Probe of Emry’s, Peya cases drags on after 4-5 years

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Police shutting down Mike's and Emry's offices in World-Wide House (File)

Police investigation of two big cases that reportedly victimized more than 1,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong has dragged on for between four and five years, with no cases being filed against alleged perpetrators.

The first case involves a fake jobs scam allegedly perpetrated in 2016 by Ester P. Ylagan, owner of Emry’s Service Staff Employment Agency, at that time the biggest recruiter of Filipino domestic workers into Hong Kong. 

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At least 400 people have claimed to have lost a total of $10 million after applying for non-existent jobs in Canada and Britain through Mike's Secretarial Services, another employment agency owned by Ylagan.

The second is the one involving the defunct Peya Travel Agency, which was accused by hundreds of mostly Filipino domestic workers of misusing the money they paid for their air tickets, leaving them unable to fly home for Christmas in 2017.

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A spokeswoman said today, Jul 21, that police continue to investigate Ylagan, 66, for “conspiracy to defraud” and “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence,” or money laundering.

Complainants alleged they had been duped by Ylagan into paying $10,000 each for fake jobs in the UK and $15,000 for similar jobs in Canada. 

 

The officer said Ylagan “was released on police bail and is requested to report back to police in early September.” 

It is not clear why she is not required to report on a monthly basis, as with other suspects who are out on bail.

Edwina Antonio, the case officer at the Mission for Migrant Workers who has helped the complainants pursue the case, reacted with disgust to the police update.

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“Habang tumatagal ang resulta ng kaso laban kay Ester Ylagan, three years na nga, lalong tumatagal ang inhustisya sa mga nabiktima. Nasaan ang hustisya? Tatlong taon na,” Antonio said. (As the result of the case against Ester Ylagan drags on, it’s been three years, the longer the injustice to the victims rankles. Where is justice? It’s been three years.) 

Police descend on Peya's office on Christmas Day, 2017 (file)

The case of the Peya Travel Agency flight booking fiasco may end up doubly heartbreaking for its victims, who were mostly domestic workers.

More than three and a half years on, police have all but dropped the case involving the defunct travel agency which operated out of  World-Wide Plaza in Central.

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A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Police told The SUN that Peya’s managing director Rhea Donna “Yanyan” Boyce and marketing manager Arnold Grospe have both been released with no charges being filed against either of them.

“They have not been rearrested and, as such, have no police bail and are not required to report to the police every month,” the spokeswoman said.

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However, she said the police has not closed the case, and is still seeking legal opinion and gathering evidence.

Boyce, who was 38 at the time, was arrested in her house in Wanchai on Christmas day 2017, but was released on police bail after being questioned for two days. Her Australian husband Peter was also initially arrested but was later dropped from the case.

Grospe, who was then 49, was the first to be invited for questioning but was not initially arrested. On Jun 6, 2018, he was picked up in Central for his suspected involvement in a fraud conspiracy, but was subsequently released on police bail.

The flight booking mess unraveled just days before Christmas in 2017 when about 200 travelers, mostly Filipino domestic helpers headed home for family reunions, were not allowed by airlines to board their flights.

It turned out the carriers had refused to honor their bookings because Peya owed them a lot of money.

Anger and frustration over their aborted flights drove hundreds of ticket-buyers to descend on the travel agent’s office on Dec 19, 2017 to demand a refund and compensation.

The police initially said as many as 645 people had complained against Peya and estimated the sum involved to be about $2 million. But the Consulate said later about 1,200 people had sought their help in filing complaints and claiming a refund.

Eventually, Cathay Pacific and Philippine Airlines decided to step in by sending bigger planes to Hong Kong and offering “distress fare” to the bumped-off passengers.

Cebu Pacific also stepped up to the plate by offering 50 free tickets to the affected travelers on a first-come, first-served basis. The offer was later matched by the Department of Foreign Affairs through a deal hatched with PAL.

But there were many others who were unable to board their flights or get a refund.

