: reporter, responder and, perhaps her favourite role, a source of recipes.

After finishing her work as a domestic helper each day, usually about 11pm, the 39-year-old informs her Facebook followers that she is available to answer questions.

She administers two Facebook groups, one providing basic Cantonese translation services for maids, and another that shares recipes for affordable meals to cook their employers. Each has several thousand followers.

Sun contributor Rodelia Villar at a market in central. As well as writing stories, Villar maintains a Facebook group to share recipes for fellow domestic helpers to cook. Picture: Shaun Turton

Her profile online also sees her regularly contacted by helpers in need. Most days, she gets 10 to 15 messages ranging from minor issues to emergencies. She refers serious cases directly to the Philippine consulate, where she also somehow finds time to volunteer.

On three occasions, she’s been contacted by domestic helpers contemplating suicide, and in each case, talked them down.

“She said she was at the window,” she recalled of one. “I told her to step back, just step back.”

Early last month, Villar received a tip-off, describing a history of horrific treatment of a helper working at a home in Tseung Kwan O, including physical, verbal and emotional abuse.

The woman had allegedly been forced to bang her head against the ground, kicked, jabbed with scissors, and made to pay exorbitant fines for perceived shortcomings in her performance, each documented in a notebook, photographs of which were passed to Villar.

She quickly sent the information on to the consulate and the newspaper. Soon after, Vir Lumicao, the Sun’s main writer, arrived at the helper’s home, and took her and the colleague who reported the abuse away to safety.

Villar helped write the story, which appeared in the Sun’s next edition.

“It’s a critical part of the community,” says the Philippine Labor Attache in Hong Kong Jalilo Dela Torre of the newspaper.

“Not only is it a source of information but, also, they see to it that all the services that our workers are entitled to are delivered by government officials, as well as non-government organizations.”

‘Small person, big voice’
Merly Bunda, too, always finds herself in the middle.

The exuberant 50-year-old is a domestic helper, a trained midwife, a volunteer radio correspondent and a contributor to the Sun. But, like many of those in the Sun Writers Club, she’s much more.

In the Philippines, some — not her, but others — say she’s a bit of a celebrity.

Since the SARS outbreak in 2003, her regular dispatches from Hong Kong for Bombo Radyo mean her voice is recognized regularly when she returns to her native Iloilo province.

“When they meet me in the market, they say ‘how does such a small person have such a big voice,” says Bunda, who has lived in Hong Kong for 27 years.

Sun contributor Merly Bunda draws on her large Facebook network for stories and sources. Picture: Shaun Turton

Here in Hong Kong, she’s also well-known in the community, particularly via social media. She has almost 5,000 friends on Facebook.

In a matter of minutes, Bunda, acting on a tip-off, can use those online relationships to track down nearly any Filipino living in the city. In October, a Filipino driver suffering from severe depression mutilated his own genitalia. A few messages later, she was in contact with the man’s flatmates.

Like others in the Sun Writer’s Club, Bunda also serves as a point of contact and source of advice for helpers in distress. For true emergencies, like workers abruptly struck down by illness, she refers to the Philippine consulate, which knows to always answer her calls.

When she can, she follows up in person. Not just for the story, but to try and provide a solution.

In recent weeks, she’s visited hospitalized maids, one with Lupus and another with tuberculosis, the latter of which she personally accompanied to the emergency ward during a typhoon warning.

In late November, she met with a domestic helper wrongly accused of abandoning a fetus in a public toilet. The woman had been summonsed a second time for questioning and was nervous. Bunda, who’s writing a piece about the episode for the Sun, counseled her prior to the interview to remain confident and answer all the questions she’s asked.

“I’m always in-between, in the middle,” she says of her role.

“You know, there is a thrill,” she admits, both in chasing down stories and trying to help those in need. “If in my heart, I think I can help, I will go.”

Agents of change
Deocadiz and Mandap joke about who is the real boss. Dela Torre, the labor attaché, calls them a “perfect match,” the former handling the business and the latter spearheading their coverage of dozens of stories a month.

Mandap’s energy and drive is integral to the operation. Holder of degrees in both law and journalism, her resume includes major Filipino publications and senior editorial roles at Hong Kong newspaper the Standard, Asia Television HK (ATV), and CNN in Hong Kong.

There’s likely not an issue affecting Filipinos in Hong Kong that she can’t detail in depth, meaning conversations easily flow from one case, to the next, to the next.

As well as reporting many of the stories, Mandap spends her time editing the copy of the Sun Writers Club contributors, making sure her changes are accompanied by feedback.

She’s a stickler for the fundamentals. Nor is there any accommodation of double standards in the paper’s portrayal of those it’s covering.

“Our bottom line is the protection of our domestic workers, but if they do something wrong, they have to face the consequences. We do not protect them to the extent that we cover up for any misdeed they have done,” she says.

“We try to be very accurate. There’s no excuse for sloppy.”

Working as a domestic helper can be isolating, lonely and a blow to the self-confidence of women, many with tertiary educations, who often feel they’re treated as second-class citizens.

For many of the Sun contributors, reporting and writing gives them a chance to change not only the lives of the people they cover, but their own.

Such was the case for Gina Ordona, who arrived in Hong Kong fresh out of college, planning to stay just a few years. That was 20 years ago, and for a long time, the 41-year-old said she struggled with low self-esteem. That finally began to change a decade ago when she began writing.

Sun contributor Gina Ordona has written for the paper for a decade. Picture: Shaun Turton

“I could not even tell my friends, my classmates from college, what I do here in Hong Kong, for a long time,” she said recently. “I had difficulty accepting it. I don’t know what made me come to terms, but maybe it’s because of what I do now. I’m a domestic helper, but on the sidelines, I write.”

After many sleepless nights writing and hours spent comparing her copy to the published story, Ordona has become one of the Sun’s best contributors.

She wants to study writing when she returns to the Philippines, where she hopes one day to work full-time in journalism.

Speaking with Coconuts last weekend after covering a forum by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano, Ordona explained why she loved the craft.

“I just enjoy writing the story as it is,” she said.

“You want to be the agent of change, just making a little difference to make the situation better. If you can do it by writing about a specific issue, then good enough.”

Passport applications shoot up with launch of 10-year travel document

ConGen Morales has shuffled staff to cope with
surge in new passport applications 

By Vir B. Lumicao

The expected launch of the new 10-year passport has caused the number of applicants at the Consulate to more than double since the start of the year.

Consul General Antonio Morales told The SUN in an interview on Jan. 16 that the Consulate has coped with the deluge by shuffling staff assignments on Sundays, the heaviest day for applicants.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of passport applicants, probably because those whose passports were expiring did not renew in November or December,” Morales said.

“Ini-expect nila sa January because it was officially announced that the 10-year validity would be issued starting January. So, they already started applying in January,” he said.

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano led the launch of the 10-year-validity passport in a ceremony at the office of consular affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on Jan. 12.

An appointment is needed to apply for a passport on Sundays

The jump in the number of applicants had called for adjustments in the Consulate’s personnel deployment.

“We have asked our people from the other sections, the economic section, the political section, to help out in the consular on Sundays to enable us to cope with the volume of applicants,” the consul general said.

ConGen Morales said no one in Hong Kong has received the new passport, but added that this would happen in the first quarter, given that it takes two months to process the travel document.

The Consulate has recorded an average of more than 300 passport applicants since the start of January, up from about 150 last year, Morales said.

The figures for each of the past two Sundays reached 700, double the 350 average for the same day in November and December last year, he added.

But ConGen Morales said that in the long run, the 10-year passport would help decongest the consular services area, as people would wait for a decade before they return to renew their passports.

“In three to four years, we expect a reduction in the number, but in the short to medium term, we expect an increase in the volume of applicants,” ConGen Morales.

He said the price and the number of pages of the passport remain the same, as well as the requirements.

“To address the congestion in the consular area we have instituted an appointments system on Sundays,” he said, adding that, for weekdays, they consulate will accommodate those with or without appointments.  

Cayetano signed on Oct 25 the implementing rules and regulations of the new Philippine Passport Act, which extends the validity of passports to 10 years from five.

But the IRR took effect on Jan 1, 2018 to give sufficient time to Philippine embassies and consulates abroad as well as foreign governments about the changes of the passport validity.

