The SUN HK

“Yes. Both Consulates General agreed to consult further with a view to sending recommendations to the Hong Kong Government,” ConGen Tejada said this evening.

He said the two consulates general should have their recommendations ready for submission to the host government “in two weeks’ time, perhaps.”

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ConGen Tejada would not give details of what he had discussed with the Indonesian consul general.

“Basically, there is convergence that ensuring the health and safety of our nationals are matters of utmost priority,” ConGen Tejada said.

Tejada says foremost concern is health & safety of migrant workers

Chiu announced last Thursday her office would probe problems associated with the boarding houses, such as overcrowding and poor hygiene.

She said the government is duty-bound to ensure boarding houses are safe for both the helpers and the general public.

Among the measures that ConGen Tejada hopes the Hong Kong government will do is to open leisure and sports facilities to migrant workers and offer them opportunities for capacity-building activities to enhance their skills.

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These should be in the areas of housekeeping, caregiving, Cantonese language, financial literacy, etc, which the FDWs can engage in on their days off and while waiting for their visas.

The Philippines and Indonesia are the two biggest suppliers of FDHs to Hong Kong, accounting for 365,302 helpers between them, or roughly 98% of the city’s total migrant domestic worker population as of Dec 31 last year.

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Remembering Merly

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By Daisy CL Mandap

Merly spent more than half of her life in Hong Kong, a city she loved

She may not have won any award, or received public plaudits for her many acts of generosity and kindness toward people she hardly knew, but Merly T. Bunda’s passing early on Monday, Jan 18, was met with grief by many in the Filipino community in Hong Kong.

Merly, who was single, succumbed to late-stage cancer of the uterus at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, where she was confined after being diagnosed with the terminal ailment only five months earlier. She spent her 54th birthday there last Dec. 17.

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Within that short period of time, the cancer relentlessly ravaged her body, but she valiantly fought on, never once giving in to suggestions that she should perhaps just go home and spend the rest of her days there.

As a trained midwife, she knew the dangers she faced each time she was made to undergo medical procedures, but she never wavered. She firmly acceded to everything that her doctors suggested, even to the final, dangerous one that her greatly weakened body was not able to withstand.

Merly was visited by friends when she marked her 54th birthday in hospital

People who knew Merly would know that she was being true to form that way. The pretty, delicate-looking Ilongga was known for being gregarious and soft-hearted, but she was also feisty and hard-nosed.

For the most part of her 30 years of stay in Hong Kong, she made it her business to know what was going on in the community. But it was never because she was prone to gossip; she did it because she was genuinely interested in people, and would offer help whenever she could, even if it meant sharing a big chunk of her hard-earned salary.

Merly (in white) with her SUN family

At The SUN, where she was a regular contributor for the past decade or so, she was the one we all would ask if there was any story or a social media post we wanted to get more information about. She never failed to deliver.

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But fellow contributor Marites Palma remembers Merly more for her kind heart.

“Nag ho hospital visit po siya nun. Marami siyang sinasamahan na mga may problema, lalo na yung mga may nakasanlang passport, mga OS (overstayers) dito. Minsan nauubos ang pera niya sa pagbibigay tulong sa mga na teterminate na tinutulungan niya,” says Marites.

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(She used to do hospital visits, she helped many migrants who had problems, especially those who had pawned their passports to get loans, as well as those who had overstayed their visa. Sometimes she’d use up her money giving help to those whose contracts had been terminated).

Merly with members of 'From a Distance,' a self-help group for OFWs she founded

This was the same sentiment shared by her fellow Ilongga, Erma Geolamin, who introduced Merly to The SUN. Erma, who has moved back to Iloilo to retire, remembers fondly the many times she and Merly would team up, not just to gather stories about troubled migrants, but also to focus on issues that had long plagued the community, like gambling.

Erma recalls Merly giving her tips about how much money was changing hands among migrants who played cards the whole day at a known Ilonggo haunt in Central so she could write about it. When Erma became a target of the gamblers’ ire, Merly immediately told her to stay away while she secretly did the digging up for her.

It was also Erma who Merly teamed up with in extending help to an overstaying migrant worker who became so popular from their stories that she was soon hailed as the “honest OFW” who returned cash she found in the trash, worth the equivalent of Php1million.