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Health experts call for lifting quarantine exemption for consular staff

By The SUN

No new cases were found during the overnight lockdown of the Tai Koo building where the kids live

Hong Kong health experts have called for the revocation of quarantine exemptions given to foreign consular officers after two children of a staff member at the Saudi Arabian consulate were confirmed today, Jul 21, to have been infected with Covid-19.

A compulsory testing notice issued by the Centre for Health Protection Tuesday night showed the two children, who arrived in Hong Kong on Jul 16, had apparently gone out to the Peak and Tung Chung when they were supposed to be isolating at home.

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The older child, a 13-year-old girl, was also found to carry the L452R mutant strain commonly linked to the Delta variant of the coronavirus. The result of the test on her 11-year-old brother is still pending.

The two were among five imported cases reported today. The three others are a 36-year-old woman who came from Bangladesh and tested positive on arrival test; as well as a 27-year-old woman from Cambodia and a 36-year-old woman from United Arab Emirates who were found infected three days after arrival while in hotel quarantine.

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The woman from Bangladesh was also found to carry the mutant strain of the virus while test results on specimens taken from the two other women are still pending.

A report in the South China Morning Post said the Saudi consulate worker and members of his household were moved to a quarantine camp after the children’s infections were detected.

 

They were also all stripped of their quarantine-exempt privilege following the discovery that they had flouted the rules on self-isolation.

The two kids reportedly visited the Peak Galleria while supposedly on home isolation

Hong Kong lists 12 groups eligible for quarantine exemptions when arriving from abroad, including government officials on official trips, air and sea crew and directors of listed companies.

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Foreign service staff who enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunity under international law, are given the same benefit.

However, they must all still comply with self-isolation restrictions imposed by Hong Kong authorities. 

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Respiratory medicine specialist Dr Leung Chi-chiu said in the SCMP interview that the government should review the quarantine exemption arrangements and stipulate who should qualify and how best to ensure they complied with the rules.

He questioned in particular why the children were covered by the exemption when their visit in Hong Kong was very likely unrelated to business matters.

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Another expert, microbiologist Ho Pak-leung, asked the government to stop exempting consular officers who are coming back from high-risk places for Covid-19.

“The virus can spread among consular officials…Even if you’re the president of the prime minister, if you come from high-risk places you can still get infected,” Ho said in an interview on an RTHK program.

According to the CHP, the infected girl developed symptoms on Saturday, but this did not apparently stop her and other members of her household from visiting the Peak Galleria.

The next day they visited the Citygate shopping centre and a cable car terminal in Tung Chung.

Meanwhile, an overnight lockdown of Tang Kung Mansion in Tai Koo Shing where the consulate staff and his family live, did not yield any new infection.

No positive case was found, either, during a similar operation at Leon Mansion in Wanchai where a previously confirmed patient had stayed before flying out to Paris, then back to Hong Kong on Jul 16.

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HK not ready to lift ban on vaccinated travelers from A1 countries

By Daisy CL Mandap

The news comes as a blow to the thousands of Filipino domestic workers stranded in Manila

Travelers from eight countries designated by Hong Kong as A1 or “extremely high risk” may kiss away their hopes of coming here – not soon, anyway.

Latest reports say Chief Executive Carrie Lam is not keen on the idea, and wants to focus instead on reopening Hong Kong’s borders with the mainland.

The news comes as a blow to many whose hopes were raised recently by reports that Hong Kong was planning to lift the ban partially, by allowing those who have been fully vaccinated to come in to reunite with family members or take up much-needed jobs.

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Among them are the thousands of Filipino domestic workers who have been stranded in Manila while waiting for Hong Kong to lift the ban it imposed starting Apr 20 on all passenger flights from the Philippines.

“Nakakalungkot naman po, lahat kami umaasa na,” said M.R., on being told about the latest development. (It’s so saddening, all of us had been looking forward to leaving).

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She said she had been waiting for eight months to be deployed to Hong Kong, from the time she left her hometown in Masbate for Manila so she could start working on getting her papers ready. By the time the flight ban was announced she already had an employer waiting for her here.