Under the IRR passed by both houses of Congress and signed by President Duterte in October, regular passports will be valid for 10 years for Filipino travelers 18 years old and above. Those under 18 will still be issued passports that are valid for five years.

Alleged killer drilled Austrian-Filipina lover in face, High Court told

The late Andrea Bar was a parttime model

By Vir B. Lumicao

A drill bit about 5 centimeters long was still sticking out of a wound below the right eye of an Austrian-Filipino bar waitress when a police officer arrived at a construction site in Tuen Mun two years ago, to respond to a 999 call.

This was revealed on the first day of trial at the High Court on Jan. 16 of Pakistani security guard Safdar Husnain, who is charged with murder for the death of Andrea Bayr, 25, on March 29, 2016.

“I’m sorry… water!”  Husnain allegedly told the officer who wrestled him to stop him from attacking Bayr with an electric drill at dawn that day.

Details of the killing were revealed by a police officer identified only as PC 7388 as he took the witness stand during the trial presided over by Justice Kevin Zervos.

The officer, the first prosecution witness, said he found four plastic packets of  methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly called “ice”, weighing a total of 0.82 gram, in the green container-guardhouse where the killing took place.

When prosecutor Terence Wai asked him how many times the defendant said “sorry”, the witness said he could not remember.

The officer also could not remember the name of the defendant or identify him positively when asked whether he was the man in the dock.       

The suspect’s Pakistani friend, surnamed Khan, who called police to the construction site at the junction of Tin Hau and Hung Cheung Roads, had told investigators that Husnain and Bayr took “ice” in the defendant’s room in the guardhouse earlier that evening.

A prosecution report said the victim, a girlfriend of Husnain, had earlier arrived at the site where a bridge connecting to Tuen Mun Park was being built.

Husnain’s friend then heard a noise in the guardhouse at about 2:15am on March 29. He saw the couple fighting but called police when he failed to stop them.

The police witness said that when he arrived at the scene at 2:17 am, he found the site unlit so he used his vehicle’s lamp to light up the place. He then went to the green container and saw blood on the floor and splatters of it on the ceiling.

He said he heard noise outside coming from the bridge, so he checked and there he saw the defendant still bludgeoning Bayr with the electric drill.

The officer said he pinned the attacker to the floor then radioed for help and an ambulance. He said Bayr had multiple injuries on her head, including a wound just below her right eye where the drill bit was still protruding and blood was oozing.

 

Medics took the still unconscious Bayr to Tuen Mun Hospital where Husnain was also taken with injuries in his leg.

The officer said he arrested the defendant after doctors certified Bayr dead at 3:10am.

A second prosecution witness, Dr Lam Chi-chung, a forensic scientist of the Government Laboratory, also giving evidence on Jan 16, said he collected blood samples from the scene of the attack.

He said that based on his analysis of the samples, the victim was first attacked in the office section of the guardhouse as indicated by the blood splatters on the floor and ceiling. The attack then continued at the foot of the bridge where a pool of blood formed.

Dr. Lam said the blood pool indicated the victim lay there motionless and bleeding. He said the blood pool was consistent with the police report.

Barrister David Boyton, defense counsel, did not cross-examine the two prosecution witnesses.

The Filipina mother and teenage brother of Bayr were in the courtroom when the trial began but didn’t return after the lunch break.

The trial continues.

Recruiter deploying DHs to Russia fined for overcharging

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipina co-owner of an unlicensed recruitment agency that has been sending Hong Kong-based domestic workers to Russia was convicted on Jan. 5 of overcharging a client, and ordered to pay a total of $22,000: $12,000 in compensation and $10,000 in fine.

Gilda Flores Li, who jointly owns Quality Consultants Agency with her husband, was also warned by Magistrate Andrew Mok Tze-chung to make the payment within three months, or face a jail term.

However, the $12,000 compensation she was ordered to pay Filipina domestic worker Jean Lorena Sheel was $8,000 less than what she took from the maid, who had applied for a domestic helper job in Russia.

This was because the magistrate found that Li had paid US$1,000 to a Russian company for a second invitation to Sheel, after the first one had to be scrapped because of an error.

The invitation was meant to be used for securing a commercial visa for Sheel, even if what she had applied for was to work as a maid in Russia.

Li pleaded not guilty on Jan 2 to three counts of “receiving payment other than the prescribed commission” from domestic worker Jean Lorena Sheel, who was applying for a domestic helper job in Russia.

 “I don’t find the defendant a credible and reliable witness. I do not accept that QCA, of which she is a partner, is not an employment agency,” Mok said in returning his verdict.

Quality Consultants used to be licensed by the Employment Agencies Administration but its name no longer appears in EAA’s list updated as of Dec. 17, 2017.

Neither is Quality Consultants licensed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, contrary to its claim in its Facebook page, where it also openly recruits for jobs in Russia, Mongolia, New Zealand and Spain.

 Sheel, testifying on the first day of the trial, said Li charged her $20,000, of which she paid $11,000 in cash on March 5 last year, $4,000 on April 9 and $5,000 that she deposited in Li’s HSBC account on April 25.

Giving evidence on Jan 4, Li claimed that the $20,000 she charged Sheel was not a placement fee.

She said $10,000 was payment for an invitation letter issued by a firm in Moscow that the maid needed in applying for a commercial visa to Russia, and $10,000 to cover the cost of visa, air ticket, and room and board if Sheel got terminated after her first month there. 

The magistrate said Sheel’s evidence was clear and credible. He noted from her evidence that Li told her the first monthly salary as a helper would be $9,000 to $10,000.

He said taking into account the US$1,000 paid for the invitation letter, the commission was still more than the 10% provided under the regulation.

“Having considered all the evidence, I find the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the charges,” Mok said.

The labour prosecutors told the magistrate that Sheel was applying for damages and claims totaling $20,000, and Mok asked the defendant if she had any objection.

“I’m just a poor company. I don’t know the regulation. I don’t know if I have money,” Li replied tearfully, asking the magistrate if she could pay the compensation in installments.

The magistrate said he saw no reason to mitigate the sentences, which were a maximum of $50,000 for each offense. But after taking into consideration Li’s clear record, he said, he was imposing a $5,000 fine for the first charge, $3,000 for the second charge, and $2,000 for the third.

Mok then ordered that Li’s payment of US$1,000 to the Russian company for a second invitation be deducted from Sheel’s $20,000 damage claim, leaving the maid with just $12,000 in compensation.

Li’s conviction ended a four-day trial during which Sheel, the first of five prosecution witnesses, spoke of how the defendant charged her $20,000 for a domestic helper job in Russia.

Sheel said she withdrew her application after waiting in vain for a second invitation to replace the one with a wrong birth year that would have invalidated her application for a commercial visa to Russia.

In their evidence and during cross-examination, both Sheel and Li brought to light how agencies offering OFWs purported jobs in Russia and other places send the workers there without any job contracts and no employers waiting for them.

Sheel testified that Li would at first get her a commercial visa that was good for three months, and once she got to Russia, she would be housed by a Russian agency that would find her an employer for a fee, or find one on her own.

After the commercial visa expires, the worker will have to apply for a work visa.

The practice is under fire from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, which has repeatedly warned that third-country deployment is illegal under Philippine law.

Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre has also urged Hong Kong authorities to clamp down on the practice of sending Filipino workers to non-existent jobs in Russia and other places abroad, saying this amounts to human trafficking.

Seeking compensation for accident

Samantha, aged 30, a Filipina domestic worker, underwent an operation on Jan. 5 at Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung to have her broken shoulder fixed. She dislocated her shoulder on Dec. 28 when she tried to reach for a towel after taking a bath. She lost her balance, causing her to fall and twist her arm.

Her problem is that her Indian employer had reportedly told her friends to get Samantha’s things from their flat as they were moving. Her friends were also told that Samantha would be referred to their Canadian friend if she wanted to continue working in Hong Kong.

It’s not known exactly when her employers intend to leave Hong Kong.

Samantha was visited by staff from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, who told her about her rights, including the right to seek compensation for any work-related injury, or personal injury suffered while she was at work. She was advised to seek help from the Hong Kong Labour Department if she wanted to pursue this option.

Another right is not to be sacked or terminated while she was on sick leave. She could also demand payment for unpaid salary, including the pro-rated wage she was entitled to while she was on sick leave.

