4,600 FDHs lose jobs in past 4 months

By Vir B. Lumicao

OFWs process their documents at the Consulate.

Nearly 3,000 Filipino domestic workers lost their jobs in Hong Kong last month, the single biggest monthly drop in their numbers since they first started coming to the city in the late ‘70s.

Combined with nearly 2,000 job losses in the sector between January and February this year, the total decline so far this year is a staggering 4,667, much of it the result of the coronavirus contagion.

Latest figures from the Immigration Department show that as of Apr 30, there were a total of 215,061 Filipino domestic workers, a drop of 2,941 compared with the 218,002 posted by the end of March.

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In January, the total FDW population was 219,728.

A slight correction was noted between February and March, when the FDW tally rose by 348, an offshoot of the lifting of the travel ban that the Philippines imposed on travelers to Hong Kong on Feb 2, and lasted for 16 days.

Overall, however, the outlook looks grim for all foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Between January and April this year, a total of 8,097 FDHs lost their jobs, with more than 5,000 of these recorded just last month.

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This appears to be due to employers losing their jobs or businesses, or relocating to other places to escape not just the virus, but also the violent clashes between pro-democracy protesters and the police which broke out sporadically in the last half of 2019.

The double whammy has resulted in Hong Kong’s economy shrinking by 8.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, which Chief Executive Carrie Lam has described as “worse than expected.”

Another big loser in the jobs market is Indonesia, whose FDH population dropped by 2,571 over the last month alone. But overall, the drop in their numbers this year was just 3,151, indicating that most of the Indonesians lost their jobs only in the last two months.

Many businesses have been shuttered during the pandemic.

In the Filipinas’ case, many of the terminations were also due to the stepped-up pressure they experienced being cooped up in tiny flats with their employers’ family, who rarely left home for fear of the virus.

Several migrant support organizations have reported of  helpers giving up on their jobs because of the non-stop work they were subjected to, apart from frequent scoldings and inadequate work and rest.

The situation reportedly got worse when the employers started working from home, or simply stayed put due to the social distancing protocol.

Many others decided to break their contracts after being stopped from leaving the house even on their only day-off in the week.

The Mission for Migrant Workers a church-based group, said that from Mar 1 and to Apr 27 this year alone, 37 dismissed Filipino helpers had approached them for help.

Domestic Workers Corner, an online mutual support group of helpers, reported 25 of its members being sacked during the same period. Founder Rodelia Pedro said 12 of her members who chose to break their contracts cited maltreatment from employers.

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Johannie Tong, Mission’s community relations officer, said in a recent interview that 15 of the workers who lost their jobs in March-April were dismissed on the spot, without the one-month notice required by Hong Kong labour laws.

Tong said on the three weekdays that Mission opens its doors, an average of four distressed Filipino maids walk in. On the half-day that it opens on Sundays, the NGO receives an average of one or two cases.

She said these are apart from Indonesian helpers and those of other nationalities who come looking for succor. Tong said most of the workers were already fired when they approached the Mission.

Tong said in one case, the maid insisted on stepping out for awhile to remit money to her family in the Philippines. She was fired as soon as she returned.

FDH Population in Hong Kong
As of end of Month/Year	Philippines	Indonesia	India	Other nationalities		Total -- all nationalities
Jan-19	213,110	167,480	4,515	4,766		389,871
Feb-19	214,018	167,623	4,570	4,758		390,969
Mar-19	214,211	168,060	4,557	4,758		391,586
Apr-19	214,358	168,377	4,564	4,737		392,036
As of end of Month/Year	Philippines	Indonesia	India	Other nationalities		Total -- all nationalities
Jan-20	219,728	170,898	4,838	4,657		400,121
Feb-20	217,654	171,291	4,857	4,619		398,421
Mar-20	218,002	170,318	4,818	4,594		397,732
Apr-20	215,061	167,747	4,723	4,493		392,024

Source: HK Immigration Department

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Filipina DH, African man cleared of drug trafficking

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipina domestic helper was released from court today, May 5, after the prosecution dropped a charge of drug trafficking against her and African co-defendant.

