Immigration rejects 355 visa applications from 'job hoppers' in Jan-Feb

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Immigration says it sent home 319 job hoppers last year despite the pandemic

Foreign domestic helpers planning to change employers for flimsy reasons should read this before they take the leap.

Immigration figures show that a total of 355 applications for FDH work visa applications were rejected in the first two months of the year, more than the total number recorded for the entire 2020.

And just this Tuesday, Mar 23, Immigration said it held a joint operation with the Labour Department to inspect “relevant” employment agencies and remind them not to encourage or induce FDHs to engage in job hopping.

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“If there is sufficient evidence to prove that EAs have induced FDHs to job-hop or have other misconduct, the ImmD and the LD will take enforcement actions as appropriate,” Immigration said in a statement sent to The SUN.

No mention was made as to why or how the agencies were targeted for the operation.

But Cynthia Tellez, general manager of the Mission for Migrant Workers, has consistently said there is no such things as "job hoppers." 

In her view, which she reiterated Thursday night in the online show "Talakayang Migrante", migrant domestic workers will only leave if their employers have been treating them badly. 

No amount of incentive, either from an agency or an employer, would make them take the chance of changing employers if they're being treated well by the one they currently work with, Tellez said, citing the long wait for processing a new work visa as one of the reasons.

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Immigration said its special duties team has strengthened its assessment of visa applications from FDHs who change employers frequently in view of recent concerns about job-hopping. 

To compare, the team reportedly rejected 165 visa applications for suspected “job-hopping” in 2018. The rejection cases increased to 267 in 2019, and rose further to 319 last year.

This was despite Immigration’s relaxation of its two-week rule (which dictates that FDHs whose contracts are pre-terminated without justifiable reason should leave within 14 days) amid pandemic-related travel restrictions in 2020.

Priscilla Leung is one of the legislators demanding a crackdown on 'job hoppers'

But amid complaints from some legislators that FDHs were taking advantage of the relaxed rules to job-hop, Immigration announced in December that it was tightening visa application rules for FDHs again.

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According to the Immigration statement, its special duties team will take into account a number of factors, including the number and reasons for the premature termination of contracts, the workers’ conduct and the previous records of both the employer and helper.

FDHs suspected of job hopping will be denied a new employment visa and required to leave Hong Kong.

“ImmD will also strengthen communication and exchange of information with LD with a view to combating job-hopping in a more proactive and focused manner,” the statement added.

Immigration said it has all along been rigorously processing employment visa applications of FDHs, refusing those from applicants with adverse records or breaches. 

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The department also reminded FDHs who wish to sign up with another employer after finishing their existing contract that they must, in general, leave and return to their place of origin after submitting a new work visa application to Immigration.

Visa applications from FDHs who have not returned to their place of origin as required will normally not be approved except in exceptional circumstances, said the statement.

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The advisory came with the warning that FDHs who overstay their visas will be prosecuted.

The seeming crackdown, however, may still be blunted by employers’ strong preference for FDHs who are already in Hong Kong, due to the worrying coronavirus situation in sending countries like the Philippines and the high cost of bringing them over.

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‘Active’ coronavirus cases in Phl near 100k as new daily infection record set

By The SUN 

The DOH graph shows the record figures in small prints on second line 

The Philippines set on Thursday, Mar 25 a record 8,773 additional Covid-19 cases, pushing the total number of infections so far to 693,048.

This is only the second time that the daily tally breached the 8,000 mark. The first time was set only three days ago, when 8,019 cases were recorded.

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The number of “active” cases is also at a record-high of 99,891 or 14.4 of the total. The positivity rate is 16.1 percent, meaning 16 out of every 100 people tested are found infected.

However, the Department of Health says 98% of these cases have only “mild” symptoms or are asymptomatic.

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The number of those declared recovered was 574, pushing the total to 580,062.

Fifty-six new deaths were recorded, bringing the total to 13,095.

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Amid the surge in cases, many hospitals in Metro Manila are declaring near capacity. The National Kidney and Transplant Institute in an advisory said its designated Covid-19 beds are all occupied.

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Vaccination issues continue to crop up, with various reports indicating people who are not medical workers and are not on the priority list are jumping the queue. This has prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to warn that violators will be prosecuted.

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The Commission on Human Rights also expressed concern, saying depriving medical workers of much-needed jabs threatens the entire inoculation program.

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Filipina acquitted of ring theft accused by ex-employer of being impostor

By Vir B. Lumicao 

After being wrongly accused of theft, Narcelles is now being called an impostor 

Just when she thought her ordeal was over, a Filipina domestic helper who was acquitted of a charge of stealing her former employer’s $100,000 ring faced another accusation when she appeared at the Labour Tribunal today, Mar 25, to pursue her claim for unpaid wages.

Liverty Narcelles, 35, was accused by her socialite former employer Chua Eh-fong of being an impostor, claiming the one who faced her in court was not the same woman who had worked for her and whom she wrongly accused of theft.

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Because of the accusation, Presiding Officer W.H. Pun reset the case to Apr 12 to give Chua a chance to prove that the Filipina was not her former employee. Pun told the accuser to report to the tribunal about the police findings by Apr 1.

Signs that Chua was up to something emerged when she asked the court clerk before the start of the hearing to check the identity of the claimant.

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So, the clerk asked Narcelles to take off her mask and show her face to Chua. Then he checked the helper’s Hong Kong ID before going to the back office apparently to relay Chua’s doubt to the presiding officer.

It took about 20 minutes before Pun finally entered the courtroom and started the proceedings.

