Filcom to meet on mandatory SSS, insurance

By Daisy CL Mandap

The Consulate is set to call a meeting of Filipino community leaders on Nov. 11 to discuss concerns about the impending collection of mandatory insurance and SSS contributions from all overseas Filipino workers, who could end up shelling up to $400 per month for both fees.

This was disclosed by Eman Villanueva, secretary general of United Filipinos – Migrante Hong Kong, who said the meeting was requested by his group from Consul General Antonio A. Morales, during a meeting last week.

Unifil has been protesting the impending collections, saying the Philippine government has turned overseas Filipino workers into milking cows.

“Parang tokhang na tuloy ito, papatayin ang mga OFWs sa dami ng mga bayarin. Bakit ayaw tantanan ang mga OFWs?,” Unifil chairperson Dolores Balladares-Pelaez said in a separate interview earlier.

Under the proposed Social Security Act of 2018, all OFWs will have to pay monthly contributions of between Php960 and Php2,400 in mandatory SSS payments.

The bill has already been passed by both houses of Congress, and is just awaiting the signature of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

Social Security System representative Lester Paul Mata says they expect the enforced collection to start early next year.

He clarified that OFWs can opt to pay only the minimum monthly contribution of Php960, although the corresponding benefits will be smaller than if they paid the Php2,4000 maximum.

On top of the enforced SSS payments, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration passed a resolution on Aug. 28, providing for the collection of mandatory insurance from OFWs each time they sign a job contract, or when renewing existing ones.

Mandatory insurance is currently only enforced for OFWs taking up their first employment abroad. The premium for two years is pegged at US$144 for land-based workers, and US$200 for seafarers.

Unlike the mandatory SSS collection, however, the POEA Resolution could take a longer time to enforce because its implementing rules have yet to be drafted and published as required by law.

Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre, whose office will effectively be tasked to ensure all OFWs are covered by insurance before they are allowed to process a new work contract, said he has yet to receive instructions on how, or when, the new measure would take effect.

Still, Unifil says protests against the two enforced collections should be made now because it would be difficult to reverse them once they got enforced.

The group also hit out at the apparent haste with which both measures were drafted, and the lack of consultations with OFWs, who will bear the brunt of the additional fee collection.

Villanueva said his group is not against paying for social security or insurance coverage per se, because some OFWs might regard them beneficial, but against making them mandatory.

“For people who can afford the additional expenses and consider them beneficial, fine, but don’t force everyone to pay because there are many who are on a tight budget and may even be still paying off loans incurred so they could work abroad,” said Villanueva.

“Wala ding security of tenure ang mga OFW, so maaaring ang binayad nila ay mapunta sa wala.”

Unifil has been conducting Sunday briefings with migrant workers so they are better informed about the impact and implications of the proposed new fees.

Also on the agenda for the upcoming Filcom meeting, said Villanueva,  is the call of Unifil and its allied organizations for higher wages, better working conditions and welfare provisions for foreign domestic workers, which they want the Consulate to adopt.

On the part of the Consulate officers, they reportedly want to formally introduce their newly arrived colleagues to Filcom members.

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Mideast specialist is new Phl deputy consul general in HK

By Vir B. Lumicao

An old Philippine hand in the Middle East, Germinia Aguilar-Usudan, has been named as the country’s new deputy consul general in Hong Kong.

The 51-year-old Usudan arrived in the city on Oct 17 and reported for work at the Consulate the following day. She has taken over from Consul Roderico Atienza, who is due to end his tour of duty in January.

“I am happy to be in Hong Kong, First World siya in Asia. I look forward to spending six years in Hong Kong,” DCG Usudan said.

The new deputy head at the Consulate told the SUN in an interview that she is a Bicolana who became a Muslim years after marrying her Maranaw husband, Yusuf Usudan, who also worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs but is now retired.

DCG Usudan said she is confident the experience she acquired in her many years in the Middle East will help her serve the Consulate well.

Consul Atienza has welcomed DCG Germi’s arrival, saying “that means we’ve expanded the officer complement in Hong Kong.”

DCG Usudan has served with the DFA for the past 30 years. Before coming here, she was the director of the DFA’s Office of Middle East and African Affairs with focus on the Gulf States.

Her last Middle East posting was a four-year stint in the Saudi commercial capital Jeddah, where she was moved from the embassy in the capital, Riyadh.

She joined the DFA right after graduating from the University of the Philippines in Diliman with an economics degree in 1988. She took the Foreign Service Officers’ Exam in 1996, while studying law at the University of Santo Tomas. She finished law in 1998 and passed the Bar the next year.

