Congen Tejada says Consulate asking HK to rescind mandatory vaccination

By The SUN 

CG Tejada is asking HK to backtrack on mandatory vaccination

Consul General Raly Tejada says he is working on getting the Hong Kong government to backtrack on its mandatory vaccination order for all foreign domestic helpers applying for employment visas.

“Wala pang date of implementation ang mandatory vaccination sa mga mag renew ng visa or mag transfer so we will work hard na kausapin sila para sana di na ito matuloy,” Congen Tejada said when asked how the Consulate planned to respond to the mandatory tests and jabs on FDHs announced by Hong Kong on Friday.

PRESS FOR DETAILS

(No date has yet been set for implementing mandatory vaccination for those renewing their visas or transferring to new employers, so we will work hard to talk (to Hong Kong officials) so hopefully this won’t push through.

Tejada also said the Hong Kong government should have consulted concerned consulates first before ordering all FDHs to undergo Covid-19 test between May 1 to 9, and to get vaccinated when they apply for new work visas.

Pindutin para sa detalye

“It would have been better if concerned consulates like the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries of origin were consulted on this matter as it involves the substantive (human) rights of our nationals,” he said.

“The Consulate has been supportive of HK’s ‘free and voluntary’ vaccination program and have actively campaigned for this. However, our nationals need not be forced to take the vaccine since I am confident that they will do the right thing.”

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Tejada also said that if Hong Kong wanted to impose mandatory vaccination for people who are on work visas here, everyone in the same situation should be included, not just FDHs.

“If vaccination becomes a condition to work in Hong Kong then its application should be non-discriminatory so that there is no feeling among our FDHs that they are being singled out. Maraming non-residents din na similarly situated at pareho ang linya ng trabaho, so bakit FDH lang?” he asked.

Call now!

(There are many other non-residents who are similarly situated, and are under the same work conditions, so why single out FDHs?)

FDHs have been swamping testing sites in a bid to beat the deadline

Tejada did not deal with the issue of mandatory testing, as it has become moot with the implementation already underway.

However, he said he is consulting informally with other consuls general on the possibility of taking a joint position on the Hong Kong government’s pronouncements.

CALL US!

FDH groups like the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body have earlier called on their respective consulates to take a firm stand on the issue which they have criticized as discriminatory, and added to their stigmatization.

However, Hong Kong officials have remained firm in their stance towards mandatory tests and vaccination for FDHs, calling them “high risk” because they gather in large numbers on their days off, then return to their employers’ homes where many look after the elderly and children.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong has said details of the mandatory vaccination, including the starting date of implementation are still being worked out, but will be released in due course.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

 

Migrant workers mull legal action over mandatory jabs & tests

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Villanueva says AMCB will first file a complaint with EOC 

Migrant domestic workers are set to file a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission tomorrow, May 3, against the Hong Kong government’s order for them to undergo mandatory tests and vaccination against Covid-19.

This was disclosed in an online press conference on Labor Day by Eman Villanueva, spokesperson for the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, as government officials scrambled to deflect criticism of racism and discrimination against the order announced the previous day.

PRESS FOR DETAILS

Villanueva said, “We want to find out the opinion of the EOC on this matter.”

He added migrant workers groups are also consulting with human rights lawyers on the possibility of filing a legal challenge against the testing order, which is supposed to last from May 1 to May 9; as well as the mandatory vaccination for those applying for employment visas in Hong Kong.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Hong Kong government officials, meanwhile, have staunchly defended the orders, dismissing claims they were discriminatory.

Health Secretary Dr Sophia Chan said the measures were intended to reduce risks of infection, as helpers often work with the elderly and the young.

Pindutin para sa detalye

“It is important for us to build herd immunity so that everybody is being protected, including those who can’t be vaccinated," she told reporters on Saturday.

Chan insists MDWs are at 'high risk' of bringing the virus into their employers' homes

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung also deflected criticism. Writing in a blog post Sunday, he said the measures are aimed at protecting MDWs, their employers, families and friends.

But speaking at the press conference, former legislator and human rights advocate Fernando Cheung said outright that it is illegal to compel people already in Hong Kong to get vaccinated.

Call now!

He also said forcing the 370,000 strong MDWs to get tested is “totally uncalled for” and could lead to “logistical nightmare.”