But as of now, Samanta is just relying on help from friends so she could get by while in hospital. She cannot move freely, so friends like Beth come by to help her eat. Samantha now wonders whether she can be well enough soon to pursue all her claims against her employer. – George Manalansan

Pinay, namatay matapos makitang walang-malay sa banyo

Ang yumao

Ni Marites Palma

Namatay ang isang Pilipinang kasambahay dalawang oras pagkatapos makita ng amo na nakahandusay sa banyo noong ika-9 ng Enero.

Binawian ng buhay si Erlinda Diego Cabulong, 45 taong gulang, bandang 8:15 ng umaga, pagkatapos itakbo ng amo sa Tuen Mun Hospital. Hindi agad malaman ang sanhi ng kanyang pagkamatay.

Naulila ni Diego ang kanyang asawa at dalawang anak na lalaki, na 25 at 23 taong gulang.

Kasalukuyang nakalagak ang kanyang mga labi sa Kwai Chung Public mortuary at hindi pa alam kung kailan ito maiuuwi sa kanilang bahay sa Purok 4, Villa Santiago, Aglipay, Quirino.

Ayon sa kanyang kapatid na si Mercedes Jasmin Diego, wala pang resulta ang isinagawang pagsusuri para malaman ang sanhi ng pagkamatay ng kanyang nakababatang kapatid. Sa pagkakaalam niya ay wala naman itong sakit na hypertension.

Ang magkapatid na Mercedes at Erlinda

Marami kasi ang may sapantaha na inatake ito sa puso, o na-stroke.

“Napakasakit ang biglaan niyang pagkawala, wala man siyang senyales na mawawala na siya dahil nakagroup chat at nakavideo call pa ang mga anak noong gabi bago siya mamatay, kaya di namin matanggap na wala na siya" sambit ni Diego.

Ayon pa sa kanya aakuin ng amo ang gagastusin para sa pag-uwi ng mga labi ni Cabulong ngunit hanggang Manila lamang. Ang pamilya na nila ang sasagot sa pagpapauwi dito hanggang Quirino.

Ang amo na si Josephine Ngan ang unang nagbalita na nakitang walang malay si Cabulong sa loob ng banyo ng kanilang bahay sa Tuen Mun. Nanawagan ito sa pamamagitan ng Facebook na tawagan siya ng kapatid ng kasambahay agad-agad. Naka-lock daw kasi ang telepono ng yumao kaya hindi nila alam kung sino ang tatawagan.

Si Cabulong ay 15 taon nang naninilbihan sa Hong Kong, bagamat magdadalawang taon pa lang sa paninilbihan kay Ngan sa darating na Agosto.

Huli siyang umuwi sa Pilipinas noong Abril ng nakalipas na taon.

Si Cabulong ay bunso sa anim na magkakapatid.

Bagong taon sa Dragon’s Back

One of the highlights of the walk is going through a tunnel of trees.

Ni George Manalansan

Naging masaya at masigla ang pangangatawan at isipan ng mga miyembro ng grupo ni Lia Galve, sa kanilang ginawang pagtalunton sa popular na Dragon’ s Back trail sa  Shek-o Peak, noong unang araw ng bagong taon. Binansagan nilang “Friendship Hike with a Cause” ang kanilang paglakad dahil ang mga dumalong kaibigan ay mula sa iba’ t ibang samahan sa Hong Kong.

Nag-umpisa ang paglalakad mula sa bus stop ng To Tei Wan, bago binagtas ng grupo ang daan hanggang Big Wave Bay Beach. Inabot ng mahigit tatlong oras ang paglalakad na pinasaya ng manaka-nakang pag se “selfie” ng mga kalahok.

Participants of the Hiking for a Cause project (above) pose at one of the stops in Dragon’s Back trail, Shek O, on New Year’s day 2018. 

Habang nasa gasgas na landas, makikita sa lupa ang mga nakausling bato at mga ugat ng mga puno na siyang nagsisilbing  tuntungan sa trail. Ang bahagi naman na walang mga puno, kung saan natatanaw ang Shek O beach, ay paboritong lugar ng mga Intsik na mahilig magpalipad ng remote control airplane.

Sa patuloy na pagtugaygay ay makikita at malalaman kung bakit ito tinawag na Dragon’s Back. Dahil kasi ito sa paalon-alon at paliko-liko na daanan, na animo’y tunay na likod ng dragon.

May bahagi ang trail na parang tunnel, at ito ay nasa gitna ng gubat na napapalibutan ng mga punong madahon, kaya ang simoy ng hangin dito ay lubhang nakakaluwag ng paghinga. Makikita din sa itaas ang maraming maliliit na talon o waterfalls, na ang ilan ay walang tumutulong tubig, at animo’y natuyot na. Ang huling kilometro ng lakaran ay sementado na, at dito makikita ang proyekto ng Water Supplies Department para mas maiayos ang lugar.

Sabi ng isa sa mga naglakad, “talagang nawala ang pananamlay ko at sumigla ang aking katawan at isipan nang dahil sa mga benepisyong dulot ng  paglalakad.”

Kabilang daw sa kanyang mga New Year’s Resolution ang pagsumikapang makasama lagi sa mga lakaran, na agad namang sinang-ayunan ng kanyang kapwa hikers.

Sa pagbaba, makikita ang iba-ibang impormasyon tungkol sa bawat direksiyon na maaaring tahakin, katulad ng Big Wave Beach , Taitam at iba pang lagusan. Mabubulaga din dito sa mga nakapaskel na nagpapaalala ng: “Take your litter home.” Handa naman para dito ang tropa, dahil may dala silang mga plastic na lagayan ng basura.

Makikita din dito ang “Distance Post” kung saan may numero ng telepono na inilagay ng Country and Marine Parks Authority, para madaling mahanap ang kinaroroonan ng isang hiker sakaling mawala o may kailangang itawag na emergency,

Kung ang piniling daan pababa ay ang Big Wave, makikita ang isang maliit na komunidad kung saan may mga nag su surfing at may mga tindahan din ng barbecue at mga restaurant na ang pagkain ay mabibili sa abot-kayang halaga.

Hindi naman ito pansin ng grupo dahil marami ang nagdala ng pagkain, katulad ng biko, pancit, halayang ube, salad, buko pandan, salmon, ham, igadu, mango float, chocolate chip cookies , sandwiches, fried chicken at mga prutas.

Nag-ambagan din sila ng perang nakayanan ng kanilang bulsa, at bukal sa kanilang loob na ibigay. Gagamitin ito para bumili ng gamit sa eskuwela ng mga bata sa isla, na pangunahing proyekto din ng Guiwanon Fundamental Baptist Church, Children’ s Ministry na nasa Nueva Valencia, Guimaras Island.

Balak ng grupo na magsagawa ng apat hanggang limang “Friendship Hike with a Cause” sa mga darating na buwan ng taong 2018.

Para marating ito, sumakay ng MTR papunta sa Shaukeiwan. Lumabas sa exit A, at hanapin ang bus terminus. Sumakay ng bus #9 papunta ng Shek-o, at bumaba sa stop ng To Tei Wan.

What's on where

‘Okay Ka Ba?’ Ambassadors’ Training 
(Campaign against discrimination against, and exploitation of migrant workers)
Ambassadors Training Schedule:
January 14, January 21 at February 4, 2018: 2:00-5:00 p.m.
Venue: Equal Opportunities Commission, 6/F 41 Heung Yip Road, Wong Chuk Hang
Organizer: International Organization for Migration, with the support of the Philippine Consulate General, Christian Action, RainLily and Equal Opportunities Commission!
To register, call IOM at tel no 2106 2156, or send a message to the PCG. A certificate will be given to each of those who complete the training on helping fellow migrant workers against falling victim to discrimination and abuse. Admission is FREE and open to all Filipino household service (domestic) workers

Photoshoot for a Cause
Jan. 14 (Sunday), 10 am- 4pm, Tamar Park, Admiralty
Organizer: FAB Photographers. Everyone is invited to bring along family members for this photoshoot for a cause. This is a freestyle funshoot with FAB photographers. All proceeds raised during this event will be donated to Bahay Aruga (A free shelter for children with cancer). Free props, snacks and drinks. Just drop by.

