Pinoy seaman gets 9 years in jail for drug trafficking

The Fipino seaman was jailed for 9 years despite 60% discount on his sentence

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipino seafarer who admitted sneaking two kilos of cocaine molded like shoe soles into Hong Kong has been sentenced to 9 years and two months for drug trafficking.

Carlito B. Platon, 49, got a 60% discount in his sentence for pleading guilty to the offence and testifying against his Colombian co-accused during a 10-day trial at the Court of First Instance.

Judge Ester Toh imposed the sentence on Dec. 20 after Platon’s lawyer, Maurice Peter Tracy, said the sailor had been put under significant pressure not to plead guilty by his Colombian co-accused, Cristhian Enrique Posso.

The pressure increased when a solicitor allegedly visited Platon in jail and tried to dissuade him from testifying for his own and his family’s safety.

Judge Toh said police are now investigating the lawyer for the threat and that Platon may be asked to testify again when the case goes to court.

Despite the threat, Platon gave evidence that, Judge Toh said, helped the jury pinpoint and convict Posso as the lead player in the trafficking of 1.982 kilograms of cocaine valued at $1.762 million.

Toh said she found Platon a reliable and credible witness who was driven to commit the crime due to the medical needs of his wife and mother. The judge said he was not a professional criminal or a professional drug trafficker.



Posso, 38, was convicted of drug trafficking on Dec 12 and was sentenced on the same day by Toh to 24 years and three months.

His co-defendant, Jose Gonzalez Uribe, who claimed he was just asked by his friend Posso to accompany him on a shopping trip to Jordan Road on June 2 last year, was acquitted.



Customs and police officers arrested Posso, Uribe and Platon while they were on board a taxi in Yaumatei which they had taken after meeting up at the Panda Hotel in Jordan.

Posso, accompanied by Uribe, had booked a room at the hotel, where Platon was to have delivered the cocaine.

Unknown to the three, Customs and police undercover men had already put Platon under surveillance after Hong Kong was alerted on May 31 by a US law enforcement agency that a cargo of cocaine would be brought in by a ship on June 2.

The courier was identified as Platon, who was due to arrive on a Maersk ship.

When the ship arrived at Kwai Chung port, a Customs and police team boarded the ship and searched Platon’s cabin but found no drug and they left.  

Platon, in his evidence, said he left the ship and was met by a Chinese man wearing a helmet and goggles who gave him a black plastic bag and a SIM card and told him to call Posso at Panda Hotel in Jordan.

He was instructed to go to Panda and meet up with Posso where he would deliver the drug and be paid in US dollars. Instead, he was given $105,000 in Hong Kong bills.

When arrested, Platon’s rucksack yielded the payoff money, which was in four stacks of $500 bank notes tied up with rubber bands. He gave up meekly after a brief chase.

Posso threw the bag containing the drug on the ground and struggled when officers caught up with him. Uribe tried to run away but was met by other officers.

Platon said he met the source of the drug during a ship call in Colombia. He said he agreed to be used because he was in debt and needed money for his wife’s surgery and his mother’s medical needs.

He denied agreeing to testify because he wanted to get a discount in his sentence, and said he only wanted to “clear my conscience.”

Maid accused of stealing employer’s jewelry worth $294,000

A Filipina domestic worker has been charged with stealing 16 pieces of gold jewelry from her employer in Kowloon Tong.

The helper, Charity Faith Ramos, appeared before Kowloon City Magistrate Woo Huey-fang for the reading of the charge on Dec 20. No plea was taken.

Ramos allegedly took the jewelry, worth a total of $294,000, from her employer’s bedroom between February and November this year.

There was no mention of how the employer discovered that her jewelry was missing. But the prosecutor said the police are still trying to recover the missing items, and opposed bail for the defendant.

Magistrate Woo adjourned the case until Feb 15 next year and remanded Ramos in custody. -   Vir B. Lumicao

New ALA pledges his best after ‘painful’ Riyadh experience

Villafuerte on his first day at work at POLO

By Vir B. Lumicao

His last posting abroad might have left him scarred, but the new Philippine assistant labor attaché in Hong Kong is determined to put the bad experience behind him, and just work harder at serving those in need.

ALA Antonio Rivera Villafuerte arrived in Hong Kong from Manila on Dec. 19, and was met at the airport by a group of well wishers led by Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre.