Cheung said, “If you are applying from outside, I think the government can do that as a public health measure, but to impose on people who are already in Hong Kong, it is discrimination.”

CALL US!

He also said that adding forced vaccination to the terms of the employment contract would be illegal because it would not be a mutually agreed condition between the worker and the employer, but a government imposition.

Apart from these, he said mandatory inoculation is “totally unethical” because it would amount to forcing certain people to submit to a medically invasive procedure. He called on medical professionals to join the protest against the order, which has yet to be enforced.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

Cheung also expressed concern about how all MDWs could comply with the testing order within the nine days set by the government, given that many of them are able to go out only on Sundays and statutory holidays.

He said most appointment slots at community testing centers have been filled within hours after the mandatory test was announced, and worried of chaos erupting should people start scrambling to comply within the period set.

Cheung says it is 'illegal and immoral' to compel people in HK to get vaccinated

“I am not opposed to testing and vaccination. I think testing and vaccination are necessary…but we need to strike a balance between public health concern and individual rights,” Cheung said.

AMCB leader Dolores Balladares-Pelaez said her group is also working on getting support, not only among migrant workers, but other groups such as non-government and church organizations.

“Our consulates must also say something about this. They should represent the clamor of their nationals,” she said.

She added MDWs are demanding a retraction of the government orders, and make testing and vaccination voluntary for everyone, including MDWs.

Sringatin, also of AMCB, said members of their group, whatever their nationality, have also been asked to support their call for a silent protest.

They could do this by holding up posters expressing opposition to the orders while in their favorite haunts, without saying anything.

Pelaez said it was regrettable that instead of honoring MDWs’ contribution to society on Labor Day, Hong Kong chose to pass an order that discriminates and stigmatizes them.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

 

 

 

Experts say Filipina DH got mutated virus from Indian returnee

By The SUN 

Yuen says the variant has already spread in the community so urgent action is needed 

Government health experts say the Indian returnee from Dubai who lived in Jordan after ending his 21-day quarantine must have spread the coronavirus variant to a Filipina domestic helper in Tung Chung, who was found infected on Friday.

Microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung from the University of Hong Kong and David Hui from Chinese University, both said Saturday, May 1, that researchers showed the two patients carried an identical genomic sequence of the variant first found in South Africa.

PRESS FOR DETAILS

Yuen said in an interview on RTHK that this meant that the variant strain which is believed to be more infectious, has already spread in the community, and that urgent action is needed to stop it.

Hui, citing findings made by Polytechnic University researchers, said it was likely the Indian man who moved around Hong Kong after ending his 21-day hotel quarantine in Tsim Sha Tsui had sparked off a silent transmission in the community.

Pindutin para sa detalye

“He mainly infected his friends in Jordan and indirectly he probably infected the foreign domestic helper,” he said.

Hui said stepping up testing is the best way to avert the further spread of the mutated virus.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

But Yuen was more concerned, saying the government should conduct antibody tests on those who recently left quarantine hotels, as there were indications that the virus had spread in at least two Ramada hotels.

Call now!

Ramada Grand in Tsim Sha Tsui was where the Dubai returnee had spent his quarantine, while Ramada Harbour View in Sai Ying Pun was where a Filipina domestic worker who also tested positive for the South African variant after quarantine, had stayed.

Yuen said the variant could have spread either at the airport or the quarantine hotels, or problems with sampling and testing procedures had led to false negative findings.

He urged for random retesting of samples from recent arrivals from abroad, and field auditing for private laboratories.

Hui says mass testing should be stepped up, but Yuen says contact tracing is key

For him, mass testing, as was recently required for all of Hong Kong’s 370,000 FDHs, cannot replace painstaking contact tracing work to discover how the virus transmission started.

CALL US!

Meanwhile, eight new Covid-19 cases were reported Saturday, all of them recent arrivals from  overseas who had tested positive while in hotel quarantine.

Half came from Indonesia, two from India, and one each from the Philippines and Cambodia.

The additional cases brought Hong Kong’s total tally to 11,782.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

Another Covid-related death was reported on the same day, bringing the total number of fatalities from the disease to 203.