Community Thematic Carnival series
Jan 14, 2018; 3m-7pm – The Sheung Shui Legend.
Sheung Shui Garden No.1, Sheung Shui, New Territories.
Don’t miss the chance to rediscover the fun and joy in the district.

Visayas Sectoral – Mindanao Variety Show
Jan. 21, 11am – 6pm, Chater Road, Central
Organizer: VSM Alliance
Featured artists: Tultugan Performing Arts of Maasin National Comprehensive High School, Iloilo
Contact: Leo Selomenio, 5336 6530

Art Exhibit
Jan. 25 (Thursday), 6-9pm: VIP Preview, by invitation only
Public viewing:
Jan. 26-27 (Friday-Saturday), 10am-9pm
Jan. 28 (Sunday), 10am – 3pm
Exhibit open to the public
Venue: Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, 7A Kennedy Road,
Featured artists: Gerrico Blanco, Frank Cana, Thomas Carrigan, Salvador Ching, Kos Cos, Monica Hemrajani, Ram Mallari, Jr., Sue Perks, Rovi Salegumba, Eman Sia, Kate Sparrow, Sophie Tunik. Organized by: Kambal Gallery
 
‘Mga Kwentong Pagkain’ Contest
Jan 28, 2018 – Deadline for submitting entries to the Mama Sita Foundation’s contest, “Mga Kwentong Pagkain”
The contest, with the theme “Regional Food Heritage,” is open to all Filipinos abroad who are willing to tell an interesting story about food-detailed accounts of local or regional recipes, ingredients, food preparation, rituals or personal experiences.
For details, email MSF at mgakwentongpagkain@gmail.com

HK Education Fair
Visit the HKTDC Education and Careers Expo on Feb 1-4 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai.
The Philippine booth is at 1E-D07. Representatives from the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University will be there. Admission is free!

Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Classes
Registration will be on Feb. 3 and 10 (Saturday class)
and Feb. 4 and 11 (Sunday class)
MERC, 12/F, Euro Trade Centre, 21-23 Des Voeux Rd Central
Classes will start on Mar 3 (Saturday) and Mar 4 (Sunday)
For more info, please check: https://wimler.blogspot.com/2018/01/wimler-hk-lse-hk-alumni-association.html

2018 1st Flea Market
Feb. 4 (Sunday), 10am-4pm
GardenPlus events venue, Wanchai Sports Ground
Organized by: GardenPlus

Baka gusto mong salihan ang mga ito

Schedule of Chinese New Year Activities
Urban Lunar New Year lantern carnival:
Mar 1, 2018, 7:30pm-9:30pm – Youth night.
Mar 2, 2018, 7:30pm-10pm – Carnival night.
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza, Tsimshatsui.

New Territories West LNY lantern carnival:
Mar 2, 2018, 7:30-9:30pm – Youth night.
Mar 3, 2018, 7:30-10pm – Carnival night.
Tung Chung North Park, Lantau Island.

New Territories East LNY lantern carnival:
Mar 3, 2018, 7:30-9:30pm – Youth night.
Mar 4, 2018, 7:30-10pm – Carnival night.
Hong Kong Velodrome Park, Tseung Kwan O

POLO Transfer:  
The public is hereby informed that from Dec. 10, 2017, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office has relocated to the 16th and 18th floors of the Mass Mutual Tower, 33 Lockhart Road, Wanchai. The following services will be provided by POLO: contract processing, OEC and BMOnline registration, OWWA-related matters and inquiries, complaints against employers and employment agencies and labor-related inquiries.

Caritas Seminar on FDW RIghts
Caritas Asian Migrant Workers Social Service Project is offering the following seminars for foreign domestic workers:
Smart Workers’ Seminar “Employment Problems & Protection”. Content: 1. Does the government allow if I sleep on the sofa of living room? 2. How to get back my passport which is kept by the employment agency? 3. How to lodge a complaint if the work condition is totally different from the employment. For details call: 2147-5988.

For Tinikling Lovers
The Tinikling Group of Migrants is in need of male/female performers with or without experience, no age limit. TGM performs mostly for LCSD events. Interested person may contact Marie Velarde @ 67175379, Emz Bautista @ 98512804 and Rowena Solir @97331049.

Attention: Rugby enthusiasts
The Exiles Touch Rugby group is inviting rugby enthusiasts to join the team. We practice every Sunday at the Happy Valley Pitch 8 from 5pm to 8pmat the Happy Valley Pitch 8.  For those interested please contact: Ghelai 65414432 whatsapp/sms or click “like” on Exiles HK facebook page

Wanted: softball players
The all-Filipina softball team is open for tryouts. Those who are interested, especially those with prior experience in the game may contact Team Captain Don Gaborno at 5318-5113

An invitation to play volleyball
Calling sport-minded Filipinas who want to play volleyball. A team is being organized by a group led by Shane Key Gonzales . Interested parties may contact Shane at 54498080.

How one woman is giving a voice to Hong Kong’s Filipino domestic helpers

From pushing for rights and proper education to shedding light on various issues faced by her community, veteran journalist wears many hats 

By Laurie Chen
Reprinted from the 
South China Morning Post

Daisy Mandap is a force to be reckoned with: she is a vocal defender of domestic helpers’ rights, a leading figure in the Filipino community in Hong Kong and editor of The Sun, the city’s only paper whose contributors are made up of Filipino domestic helpers.

Sitting in The Sun’s cosy North Point office, Mandap rolls off a number of urgent issues affecting Hong Kong’s domestic helpers, one of the most vulnerable groups in the city.

Daisy Mandap reviews the latest edition of The SUN. SCMP Photo: Dickson Lee

More than 90 per cent of the local Filipino population, about 189,000 people, are domestic helpers, she says. Abuse from employers, lack of education for their children, and exploitation from shady employment agencies sit high on the list.

Domestic helpers gather on their day off. Photo: Alamy

But now, despite the serious issues they face, and, as Mandap claims, a lack of police action, more and more stories about domestic helpers are making the headlines.

More of them are also finding their voices through activism and writing for Mandap’s English-language paper, which was founded by her journalist husband, Leo Deocadiz, in 1995.

Mandap, who is also an accomplished journalist and lawyer with degrees in both fields, moved to Hong Kong to pursue a career in journalism 30 years ago, citing the rampant corruption in her native country that made it impossible to maintain integrity in her line of work.

Since then, she has worked for a number of international media outlets including CNN and ATV, before taking up the role of editor at The Sun in 1999. She was also a member of the government appointed Committee on the Promotion of Racial Harmony for six years, and was awarded a Community Service award by then chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in 2010.

“Being with this paper goes beyond putting out the news, the headlines, the articles that are published,” she says. “We are proud of having brought a lot of the problems domestic helpers face to the attention of the government.”

What first inspired you to take up the role of a newspaper editor ?

My husband started it, he’s a publisher. Long before we came here, we thought of setting up a newspaper. At the time, there was no way of communicating among members of the Filipino community in the city. We were really hoping to start our own paper but the printing costs were high. My husband finally saved up for it to get started.

At the time, there were a couple of thousands of Filipinos in Hong Kong, most of whom were domestic helpers. If you want to have an impact, you have to reach out to as many of them as possible. Leo also decided that it should be free, so we were the first free publication in Hong Kong for the Filipino community and it’s been like that for the past 22 years.

What are the differences between working as a journalist in the Philippines and in Hong Kong?

In the Philippines it’s pretty well-known that you can get offered bribes. My husband and I were journalists there for a long time, and we decided it was not the way for us. The pay wasn’t good enough to start a family. The Standard then went to the Philippines and recruited journalists from there, and we were finally paid what we were worth. During that time, there was a big demand for experienced English-speaking journalists in Hong Kong, and they all came from different places. It was a good time for us. Yet in Hong Kong, you’re not as highly regarded as a journalist, whereas in the Philippines you have a lot of clout, especially if you’re with a national daily. It’s a give and take.

What have been some of the highs and lows of your editorship since 1999?

We have really made an impact on the community. We were the ones who helped the first children of domestic helpers get the right of abode granted to them by immigration authorities – they came to us. Authorities eventually gave them Hong Kong identity cards when we threatened to take the case to court. It’s the more humane thing to do – they were born here, this is the only place they’ve known.