M.R. said she considers herself lucky as she could live with relatives in Caloocan City while waiting for the ban to be lifted.

“Kawawa po yung mga kasamahan ko na transient, mga galing pa ng probinsiya at sobrang laki na ang gastos nila. Araw-araw Php175 ang bayad nila para sa tirahan nila,” she said (I pity my fellow workers who are transient boarders. They came from different provinces and have already spent a lot of money. They pay Php175 a day for their lodging alone).

Another, M.G., was more philosophical about the unfortunate turn of events.

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“Wala na tayong magagawa kundi maghintay na lang,” she said. “Mag pray na lang na mag ok na sana. (There’s nothing we can do but wait some more. We should just pray that things will turn out ok soon).

But she could not help but add: “Kawawa naman kami. Ang dami ng stranded mula noong April pa.” (Woe to us. So many people have been stranded as early as April).

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Over the past four months that no word had come out from Hong Kong about when flights from Manila would be allowed to resume, many of the workers had been pouring out their grief on social media.

Mostly, they said they had already run out of money trying to stick it out in Manila so they could leave as soon as Hong Kong gives the go-ahead. Apart from paying for their board and lodging, they also had to pay for updating their medical check-up result. 

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Many admitted to borrowing money from loan sharks, and were scared that the interest charged them, which was hefty to begin with, had been compounding each month that they remain stuck in the Philippines.

At least one permanent resident who just went for a short vacation in Manila is also among those desperate to return to Hong Kong. According to her husband, T.S. was set to leave for Hong Kong exactly on the day the ban was imposed.

Being away from her family and work in Hong Kong for more than three months has weighed heavily on T.S.’ mind that she cannot help but feel angry that no one seems to care that she is unable to go home.

Congen Tejada has appealed to HK officials to take the Philippines out of the A1 category 

In an earlier interview, Consul General Raly Tejada, told The SUN that he had been trying to ask for a meeting with Hong Kong officials so he could appeal for the lifting of the ban on the Philippines, which has a comparatively more stable Covid-19 situation than the other countries in the A1 category.

That chance came two weeks ago, during the resumption of the technical working group meeting between the Consulate and representatives of Hong Kong's Labour and Immigration Departments.

ConGen Tejada said the Consulate asked the Hong Kong officials to reexamine the Philippines’ classification as A1 designated place, given the recent drop in the country’s daily infection tally, and the big number of Filipinos getting vaccinated each day.

“We also asked them to allow our residents and workers to come back given their need to work as well as the demand for their services,” he added.

In response, the Hong Kong officials said they recognized the importance of the issue and agreed that residents and workers need to come back.

However, no definite date was given as to when this might happen.

Regardless, the head of an employment agencies’ group went ahead and said that FDWs with approved work visas could leave as early as next month once they get fully vaccinated, but did not cite any source for this fearless forecast.

Apart from the Philippines, the other countries in the A1 category are Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Nepal, United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.

With the recent surge in cases in many of these countries, especially the UK and Indonesia which both saw their daily infection tally soar past 50,000 over the weekend; and India which remains severely blighted by the Delta variant, it is not likely that the ban will be lifted anytime soon.

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PCG will open again 9am-4pm starting Wednesday

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The PCG's 'return to normal' announcement

Starting tomorrow, Jul 21, the Consulate will start operating from 9am to 4pm, Sunday to Thursday, in view of the improving Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong, the PCG  announced on its Facebook page Monday.

This is a reversal from the 9am-3pm Sunday opening hours and the shorter 10am-3pm business hours on Monday to Thursday that the Consulate started implementing on Dec 3 last year.

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However, it is still not a complete return to normal as the Consulate used to provide services from 8am to 4pm on Sundays.

Also, the PCG’s return to its previous working hours lags that of Hong Kong government offices, which resumed their normal services on Feb 18.