Mary Ann Salazar, 27, and Obinna Emmanuel Abba, 32, were set free by Eastern Magistrate Bina Chainrai after the prosecution withdrew the charge against them, citing insufficient evidence.

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The charge pertained to 2 kilos of methamphetamine (or “ice) hidden inside cans of food products sent via air parcel addressed to Salazar.

The parcel was intercepted at the Hong Kong International Airport Air Mail Centre on Jan 4. Two days later, it was delivered to an address in Siu Sai Wan where Salazar and  Abba were staying, and she accepted it.

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The prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to show that the Filipina knew that the parcel, which was shipped from Malaysia, contained drugs.

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Salazar had been in detention since her arrest, but Abba was allowed to post bail. 

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HK to relax gathering rules and open some venues by Friday

By The SUN

Groups of eight people will now be allowed.

With no new case of Covid-19 being reported for the 10^th time in more than two weeks, Hong Kong today (May 5) relaxed social distancing restrictions by allowing groups of up to eight people to gather in public.

The new rules will also see bars, cinemas, gyms, beauty, mahjong and massage parlors reopening, although some restrictions on their operations will continue until May 21.

These include a prohibition on live entertainment and dancing in the bars, tables set at least 1.5 meters apart in dining places, and movie and theater goers being seated farther apart.

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Karaokes, party rooms and nightclubs won’t be allowed to reopen until after two more weeks.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam who announced the relaxation measures, also said schools will begin to reopen starting May 27, with students in secondary 3 to 5 being the first to go back.

Those in primary four, and secondary one and two, will return to class on June 8, with other primary school children and those in kindergarten three going back on June 15.

There'll be no classes for the rest of the year for children in kinders one and two.

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The social distancing measures which limited to four the number of people who could get together in public areas, were imposed on Mar 29, when the rate of infections in the city was at its peak.

Today, the city’s tally from Covid-19 remained at 1,040, the 16^th day of no new local cases being reported. Only 117 patients are still in hospital, with one in critical condition. The death toll remains at four.

The earlier restrictions also applied to restaurants which were, however, allowed to continue operating. But apart from setting tables farther apart and sitting a maximum of four diners at each table, the restaurants were also required to take the body temperature of anyone entering their premises, and provide hand sanitizers.

A Starbucks lounge area is marked to keep people apart.

Individual violators of the crowd control measures face up to $25,000 in fine and six months in jail. Restaurant operators faced double the amount in fine with the same jail term.

Standing in front of a new backdrop, “Hope on the Horizon” for her regular press briefing, the Chief Executive said restaurants could now sit up to eight people at one table. However, the 1.5 meters distance between the tables should continue to be observed.

Noting that 100 days had lapsed since her government scaled up the city’s contingency level to “emergency”, Lam said: “I fully understand the government’s work to combat the virus was not perfect but we have never let our guard down.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

“I hereby have to thank all frontline medical officers and unsung heroes behind the scenes, as well as all citizens.”

Lam also announced that from 7am tomorrow, reusable masks named Cu (see you), as well as disposable surgical masks will be given free to residents with a valid HK ID card.

Those who want to get the disposable mask should register on the CuMask website: (qmask.gov.hk), and they will receive the free masks via mail.

The Cu masks are being distributed by the Innovation and Technology Department, which promises to deliver them within two weeks after registration.

IT Secretary Alfred Sit said those who failed to apply online for the Cu mask could go to the post office to collect one when the online registration period ends after a month.

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Keep that mask on, says expert, as one new Covid-19 case detected

By The SUN

Face masks can protect us from carriers who don't show symptoms, say health experts

A Hong Kong woman who resides in the United States was confirmed positive of the novel coronavirus after she arrived today, May 4, becoming the city’s 1,041^st Covid-19 case.

Fine weather and the absence of new local Covid cases for the past two weeks has encouraged many residents, including migrant workers, to go out on their day off to eat and mingle with friends, or do outdoor activities such as swimming or hiking.

By noon Monday, Hong Kong hospitals had released 21 more patients, leaving only 136 still confined. Only one patient remains in critical condition while 7 are serious.