The 70-year-old female patient was admitted to Tuen Mun hospital on Apr 6 after a fall, and was confirmed infected during the admission screening. Her condition deteriorated while in isolation, and she passed away at 1:48pm on Saturday.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

Filipino family among 400 Caribbean Coast residents sent to quarantine

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The Puentespina family at the start of their long quarantine at Penny's Bay

Hong Kong oldtimer Raul Puentespina had just got home from work to Block 11 of Carmel Cove in Caribbean Coast, Tung Chung around 7pm on Apr 29 when he noticed a bevy of media people with cameras waiting in ambush outside the lobby.

He also saw vans and lorries parked outside the block with dozens of medical assistants and technicians setting up tents on the street-side. He immediately knew something was wrong and residents of the block would be tested for the coronavirus.

PRESS FOR DETAILS

But what Puentespina, a 55-year-old court interpreter who for several years had been a sales manager at San Miguel Corp’s Hong Kong unit, did not expect was that he and his family would undergo more than just a swab test. So did about 400 other residents of the block.

So after going up to his flat in the 65-storey tower he went back downstairs, hoping to pick up some foodstuff at a Fusion supermarket, but he was not allowed by police to leave the building.

Pindutin para sa detalye

He then realized that the people he saw moving around early on and were now wearing face shields and PPE protective robes were medics from the Centre for Health Protection who were conducting swab tests on residents of Block 11. Many more of them were testing or interviewing building residents under the blue tents.

At the command post were Dr. Ronald Lam, controller, and Dr. Albert Au, principal medical and health officer at CHP, who were issuing updates on the incident.

Call now!

A leaflet that was handed out to the residents told the stark story: A domestic helper who lives in one of 416 units on the block had tested positive for the South African strain of the coronavirus. A 10-month-old baby girl she was looking after was also preliminary positive. Thus, all residents of the building must be tested.

On his way back to his flat, one of the CHP ushers at the lobby accompanied him and told him to be ready for the test.

Pindutin para sa detalye

“As I could not leave the block, I rang up my two daughters who were on their way home from work. I asked them to stop over at the supermarket and buy the items that I wanted to buy,” said Puentespina.

They waited after dinner to be fetched by the CHP people, but they fell asleep waiting and woke up around 5am when they heard their neighbors already leaving their flats.

CALL US!

“We thought we were just going to be tested. We had no inkling that we’re going to be put in quarantine after the swab test,” he said in a phone call from the quarantine center.

He said that after the test, they were escorted back to their flat and told to prepare for a 21-day quarantine. So they stuffed some food, clothes, bed sheets and pillow cases in their bags and waited for their escorts.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love.

Around 10am, somebody came up to fetch and escort them to one of the white vans that would take them to the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre on Lantau Island.

There's an impressive food menu at Penny's Bay, says Puentespina

The site has several rows of squat light-material buildings that were built in haste last year originally to serve as quarantine houses for new arrivals from foreign places.

There the Puentespina couple and their four children were given three adjacent units, each housing two members of the family. The units were clean and neat, each fitted with a bathroom and toilet.

The beds were single-sized with plastic-wrapped mattresses that they must not peel off, according to the site staff.

Pindutin para sa detalye

“It’s good our flight stewardess friends who had been quarantined advised us long before this happened that, should we go into quarantine, we should bring our own pillow cases and bedsheets,” Puentespina said.

He said members of his group were given a supply of cup noodles and bottles of water upon arrival. Food should not be a problem, he said, judging by the variety of meals to choose from on the menu.

“We were shown a menu of food that we wanted to be served to us, so we made our choices,” said Puentespina, who was very impressed at the range of procedures that he and his family were put through until they got to the center.

“I noticed how efficient and systematic the CHP people were from the time we were processed at Caribbean Coast. They have a good system,” he said.

The system was so efficient indeed that, while the shuttle bus that was taking them to quarantine was still on its way to the Penny’s Bay facility, the CHP was already texting them that all six members of his family had negative test results, Puentespina said.

“The CHP said that all of us who were brought to this quarantine center had tested negative, otherwise we would have been taken to another place if we were found positive,” he said.

Puentespina said he expects their long quarantine to be boring, but he and his family members have thought of some activities that they could do to get them through the ordeal.

PADALA NA!

Call us!

PCG to take up issue of compulsory tests, jabs on FDHs with HK

By Vir B. Lumicao 

CG Tejada (right) met with HK Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong last year

Consul General Raly Tejada said the Consulate will make “strong representations” on behalf of Filipino domestic workers after the Hong Kong government required them to take Covid-19 tests and get vaccinated before applying for new work visas.