Before, they went to local schools but there was discrimination because they didn’t have an HKID, only because they were the children of domestic helpers. You feel bad for them because my own children never had this difficulty from birth. Because of our efforts, immigration granted rights of abode to two dozen children at least. They then get a permanent ID if they live here with their parents until the age of 11.

The difficult part is not getting the kind of response you expect from the authorities, when you work so hard to help workers. We have been helping victims of illegal recruitment. I have brought them to the police station, for example, and the police wouldn’t take their statements.

At North Point, there was a group of domestic helpers who were rescued at the height of winter. We picked them up, fed them and housed them. I took them to the police station the next day and argued for the police to take their case seriously. Eventually, the police went after their recruiter who had previously made them stay at Macau airport for one whole month, waiting for flights that never came and eating leftovers.

These are the things that I wish mainstream media would really pay attention to.

Police inaction makes our job really frustrating. Plus there’s the fact that there are so many Filipino domestic helpers who are abused and you don’t see them getting the kind of justice they should.

What other issues do the Filipino community face in Hong Kong?

The overwhelming majority of Filipinos in Hong Kong are domestic helpers. The Sun is a paper for the entire Filipino community, but most of our stories are about domestic helpers simply because they need the most help.

But the biggest problem for Filipino children is education. They don’t have the same quality education as other nationalities, since the few purely English language schools are band 3 (lowest level schools in the system). There are only a few Filipinos who could afford to send their children to international schools.

Because of that, they don’t get the kind of education that will help them compete with locals. That’s why you see a lot of Filipino kids working at bars in Lan Kwai Fong. A lot of them are forced to go to the Philippines too, since they don’t pass the qualifying exams’ language requirements for a university education in Hong Kong. For them to go up the social ladder, they really have to go to a local university. But if they go to university in the Philippines, their degrees are not recognised here, so it’s really difficult for them to move ahead.

Illegal recruitment is a big problem for domestic helpers – they are being enticed by registered employment agencies in Hong Kong to places like Russia with no real jobs waiting for them. But they go, because Hong Kong looks the other way. If it was really serious about cracking down on agencies, a lot of the problems would go away. The workers pay the agencies so much to come here so they put up with the abuse. We have heard of people being raped who were too afraid to complain because they were indebted to the agencies.

Domestic helpers also face problems because immigration authorities do not allow them to live outside their employers’ homes. They are then made to sleep on top of washing machines, in toilets. It happens because you have very restrictive policies towards domestic helpers. Living with their employers should be an option, not a requirement. In my 30 years here, I’ve seen the rights of migrant workers diminished instead of improved.

Do Filipinos face a lot of racism and discrimination in Hong Kong? How has this affected you?

You find racism everywhere. I look very Filipino, so immediately they think I’m a domestic helper, which shouldn’t be a bad thing in itself. But there is so much discrimination against domestic helpers – you get shouted at, called stupid because you agreed to be one. But a lot of domestic helpers are actually college graduates. You can’t be a domestic helper here unless you’ve completed high school education.

When I was working at publications in Hong Kong, I was only promoted up to a certain point. You had to serve the locals, or before the handover, the British. There was no way you could aspire to the highest positions in the company you were in.

People also judge domestic helpers for coming from a very poor background. It’s true – a lot of them are poor, but it shouldn’t be a reason for anyone to look down on them. On the other hand, you do appreciate that the government allows domestic helpers to freely stay in public places in Central during their days off, and they are legally entitled to rest days. So that’s relatively better than in the Middle East, for example.

We tell domestic helpers that if they allow themselves to be abused from the beginning, they get used to it and they should really try to resist that. I think we’re doing well, comparatively, because our workers are among the most vocal of migrant workers in Hong Kong.

Who is an inspirational figure in your life?

I had a lot of mentors who helped me in my early writing career, but I never really felt like following in the footsteps of anyone. I like certain leaders of the country, but they have flaws. Because there’s so much corruption in the Philippines, it’s very difficult. But I admire the past president, Benigno S. Aquino III, because he was not corrupt.

Another inspirational person is Sheila Coronel, my good friend and contemporary as a journalist who is now dean of the Columbia University’s school of journalism. She set up the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. She’s done so well, I’m really proud of her. We used to march against [former Philippine president] Ferdinand Marcos in our undergraduate days!

What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?

I still talk to a lot of domestic helpers who reach out to me for help. You can never be away from work because of the internet. Every day, I get messages from domestic helpers with their problems. Leo and I used to play golf and tennis a lot – it’s more on and off now. We still go bowling here too.

What’s your favourite dish?

I like crispy pork knuckles and rice flour dessert! It’s cooked over live coals and it’s very difficult to find in Hong Kong. During Christmas it’s always something you grew up eating. Here, I like simple Chinese dishes like char siu – Hong Kong is the best place for this kind of dish. Even if we have Chinese restaurants in the Philippines, it’s not the same.

Favourite holiday destination?

Manila, just because a lot of our friends are there. People always come and go in Hong Kong. I also like travelling to the US, because that’s where my kids are.

Kawawa si lola

Awang awa si Mar, 45 at driver, kay Lola na nanay ng amo. Pagkagising pa lang nito sa umaga ay lumalakad na ito at kung saan-saan napapadpad. Kapag gusto nang umuwi ni Lola ay tatawag ito kay Mar at magpapasundo sa iba-ibang lugar sa Kowloon at New Territories.

Madalas ay sa Shatin na di kalayuan sa kanila, pero kapag nayaya ng mga kaibigan ay nakakarating ito sa Tsim Sha Tsui, Yau Matei at Mong Kok.

Sabi ni Mar mahirap nang kausap si Lola dahil mahina na ang pandinig, kaya madalas ang sagot na lang niya dito kapag tumawag ay “Tak o” o OK kapag libre siya. Kung hindi naman siya makakasundo ang sagot niya ay “M tak”.

Sa mga ganitong pagkakataon ay natatagalan ang uwi ni Lola, pero $2 lang ang pamasahe kahit saan ito galing. May mga pagkakataon daw na mali ang lugar na sinabi ng matanda kaya hirap niyang makita. Kailangang suyurin pa ni Mar ang malalapit na kalsada bago niya matagpuan si Lola na naglalakad sa maling direksyon.

Madalas daw nitong sabihin na walang panahon ang pamilya sa kanya, kaya kahit barok ang Cantonese si Mar ay pilit niya itong iniintindi. May mga pagkakataon daw na sinasabi ng matanda na gusto na nitong mamatay dahil pagod na, at dumaraing na maraming nararamdamang sakit. Paika-ika na ito kung maglakad at nakangisngis na dahil marahil sa pagod, pero pinipili pa ring lumabas imbes manatili sa bahay kung saan parang walang pakialam ang mga tao sa kanya.

Minsan ay naikuwento daw ng matanda na noong maliliit pa ang kanyang mga anak ay wala pang washing machine kaya puro handwash o “oh san pu” ang ginagawa niya. Wala din daw silang katulong noon, kaya habang nagluluto ay umiigib siya ng tubig habang nakatali sa kanyang likod ang anak.

Awang awa si Mar sa matanda dahil nakikita niyang kulang na kulang ito sa atensyon at pag-aaruga ng mga mahal sa buhay, at ang kailangan lang ay ang may kausap.

Naisip tuloy ni Mar na ganito rin kaya ang nararamdaman ng kanyang mga magulang. “Nakaka homesick, naalala ko ang aking mga magulang sa Pangasinan na may katandaan na rin,” sambit niya na nangingilid ang luha. – George Manalansan 

Maswerte sa amo

Isa si Rowena sa mga domestic helper na maswerte sa amo. Kahit Sabado ang kanyang day-off ay walang problema dahil ang mahalaga sa kanya ay mabait ang kanyang mga amo at tunay na isinasaisip ang kanyang kapakanan.

Isang hapon, wala sa isip na isinara ni Rowena ang pintuan ng kanyang kwarto at nag-lock ito sa loob. Walang susi si Rowena kaya ganoon na lang ang pagkabahala niya. Agad niyang sinubukan na buksan ito gamit ang iba’t ibang bagay at nag-post pa sa Facebook para humingi ng tulong sa mga kaibigan, ngunit umabot ang gabi nang hindi nya ito nagawang buksan.

