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Filipino domestic worker hangs self on employer’s yacht

Posted on 18 May 2020 No comments
By Vir B. Lumicao

The employer's yacht was moored off Kwun Tong pier

A Filipino domestic worker hanged himself on board his employer’s yacht on Friday night over love problems, police say.

A police spokeswoman said the 36-year-old man was found by a friend hanging by the neck on the yacht that was moored near Kwun Tong Ferry Pier.

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She said police received a call at 10:57pm on May 15 about the discovery of the body. A local news report said the caller was the 50-year-old friend of the victim.

A rescue team and a fireboat went to the scene and retrieved the body. The victim was taken to United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong where he was certified dead on arrival.

Police said no suicide note was found and there were no suspicious circumstances. But the spokeswoman said information gathered by investigators indicated the victim had a love affair problem.

A staff at the Consulate said the worker’s employer had called up the assistance to nationals section and was scheduled to go there this week to discuss repatriation.

Individuals with suicidal tendencies or depression are advised to call the 24-hour multi-lingual hotline of The Samaritans at 2896 0000.

OFWs with Covid-19 being hunted after escaping quarantine in Phl

Posted on No comments
By The SUN
 
Arriving OFWs at Manila airport are subjected to strict screening before being sent to quarantine facilities 

An unknown number of overseas Filipino workers who escaped from quarantine facilities and were later found to be infected by Covid-19 are being sought by Philippine authorities.

The information was disclosed by Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo in a interview with Dobol B sa News TV early on May 17. He did not say how many OFWs had escaped, or gave other details.
He merely said the OFWs escaped from hotels and could be with their families already.

“May mga nakatakas diyan sa mga hotel na yan at ang masama nito, lumabas na positive sila…ngayon, nandoon sila sa bahay nila, na kahalubilo ang pamilya, iyong community,” he said.
(There were some who escaped from hotels and what’s worse is that they turned out to be positive for the virus. Now, they’re already at their homes mingling with family members and the community).

Balilo said authorities are now looking for the escapees and are investigating whether hotel staff had helped them escape. Those found liable could be charged with violating the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.

He called on quarantined OFWs to be patient and observe procedures to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.  

A dorm-type quarantine center where some OFWs were sent 

In recent weeks, hundreds of OFWs have complained of being detained in quarantine facilities for up to a month already, when they were supposed to be kept there for only 14 days. Many were agitating to be allowed to go home so they could be with their families.

They included dozens of  HK OFWs being held in a resort south of Manila, who sent word about their plight to Consul General Raly Tejada. He in turn said he immediately forwarded their complaint to Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
The holdup appears to be due to the slow release of their Covid test results. While they were subjected to rapid tests at the airport, Coast Guard officials say the process is unreliable, and have now ordered two swab tests for the quarantined OFWs.  

Each of the more than 20,000 OFWs held at the quarantine centers is required to return two negative results before they could be released. The problem is, the result for each test is said to take 3-4 days, and the second test is not administered immediately after the first result is out because of the sheer number of people being tested.

Mass repatriation of OFWs continues as a result of the economic fallout from the pandemic 

Since February this year, tens of thousands of  OFWs who have returned to the Philippines after losing their jobs due to the pandemic have been put under mandatory quarantine in hotels, resorts, ships, and other facilities, with the Coast Guard keeping watch. Even those who go home for a vacation are subjected to the same procedure. 
Early this month, the Manila airport had to be closed to incoming flights while authorities scrambled to decongest quarantine facilities. But about 500 more OFWs from Japan and Britain have been flown home since.

3 new imported cases reported as health officials say Covid may be here to stay

Posted on No comments
By The SUN

The 3 new cases were under quarantine in Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan (RTHK photo) 

Hong Kong health officials say the coronavirus may never go away, as they reported three new imported cases today, May 17.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said in today’s press conference that the three new cases were all new arrivals from Pakistan. They included a 79-year-old man, a 39-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter.

Chuang said the man went to visit his relatives in Pakistan six months ago. He was asymptomatic and could not recall being in close contact with infected patients.