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The Immigration Department, perhaps the most frontline of Hong Kong public offices as it receives about 500 foreign domestic helpers alone each day, opens from 8:45am-4:30pm Monday to Friday and 9am-11:30am on Saturday.

The Consulate did not respond directly to a query on why it took them another five months to follow Hong Kong’s example, despite complaints from Filipinos, particularly its main clientele, the OFWs, that the shortened hours have made their transactions more difficult than usual.

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“Reason is continued zero cases and improving situation since last July,” Consul General Raly Tejada said in reply to an online inquiry.

“Again let me emphasize that we neither closed nor did work from home since the pandemic began,” he said. “We need to calibrate our policies in order to serve the public in the best way possible. The policies we have adopted have allowed your Consulate to serve you without interruption."

PCG's December post said the shortened work hours were meant to last for only 2 weeks

However, during the third wave of infection in early July to August last year when PCG also shortened its service hours, it allowed its staff to work from home on alternate days, saying this was to prevent congestion in its offices.

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ConGen Tejada said then that the shorter operation hours were also meant to help Filipinos seeking their services to avoid rush-hour crowds in going to and from the Consulate.

The return to the 9am to 4pm opening hours was greeted with relief by most migrant workers, who had complained of not having enough time to complete transactions at the Consulate.  But some used the chance to clamor for the PCG to open on Saturday, which they say is their day off.

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ConGen Tejada said that’s not impossible, but like other Philippine civil servants, Consulate staff also observe a five-day work week under civil service rules.

“Ang mangyayari nyan, pag nagbukas ng Sabado ay parang sa Middle East kung saan ang mga Embahada at Konsulado natin ay sarado naman kapag Thursday at Friday na kanilang itinuturing na weekend,” ConGen Tejada said.  (If we open on Saturdays, it would be like in the Middle East where our embassies and consulates close on Thursday and Friday, which they consider as weekend.)

“Bilang kawani po ng gobyerno, ang aming pagbubukas ay dapat naaayon po sa civil service rules ng Pilipinas,” he said. (As employees of the government, our opening should be in accordance with civil service rules of the Philippines.)

OFWs say the shortened hours made it difficult for them to complete transactions

One worker suggested that the PCG open from Saturday to Wednesday so that OFWs can process work contracts or set appointments, as most of them take their day off on Saturday or Sunday.

While many others backed her call, others told them to insist to their employers that the processing of their contracts and official transactions are part of their job and should be done on their work days.

Opening hours were first adjusted by the Consulate to 10am to 3pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 3pm on Sundays effective Feb 3 last year, at the height of the first wave of the contagion in Hong Kong.

It then went back to the shortened work hours from July to August as Hong Kong was gripped by a third wave of infections.

The hours were adjusted again on Dec 3 last year, in a move that was supposed to last for only 14 days but continued until today.

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2 quarantine-exempt youngsters test preliminary positive for Covid-19

By The SUN 

(Updated)

Taikoo before tonight's ambush lockdown (from Taikoo Community Facebook page)

A residential building in Tai Koo Shing was put under lockdown starting tonight after two of its residents who were spending their quarantine at home, tested preliminary positive for Covid-19. One was found to carry the L452R mutant strain.

According to a statement released at 8:23pm by the Centre for Health Protection, the two cases involve a 13-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother who live at Tang Kung Mansion in Tai Koo Shing. They are said to be the children of a Saudi diplomat.

Earlier, another residential building in Wan Chai, Leon Court, was also locked down overnight after a 39-year-old male resident there tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving from France on Sunday.

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The man, who left for France only on Jul 2, was also found to carry the L452R variant. This was despite him receiving two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on Apr 6 and 27 in Hong Kong.

An antigen test also showed his blood specimen positive for antibodies on Jun 23.

Meanwhile, the two kids reportedly arrived in Hong Kong from Saudi Arabia via flight QR818 from Doha, Qatar on Jul 16 and underwent self-isolation at home on arrival, as they were classified as persons exempt from quarantine.

(Starting today, flight QR818 operated by Qatar Airways has been put under a two-week suspension after four of its passengers on Jul 18 were found infected on arrival test).

