By Daisy CL Mandap
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| This OFW claims she was able to fly into HK from Manila on Saturday |
Hong
Kong remains closed to all passengers coming from the Philippines, despite
recent reports to the contrary.
Talks
that some passengers from Manila have managed to enter Hong Kong became more
intense over the weekend, when a group of Filipina domestic workers claimed
they were able to fly in on Saturday after their recruitment agency received a “memo”
allowing them entry.
A
post by a certain J Lugo said she and three other Filipinas were able to
board a flight to Hong Kong, but did not name the airline nor the flight
number. The post was accompanied by a photo of two women wearing masks and face
shields inside what looked like an airplane.
Her
caption read: “Bye 4 now Pinas, see you after 2 years.”
In
a chat, she told another Hong Kong-bound worker that she and her friends were
already at Kerry Hotel for their 21-day quarantine. Quite tellingly, she said
there were two of them in a room, something that is not allowed for arriving
foreign domestic helpers.
Lugo
also told her fellow OFW to ask her agency if it didn’t get the same memo sent
to their recruiter which allowed her and her friends to board a flight to Hong
Kong.
It
was all a hoax, obviously, as Hong Kong’s online advisories still say that no
passengers from any of the “extremely high risk” places listed as the
Philippines, India, Pakistan, Nepal, South Africa and Brazil are allowed to
board a flight to the city.
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| HK government advisory on passenger flight ban on Philippines |
In
fact, even transit passengers who stayed in any of the named places for two
hours or more will be barred from boarding a Hong Kong-bound flight.
The
advisory in the government’s dedicated website for all coronavirus-related
matters states:
“All
persons who have stayed in Group A1 (extremely high risk) specified places for
more than two hours during the relevant period (the day of boarding for/arrival
at Hong Kong or during the 21 days before that day) will not be allowed to board for Hong Kong.”
The
same advisory is posted on the website of some airlines like Cathay Pacific which
simply states that any passengers who have been in the six extremely high risk
places “for more than two hours in the past 21 days will not be permitted to
enter Hong Kong”.
But
the confusion grew when a number of OFWs desperate to take up their jobs in
Hong Kong were told in a WhatsApp chat with someone handling the Consulate hotline
that “hindi sarado ang Hong Kong.”(Hong
Kong is not closed).
The
Consulate staff even said, “Saan po ninyo
nabasa or nakita na ban (sic) ang Pilipinas sa HK?” (Where did you read or
see that the Philippines is banned in Hong Kong?) Told that the information
came from news outlets in Hong Kong, the staff said, “Baka hindi na po yun updated.” (That’s probably not updated).
Another
worker, RM, got the same reply. “Saan po
ninyo nakuha na may banned galing Pinas to HK? Paki check po sa airlines ang
status ng mga flights?” (Where did you get the information that there is a
ban on flights from the Philippines to Hong Kong? Please check the flight
status).
Told
about the misinformation, Consul General Raly Tejada said the Consulate would
issue a clear advisory on the issue.
The
confusion appears to have been caused by the mistaken notion that all flights
from Manila to Hong Kong have been stopped. That is not entirely true because
airlines still fly in from Manila, but they only carry cargo, and not
passengers. They are only allowed to take in passengers on their return trip.
This
explains why hundreds of people from Hong Kong are able to fly to the
Philippines, but no one from there, save for a handful of seafarers who are
allowed to enter through a third country, are able to come into the city.
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| PCG's advisory posted on Apr 19 clearly states the ban |
The
ban on passenger flights from the six specified countries was imposed by Hong
Kong starting Apr 20, after several people in the community were found to carry
a coronavirus variant that was subsequently linked to an Indian returnee whose
infection was not detected during his 21-day quarantine.
Originally
meant to last for only two weeks, the ban was extended indefinitely after more
variant carriers were found inside Hong Kong, but who were subsequently found
to have caught the virus in their quarantine hotel.
The
extended ban has added to the misery to thousands of Filipino workers who have been
waiting for months to come to Hong Kong. Day in and day out, they ask if there
is any new information on the ban, with many saying they had incurred a lot of
debts just to secure the job that has suddenly looked out of reach.
A
few say they had themselves vaccinated, hoping this would give them a better
chance of being allowed in, and were dismayed when told that even this would not
work, given Hong Kong’s all-out effort to achieve zero infection.