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He arrived on Saturday via a Qatar Airways QR 818 flight from Pakistan via Doha.

The mother and daughter, today’s second and third cases, went to Pakistan with family members on Mar 6 and were on the same Qatar Air flight as the male patient. The mother had a mild cough and headache but her girl did not have symptoms.

All three patients were transferred to a hospital from the quarantine centre in Chun Yeung estate.  
The CHP said today’s count excluded a 29-year-old male Hong Kong resident who tested positive in Britain on May 14. After his condition improved, he flew to Hong Kong on Friday via Cathay Pacific flight CX252.

He tested positive on arrival and was sent to Prince of Wales Hospital.

The new cases brought the total number of infections in Hong Kong to 1,055, with four related deaths.
Chuang said the first batch of 1,000 tests on residents of Lei Muk Shue Estate in Tsuen Wan, where an elderly couple who tested positive last week lives, and a tutorial center their granddaughter attended, all came back negative.

The three, who all live in Tsuen Wan, were the first locally acquired cases reported in more than three weeks.

Earlier on Sunday, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan warned that Hong Kong people have to get used to the “new normal” of having the coronavirus in their midst indefinitely.
Chan was echoing the remarks of Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization health emergencies program, who said “the virus may never go”.

“As experts suggested that the virus may not be eliminated completely and could become endemic, Hong Kong has to rethink how to embrace the ‘new normal’,” Chan said in a radio program.

Hong Kong would scale up its daily testing capacity of 4,000 to 5,000 as a key strategy to better detect cases in the community, Chan said.

Health officials have said earlier that the initial targets are staff at the airport and will also include patients in psychiatric wards.


Mag-ingat sa online loan

Posted on 17 May 2020 No comments
Ni Rodelia P. Villar


Laging gipit si Marnel M dahil sa sakiting anak, kaya halos hindi magkasya ang suweldo mula sa mga among taga Tsuen Wan na tatlong taon na niyang pinagsisilbihan.

Si Marnel na 35 taong gulang ay single mother ng dalawang anak na inaalagaan ng kanyang ina sa Batangas, kaya sa suweldo lang niya umaasa ang lahat.

Lalong lumaki ang gastos niya nang mag lockdown dahil kailangan puntahan ng doktor ang kanyang anak sa bahay para gamutin. Mahal din ang gamot na nirereseta sa bata. Kahit may nakukuha siyang discount sa PhilHealth ay malaki pa rin ang gastos niya.  


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Dahil dito ay naengganyo siya na mag-apply ng utang sa isang online lending company na nakita niya sa internet. Ang balak niya ay mangutang lang ng $5,000 at nang sabihin sa kanya na 5% ang interest buwan-buwan ay nakumbinsi siya. Sa ibang tao kasi ay 10% ang hinihinging patong buwan-buwan.

Ang hindi niya inaasahan ay may sinisingil pa la na $1,500 na “processing fee” ang pautangan, at kailangan niya itong bayaran bago mailipat sa account niya ang pera. Dahil desperado ay pikit-matang nag top-up siya sa account na binigay sa kanya. Pagkalipat niya ng pera ay agad siyang na block sa page ng pautangan.

Ganoon na lang ang paghihinagpis ni Marnel dahil niloko siya sa panahon na kailangang kailangan pa naman niya ng pera. Wala siyang utang sa kahit anong financing company  pero hindi niya alam kung bakit sa araw na iyon ay bigla siyang nagka-interes na mangutang.


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Umiiyak na naikuwento ni Marnel ang nangyari sa amo. Natatawa at naiinis din siya sa sarili na dahil hindi niya maipaliwanag kung bakit mabilis siyang naniwala at nagpadala ng pera. Sinabihan lang siya ng amo na mag- ingat sa sunod.

Ganoon na lang ang gulat niya nang sa araw ng sahod niya kamakailan ay binigyan siya ng amo na ekstrang $2,000 para sa kanyang anak. Nahihiya man ay buong lugod na tinanggap ni Marnel ang pera mula sa among mabait.