“Ang una kong posting ay Abu Dhabi, tapos na-transfer ako sa Riyadh,” DCG Usudan said.

After her recall to Manila, she was posted in Jakarta. “Para maiba naman, kasi parang nata-typecast na ako sa Middle East, so nag-Jakarta ako.”

But two years later, she was again moved to the Middle East, when a Muslim officer was needed in the Saudi city of Jeddah. She spent the last four years of her stay there.

She said that back in the Home Office, she requested for an Asian posting to be closer to her ailing mother. Sadly, her mom passed away in May, before she could be posted in Hong Kong, her destination of choice.

DCG Usudan noted that there are many Filipinos in Hong Kong who look happier than in other posts she had been to, and the Filipino community seems very active in looking for projects that will help the workers.

She said she will be joined in Hong Kong by her two children, Ameerah, 15, who is in grade 9; and Amiruddin, 13, in grade 7, when their classes end in March next year.

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Nag-abuso, tinerminate

Na-terminate si Marissa ng amo kamakailan dahil hindi agad bumalik pagkatapos pumunta sa Macau.

Limang buwan pa lang si Marissa sa Hong Kong at nagtatrabaho sa mag-asawang Taiwanese na may dalawang anak, at may kasamang lola sa bahay, nang tanggalin siya sa trabaho.

Sa umpisa pa lang ay ipinahiwatig na ng amo na may mga hindi dapat gawin si Marissa, kabilang na ang huwag umutang, at magsanla ng pasaporte. Hiningi pa ng amo ang kanyang pasaporte para itanim sa isip niya na hinding hindi niya ito dapat isanla.

Nang makaapat na buwan siya sa amo ay hiniling ni Marissa na bawiin ang pasaporte dahil gusto daw niyang dalawin ang pinsan na nasa Macau. Ngunit dahil nasabi na niya sa amo na ilegal ang pananatili doon ng kanyang pinsan ay hindi siya pinayagang umalis.

Makalipas ang isa pang buwan ay hiningi ni Marissa ang dokumento at sinabing kailangan niya ito dahil magbubukas siya ng account sa bangko. Hindi na niya ito muling ibinalik.

Nang sumapit ang Linggo ay muli niyang sinabi sa amo na gusto niyang pumunta sa Macau, at pinayagan naman siya, pero mahigpit na pinagbilinan na bumalik din kinagabihan dahil aalis ito papuntang Taiwan kinabukasan.

Imbes umuwi ay nag-text lang si Marissa sa amo noong kinagabihan at sinabing kinabukasan na ng umaga siya uuwi.

Akala niya ay ayos lang sa amo dahil hindi ito sumagot. Dumating ng Hong Kong si Marissa alas 11 ng umaga ng Lunes, at dumating sa bahay ng amo ng alas 12:30. Dinatnan niya doon ang mag-asawa at pati lola. Walang sinayang na oras ang amo. Binigyan agad ng termination letter si Marissa, kasama ang sahod, travel allowance at ticket pauwi sa Pilipinas.

Walang ibinigay ng isang buwang sahod kapalit ng abiso dahil ayon sa amo ay ito ang nagpabaya sa trabaho. Sinabi pa ng amo na kung magrereklamo si Marissa sa Labor Department ay handa siyang harapin ito.

Panay ang hingi ng paumanhin ni Marissa sa amo ngunit hindi ito natinag. Kahit umiyak pa siya sa harap nito at kusang ibinigay ang pasaporte ay hindi nagbago ng desisyon ang amo. Idiniin nito na sinabihan na siya na kailangang bumalik siya ng Linggo ng gabi dahil papunta ito ng Taiwan ngunit hindi siya sumunod.

Sising sisi si Marissa dahil mababait ang mga amo, at medyo maluwag pa ang kanyang trabaho dahil katuwang niya ang lola sa gawaing bahay. May sarili siyang kuwarto at binigyan pa ng  koneksyon sa wifi. Ang mas masaklap, hindi pa siya bayad sa mga inutang niya sa Pilipinas para makapagtrabaho sa abroad, at may apat siyang anak na umaasa sa kanya.  Ni hindi din siya makalapit sa pinsang pinagpilitang dalawin sa Macau dahil TNT lang ito doon.

Si Marissa ay 39 taong gulang, tubong Albay at dating nagtatrabaho sa Tai Wai. – Rodelia Villar
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Hinagpis ng ina

Pilit na inuunawa ni Imelda, 64, ng La Union, ang apat na anak na iba-iba ang mga ugali at karamihan ay hindi siya kinakausap.

