Pinay’s Christmas vacation ruined by surprise termination

By Daisy CL Mandap

A Filipina domestic worker got the shock of her life when, soon after she boarded the plane for her flight home on Dec. 24, she received a text message from her employer saying she was being dismissed for “habitual negligence.”

J. R. told a migrant support group said that she had no inkling that her employer was unhappy with her work, and had planned to dismiss her.

She expressed fear that she may not be allowed to enter Hong Kong on Jan. 3, when she’s supposed to report back for work.



Told about her predicament, Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre immediately gave assurance that J.R. should be able to return to Hong Kong and file a labor claim against her employer.

“Under current protocols, she will be allowed in, and allowed to file a case at the Labor Department,” said Labatt dela Torre in a message.



J.R.’s Chinese employer said in his text that he was “resigning” from his employment contract with the Filipina helper effective Dec. 24, and was not giving any notice “under chapter 8 of the Labour Code”, by which he apparently meant the termination was for reasonable grounds.

The employer cited four instances of J.R.’s alleged “habitual negligence,” the first of which supposedly happened on Jul 16, when the helper allegedly “leave children at the door of shop.”
The three other cases of J.R.’s alleged negligence were:



*”not optimistic about children and let her falling down from hight (sic) chair, which supposedly happened on Nov. 18;
*”ignore the reasonable requirements of the child like wash hands or go toilet etc” and
* ignore the employer’s reasonable work requirements, and many times advised that there is no improvement.”



Among those who extended help to J.R. through online chats was Rodelia Villar, founder of the social media group, Domestic Workers Corner.  Villar advised J.R. to immediately send a message asking for help and advice to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the migrant support organization, Mission for Migrant Workers.



She also suggested that J.R. respond to her employer’s text and deny the four grounds of negligence leveled against her.

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HK woman to be charged with giving fake documents to 2 Pinays applying for UK jobs

By Vir B. Lumicao 

A Hong Kong woman who allegedly provided two Filipina domestic workers fake documents to support their application for work visa to the United Kingdom two years ago will be charged in court on Jan. 17, prosecutors said.

The new development led to a delay until May 6 of the sentencing of Criselda Bantasan, 31; and Cristy Par, 47; who have pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to use copies of the “false instruments.”

They were originally set to be sentenced today, Jan 4 at the District Court.

“I expect that the world will be happy for another adjournment,” Judge Li Chi-ho said after the prosecutor disclosed the arrest of Chan and applied for a delay in the sentencing.

Only Bantasan appeared in court on Jan 4.

When the hearing got under way, the prosecutor updated Judge Li on the developments in the case since the last hearing on Oct 4 last year.

She said the prosecution obtained further statements from Bantasan and Par that led to the arrest of Chan.

The prosecutor said that last November, the defendants identified Chan in a video of the alleged Hong Kong link of a Manila-based visa scam.

Chan will be charged in Eastern Court and prosecution estimated it will take two months before the case is elevated to the District Court.

During the Oct. 5 hearing, defense lawyer Melville Boase asked for an adjournment to Jan 4, saying there is a Manila-based syndicate that offers Filipinos here spurious jobs in Britain and supplies them with fake documents to support their applications.

Boase described Bantasan as a victim who had been helping police since day one and continues to do so to nail down the syndicate members who conned her.

He said the single mother, who has a 13-year-old son in senior high school, used PhP300,000 of her savings to pay a recruitment agency in Manila and Chan, for the work visa to Britain.

Par’s lawyer said his client also cooperated with the police and was willing to identify Chan, who at the time had already been arrested.

The court was told that after arresting Chan, the police raided her flat and seized more forged documents. But Chan’s partner, a black man named Ronnie, avoided arrest by going to the Philippines.

Ronnie allegedly provided Bantasan and Par with the forged documents, particularly the passports and bank statements of their employers, that were believed to have been fabricated in Manila.

The two women presented those documents to staff of the United Kingdom Visa Processing Centre at Leighton Centre in Causeway Bay on separate dates in 2016.

Boase said at the time that Bantasan was enticed by a Filipina helper in Hong Kong surnamed Chua to apply through the Manila agency for a helper job in Britain that paid 1,000 pounds a month.

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Judge gets impatient on 2 Pinays’ online pimping case

The illicit operation was said to have been run from
a luxury flat in Tregunter Path, Mid-Levels

By Vir B. Lumicao

For the second time, an Eastern Court magistrate has expressed displeasure at the delay in prosecuting the case against two Filipina domestic workers allegedly involved in an online pimping service operated by their employer.