Nakakahiya man at nakakalungkot ang nangyari sa kanya ay minabuti pa rin ni Marnel na ibahagi ito sa isang grupo ng mga kapwa OFW para magsilbing babala sa iba. Paalala niya na mag-ingat sa pakikipag transaksiyon sa online at huwag basta magtitiwala.
Mabuti na lang, aniya, kahit minalas siya at naloko ay masuwerte pa rin siya dahil may amo siyang mabait na nagsalba sa kanya. 

Paano ba malalaman kung ang isang online na pautangan ay legal at hindi isang scam? 
Narito ang ilang palatandaan, ayon sa mga eksperto:  (1)   Hindi interesado ang nagpapautang na tingnan ang kakayanan mong magbayad; (2) Walang opisina ang nagpapautang; (3)  Pilit kang ineengganyo na magdesisyon agad; (4)  Aprubado agad ang iyong loan application; (5)  Sinisingil ka agad para sa “processing” gayong wala ka pang natatanggap na pera

   

What suspension? This OFW says she was still charged 3% for PhilHealth

Posted on 16 May 2020 No comments
By Daisy CL Mandap


Danlag's post shows her PhilHealth bill for 2020 is Php10,916.94, based on her estimated salary of over Php30k  

An overseas Filipino worker in Hong Kong has posted angrily about being charged 3% of her monthly salary by Philippine Health Insurance Corp (PhilHealth), despite reports that President Rodrigo Duterte had already suspended the collection of the mandatory fee.

Joanne Danlag’s hard-hitting post on May 8 earned the ire of diehard supporters of the president, but she is undaunted.

In her first post, Danlag said: “Attention, PhilHealth. Mukhang tuwang-tuwa kayo sa pamemera sa aming mga OFWs ah. Akala ko ba binawi na ni Duterte ang batas na 3%  na yan, bakit ngayong araw na magbabayad ako meron pa pala yan?

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Aba e, mas maigi na magsiuwian na lang kaming lahat para hindi kami ang magbabayad ng utang ninyo. Ang laki ng yearly (premium) ko, umabot pa halos kalahating sahod ko. O di kayo na!!! Kayo na ang kurakot, salot kayo sa aming mga naghihirap dito sa ibang bansa. Binawi na ng gobyerno, hindi ninyo sinunod.”

Danlag had based her assumption on an announcement made on May 4 by Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque that President Duterte had not only suspended the collection of the jacked-up premium, but also made OFW membership to PhilHealth voluntary.

This was followed by an statement from Health Secretary Francisco Duque III that a certain provision in the law that tied the collection of PhilHealth premium to the overseas employment certificate (OEC) would likewise be suspended.
But both officials made it clear that the suspension was only in effect during the pandemic, as many OFWs had either lost their jobs or suffered severe financial losses because of travel-related restrictions.

PhilHealth's website does not mention the so-called suspension, and instead re-posted on May 4 a statement explaining the need to collect a higher fee from OFWs, and an offer to allow them to pay the premium over one year.

The suspension announcement came after about 500,000 OFWs worldwide called for the halting of the mandatory collection of PhilHealth contributions from them.


500k OFWs have signed a petition calling for the scrapping of mandatory PhilHealth contribution

Dolores Balladares, co-founder of the Rise Against Government Exactions (Rage), which has been protesting the PhilHealth fee increase since January, said Danlag’s experience showed there really was no suspension order from Malacanang.

“So ibig sabihin, kalokohan ang suspension. Talagang nais lang ni Duque na pahupain ang galit ng mga OFWs, gaya ng sinabi ni Duterte na voluntary na ang membership sa PhilHealth,” she said.

“Hindi talaga puwedeng panghawakan ang mga salita ng PhilHealth at ni Duterte. Huwag na silang manloko. Dapat maglabas ng written announcement ang PhilHealth na suspended ang collection. Akala nila porke pumayapa ay tapos na ang protesta? Tuloy-tuloy lang ang protesta.”

She said the law itself must be amended to ensure that no mandatory collection is made because even the President has no power to overrule its provisions.

CALL US!

