The SUN HK

Breaches in the OFC raid

Posted on 03 July 2019 No comments

By Daisy Catherine L. Mandap

Some highly unusual events occurred in the aftermath of the police raid on the Sheung Wan-based money lending company, OFC, on Jun.5.

First, there was no public statement at all on the raid, during which 1,400 Philippine passports were seized by the police, and OFC’s young owner arrested for “breach of the money lenders’ license.”

This was most unusual, given the number of passports seized, and the amount involved. Police said in a belated response to our query that more than $4 million in loans was extended to the “victims” whose passports and work contracts were taken as collateral.

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But what really stumped us was when we learned – and witnessed for ourselves – that the police had begun returning the passports to the borrowers, at the intercession of the OFC owners.

Even officials at our Consulate were in disbelief when they learned about this, as they had been confidently telling everyone that the passports would be kept as evidence, before being turned over to them, in line with standard protocol.

In similar cases in the past, the police were quick to issue press releases, along with photos of the seized passports. Those times, the documents involved were just a fifth of the number found in OFC’s possession.

This time around, everything was kept quiet – until some of the borrowers began asking on Facebook what could happen to them if their passports were among those confiscated by the police.

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We stirred the hornet’s nest when we asked the police public relations branch about the raid. How many passports were seized, whether anyone was arrested, for what charges.

We were expecting at most, about 200 passports, as that was how many people had apparently besieged OFC’s offices two days after the raid.

So when we finally got the police response three days after we emailed our queries, we were stunned. A record haul of 1,400 passports, and not a squeak from the police?

Confounding us more was why police took it upon themselves to do the painstaking task of sorting through the pack of passports so they could hand them back to their individual owners at the say-so of OFC’s owners.

Why seize them in the first place when they would be given back after consulting with the company whose owner was still being investigated for violating his money lender’s license?

Why not keep the passports for the meantime and consult the Philippine Consulate at least on how to dispose of them eventually?

The picture got even hazier when we learned that OFC was using the money lender license issued to another family-owned company, Cheer Holdings Limited, whose given address is in Wanchai and not Sheung Wan.

Then, we also found out that Cheer Holdings has the same owners as Cheers Employment Agency, whose accreditation with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office was recently suspended for confiscating the passports and HK IDs of its recruits from the Philippines.

There is obviously far more to this story than has so far been revealed.

We trust that after sorting through the mess created by such blatant disregard for our laws that forbid the use of our passport as collateral for loans, our Consulate would make good on its promise to ferret out an explanation from the police.

This bane has gone on for too long. It won’t stop if money lenders who violate the law are let off so lightly.

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HK marks 50th anniversary of moon landing with free exhibition

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A model of an Apollo 11 spacesuit is one of he featured exhibits of the "50th Anniversary of Moon Landing" exhibiion at the Hong Kong Space Museum.

The Hong Kong Space Hong Kong Space Museum today opened an exhibition to mark the day astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon, the highlights of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Entitled "50th Anniversary of Moon Landing", the exhibution is being held at the foyer of the Museum, which is open during weekends. It showcases images, footage, models and interactive exhibits such as the rocket, spacecraft, spacesuit and flight path used in the first manned lunar exploration, as well as a piece of lunar meteorite.

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The exhibition also features a 5-metre-high Saturn V rocket model created by Lego Hong Kong Limited for the exhibition. The Saturn V rocket was a three-stage liquid-fueled rocket used to send the Apollo spacecraft to the moon. The rocket model consists of more than 200,000 interlocking bricks.

The Space Museum has also arranged a series of educational programs including workshops, special lectures and astronomical observations to arouse visitors' interest in astronomy and enhance their knowledge of space exploration.

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At the opening ceremony today, officiating guests included the Museum Director Paulina Chan, Lego General Manager for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Troy Taylor; Lego Certified Professional Andy Hung and Museum Curator Robert Leung.

The exhibition is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Space Museum and Lego Hong Kong Limited and will run until September 2. For details of the exhibition, please visit the Space Museum's website at hk.space.museum or call 2721 0226 for inquiries.

The Hong Kong Space Museum is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

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Associate of employment agency convicted of overcharging foreign domestic helper

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Eastern Court

The Labour Department (LD) crackdown on employment agencies overcharging foreign domestic helpers has netted another violator of the law that limits the placement fee to one-tenth of their first month's salary.