Hong Kong’s twin moves were announced by officials at a press conference earlier on Friday, after a Filipina helper tested positive for the mutated strain of the coronavirus, along with a 10-month-old baby girl under her care.

PRESS FOR DETAILS

“We will make strong representations on behalf of our workers,” Consul General Tejada said in reaction to Hong Kong’s announcement.

“But, in the meantime, since this is a mandatory order, we enjoin affected members of the Filipino community to comply to avoid any penalty,” he said.

Pindutin para sa detalye

Migrant domestic workers groups blasted the order for mandatory testing of all 370,000 FDHs in the city, calling it “outrageous and unacceptable.”

“The measures to make Covid testing and vaccination mandatory to all MDWs is outrageous and unacceptable as it clearly shows the discrimination and stigmatization   faced by migrant workers in Hon Kong,” said a statement issued by Dolores Balladares- Pelaez, spokesperson of the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body.

Pindutin para sa detalye

“The decision shows that the Hong Kong government unfairly blames MDWs for the spread of the coronavirus and is fanning the negative sentiment against MDWs. This must be stopped and corrected,” Balladares-Pelaez said.

She said the AMCB and advocates will hold a short online press conference to express their outrage and dismay at the new government measure.

AMCB has been at forefront of defending FDH rights amid the pandemic

The panic button was set off after the Filipina helper who lives with her employers in Tower 11 of Caribbean Coast in Tung Chung was found to be carrying the South African strain of the coronavirus.

Call now!

The Center for Health Protection said tests on her young ward showed the baby also had the mutated variant, indicating she had been infected by the caregiver.

Just a week ago, another Filipina helper was found infected with the variant, five days after ending her hotel quarantine.

The discovery of the highly infectious strain in the community has led government officials to zero in on FDHs.

Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love

From May 1 to 9, all FDHs are required to undergo Covid-19 testing. In future, said Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong, all FDHs who apply for employment visas will also be required to get vaccinated against the virus.

Members of the Saturday group of the Domestic Workers Group gave mixed reactions to the news, with some saying there is nothing wrong with compulsory testing and vaccination, while others were ambivalent.

Pindutin para sa detalye

One of them, Maris, favors mandatory testing but is opposed to compulsory vaccination, saying even her employers are against it.

“I’ll wait until it becomes mandatory...I mean no need to panic. When it is declared mandatory then, aw! Of course, we’ll have to follow,” Maris said.

Others don’t see what the fuss is all about, saying both measures will be for the helper’s benefit, especially the vaccination. 

“Nangangarap tayo na babalik tayo sa normal, so we should be part of the solution and not the problem, as long as the offer is free of charge,” said Elizabeth D. Pascual in a comment on The SUN’s Facebook page.

Several others were, however, angry, saying FDHs are being discriminated against. They asked why only FDHs have been singled out for mandatory testing and vaccination, and not their employers and other Hong Kong residents.

Meanwhile, some Filipino residents of Tung Chung said they got worried after learning that the mutant virus was found in someone who lives in a nearby block, forcing the compulsory quarantining of 400 residents of the building.

Wilfred Tan said many Filipinos who work at the airport live in Caribbean Coast. He said they include airline cabin crews, aircraft engineering staff, civil engineers with ongoing construction projects, as well domestic helpers whose employers reside there.

He and his wife Val, a Cathay Pacific flight attendant, live in Block 1 and have friends who live in the infected Block 11. This morning, they received a notice for compulsory testing, and they immediately complied, lining up for some time to have their swab test.

“Can’t (really be sure) kasi everyday po kami dumadaan ng Citygate. Lakad pauwi. Kaya kahit fully vaccinated na kami, nagpa-test pa rin,” said Tan, a court interpreter. He and his wife had their second dose of a vaccine three weeks ago.

Tan said he and his wife are concerned but cannot blame the inconvenience on somebody as catching the virus can happen to anyone.

Another Filipino who lives in Tung Chung is artist Martin Megino, who said said he was worried for the safety of his family.

But they were among the luckier ones. Another Filipino family of six who live in block 11 itself were hastily moved to the government quarantine center in Penny’s Bay as soon as the positive test result on the FDH was known.

BASAHIN ANG DETALYE

Call Us!

CALL US NOW!

Call us!

PADALA NA