Danlag’s post primarily targeted the PhilHealth staff in her hometown of Ozamis City in southern Philippines, where she had sent a sister to pay her annual premium. She said she sent only enough money to cover the old fee of Php2,400, after hearing about the supposed suspension.

But staff at the PhilHealth office told her sister that Danlag would have to pay 3% of her monthly pay, as mandated by law. They demanded to get a copy of her contract, and using that as basis, computed her annual contribution at Php10,916.94, or 4.5 times the fee she had been paying for the past six years.

Danlag was enraged, and refused to pay.


Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.
In a subsequent post, she said: “Bakit kami???? Noong naghihirap kami sa paghahanap ng trabaho papunta dito nasaan ba ang gobyerno na yan? Hindi niyo kami tinulunganHindi ninyo maipakulong ang mga agencies na naniningil ng overprice. Halos isandaan libo papunta dito. Tapos ngayon na alam ninyong kumikita kami saka ninyo naman kami gipitin. Mahiya nga kayo. Hindi ninyo alam ang sitwasyon naming dito sa ibang bansa. Puyat, pagod, sigawan pa kami ng mga amo namin, batuhin pa kami ng ano-ano. Halos ikamatay na ng iba, saka lang kayo mag rescue kung nasa kabaong na ang kabayan namin…”

As a result of her posts, Danlag said she received a lot of messages telling her to shut up, that she was not telling the truth, but that if true, she was dumb for paying up when the President had already suspended the collection of the new fee, and many other negative comments.

Many bashers even claimed she was faking her story, citing the date indicated above the receipt, which was between May 2018-May 2019. However, it is clearly stated there that it was for "last payment," a fact the bashers chose to ignore.

One claiming to be a staff member of PhilHealth in Ozamiz had reportedly urged her to take down her post, saying she had endangered their jobs, but Danlag refused to bite.

“Ni hindi naman tunay na pangalan ang ginagamit, malay ko ba kung totoo ang sinasabi niya?,” a defiant Danlag said.
Danlag

She also said she did not pay the 3% charged her in Ozamis, but decided to remit her payment from Hong Kong, where collecting agents still charge the old fee.

At least one Duterte supporter befriended her, and convinced her that she could just wait awhile before paying her premium because the president would surely make good on his promise.

However, the Duterte leader also made her believe that the president signed only the general provisions of the law, which did not mandate PhilHealth membership for OFWs.

This is far from the truth. Under section 4 (f) of R.A. 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act, which President Duterte signed into law on Feb 20, 2019, OFWs were included in the list of “direct contributors” to PhilHealth for the first time. (https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2019/02feb/20190220-RA-11223-RRD.pdf_)

This means, too, that OFWs will be made to pay double contributions, meaning they pay both the employee and the employer’s shares. In the Philippines, all employed members pay only half the monthly contribution, while their employers pay the other half.

Thus, the higher the salary of an OFW, the higher the contribution will be. For 2020, the maximum payable for a worker earning at least Php60,000 a month is Php21,600 for one year. By 2024, this would go up to Php36,000 a year.

The law became enforceable on Dec 7 last year, 15 days after the publication of its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) which was signed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales.

The IRR went a step further, by tying the mandatory collection of PhilHealth contribution to the issuance of the OECs.

However, a statement issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration on May 4, clarified that it never agreed to any such tie-up, and that it was abiding by the president's suspension order. That means, PhilHealth will  now have to find another way to enforce collection from OFWs.
POEA says it never agreed to link the OEC to PhilHealth premium payments

Danlag clarified that she believes in health insurance, even while knowing her PhilHealth coverage doesn’t really go far. Last year, she said she went home to have an emergency surgery. Of her hospital bill of Php80,000, she said only Php20,000 was covered by PhilHealth.

But she continues to pay voluntarily as she has a child in the Philippines she wants protected as well. Thus, for the past six years that she has worked as an OFW, she has religiously paid her annual premium.

But with the more than four-fold increase in premium contributions, she said it was unlikely she could afford to continue paying. Giving a big chunk of her salary to the government just wouldn’t be worth the sacrifice of doing backbreaking work, away from her home and loved ones.

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