An associate of Philip-Indonesian Helpers Employment Limited, which had earlier been fined for overcharging, was found guilty of the same offense at Eastern Magistrates' Court on June 28 and fined HK$8,000.

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This completes the case that started in October 2018 when the Employment Agencies Administration (EAA) of the Labour Department (LD) started receiving complaints from nine domestic helpers claiming that Philip-Indonesian Helpers Employment Limited, located in North Point, charged them excessive commission.

Investigators found enough evidence to prosecute Philip-Indonesian and filed cases against both the licensee for overcharging the nine helpers, and an associate working for it for overcharging another one.

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As a result, Philip-Indonesian Helpers Employment Limited, the licensee, was convicted at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts for overcharging the nine FDHs and fined a total of $84,000. The Court also ordered the agency to refund the excess amount, which totalled $60,297, to the helpers who were overcharged.

The conviction of the agency's associate came later.

According to the law, a licensee or an associate of a licensee in respect of an EA, or a person purporting to act as such a licensee or associate, is not allowed to collect from a job seeker any fees or charges other than the prescribed commission, which is an amount not exceeding 10 per cent of the first month's salary of the job seeker upon successful placement.

In a press statement, the LD reminded employment agencies to operate in full compliance with the law and the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies at all times.

"Failure to do so may lead to prosecution and/or revocation of licence. The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2018, effective since February 9, 2018, has raised the maximum penalty for overcharging job seekers to a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years," it added.

For complaints about unlicensed operation or overcharging by these agencies, please call the EAA at 2115 3667, or visit its office at Unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon.

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HK unrest shows need for workers to learn livelihood skills: Labatt dela Torre

Posted on 02 July 2019 No comments

Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre gives the certificate of completion to one of the graduates. Looking on are assistant labor attaches Antonio Villafuerte and Angelica Sunga, and trainors.

By Vir B. Lumicao

Filipino domestic workers here should take advantage of free skills and livelihood trainings to prepare them to return home should the political uncertainty in Hong Kong worsen, and put their jobs in jeopardy.

Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre gave this advice on Jun 16, as he spoke at the graduation of 52 massage therapy trainees at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Wanchai.

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The graduates made up the 10th batch of the 10-week training course offered by the POLO and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

Labatt Dela Torre, who was sweating and panting as he arrived from a Health-Wise mission outreach in Yuen Long, apologized for his delayed arrival for the graduation rites, where he was the guest speaker.

He spoke of how he had a hard time returning to the city by bus and train because of the heavy volume of black-shirted passengers going to Admiralty to join the anti-extradition protest.

He said at Admiralty, he had to find his way out of the station because all the exits were clogged with people, as was the platform for the line towards Wanchai.

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In the end, he said, he had to exit in Admiralty by all means.

Labatt Dela Torre said the past few days’ protest action against the extradition bill being pushed by the Carrie Lam administration shows OFWs the importance of preparing for any eventuality.

He explained that the proposed legislation, if passed as scheduled last Jun 12, would have made it possible for Hong Kong to send accused people to places where it does not have an extradition treaty, such as Taiwan, Macau, and especially, China.

He asked the workers if they thought they would be affected by the proposed amendment to the law, and they answered “yes” in unison.

“This points to the fragility of our stay here in Hong Kong. So, the more empowered you are to return to the Philippines with skills like massage therapy, the better for all of us, di ba?” Dela Torre said.

“Kasi hindi natin alam, eh. Who would have guessed na ganito ang mangyayari sa…ang bilis ha! Kailan nag-umpisa? Last Sunday, and then Wednesday, then ngayon. Talagang ang bilis ng mga pangyayari,” he said.

He said things seemed to have cooled because the government had backpedaled and suspended the hearing on the extradition bill indefinitely. But he warned that when the protests had died down, the government could push the bill again and “maaapektuhan na naman ang mga trabaho natin”.

He congratulated the graduates, many of whom, he said, were already raring to go home. He said he hopes they could put to good use the skills that they learned.

Labatt Dela Torre reminded them of a standing offer from Nuat Thai, a massage therapy company founded by an OFW, that offers its franchise free of charge to every group of 10 OFWs who could put up an outlet of the company.

He also advised them to prepare for the certification assessment by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in December this year.