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While experts are suggesting that the government should ease some of its social distancing measures now that the picture has improved, health officials say they are not yet 100% sure whether the local infection chain has been broken.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said during today’s press conference that people should continue to wear masks because some patients are asymptomatic or have minor infection. These patients can still cause a local outbreak, she said.

Chuang and Lau set good example by wearing masks during the daily press briefings

“We have now one incubation period left and we now have some comfort that the situation is improving. But I don’t think we are 100% confident we will have another local infection case before we can confirm whether the local infection chain is broken,” she said.

She noted that over the past few days, people had been letting down their guard and going out to beaches and other places.

Chuang warned the public that the risk on public transports is high because they are crowded and some people would remove their masks. She advised the people to wash their hands after taking public transports for their safety.

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Some experts are now talking about relaxing restrictions and prohibitions on public gatherings after Hong Kong had gone through more than one incubation period with no local cases, Chuang said.

“I understand the government is studying the issues to see, given the current situation, what are the more balanced measures to take. On the one hand, we want to control the outbreak and, on the other, we want to relax the restrictions imposed on the public,” Chuang said.

On today’s case, Chuang said the 27-year-old patient was sent to Tuen Mun Hospital for treatment after her deep throat saliva specimen was tested positive for the virus at the AsiaWorld Exhibition testing site. 

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“This is a relatively simple imported case,” said Chuang.

She said the patient started showing symptoms on Apr 11 such as loss of smell, sore throat and blocked nose while still in the US. After a week of treatment she was released and came here to visit relatives, Chuang said.

For the past 24 hours until noon Monday, 15 suspected cases were reported and 151 patients were in isolation, Dr Lau Ka-hin from the Hospital Authority said.

Lau said 21 of these cases were confirmed to have recovered and discharged but were readmitted after showing symptoms again.

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NAIA now allows flights to depart Manila, but still no inbound

By The SUN

Philippine airport authorities now say international flights can fly out of NAIA

After a day of confusion, the Manila International Airport Authority has announced that it is allowing international passenger flights to depart from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, but it remains off-limits to arriving aircraft.

The original advisory from MIAA posted near midnight on May 2 said all flights in and out of NAIA and all international airports in the Philippines would be stopped for one week starting at 8am the next day.

A subsequent report said this was meant to decongest quarantine facilities holding some 20,000 newly-arrived overseas Filipino workers, many of whom had lost their jobs because of the pandemic.

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But yesterday afternoon, the Department of Transportation announced that the airport would be closed only to inbound flights, meaning those scheduled to fly out of Manila would be allowed to leave.

The flip-flops caused many passengers to complain on the MIAA Facebook page about the confusing information.

One said, “You cancelled out outbound flight yesterday. Now there is an outbound flight again? Where is the announcement you posted on May 2? There are a lot of inconsistencies. Many are coming from different provinces.”

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Another advised the airport authorities to inform Qatar Airways about the new arrangement because the airline thought all flights to and from Manila were still not allowed.

“The abrupt announcement yesterday provided more harm than good. Each memo should be properly communicated to all for it to make sense. May you provide also better customer service to your people,” said the irate passenger.

All other passengers who asked if their scheduled outbound flights would go ahead as scheduled were simply advised to contact their airline.

This prompted many to say that it was useless relying on the airport Facebook page as it left many more confused than before.

 

Cathay will only have sweeper flights from Manila for the next few days

Flights going to Hong Kong are also in limbo. A source from Cathay Pacific Airways said only sweeper flights, or those that carry passengers who had booked earlier but were unable to leave, would be leaving Manila for the next few days.

Hong Kong Airlines, the only other airline that continued to fly daily between Manila and Hong Kong since the Philippines imposed a travel ban on Feb 2, has finally decided to quit its flights between the two cities as well.

Its website does not list any flights to and from Manila, and advises the public to check the travel restrictions in the place they intend to visit.

This new uncertainty is giving one OFW who had booked a flight back to Hong Kong on May 8 an additional headache, as she has already started the process of booking a hotel where she could spend her 14-day quarantine on her arrival in the city.