Sa katunayan, ang isa sa mga ito ay nag-block sa kanya sa Facebook, samantalang ang kaisa-isang anak niyang lalaki ay sinasabi sa mga kapitbahay na wala na siyang ina.

Hirap na hirap ang kalooban niya noong una pero sa kalaunan ay tinatawanan na lang niya ang mga ito.

Ang akala daw niya noong una ay gagaan na ang pakiramdam niya dahil may mga trabaho na ang mga ito, pero panay problema pa rin ang hatid ng mga ito sa kanya. Iniisip na lang niya na marahil ay may hinanakit ang mga ito sa kanya dahil niya natutukan o nasubayabayan ang kanilang paglaki dahil sa pagtatrabaho sa ibayong dagat.

Maayos naman daw ang kabuhayan na kanyang naipundar, at sapat na sa kanyang pagtanda.

Dangan nga lamang, balintuna ang mangyayari sa kanyang pag-uwi dahil ang mga anak naman niya ang nasa Hong Kong ngayon, samantalang siya ay nasa Pilipinas na.

Balak niyang mag retiro na kapag natapos na ang kanyang kasalukuyang pang-15 kontrata, tanda na halos tatlong dekada na siyang nagtatrabaho sa iisang amo.

Malakas ang loob ni Imelda na sa kanyang pagbabalik ay magkakaayos din sila ng kanyang mga anak, lalo na yung iniwan niyang tagapamahala ng kanilang ari-arian sa kanilang bayan. Bahala na daw ang mga ito kung paano siya ituring dahil hindi man siya naging perpektong ina, sigurado naman siyang mahal niya ang kanyang mga anak. – George Manalansan

Foreign domestic workers must get new HKID cards

Foreign domestic workers are among those required to apply for a new Hong Kong identification card as part of the Immigration Department’s plan to start introducing new smart cards starting Dec 27 this year.

An Immigration spokesperson said the replacement process will cover all 8.8 million residents in the city, including foreign domestic workers.

“Every cardholder in Hong Kong must apply for the new smart card during the designated application period for her birth group,” she said, in response to an emailed query from The SUN.

Those who don’t show up for the appointed period risk a $5,000 fine.

The new HKID.

Immigration says the existing IDs issued in 2003-2007 have outlived their optimum 10-year serviceable lifespan and will gradually become more susceptible to damage and malfunction, thus the plan to replace them.

The replacement program is expected to be completed in four years. Law enforcement and government officials will be the first to have their ID cards replaced beginning Dec. 27.

They will be followed by residents (including FDWs) born in 1985 or 1986, who should apply for the replacement between Jan 21 and Mar 30 next year.

This is the first group that was first issued the existing cards in the 2003 replacement exercise, thus their cards are the most vulnerable.

All cardholders can make an appointment online and fill in the form in advance starting Oct 29.

Applicants must show up within the designated period. If they are not in Hong Kong when their age group is called for ID card replacement, they can apply within 30 days of their return to the city.

If they fail to apply for the new HKID within the appointed period without a valid reason, they could be deemed as having violated the law, and face a maximum fine of HK$5,000, the Immigration Department said.

The new ID card features enhanced security, built-in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and higher-resolution photographs to support facial recognition. It will be pink, light blue and light green in color, with a photo of the card holder on the left and a small stereo laser image of the portrait on the right.

Nine replacement centers set up across Hong Kong and equipped with self-service registration and collection kiosks will be become operational on Dec 27.

The Immigration Department said applicants will not take 30 minutes to complete the process if they register at a self-service kiosk for the new smart ID card. Their new ID card will be ready within 10 working days.

Under the Registration of Persons Ordinance, all Hong Kong residents aged 11 or over –including those allowed to stay here for more than 180 days – must register for an ID card.

Individuals who apply for an ID card from Nov 26 will get the new smart card, as will those who need a replacement for a lost or damaged card. New arrivals, children who have reached the age of 11, and youth who have turned 18 will also get the new card.

Those exempted are travelers in transit through Hong Kong or persons permitted to stay for not more than 180 days; children of consuls aged under 11, consular staff and the head and members of the Office of the Commission of the European Communities in Hong Kong; children aged under 11, except for children of permanent residents who need to apply for permanent IDs in connection with their applications for HKSAR passports.