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Before Pun could confirm the identities of the protagonists, Chua, speaking in English, said she wanted to say something. “The domestic helper I knew is taller than I am, unless the one who worked in my home assumed the identity of another person,” she said.

The officer asked how she could be sure the person in court that moment wasn’t her former helper. “Have you seen this lady before?” he asked Chua, who replied “No.”

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Chua then said, “This woman stole something from my house previously…”, but she was cut short by Pun, who said she did not have to tell him the details.

Replying to the charge, Narcelles told the officer: “I am real and she is lying.”

Pun asked for the helper’s passport and HK ID. After examining them carefully, he returned the documents and said the hearing could not proceed until the identity issue was resolved.

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He advised Chua to make a report to the police if she was sure about her claim.

Chua was told by the police that there was no basis to her claim

Unfortunately for Narcelles, the false claim about her identity was resolved by the police within minutes after the hearing was adjourned.

Narcelles kept calm as Chua called the police and stood close, apparently to ensure the helper did not escape. When three officers arrived, they told the parties to go to the ground floor where they inspected Narcelles’ documents.

In the meantime, the Filipina called her former employer, Portia Cheung, and told her about what was going on. Cheung spoke to the officers in Cantonese over the phone.

Then the police told Chua to call her driver. When the Filipina driver came, the officers asked her if the woman who was with them was Narcelles.

“Yes, that’s her. She’s Liverty. She only dyed her hair,” the driver said.

The officers smiled and told Chua there was no issue as they let the helper go.

Narcelles is asking Polo to put Chua on its employers' watchlist

Narcelles was acquitted on Jan 28 in Eastern Court of a charge of stealing a tourmaline ring valued by Chua at $100,000. The magistrate rejected Chua’s evidence, including a spliced CCTV footage showing the helper kneeling beside her luggage holding the ring and some trinkets in her palm. 

But by then, the Filipina had already spent more than four months in prison.

The helper, who is being rehired by her previous employer, is claiming $6,000 as one month’s salary in lieu of notice, unpaid wages for eight days, plus a return air ticket. She has also asked the Philippine Overseas Labor Office to put Chua on its employers' watchlist because of her false accusation.

But Chua filed a counterclaim, saying Narcelles should have given her a month’s notice instead.

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5 of 9 new Covid-19 cases imported, all with variant

By The SUN 

3 of the 5 imported cases were Filipina DHs who flew in from Manila

Five imported cases of Covid-19 infections were reported today, Mar 25, along with four that were locally acquired. All the imported cases were found to carry the more infectious N501Y variant.

According to the Centre for Health Protection, three of the imported cases involved foreign domestic helpers from the Philippines, while the two others came from India and Pakistan.

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Two of the Filipina DHs, aged 30 and 40, arrived on Mar 23 via Cebu Pacific flight 5J272, and tested positive at the airport. Both were asymptomatic.

The third, who is 43 years old, flew in on Mar 12 aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR 300, and tested positive on her 12^th day in hotel quarantine.

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The two others included a 9-month-old baby who arrived on Mar 4 from India and was found infected on her 19^th day in quarantine. The last is a 44-year-old female passenger from Pakistan who tested positive at the airport.

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Among the four local cases, one involved a one-year-old baby, while three others were linked to the outbreak at Ursus Fitness in Sai Ying Pun.

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Hong Kong’s total number of Covid-19 cases is now 11,429.

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In the past 14 days, a total of 291 cases were reported, including 219 local cases of which 40 are from unknown sources.

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Active coronavirus cases in Phl surge past 91k

By The SUN

The number of new coronavirus cases now far outnumber recoveries

Coronavirus cases continue to mount in the Philippines, with the number of active cases rising to 91,754 on Wednesday, Mar 24, the highest since the pandemic began.

The Department of Health said in its daily advisory that the number of  new infections increased by 6,666, driving up the total confirmed cases to 684,311.  

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Forty-seven new fatalities lifted the number of deaths to 13,039, while 1,072 patients recovered,  bringing up the total to 579,518.

Dr Alethea de Guzman from the DOH Epidemiology Bureau said cities in Metro Manila are now at the “high to critical risk” threshold, with infections in several cities surging 200% from the previous weeks.

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De Guzman said the possible effects of the government’s interventions to curb the spread of Covid-19 could be seen in two to three weeks.

In the regions, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Western Visayas, and Caraga are at moderate risk levels, the official said.

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The country now has 223 confirmed cases of the UK variant, 152 cases of the South African variant, one case of the Brazil variant, and 104 cases of P.3, a variant of a new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 found in the Philippines.

The first three variants have been associated with high transmissibility while the P.3 has not yet been declared as a variant of concern as current data is insufficient, the DOH said.

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As the number of infections continued to rise, the Philippines today received 400,000 additional doses of the vaccine from Sinovac donated by China, in addition to the initial 600,000 doses that arrived on Feb 28.

First batch of Sinovac vaccine donated by China (CNN photo)

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III and other Philippine officials joined Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian in welcoming the second batch of the vaccines at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

As initial doses from Sinovac and AstraZeneca continue to be rolled out in the county, NTF chief implementer Carlito G. Galvez Jr pursues talks with different pharmaceutical companies to secure more vaccines to inoculate 70% of the population to achieve herd immunity.

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The government says it expects to receive almost 2 million doses more by the end of March through negotiations with Sinovac and via the WHO-led Covax Facility.

One million doses will come from Sinovac and the remaining 979,200 from AstraZeneca through the Covax Facility.

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