The truth about her finding only worthless crossed cheques came to light after Merly doggedly worked with The SUN in unraveling the stupendous claim.

It was not the only time Merly was betrayed by a fellow worker she had helped selflessly, but true to her good nature, she rarely, if ever, held a grudge against anyone, much less spoken ill of others.

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As a worker, Merly was well loved by her employers and their families. She worked 15 years for one family, and more than 10 for another. The last one she was particularly attached to, especially to the two children she helped raise from when they were babies.

One of Merly's cherished photos was this one where she's seen reporting for Bombo Radyo

Merly first got the writing bug after being asked to become Hong Kong correspondent for Bombo Radyo in the Philippines at the time of the SARS outbreak here in 2003.

Her booming voice had become so recognizable to people in her Iloilo hometown that many often got surprised on seeing how frail she looked in person.

“When they meet me in the market, they say ‘how does such a small person have such a big voice,” said Merly in an interview.

That dedicated following prodded Merly to widen her circle that in no time, there was hardly any event or story that escaped her reach. Her Facebook account which she used to report incidents or post cryptic comments, was widely followed, even if she wrote mostly in Ilonggo.

Her passing leaves a big void in the community, for she was kind and generous, as she was exuberant. There are not a lot of people like her.

*Merly’s remains will be flown home to Dingle, Iloilo, in accordance with her family’s wishes. Details of the funeral services will be announced later.

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New Covid-19 cases shoot up to 107, with about 40% untraceable

Posted on 18 January 2021 No comments

By Daisy CL Mandap

CHP says cases have surged because more people are getting tested (RTHK photo)

A one-month high of 107 new coronavirus cases were reported today, Jan 18, all but five of them locally acquired.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection acknowledged that the number of cases was “a bit high,” but said it was largely because of the mandatory testing ordered by the government for residents of infected buildings.

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“The surge is because we are doing more testing,” Chuang said.

She also noted that 42 of the local cases were of unknown origin, indicating that there’s a significant amount of silent transmissions still going on in the community.

Among the cases she mentioned in particular were 28 found among residents of buildings in Jordan and Yaumatei that are now under mandatory testing.

Residents of seven more buildings in the area were today also ordered to take tests after new cases were reported from their housing blocks. The buildings are located on Shanghai Sreet, Reclamation Street, Temple Street, Canton Road and Battery Street.

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Chuang said about 120 cases have now been identified within Yaumatei alone. Since early January, some 600 cases have been recorded in the district, and about a quarter of them are reportedly of South Asian descent.

“They usually live in crowded areas with close-knitted community, so they may spread the infection through environmental contamination and also person-to-person interaction with their families and friends in the streets or parks,” said Chuang.

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Of the five imported cases, included was another infection that occurred 19 days after the patient arrived in Hong Kong. Health Department staff said the 54-year-old woman arrived from Nepal on Dec 29, and tested positive on her third mandated test.

She was the third newly arrived patient in the past week to be found infected on the third and final coronavirus test prior to being discharged from quarantine.

Another patient from Nepal, a 57-year-old man who arrived on Jan 5, tested positive in her second test while in quarantine. The same happened in the case of a 39-year-old man who flew in from United Arab Emirates on Jan 4.

Two others, both foreign domestic workers who each flew in from the Philippines and Indonesia, were found infected on their arrival in Hong Kong. The Filipina is 31 years old and the Indonesian is aged 40.

Another patient tests positive 19 days after arriving in Hong Kong

Dr Sara Ho from the Hospital Authority reported that an 86-year-old female patient at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital passed away at 12:09pm today, raising the total death toll in public hospitals to 159.

She also reported two medical workers who tested preliminary positive. One is a support staff at QEH who tested positive for the virus on Jan 15. The other is a doctor at Northern District Hospital who worked at the accident and emergency department.

Ho disclosed that the doctor had performed an intubation on a confirmed Covid-19 patient on Jan 5, but had worn adequate PPE.

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“We are not saying this is the source of the infection. In fact, there are a lot of cases in the community and our staff could also be infected in the community,” said Ho. “But we need to do contact tracing to find the source of infection.”