The aged, the blind and the infirm who have been exempted from registering for an ID card by the Commissioner of Registration are also exempted or excluded.

Lower loan interest sought

By Daisy CL Mandap

The consulates of the Philippines and Indonesia have held talks with the Hong Kong government on easing interest rates on loans, seen as one of the reasons why many migrant domestic workers get enmeshed in debt.

This was disclosed by Consul General Antonio A. Morales in his speech at the Oct. 14 launch of a new reintegration campaign for returning Filipino workers at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Wanchai.

Consul General Antonio A. Morales

“Last week, I and the consul general of Indonesia met with the Chief Secretary (Matthew Cheung) on the possibility of reducing interest rates and of course, the possibility of prosecuting those who get their (migrant workers) passports, Morales said.

He cited the most recent case of about 400 Philippine passports being seized from the house of a suspected loan shark in North Point. Last year, more than 800 passports, mostly belonging to Indonesians, were seized in a separate operation.

Morales sees the high interest rates on loans as one of the reasons why migrant workers end up saddled in debt.

“Alam ba ninyo na ang interest rate na legal maximum is 60%?,” he said in his speech at the launch of the Comprehensive OFW Reintegration Program (CORP). “So kung mangungutang kayo ng $1,000, $1,600 ang babayaran ninyo. Yan ang legal.”

In the case of the loan sharks, police have revealed that the interest rate charged to migrant workers who are asked to pawn their passports and employment contracts as security, is 125%.

It’s not known what, if any, steps will be taken by the Hong Kong government in response to the appeal by the two consulates. However, someone privy to the talks said the two consuls general were told during their meeting with the Chief Secretary to step up their education campaign to discourage heavy borrowing among their workers.

Consul Paulo Saret, in a separate interview, said the two diplomatic chiefs would call a joint press conference on Oct. 22 but it did not happen for unknown reasons.

Morales said it is part of his advocacy to get more Filipino migrant workers to save and plan for their future so they can avoid the debt trap.

He revealed encounters with some migrants who have been working in Hong Kong for 20 or more years, including those who volunteer at the Consulate, who have not saved for their eventual return to the Philippines.

“It is really tragic,” he said.

But he added, it is unavoidable for some to resort to borrowing due to unforeseen events. “Hindi rin natin mapipigilan ang ating mga kababayan na mangutang.”

So apart from asking the Hong Kong government to lower the legal rate of interest for loans and crack down on illicit loans, Morales said the Consulate has been spearheading effort to provide financial education to Filipino migrant workers.

Helping OFWs prepare for their eventual return home, as the CORP program of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration plans to do, is another way to help them focus on their goal, and avoid unnecessary and burdensome borrowing.

CORP has teamed up with NGO Atikha in a project called Gear-Up, or “Go, Earn, Accelerate, Reform, Uplift Philippines” to further bring home the message that OFWs must focus on preparing for their eventual return home, with the support of the families they left behind.

Through this collaboration, OFWs will be encouraged to plan for their return from the time they arrive at their first job destination abroad.

According to Roel Martin of  OWWA’s National Reintegration Coordinating Office, OFWs will be asked how long they intend to work abroad, and Atikha will help them plan on how to make this happen.

Martin’s advice on this is, “Kung magpaplano dapat isulat para may babalik-balikan kayo.”

He said the NRCO has drawn up various strategies to help ease the return of OFWs to the country, like teaming up with various government agencies to enhance reintegration, providing more financial literacy classes abroad, drawing up investment opportunities for OFWs, and boosting local employment.

T3 up in HK as weakened Storm Yutu nears

Super Typhoon Rosita (Yutu) damaged this  warehouse in Santiago City, Isabela (ABS-CBN photo)

by The SUN

Strong wind Signal No. 3 is in force in Hong Kong as Tropical Storm Yutu, which caused death and destruction in northern Philippines early this week, heads towards the eastern coast of Guangdong on Thursday night.

But the Hong Kong Observatory says there’s little chance of raising the storm warning signal further.

“Unless Yutu takes on a track closer to the Pearl River Delta, the chance of issuing the No. 8 gale or storm signal is not high,” the observatory said in a press release earlier today.

Reports filtering in said the storm, called Super Typhoon Rosita in the Philippines where it packed a wind speed of 140km per hour and gusts of up to 230kph, left at least 15 people dead and about 30 trapped in landslides in northern Luzon.

(More photos from ABS-CBN here:https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/multimedia/slideshow/10/31/18/the-day-in-photos-30-october-2018 )

Earlier, it devastated Saipan and Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands, and was recorded as the strongest tropical cyclone to pass over the area, packing maximum winds of 180 mph, equivalent to a category 5 hurricane.