Magistrate Peter Law made his comment as the prosecution said an investigation into the bank accounts of the company owned by the Filipinas’ employers showed it had made as much as $20 million from the illicit operation.

The prosecution asked for an adjournment for two more months but Law denied the request. He set the next hearing to Monday, Jan. 7, and remanded the two Filipinas in custody.

Law reminded the prosecution that defendants Jo-an Palpal-latoc and Jeanette Gallego had already spent eight months in detention with their case still stuck in court. Last August, he also chided the prosecution for the lack of movement in the case.

Palpal-latoc, 40, and Gallego, 47, both face a charge of living on the earnings of prostitution of others.

They were arrested for allegedly manning a number of dating websites offering sex to foreign tourists run by the company owned by their 69-year-old employer identified only as Ms. Wong, from her luxury flat in Tregunter Path, Mid-Levels.

Wong, her 72-year-old sister, and a male person were also arrested but were released on police bail while a separate investigation of their illicit business was under way.

The judge reiterated his concern over the Filipinas’ extended detention after the prosecution requested that the case be adjourned for two more months for further enquiry and legal advice.

The prosecutor said that since the previous hearing on Sept 7, investigators had looked for bank accounts of the two defendants, but found just one belonging to Papal-latoc. Gallego has no bank account.

Previously, she said the prosecution was planning to file an additional charge of money laundering against the two Filipinas for allegedly getting a tiny percentage of the money paid by foreign clients for the pimping services by Wong’s company.


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Paninindigan ang kailangan

Dalawang buwan pa lang si Marilyn sa Hong Kong. Wala sana siyang problema kahit may dalawang aso na inaalagan dahil mabait naman ang kanyang amo.

Ang problema lang ay sobrang higpit nito pagdating sa paglilinis, lalo na ng kanilang mga bintana.

Walang grilles ang mga bintana kaya hirap na hirap si Marilyn sa paglilinis ng mga ito.

Ginagamitan niya ng glass wiper at spray ang mga ito pero hindi pa rin kuntento ang kanyang amo.

Minsan ay uuwi ito at inabutan si Marilyn ng safety belt at rope na ginagamit ng mga naglilinis ng salamin sa mga matataas na building, at inutusan ang Pilipina na gamitin ito para linisin ang labas ng mga bintana.



Nagulat man ay sinabi pa rin ni Marilyn na hindi niya puwedeng sundin ang utos ng amo dahil bawal sa mga domestic worker ang maglinis ng labas ng bintana kung walang tutuntungang sahig o balkonahe.

Gayunpaman, takot pa rin si Marilyn na ma-terminate dahil hindi niya sinundan ang utos ng amo. Kinausap niya ang isang kaibigan na maalam sa mga karapatan ng mga migranteng manggagawa at sinabihan siya nito na ipakita ang page 4, item no 6 sa kanilang kontrata kung saan malinaw na nakasaad na hindi siya dapat pinapaglinis ng labas na parte ng bintana.



Ayon sa kontrata:
“When requiring the Helper to clean the outside of any window which is not located on the ground level or adjacent to a balcony (on which it must be reasonably safe for the helper to work) or common corridor (“exterior window cleaning”), the exterior window cleaning must be performed under the following conditions:
1.    The window being cleaned is fitted with a grille which is locked or secured in a manner that prevents the grille from being opened; and
2.    No part of the FDH’s body extends beyond the window ledge except the arms.



Pinayuhan din si Marilyn na ipaalam sa Philippine Overseas Labor Office ang kanyang sitwasyon at magdala ng patunay, katulad ng litrato ng mga bintana na pinapalinis sa kanya.



Sinunod naman ni Marilyn ang mga payo. Ipinakita niya sa amo ang pagbabawal na nakaaloob sa kontrata, at agad naman daw itong tumawag sa kanilang employment agency para itanong ang tungkol dito.

Sinang-ayunan naman ng ahensiya ang kanyang sinasabi, kaya hindi na nagpumilit ang amo.



Laking pasasalamat ni Marilyn dahil hindi na delikado ang kanyang sitwasyon at hindi rin siya napilit na labagin ang itinakdang panuntunan sa kanyang kontrata.

Si Marilyn ay 38 taong gulang, may tatlong anak at tubong Bulacan. - Rodelia Villar


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