Going to the Philippines earlier, she already had to undergo two weeks of home quarantine, which ate up much of her vacation leave.

But she was among the lucky ones, as all arriving OFWs in Manila are now taken to quarantine centers for 14 days before being allowed to proceed to their homes.

The National Task Force against Covid-19 said in a statement that this was because most of the OFWs had arrived from countries with significant Covid-19 outbreak.

Yesterday morning, news reports showed a deserted NAIA, but one broadcaster said a flight for Bahrain scheduled at 2pm was allowed to leave.

Today, the NAIA-MIAA Facebook page showed a list of four outbound flights that were scheduled to leave within the day: Qatar Airways bound for Doha, Singapore Airlines bound for Singapore, All Nippon Airways bound for Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and Korean Air bound for Incheon.

The list came with a warning that “these flight schedules may change at any given time. In such cases, please contact your airline for confirmation.”

Separately, Asiana Airlines posted an advisory saying that all its outbound flights Manila to Incheon, South Korea, will go ahead as scheduled every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Again, all passengers who asked about their flight status via other airlines were told to contact their carrier directly.

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Filipina helper on trial for $83k deposits in her bank account

By Vir B. Lumicao

The case is being heard in Kwun Tong court

A Filipina domestic helper is facing trial in Kwun Tong Court for alleged money laundering in connection with the transfer of nearly $83,000 into her Hang Seng Bank account more than five years ago.

The two-day trial of Evangelina G. Solano was originally set to begin today, May 4, but Magistrate Joseph To adjourned the case until Jun 2 as a key prosecution witness was still out of town and the transcript of the police interview with Solano was not ready.

Solano, who is out on bail and still lives with her employer, was ordered to return to court that day.

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The Filipina was arrested Jan 1, 2016 at Hong Kong International Airport on suspicion of obtaining property by deception. But the charge was later amended to dealing with property known or believed to be proceeds from a crime.

After the procedural discussions, Solano’s counsel presented in court the defense witness, Ip Yue-ming, the elderly employer of Solano since 2006. The defense said Solano was hired to care for Ip and his wife, also an elderly.

To asked Ip, a retired high school teacher, if Solano was honest and responsible and he said yes. When asked if she understood the charge against his maid, Ip again said yes.

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But he replied “It’s hard to state” when asked whether he thought the maid had broken the law.

Afterwards, the prosecution played back a video recorded interview of Solano, which the defense said it would challenge as it was taken in the absence of a lawyer for the maid.

But in the video recording, Solano was asked by an investigator from the Airport Police Division if she agreed to be interviewed without a lawyer and the defendant answered yes.

When the female officer told her she was investigating her in relation to a case of obtaining property by deception that took place between Dec 14, 2014 and Jan 2, 2015, the defendant blurted out, “No! Hindi ko nagawa iyan.”

Solano replied each time the officer asked her about the case, prompting the investigator to tell her not to say anything unless she was told to reply. She was also cautioned that anything she said could be used as evidence against her.

The defendant was asked if she had a Hang Seng Bank account and she said yes, adding that it was an ATM account without a passbook being issued. She said she opened it in mid-2015.

She admitted lending it to a Filipina friend named Nora whose surname she could not remember. Nore reportedly borrowed her ATM account to receive a $10,000 cash transfer her American boyfriend who was in Malaysia.

Afterwards, Nora reportedly needed money to pay for something, so, being her friend, Solano agreed to lend her ATM card and personal identification number.

Solano said she did not know that Nora used her account to receive $40,000 and $42,900 successively from her boyfriend on Dec 22, 2014.

She only saw the amounts when Nora asked her to go with her to the Kowloon City branch of Hang Seng so she could sign a withdrawal slip because it was a big amount.

Solano said Nora went home for good in September 2015 and the last time she heard from her was through a New Year greeting online.

When asked why there was a $20,000 deposited in her account apart from the amounts sent to Nora, Solano said it was money that she had saved from her salary. She said that account had been closed by Hang Seng since then.

The case continues.

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