Pagdating ng mga amo ay agad niyang sinabi ang problema. Hindi niya akalain na ang gagawin ng kanyang among lalaki ay ang akyatin ang ventilation window papunta sa kanyang kuwarto para mabuksan ang pinto sa loob.

Pilit pinagkasya ng amo ang katawan sa maliit na bintana para makapasok sa kanyang kuwarto.

Malikabok at madumi ang loob ng butas at takot na takot na naiiyak si Rowena sa pag-aalala at baka anong mangyari sa amo, pero hindi naman niya sukat akalain na gagawin ng amo ang ganoon. Kasama niyang nakaabang at nag-aalala ang among babae at mga anak nito.

Ngunit pagkaraan lang ng ilang minuto ay nakangiting lumabas ang amo mula sa kanyang kuwarto, sabay sabi na sa susunod ay huwag na niyang ila-lock ulit ang pinto.

Nahihiyang nagpasalamat si Rowena sa matapang at maalalahaning amo. Si Rowena ay tubong Iloilo, 28 taong gulang at tatlong taon nang nagtatrabaho sa mga among taga Tung Chung. - Rodelia Villar

Nakulong sa kubeta dahil sira ang lock

Nataranta at kinabahan si Mando, 45, at isang Bisaya, nang pagkatapos niyang umihi ay nalaman niyang sira ang kandado ng pintuan sa kubeta sa bahay ng kanyang amo. Nag-iisa siya sa bahay sa oras na iyon, at kahit anong pihit niya, ay hindi niya mabuksan ang pinto.

May pinapakuluan pa naman siyang sopas noon, kaya takot na takot siya dahil kapag hindi siya nakalabas agad ay maaring masunog ang bahay, kasama siya. Sinubukan niyang dumungaw sa bintana ng kubeta at inisip na doon na lang siya dadaan palabas, ngunit lubhang delikado dahil walang makapitan, at sobrang taas ng kanyang babagsakan kung sakali dahil nas ika-15 palapag sila.

Pabilis nang pabilis ang pintig ng kanyang puso sa takot.

Saglit siyang umupo para mag-isip bago ginalugad ang kubeta para humanap ng pwedeng gamitin para madistrongka ang pinto, ngunit wala siyang makita ng kahit ano.

Mabuti na lang at dala-dala niya ang kanyang telepono. Agad niyang tinawagan si May na katulong ng nanay ng kanyang amo at sumagot naman ito pero hindi sila magkaintindihan dahil paputol-putol ang koneksyon.

Naisipan niyang i-text na lang at ipaabot sa FB messenger ang kanyang mensahe, at mabuti naman at nakaabot. Agad namang nag taxi si May na swerteng hindi kalayuan ang bahay, at may susi ang lola sa bahay ng anak.

Eksakto lang ang dating nito sa bahay nina Mando dahil natuyuan na ng tubig ang sopas. Sinubukan nitong buksan ang pintuan ng kubeta gamit ang susi, pero hindi na umubra dahil naputol na ang kalahating parte ng kandado sa loob.

Inabot pa ng ilang minuto bago nagawan ng paraan ni Mando na sirain ang kandado gamit ang isang maliit na distilyador na inabot ni May dahil hindi magkasya ang naunang ibang mga gamit sa siwang sa ilalim ng pinto.

Pagkalabas sa kubeta ay nagpasalamat si Mando kay May, sabay inom ng tubig. “Akala ko ay katapusan ko na,” ang sabi niya. – George Manalansan

New ConGen to push for caregiver roles for OFWs

By Daisy CL Mandap

Newly-arrived Consul General Antonio A. Morales has pledged to work on getting the Hong Kong government to open caregiver positions to Filipino domestic workers as soon as possible.

Consul General Antonio A. Morales 

He also told The SUN during a meet-and-greet session at the Consulate on Jan. 7 that he intends to push for greater cooperation with Hong Kong authorities in addressing the illegal recruitment of Filipino workers here for third-country destinations like Russia.

ConGen Morales arrived only the day before, to formally assume the post as the Philippines’ top representative in Hong Kong.

Consul General Antonio A. Morales called on the Director of the Hong Kong Protocol Division, Mrs. Judy Li.

He told The SUN he would focus on these two main concerns when he gets to meet with Chief Executive Carrie Lam again.

He said he first met Mrs Lam when he accompanied Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on a courtesy call on Hong Kong’s top official last month.

During the meeting, the Chief Executive reportedly expressed appreciation for the important role that Filipino domestic workers play in Hong Kong’s society.

Morales said he would build on that goodwill to push for the creation of a new category of work as caregivers for overseas Filipino workers.

In Singapore where he was posted for three and a half years before moving to Hong Kong, he said there is already a caregiver post that is separate from that of a domestic worker.

He said he could use that as a reference in getting Hong Kong to speed up its plan to import caregivers amid looming concerns over its rapidly ageing population.

The Chief Executive first disclosed plans about opening a new category of work for caregivers during her maiden policy address on Oct 11 last year.

She said that Hong Kong would consider giving subsidized elderly-service units more flexibility on importing caregivers.

Later, the Hong Kong government also disclosed plans to launch in the first quarter of this year an 18-month trial program to equip 300 domestic workers already in the city with nursing skills.

At the same time, the Labor Department and Security Bureau are expected to set up an interdepartmental group for creating a mechanism to hire foreign caregivers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and Southeast Asian countries.

On Jan. 11, ConGen Morales reiterated his commitment to upgrade the skills of Filipino domestic workers in remarks he made after swearing into office the new officers of the Philippine Association of Hong Kong.

After saying that there was nothing to be ashamed of about domestic work he added, “But that does not stop us from dreaming of greater things. That’s why our job is to ask our domestic workers to upgrade their skills, (by) going into caregiving, or thinking about doing business in the Philippines.”

Also part of his immediate plans, said Morales, is to meet with his counterparts at the Russian consulate, to ask help in addressing the worsening problem of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong being recruited for non-existent work in Russia.

The Philippine embassy in Moscow says there are about 5,000 Filipinos working illegally as domestic helpers in Russia, many of them recruited in Hong Kong.

Within the first few days of his taking over as consul general, Morales managed to meet with his Indonesian counterpart Tri Tharyat.

The consuls general reportedly exchanged views on a wide range of issues, and agreed to work together in promoting the interest of migrant workers in Hong Kong.

Morales also called on Hong Kong’s protocol chief, Judy Li.

‘Abused’ Filipina gets labour case put on hold while police investigate

By Daisy CL Mandap

A Filipina domestic worker who claims to have been abused by her employer’s live-in companion for more than a year has asked the Labour Tribunal to postpone hearing her case until the police has completed its investigation.

Lanie Grace Rosareal, 27, however, accepted a partial payment of $2,500 from her employer, Leung Shet-ying, 63, for her unpaid salary and travel allowance, at the hearing held on Jan. 4.

Lanie Grace Rosareal

Leung, who at first resisted paying Rosareal’s claim for return air fare, eventually offered a further $1,200 for this, but the helper rejected the offer, saying she wished to wait for the conclusion of all investigations into her case first.

But at the suggestion of deputy presiding officer Mary Wu, Rosareal agreed to drop her claim for compensation and one month’s salary in lieu of notice.

Wu made it clear the Filipina could not claim for salary in lieu, even if it was true that she had been abused, saying this was not in accordance with the Labour Ordinance.

The officer also cast doubt on whether Rosareal could claim employees’ compensation, saying this was awarded only for injuries sustained in the course of work.

But she agreed that Rosareal had the right to ask for an adjournment pending the outcome of the police investigation.

“For the rest of the items that are in dispute, the case will be adjourned sine die (for an indefinite period) pending the investigation of the police,” said Wu.

Rosareal had worked for Leung and her companion, Au Wai-chun, 65, from Jan 24, 2014 until Nov. 9, 2017 when the Filipina and her fellow domestic worker Rowela Subiono Suete, 36, were rescued from their employer’s house in Tseung Kwan-o.

Suete has since returned to the Philippines after settling her claim against Leung.

But Rosareal, who claims to have been physically abused by Au since May 2016, sought help from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Mission for Migrant Workers to file a case against her employer.

During a conciliation hearing at the Labour Department in November last year, the two parties failed to reach agreement, so Rosareal’s case was referred to the Labour Tribunal.