The two took flight QR818 which was today put under suspension after flying in 4 infected passengers 

On their arrival at the airport, the youngsters gave specimens which tested negative for Covid-19. But their deep throat saliva samples submitted three days later tested preliminary positive.

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The girl developed a fever on Saturday, Jul 17, but the boy has been asymptomatic.

Further tests done at the Department of Health’s laboratory showed the girl carries the L452R strain commonly linked to the Delta variant of the coronavirus, while the result of the test done on the boy is still pending.

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Under Covid-related regulations, the Chief Secretary for Administration is given the power to exempt certain groups of travelers from quarantine if their entry is necessary for the supply of goods and services needed in Hong Kong, for governmental operations, public emergencies and other important reasons.

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Diplomats, their spouses and under-age children also enjoy free quarantine as part of the privileges and immunities granted them under international laws.

The CHP says its epidemiological investigations and contact tracing on the two cases are ongoing.

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During the overnight lockdown. all residents of Leon Court and Tang Kung Mansion will be tested for Covid-19. They will again be tested on days 3, 7, 12 and 19 starting from today.

All places visited by the two youngsters and the man from France during the incubation period will also be included in a compulsory testing notice.

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7 imported cases reported; 6 with mutant virus, 3 vaccinated

by Daisy CL Mandap

4 of the 7 infected passengers flew aboard Qatar Air, triggering a ban on its flight from Doha

Seven imported cases of Covid-19 were reported in Hong Kong today, Jul 20, taking the number of confirmed cases to 11,965.

The new cases include two who came from the United States, two from Bangladesh, and one each from Japan, France and Iran. All flew in on Jul 18 and tested positive on arrival test at Hong Kong airport.

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All but one of the cases were found to carry the L452R strain of the coronavirus, often associated with the highly infectious Delta variant.

Three had two shots each of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong between March and April before flying abroad. All of them had the mutated virus.

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They include the 27 year man who was reported as having tested preliminary positive yesterday after arriving from the US. His infection prompted an overnight lockdown of a building in Sheung Wang where he resided while in Hong Kong, but no other case was detected.

The other two are a 52-year-old man who also came from the US and developed symptoms on arrival in Hong Kong, and a 39-year-old man who came from France.

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The other four patients are a 33-year-old man who came from Japan, a 58-year-old man from Iran, and two young females, aged 12 and 16, who came from Bangladesh.

Only the 12-year-old Bangladeshi girl did not have the mutant strain.

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As four of the patients flew in aboard QR 818 from Doha, the flight operated by Qatar Airways has been suspended for 14 days starting today, Jul 20 until Aug 2. These passengers include those who originated from Bangladesh, France and Iran.

3 of the 4 passengers who flew in from Doha had the mutated virus

The ban on QR 818 left many passengers booked to come to Hong Kong on the same flight scrambling to find other airlines and sorting out their quarantine arrangements.

One traveler who was scheduled to fly into Hong Kong with her young daughter via QR 818 posted an appeal in a Facebook travelers support group for help in booking another quarantine hotel as she had to change airlines because of the ban.

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Others complained of not being informed early enough about the ban, and finding out about it only from the Hong Kong government’s official announcement which came out this afternoon.

The flight ban was triggered not just by the four passengers who tested positive on arrival tests on Sunday, but also of another woman from Bangladesh who was found infected with both Covid-19 and the mutated strain when she arrived on Jul 14.

In its statement today, the CHP again urged the public to avoid non-essential travel outside Hong Kong, particularly to places designated as extremely high risk and very high risk.

Parents are also asked to avoid taking unvaccinated children with them when they travel.

If travel is unavoidable, passengers must ensure they get fully vaccinated before leaving. They should wear a surgical mask in public places at all times and maintain strict personal and environmental hygiene.

Information about the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong can be found  (www.coronavirus.gov.hk) or through the WhatsApp helpine at 9617 1823, or by clicking the link, wa.me/85296171823?text=hi,. 

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