“Sana ay sa pagdating uli ng Tesda ay nandito pa kayo at maipasa ninyo ang NCII,” he said.

Also addressing the graduates were assistant labor attaches Antonio Villafuerte and Angelica Sunga, who both urged the workers to take advantage of the POLO’s skills training programs.

“Maganda ang ginagawa ninyo na ganyan na kung hindi kayo busy sa inyong mga gawain…
tingnan ninyo yung mga programang ibinibigay ng opisina para magagamit ninyo pag-uwi ninyo sa Pilipinas,” Villafuerte said.

Sunga, for her part, praised the graduates for their initiative to learn new skills instead of playing cards elsewhere on their days off.

“Mabuti iyan para pag-uwi ninyo sa Pilipinas magkaroon kayo ng ibang options. Sana pag-uwi nyo ay magtayo kayo ng sarili ninyong spa tulad ng iba,” she said.

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Stop the killings, int’l human rights groups tell Duterte

Posted on 01 July 2019 No comments

by Vir B. Lumicao

Image may contain: 7 people, including Baneng Mendez, Ma Jai and Eman Villanueva, people smiling, people standing, child and outdoor

Protesters set off from Chater Road in Central

Some 400 Filipino and international human rights campaigners have urged Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to stop killing poor and innocent people in his bloody war against drugs.

Leaders of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines sent their message to Duterte in a communiqué issued at the end of a three-day conference hosted by the Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights in the Philippines (HKCAHRP).

The statement was handed over to a representative of the Philippine Consulate on Jun 30, following a protest march from Chater Road in Central to United Centre in Admiralty where the diplomatic post has its offices.

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Peter Murphy, ICHRP chairman, said some 160 delegates from 45 countries have expressed solidarity with the Filipino people by signing the declaration calling on the Duterte government to stop the killings.

The protesters, which included activists from Argentina, Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, United States and leaders of Anakbayan USA and Gabriela USA, chanted “Stop the killings in the Philippines” and “Long live international solidarity,” as they marched to the Consulate.

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A few delegates from the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, which held its Sixth Assembly in Sai Kung recently, also joined the rally to show support.

A copy of the communiqué was handed by Murphy to PCG officer Danny Baldon, and asked that it be notarized as proof it was officially received by the government. Baldon told them to leave it with him and pick up a notarized copy in the afternoon.

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ICHRP chair Peter Murphy reads communique outside the Consulate building

In speeches on Chater Road and outside the Consulate, the protest leaders alleged that Duterte’s anti-drug campaign has led to the murders of activists, priests, journalists, students, farmers, workers and innocent children.

“We decided, as an Asia priority, to enable and support the United Nations and the International Labor Organization and other international fact-finding missions to enter the Philippines and investigate and ask the government to stop the killings", said Murphy.

Ma Jai, deputy secretary general of the ICHRP, called for more international solidarity with the Filipino people as, he said, Duterte’s government will get worse.

“Hong Kong people respect the Filipino people for their resistance against Duterte, who uses his power against the vulnerable, the weak and the poor,” he said, “but not the drug lords and others who are destroying the country.”

Adrian Bonifacio, chairman of Anakbayan USA, said the repressive regime in the Philippines is forcing some 6,000 Filipinos to migrate daily, mostly to places where they are trafficked, abused, exploited, detained and deported.

He also slammed the US government for allegedly recruiting immigrant youth to the military to fight its imperialist war and “kill people who look like us, our own kababayans.”

Among the other speakers was Donna de Lima of Gabriela USA, who pledged to fight for migrant women workers and for national democracy.

Migrante International chairwoman Joanna Concepcion said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration had collected US$5 million in pre-departure processing fees and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration US$20 billion as of 2017. But she claimed the funds were being used by Duterte to pay off his massive debt to China while neglecting the plight of distressed OFWs, like the 81 migrants who remain in death row.

She said that Migrante has just launched a global petition to be signed by migrants and submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the worsening human rights violations by the Duterte administration.

Eman Villanueva, chairman of Bayan Hong Kong and Macau, said migrant workers have long been suffering from forced separation from families back home and from maltreatment, unfair wages., discrimination and modern-day slavery.

“But we are unable to go home because in the Philippines, there is no justice for the poor and the Filipino people. Under the Duterte regime, the sufferings of the Filipino have only exacerbated,” Villanueva said.

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