The Filipina helper is seeking a total claim of $207,423.00 against Leung for unpaid salary for six months, wage in lieu, cancelled holidays, return air fare, travel allowance and compensation.

She alleged that Leung would pay her salary each month, but would then tell her to settle the penalties imposed on her by Au, a retired civil servant, for all sorts of alleged misdeed.

The monthly payment she got was reportedly never enough to settle all of Au’s claims, which were duly recorded in a notebook of penalties that Rosareal managed to take with her when she fled her employer’s house.

Rosareal claims Au subjected her to almost daily torture.

The elderly woman reportedly hit her on the head with a knife and a TV remote control, boxed in the arm, clawed on her wrists and neck, poked at the throat with a pair of scissors, made to kneel and bang her head on the floor.

Au reportedly did these less than two years after she was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, for throwing a cup of hot water at a Bangladeshi maid also hired by Leung earlier.

Aside from the police investigation, Rosareal’s complaint of physical abuse against Au and Leung’s non-payment of wages and withholding of her passport are being looked into by the Labour Department.

Immigration is also investigating her report that Leung made her work daily in the house of Au’s son which is in an adjacent building in Tseung Kwan-O.

Rosareal was accompanied at the hearing by the Mission’s case officer Edwina Antonio.

PEYA’s claimants now nearly 900

Consulate and POLO officials see off some of the passengers they helped. (Photo From POLO)

By Daisy CL Mandap

The number of complainants against PEYA Travel Agency has risen by the day, and as of Jan. 10, was already at 869. At an average price of $2,500 per ticket, the total claim against PEYA now stands at well over $2 million.

This was revealed by Danny Baldon of the assistance to nationals section of the Consulate, which continues to receive complaints from overseas Filipino workers who were not issued tickets for flights they booked through PEYA.

The affected travelers include those who booked for flights over the upcoming Chinese New Year, when prices for air tickets are at a premium.

However, the “mercy flights” arranged over the Christmas season for the stranded passengers by the three airlines that fly to the Philippines, which were partly paid for by the Philippine government, have all terminated.

According to Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre, a total of 124 air tickets on Philippine Airlines flights costing more than Php600,000 were paid for by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. Fifty other passengers were assisted by his staff in securing the free seats offered by Cebu Pacific for three flights on Dec. 25, 28 and Jan. 4.

In addition, about 200 other stranded passengers availed of discounted seats that became available when PAL and Cathay Pacific Airways sent bigger aircraft for selected Hong Kong to Manila flights just before Christmas.

 The passengers whose flights were paid for by the government were, however, asked to sign a form assigning their claim against PEYA for their unclaimed tickets to OWWA.

As to whether the Philippine government could recover the money is, however, uncertain as PEYA was forced to shut down on Dec. 20, two days after it was besieged by irate customers who failed to board their flights to the Philippines.

On Dec. 25, police raided the office for documents after arresting PEYA’s Filipina co-owner and managing director, Rhea Donna Bayona – Boyce, 38. She was held by police for two days and upon her release, her Australian husband and PEYA co-owner Peter Brian Boyce, 58, was also picked up by police.

Both were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, but were released on police bail pending further investigation. No charges have been filed in court as of this writing.

Meanwhile, police are reportedly also looking for PEYA’s sales director and longtime Hong Kong resident Arnold Grospe, who appears to have left Hong Kong.

Sources say police tried to arrest Grospe in his house in Wanchai early this month, but found it locked. His wife and two grown-up children have reportedly moved out of the flat, and Grospe’s whereabouts are unknown.

There are reports he has fled to Macau where Hong Kong residents are reportedly allowed to stay for up to a year without a visa, but this has not been confirmed.

Grospe was detained by police earlier, on Dec. 19, after he singlehandedly faced PEYA’s angry customers at the agency’s shop for two days. But he was released that time with no charges being laid.

The next day, the Consulate started receiving complaints from Filipinos affected by PEYA’s booking mess. The complainants’ records and contact details are continually being turned over the police to help them in their investigation.

Baldon told The SUN complainants have been coming to ATN daily, with the number going up to more than 100 on Sundays since Christmas.

He said the unpaid bookings were from the days just before Christmas, and up until May this year. Several were for bookings to the Philippines over the busy Chinese New Year season, when prices are at their peak.

The costliest booking reportedly totaled more than $8,000 because the package included not just a flight to the Philippines, but also an onward journey to Canada.

Baldon said they expect more PEYA customers to come forward to complain over the next few days.

“Marami pang hindi nakakabalik mula sa kanilang bakasyon sa Pilipinas,” Baldon said.

Blue Eagles win HK baseball Open

By Vir B. Lumicao

Ateneo Blue Eagles came from behind to beat Sydney University Baseball Club of Australia, 10-4, on Dec 17, and finish as champions in the Club Pool of the restructured Hong Kong International Baseball Open 2017.

The defending champions, however, saw their dominance of the annual tournament limited as host Hong Kong Baseball Association divided the event into National Team and Club Pool competition, thus confining the Filipinos in the latter division.

Blue Eagles batter Javi Macasaet (7) prepares to blast a Sydney University fast ball in the fourth inning.

“We’d been the champions twice here, and Hong Kong Red took the trophy only when we did not take part the other year. In the last championship, we beat them again,” coach Bocc Bernardo told The SUN.

He expressed regret that this year the National Team division was added and the Philippines was unrepresented.

The Blue Eagles, defending champions of the tournament, waylaid all their opponents in the four-day event at the Sai Tso Wan Baseball Field in Lam Tin, Kowloon starting with a 12-7 drubbing of newcomers Sydney University on Dec 14.

The Filipino sluggers went on with their juggernaut, trouncing Hong Kong Blue, 9-6, on Dec 15 and mauling Lanzhou New Way of China, 12-3, on Dec 16.

Sydney University set itself up for a revenge game against Blue Eagles by outclassing Lanzhou New Way, 6-4, on Day Two and hammering Hong Kong Blue, 11-7, the next day. But the Australians settled for first runner-up after bowing to the Filipinos.

Lanzhou New Way beat Hong Kong Blue 4-3 in the duel for second runner-up. It was sweet revenge for the mainland team, which the local boys walloped 17-2 on opening day.

The Australians began strongly in the final match, holding the home-team Filipinos at bay, 1-0, until late in the fourth innings. But Gio Salvatierra slammed a fast ball to centerfield that sent Enzo Orbeta and Dan Laurel running to home base in succession.

Then Marquis Alindogan blasted another ball to the centerfield, and Salvatierra raced to home base. Alindogan himself sailed home when Radito Banzon hit another powerful ball that took him to second base.

Banzon made it 5-1 for Blue Eagles towards the end of the fourth.

Sydney University added a run courtesy of Stuart Wright in the fifth innings, 2-5, but runner Salvatierra cruised home, 6-2, after Alindogan fired another fast ball to the center outfield.

The Australians rallied with two runs in succession by Lachlan Arford and Nicholas Doller, 4-6, in the seventh.

But Blue Eagles replied with four runs in the eighth by Adriane Bernardo, Banzon, Marco Mallari and Miguel Habana to seal the championship, 10-4.

The champions also took the other top honors with Paulo Macasaet voted the Most Winning Pitcher with two strikeouts, Mallari recording the most hits, and Alindogan taking the most stolen bases.

Mallari was also voted the Most Valuable Player in the Club Team Pool.

Section Juan goes island hopping

Many of us who have lived in Hong Kong for years haven’t seen the best of it. Tung Lung Chau is one such gem.

Amidst the busy and festive season, Section Juan managed to squeeze in a hike at this largely unexplored and uninhabited island of Hong Kong to chill, and bond.

Tung Lung Chau offers a breathtaking view of the Clearwater Bay Peninsula.

Every year, the group makes sure to have at least one hiking activity and this year they held “Hataw sa Tung Lung Chau” on Dec 10. It was the first time most of those who took part had set foot on the island.

Section Juan president Pau Ciriaco said, “The hike’s success in building camaraderie among members was visible throughout. All of us hiked as one. We waited whenever there was someone who needed to rest. We shared water and food to keep everyone on track”.

Tung Lung Chau is located along the Clearwater Bay Peninsula and is accessible by ferry during weekends and public holidays. It is widely known as the site of an ancient monument, a prehistoric rock carving known to be the largest of its kind in Hong Kong.