Ho said 578 confirmed patients are being treated in public hospitals, of whom 41 are in critical condition, 27 are serious, and 510 are in stable condition.

A total of 8,785 patients have so far recovered.

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'Victims' of $14.6M jewelry theft in talks with accused to find more of loot

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By Vir B. Lumicao

Carmelita Nones is the principal suspect in the case

Prosecutors consolidated today, Jan 18, a $14.6 million theft case in Eastern Court against a Filipina with two separate handling of stolen goods cases against her three co-accused, all domestic helpers like her.

Magistrate David Cheung approved the consolidation of the cases reached during a meeting of the prosecutor with lawyers of first defendant, Carmelita G. Nones and her niece Maricris G. Nones, friend Cristina N. Alagna and sister Marina G. Biala.

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Barrister Oliver Davies, representing Nones, applied for an adjournment of the case until Mar 8 as he said negotiations were underway among the defense, the prosecution and the victims that could lead to a recovery of more of the missing jewelry pieces.

The four defendants will be committed to the Court of First Instance after the Mar 8 hearing, the prosecution said.

In the Dec 21 hearing, Nones offered to plead guilty to all the charges against her in exchange for the dropping of all charges against her three co-accused, her lawyer said.

After the consolidation, six of 19 charges were read out to Nones, the prime suspect in the biggest theft case in Hong Kong allegedly pulled off by a Filipino domestic helper against her employers.

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Five charges of handling stolen goods were laid against Maricris Nones, seven against Alagna and one against Biala.

In the consolidated charge sheet, the prosecution said prime suspect Nones stole about 200 jewelry pieces and gold bars from the Deepwater Bay house of former New World Development executive director David Liang and his wife Helen Frances during six periods.

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The prosecution charged that between June 17, 2018 and July 27, 2018, Nones stole an assortment of jewelry including eight necklaces, seven bangles, 16 pairs of earrings, 1 bracelet, a 50-gram gold bar and a 10-gram gold bar belonging to Mrs Liang.

Between Jun 27 and Aug 11, 2019, Nones was accused of taking two Piaget luxury watches valued at $100,000 each belonging to the Liang couple.

The third charge said between Jun 12 and December 2018, Nones stole a necklace, 2 bangles, 7 pairs of earrings and 1 bracelet belonging to Mrs Liang.

A piece of jewelry said to be among those missing & recovered from a pawnshop

From Sept 4 to December 2018, Nones allegedly stole 23 necklaces, 3 bracelets, 2 bangles, a pair of earrings, 1 piece of earring, 11 pendants, 5 rings, various jewelry pieces valued at $3,000, and cash worth $4,000. The total value of the stolen belongings was $120,000, the charge said.

Between Jun 3 2018 and Feb 11, 2019, Nones took 6 necklaces, 9 bangles, 6 rings and 4 pairs of earrings, the prosecution charged. Between May 13 and Jun 2, 2018, she allegedly stole 3 bangles, 7 bracelets, 2 pairs of earrings, 3 rings, 1 single earring and 4 other pieces of jewelry.

Maricris Nones was charged with five counts of undertaking to help handle and dispose of batches of the stolen jewelry (by pawning them) on five occasions – on June 3, 2018, Oct 16, Nov 25 and Dec 4 of the same year, as well as on Feb 18, 2019.

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Alagna was charged with seven counts of handling and helping dispose of stolen property on June 3 and 15, on Aug 9, Sept 30 and Dec 23 in 2018, then on May 5 and June 2, 2019.

The fourth defendant, Biala, was charged with handling stolen property all belonging to Elaine Liang between July 31 and Sept 5, 2019.

These were 23 necklaces, 3 bracelets, 11 pairs of earrings, 1 piece earring, 1 pendant, 5 rings, 1 necklace, $4,000 cash, with a total value of $120,000, as well as various pieces of jewelry worth $3,000.

The prosecution said in past hearings that Maricris Nones and Alagna were arrested last year after their names appeared in a police search of pawnshops for the stolen goods.

In Biala’s case, a bag containing several of the stolen jewelry pieces and cash was allegedly found in her room by the police.

Magistrate Cheung remanded all four defendants in custody until their return to court on Mar 8.

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