 

The next day, Villafuerte was accompanied by Labatt Dela Torre to the Consulate where he was warmly received by officers led by Consul Roderico Atienza.

Consulate officials give warm welcome to Villafuerte (4th from left)

This is the first overseas assignment of Villafuerte, 54, who comes from Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, since he was recalled to the Home Office from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over the so-called “sex for flight” scandal.

The scandal was exposed by then Akbayan Rep Walden Bello, who claimed embassy officials in the Saudi capital promised victims priority in repatriation in exchange for sexual favors. 

Three repatriated Filipinas pointed to Villafuerte as a ringleader, and one of them claimed he had pimped her to an Egyptian.

Villafuerte was recalled and investigated, but was subsequently cleared of the charges.

Even then Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz defended Villafuerte, saying he had no prior record of abusing OFWs abroad. She said it was the first time she had heard of such a scandal involving Villafuerte, whose wife and children lived with him in Riyadh.

The scandal eventually died down. Even so, the stigma that accompanied the charges has scarred the soft-spoken labor official, who says he would still feel his chest tighten whenever he recalls being accused of something that he never did.

Villafuerte said it all started when he exposed an illegal recruitment syndicate that was victimizing OFWs in Saudi. The smear campaign was launched by people behind the syndicate whose toes he had stepped on, he said.

Following his recall, he was assigned to various jobs in the Home Office. He was detailed to the POEA conciliation unit, which mediates in disputes between workers and their employers in different countries.

After staying for almost two years in that unit, he was assigned to the International Labor Affairs Bureau, where he attended meetings on mutual agreements and some policy issues.

Comprising a pool of labor attaches, ILAB is the unit where the labor secretary would draw people to assign to the regions, or to related agencies such as the POEA, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, wherever the secretary sees them fit to provide service.

Then came an order from Bello for Villafuerte to take up the vacant ALA post in Hong Kong. “Nagpapasalamat ako kay Secretary Bello dahil binigyan niya uli ako ng  pagkakataon para ma-assign at makatulong sa ating mga kababayan,” Villafuerte said.

For now, the new ALA is familiarizing himself with the daily activities and processes at POLO, where he will be in charge of case management and community relations, according to Labatt Dela Torre.

Villafuerte said part of his job is also to sign new employment contracts, which have been heaping up at a rate of 750 per day.

The man who started his career with the Department of Labor and Employment 33 years ago has risen from the ranks.

After finishing Bachelor of Laws at the Manuel L. Quezon University/University of the East in 1985, Villafuerte initially joined the DOLE as a clerk handling supplies. Later he  moved up to the Bureau of Labor Relations, then to the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.

His first overseas posting was to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for two years, before he was moved to Riyadh where he served for nine months before his controversial recall.

Asked what lesson he had drawn from his Riyadh experience, Villafuerte said: “Lalong doblehin ko siguro ang mag-iingat and not to be too trusting, kasi masyado akong nagtiwala, kasi ganyan ako, what you see is what you get.”

“Kung ano yung nakikita ninyo, ganoon ako makisama, wala akong itinatago. Siguro nasobrahan ko, pero ang (pakay) ko, tumulong pa rin ako kahit ginanyan nila ako, ang puso ko nandiyan pa rin. Kasi napakasaya na napakagaan ang pakiramdam kapag nakakatulong.”   

Church group celebrates 35th

Crusaders of the Divine Church of Christ at their favorite spot.

Amid the cold brought by intermittent rain on Nov. 25, about 350 members of the Crusaders of the Divine Church of Christ, Mariners Hong Kong Chapter gathered to celebrate their 35th year anniversary at Mariners Hill Garden in Tsimshatsui.

The church group started the celebration with a morning mass, followed by a program which included dancing and  singing.


Administrator Prince Estrelito V. Magliba graced the occasion and urged the members to improve their economic status by doing well in their respective employers and to be resilient in facing the problems that arise when working abroad.


Magliba announced that about 400 members have availed of the church’s “fly now pay later” scheme devised for those who want to go overseas but don’t have the means for it. He said the scheme has been in place for the past four years.


Another service is the advance summer class for elementary school kids. In just a year, he said about 1,000 children have joined the program, which uses the church as classroom, and the teachers are all volunteer church members.