The island is a place for extreme sports, too. There were people ziplining from cliff to cliff and rock climbing.

Kristeen Romero, the current research, development and multimedia officer of Section Juan, said “it was a good opportunity to get a breath of fresh air, do some exercise and practice my photography skills”.

Candice Adams, an active member of the group, said: “The hike was doable and often breathtaking,” adding that there was no shortage of picturesque views.

But the wondrous sight was just part of the reason why she decided to go.

“Good company, good food and a good route makes for a great hike”, she said.

Indonesia spikers beat Pinays in friendlies

By Vir B. Lumicao

Indonesian spikers D’Cassie walloped the Philippine squad D’Organix 25-17 to emerge as champions in the one-day Sultan Kudarat Volleyball Friendship Games on Dec 25 at Fa Hui Park in Mongkok.

D’Cassie fought its way to the championship by beating the other best of four winners in the elimination round.

First runner-up D’Organix players pose with league organizer and Sultan Kudarat Volleyball team leader Jhergin Barcelona (extreme right) and guests at the close of the on-day friendship league .

At the end of the games, D’Cassie was on first place, D'Organix second; Indonesian team Metal, third, and another Filipina team, Lady Fighters, fourth.

A total of 14 teams, mostly Filipino, participated in the friendly games, the second one-day league brought together by the barely three-month-old Sultan Kudarat volleyball group led by Jhergin Barcelona.

“Noong October lang po namin binuo ang team at pagkatapos ay ginanap namin ang unang friendly one-day league noong Oct 28,” Barcelona told The SUN.

Other members of the team, which works as a committee, are Teng Hernandez, Swet Fulgencio, Jack Manabat, Rose dela Cruz, Elsa Janoras, Bai Parangan, Cel Gumban, Con Baldemor, Chel Riparip, Clear Gumowang, Ping Caceres, Sasa Manzanares, Chel Ferrer, Ren Clar, Renie Duyao and Clear Nasalga.

Barcelona said she met D’Cassie in the first friendly league that Sultan Kudarat held and found that the Indonesians, led by Mika, were friendly and most disciplined players.

“That’s why we invited them to play again this time around,” said Barcelona, who, like the rest of the players in the friendly league, is a domestic helper.

She said she formed the team and went on to organize leagues to provide the army of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong to keep them away from crowded Central, the city’s financial district that converts into a gathering place for them on Sundays.

“At least dito, instead na naapag-uusapan nila ang tsismis at mga problema sa buhay ay ang problema sa court ang napag-uusapan namin,” said Barcelona.

Aside from attracting the helpers away from their usual idling places, the leagues are intended to hone the volleyball skills of the players and to raise funds for charity projects back home.

When one of the Sultan Kudarat’s 16 team members goes home, she has a project in mind, such as tree-planting by school children. So she receives funds to buy the materials she needs for the project.

Sultan Kudarat is tapping individual or corporate sponsors, such as Amazing Speed, a cargo forwarder, to donate the trophies and medals that the team gives away to the players.

The search for the “Queen of the Night” added excitement to the league with muses from each of the 14 teams competing for the honor that was eventually won by the Lady Fighters’ muse.

Barcelona said the team had submitted its registration as an organization to the police so it would have legal personality and to register as a Filcom group at the Consulate.

She had already sounded out the Consulate’s cultural section about it and said the section was just waiting for the group’s police registration to be released in December but which she would pick up in January.

Ihaw- ihaw sa Hung Mui Kuk

Maraming Pilipina ang nakaugalian nang mamasyal ay magpalipas-oras sa parke.

Ni George Manalansan 

Isa ang Hung Mui Kuk barbecue area na nasa loob ng Lion Rock Country Park sa Taiwai, New Territories, sa mga paboritong puntahan ng mga migranteng Pinoy at lokal na residente tuwing piyesta opisyal, o araw ng pahinga.

Ang lugar ay may mahigit 50 ihawan, ngunit kailangan pa ring magtungo dito ng maaga para makasiguro ng puwesto dahil naging ugali na ng mga dumarayo dito ang mag barbecue habang nagkakasiyahan.

May mga lakaran din paakyat ng bundok kaya maaaring mag ehersisyo muna bago magkainan. Kilala ang lakarang ito na tinawag na Hung Mui Kuk Nature Trail sa dami ng magagandang tanawing makikita paakyat ng bundok.

Sa tuktok ay makikita ang kilalang Amah Rock, na ayon sa pabula ay rebulto ng isang babae na nagihintay sa pagbabalik ng kanyang nawawalang asawa.

Ang lakaran o trail ay 1.3 kilometro ang haba, at kakakailanganin ng isang oraso mahigit pa, para ito mabaybay sa kabuuan.

Ayon kay Junalyn Atriginio na madalas mamasyal dito, kailangan na ang isa sa grupo ay magtungo dito ng maaga para masigurado ang puwesto. Saka na lang daw sumunod ang iba na namalengke ng mga iihawing pagkain,

Maaga pa lang kasi ay makikita nang nagbabaan ang maraming tao mula sa mga sasakyan, o naglalakad papunta dito, bitbit ang uling, pantuhog , mga inumin, at ang iba-ibang karne at lamang dagat na iihawin.

Madami din sa mga dumarayo dito ang makikitang may dalang aso, tungkod at malalaking backpack na puno ng mga gagamitin paakyat sa bundok. May bata at matanda, babae, lalaki o ibang kasarian, ang makikita na tinatahak ang matarik na daan paakyat o pababa mula sa bundok. Marami kasi ang halatang bihasa na sa paglalakad kaya balewala sa kanila ang pag-akyat, panaog mula sa bundok.

Sa grupo ni Caroline Canete, may ilan sa kanila ang pinipili ang umakyat muna sa bundok habang ang a kasama nila ay kampante na sa pagkukwentuhan at pag-iihaw sa kanilang kakainin.

Sabi ni Caroline, mahirap akyatin ng diretso ang bundok. Kailangan ay  pahinto-hinto muna para makapahinga, lalo na yung baguhan sa pamumundok. Malaking ginhawa daw ang mararamdaman kapag umabot sa mataas na parte dahil masarap langhapin ang sariwang hangin. Mas maganda daw na umakyat kapag medyo malamig na ang panahon dahil hindi ka masyadong makakaramdam ng pagkahapo at pagod.

Sa entrance pa lamang ay naamoy na ang pagkain mula sa Hung Mui Kuk barbecue area na nasa loob ng Lion Rock Country Park sa Taiwai, New Territories.

Nagpaalala naman si Junalyn na ingatan ang mga dala dahil may mga unggoy sa paligid na mahilig mang-agaw ng  pagkain. Nasanay kasi ang mga unggoy na pinapakain ng mga namamasyal dito kaya parang nakalimutan na nila ang kanilang sariling kakayahan na maghanap ng kakainin sa bundok.

Laging masaya ang mga OFW na dumadayo dito dahil hindi lang basta kainan at kuwentuhan ang kanilang ginagawa, kundi pati kantahan at sayawan sa saliw ng tugtog mula sa kanilang mga cellphone o bluetooth speakers.

Isa sa naging punto ng usapan ng grupo nina Caroline ang mga hitsura ng talong na iniihaw ng mga tao sa paligid. Iba-iba kasi ang laki at hugis, may payat na mahaba, punggok na mataba, may baluktok at diretso. Lalo nang naging berde ang msayang usapan  nang ihain ang mga bagong ihaw na talong na nanguluntoy na sa lambot.

Sabi ni Junalyn, pakiramdam niya ay hindi siya natunawan sa dami ng kanyang kinain, at walang humpay na kuwentuhan at halakhakan.  Sayang nga lang daw at kailangang umalis ng maaga ang ilan sa grupo dahil malayo pa ang kanilang uuwian.

Para makarating dito mula sa Central, sumakay sa bus no 182 papuntang Shatin at bumaba sa unang tigilan pagkalampas ng Lion Rock Tunnel.

Para mapabilis, maaaring sumakay sa MTR at bumaba sa Tai Wai station. Mula doon ay maaring sumakay sa taxi papunta sa Hung Mui Kuk. Hindi na muling papatak ang metro sa lapit ng biyahe.

Kung gustong mamili muna ng iihawin ang pinakamalapit na bilihan ay ang Tai Wai market.