But it weakened as it made a landfall in the northern Philippines on Oct. 30, and was downgraded to severe tropical storm as it approached Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Observatory hoisted T3 at 12:40pm, meaning the winds with mean speeds of 41 to 62 kilometers per hour are expected.

At 2pm, Yutu was about 340 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong and is forecast to move north or north-northwest at about 12 kilometres per hour crossing the northeastern part of the South China Sea.

The Observatory is warning against swimming in the open sea.

“As there are swells, you are advised to stay away from the shoreline and not to engage in water sports,” the weather bureau said.

The observatory advised people to listen to the radio, watch TV or browse its website and mobile app for the latest information on Yutu.

The typhoon cut across Aurora, Quirino, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Abra, Kalinga and La Union on Tuesday before it exited to the West Philippine Sea on Wednesday.

Isabela and Quirino suffered the worst from the brunt of the typhoon, the 18^th to hit the country this year. Video footages showed houses and commercial buildings wrecked, bridges washed away by flash floods and power lines toppled in the two provinces.

A state of emergency was declared in Quirino, where vast tracts of rice, corn and vegetable farms were damaged.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Thursday 6 of the fatalities were from the landslide in Natonin, Mountain Province; 6 from landslides in Banaue, Ifugao; 2 from landslides in Tinglayan, and 1 who drowned in Abra.

The number of fatalities may still rise as reports of missing individuals are still coming in, NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad was quoted by local media as saying.

 
 

OFW called ‘You’re the best’ after returning lost wallet

By Ellen Asis

A Filipino community leader earned praise and reward recently after she returned a wallet belonging to a local resident which she found on a street in Shaukeiwan.
Nilma Carigaba, president of the South Cotabato Workers Association, was told “You are the best” in a Facebook post by the wallet’s owner, Isaac Lam, who also insisted on giving her a $300 reward.

In her own post, Carigaba said: “Thank you, Isaac Lam, for your $300 reward. I returned your wallet which I found on the street. It’s right and just to return the things which doesn’t (sic) belong to me. Once again, thanks for the reward. God bless.”

Carigaba said she was on her way to see a doctor in a family clinic in Shaukeiwan when she spotted something that looked like a pile of garbage on the street ahead of her. But when she got closer she saw that it was a wallet full of cards.

She said she was afraid and nervous at first because she thought someone was playing a trick on her, but she saw everyone around her just walking past. She picked up the wallet and proceeded to the clinic to have her sugar and blood pressure checked.

 All the while she was thinking of the wallet she found, until she gathered enough courage to check its contents. She found a name card with the name Isaac Lam written on it, along with a contact number. She called up the number, and asked the man who answered if he happened to have lost his wallet. Lam reportedly said he did lose his wallet two days earlier. They agreed to meet at the MTR station in Admiralty, where Lam insisted on giving her $300 as reward even if she refused a couple of times.

POLO to conduct free health checks

By Daisy CL Mandap

Starting on Nov. 4 and every Sunday thereafter, Filipino migrant workers can drop in on the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Wanchai and have their blood sugar level and blood pressure checked for free.

The new project is the brainchild of Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre, who said he was alarmed by the rising number of overseas Filipino workers who are getting sick in Hong Kong.

“Most of the time, it is preventable,” he said. “That’s why it is important that our workers get regular check-ups so they can avoid getting sick.”

The initial batch of volunteers join Labatt Jalilo dela Torre at his office.

He said his office has been compiling statistics which show an alarming increase in the number of OFWs in Hong Kong who are getting seriously ill, or die because such ailments.

In June, then newly arrived welfare officer Virsie Tamayo also expressed concern at the high incidence of cancer among longtime HK OFWs.

She said that in her previous postings in Abu Dhabi and Korea, she did not see the same high rate of occurrence of the disease among OFWs.

Since then, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration has begun looking at death statistics on OFWs so a comparative study on the causes could be made.

The free medical check-ups is seen as a first step towards helping OFWs maintain a healthier lifestyle.

Helping administer the check-ups are members of the Filipino Nurses Association Hong Kong and the Balikatan sa Kaunlaran Hong Kong chapter.

At least two POLO officers who are registered nurses, are also expected to oversee the examinations.

Aside from the free check-ups, OFWs can also avail of a free advice on breast self-examination. This is the first step towards preventing breast cancer, still the most common cancer to afflict women.