The program ended with a lunch fellowship among members. – Marites Palma

Nalulong sa Mark 6

Tumataya si Lita sa Mark 6 (Mark 2 noong una) pero mula $10 hanggang $20 lang ang kanyang isinusugal noong una dahil iyon lang ang kaya ng bulsa niya.

Bandang huli, nagdesisyon syang itaas ang taya sa $50 at pinalad naman siyang manalo ng $60,000.

Ginamit niya ang pera sa pagpaayos ng kanilang bahay at pinambayad ng kanilang mga utang.



Pero mula nang maambunan siya ng grasya ay hindi na siya kuntentong tumaya lamang ng $50, umabot na ito una, sa $100 at bandang huli, sa $200 kada taya.

Unti-unti nang nag-alala ang kanyang mga kaibigan sa lakas ng kanyang taya, pero ang lagi niyang sagot ay “Ok lang yan, bawing-bawi naman kapag natiyempuhan mo”.



Pero mabilis na lumipas ang mga araw, linggo at buwan na hindi na siya muling pinalad kahit palaki nang palaki ang taya niya.

Pati utang niya sa dalawang pautangan ay hindi na niya nababayaran dahil naipantataya na niya ang perang dapat sanang pambayad niya dito.



Nang nag-umpisa na siyang kalampagin ng mga pinagkakautangan ay walang abog-abog na sinesante siya ng kanyang mga amo.

Naiwan niyang luhaan ang isang kaibigan na kahati niya sana sa utang na umabot sa Php200,000 ang halaga.



Sa kabila nito ay hindi pa rin nagpaawat si Lita sa katataya, sa pag-asang susuwertihin siyang muli.

Kahit napauwi na ay nagpapataya pa rin sa mga kaibigan niya na nasa Hong Kong, at ang bayad ay pinapadala sa mga kapamilya ng mga ito sa Pilipinas.

Mabuti na lang at napagtapos naman niya sa pag-aaral ang kanyang panganay, pero ang bunso ay nasa elementarya pa. Si Lita ay 40 taong gulang at nakatira sa Nueva Ecija. – Marites Palma

HK has no plans to change policies on job-hopping

Immigration Department

The Hong Kong government has no plan to change its policies against domestic helpers' premature contract termination to change employers (commonly known as “job-hopping”) because enough measures are in place to prevent it, according to the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong.

Answering a question by legislator Dr Hon Chiang Lai-wan in the Legislative Council on December 12, Law said: “Since June 2013, ImmD (Immigration Department) has strengthened the assessment of employment visa applications from FDHs who changed employers repeatedly to combat abuse in changing employers.”

He cited figures indicating that this abuse is not prevalent.



“From June 2013 to end-October 2018, ImmD received around 544,000 employment visa applications from FDHs, of which 11,077 were subject to further scrutiny, accounting for 2 per cent of the total number of applications. Among the 11,077 cases closely scrutinized by ImmD, various exceptional circumstances may be involved, including premature contract termination on grounds of the transfer, migration, death or financial reasons of the ex-employer, or where there was evidence suggesting that the FDH had been abused or exploited. Of these 11 077 cases, ImmD refused 1,817 applications, 819 applications were withdrawn by the applicants, and 658 applications could not be processed further.”

He added: “The Government has all along been closely monitoring the suspected abuse of the arrangement for premature termination of contract by FDHs.



“Since June 2013, in order to combat suspected "job-hopping" by FDHs, ImmD has strengthened the assessment of employment visa applications from FDHs who changed employers repeatedly within a short period of time.  ImmD later implemented a series of measures to further combat "job-hopping", including improving the visa application assessment workflow, increasing manpower to handle cases, and issuing clear operational guidelines to staff, which include checking relevant records of employers and FDHs, and contacting the former employers and FDHs suspected of "job-hopping" to understand the reasons for premature contract termination etc."

He added that ImmD will continue to and review the effectiveness of the measures.



Law said the Labour Department (LD) has "all along been encouraging employers to purchase air tickets for FDHs instead of providing them with cash equivalent to the value of an air ticket... to reduce the chance of FDHs or employment agencies (EAs) not returning to their places of origin or not arranging FDHs to return to their places of origin after receiving from employers free return passage to the places of origin."



He also rejected a proposal for the government to introduce a probationary period in which employers can terminate their contracts with their helpers, because this would also make it easier for helpers to terminate their contracts prematurely, with the cost of recruitment still shouldered by employers.