Filipina who stole over $500k from employer’s bank account jailed 12 months

By Vir B. Lumicao 

Garaza admitted stealing more than $500k from  her employer (photo from Kevin Luga)

A Filipina domestic helper who admitted stealing $538,500 from her employer’s bank account via unauthorized withdrawals over a 14-month period, has been sentenced to a year in jail.

June Jennie B. Garaza, 33, was sentenced by Magistrate Peony Wong in Eastern Court on Wednesday, 15 days after the helper pleaded guilty to the theft, which was discovered by her American employer, Stephen Peeples, on Jan 21 this year.

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The lawyer representing Garaza had appealed for leniency, saying the helper committed the offense because she was repaying debt incurred by her family for the cancer treatment of her mother, who eventually succumbed to the disease.

But Wong disregarded the appeal, saying she could only give the defendant a one-third discount for her guilty plea, because the defendant committed a serious breach of trust. Otherwise, she would have gone to jail for 18 months, the magistrate said.

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Garaza, mother of a 20-month-old boy, had already been detained for more than seven months since her arrest on Jan 22, so she may be freed after only a few more months.

She was initially accused of stealing around $780,000.

Luga told radio host Tulfo that his wife was innocent

Shortly after Garaza was charged in Eastern Court on Jan 25, her husband Kevin Luga, who was also a domestic helper of Peeples, appeared on the popular radio program “Raffy Tulfo in Action” to ask for help, claiming his wife had been framed. (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=930334117709097 )

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He said their employer had been furious after finding out that his wife had paid for his hotel quarantine in Hong Kong along with their baby son, by withdrawing money from Peeple's HSBC account using an ATM card.

Luga said Peeples, a lawyer, had placed the ATM card in an easily accessible place inside his house so Garaza could use it to draw her salary and pay for all the daily needs at the employer’s home.

Tulfo, in turn, spoke with Consulate staff Arnel de Luna and asked why they allowed Garaza to be held by the police without bail when the evidence against her, as claimed by Luga, did not appear to be sufficient.

De Luna said Hong Kong has its own justice system that must be respected  

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Luga, who was also sacked by Peeples after Garaza's arrest, has since returned to the Philippines with their son.

Peeples confirmed unauthorized withdrawals from his account between Nov 21, 2019 and Jan 21 this year totaled $650,500, lower than the $768,000 that she was originally accused of stealing.

After deducting $112,000 for the helper’s monthly $5,000 salary and $3,000 monthly household expenses for 14 months, the employer came up with the total amount which Garaza admitted to stealing.

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The employer told police he could easily pinpoint his own withdrawals because he always withdrew amounts ending in $900 so he would have $100 banknotes. He said he seldom used the ATM card as he paid for his expenses with his credit card.

Peeples hired Garaza as his helper in January 2017. He told police he gave the maid his HSBC ATM card and password in January 2019, with instructions to seek his permission and show receipts of her purchases each time she withdrew from the account.

Peeples discovered the theft on Jan 21 this year when he logged into his e-banking account and saw an unauthorized $3,500 withdrawal.

The employer confronted Garaza and, on the same day, the helper admitted making unauthorized withdrawals and sending the money to the Philippines to repay debt.

HK Musicians Union gears up for election as chair bows out after 8 years

By Daisy CL Mandap 

Three big-ticket events held during her 8-year term give HKMU chair Ela Lo (in black gown) immense pride

The oldest Filipino community organization in Hong Kong is preparing for its most hotly contested election in decades as its current chair, Manuela Lo, decides to quit after eight years of being at the helm.

Two groups of prominent musicians are contesting the vote to be held this Sunday, Aug 15, at the Hong Kong Musicians Union headquarters at Mirador Mansion in Tsim Sha Tsui.

One team is headed by current vice-chair and session guitarist Mariano “Balu” Casi whose running mate is Jed Daproza, while the other is led by noted keyboard player Lito Castillo who has teamed up with Bong Galagar.

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Weeks before the vote, both teams have flooded the HKMU Group Facebook page with photos and videos that show what they stand for, and what they aim to achieve if elected.

It’s a tightly contested vote not seen in the 73-year-old group in years, and Lo said it’s for the best.

“This is the first (contested) election in eight years!,” said Lo, the longest-serving and first female chairperson of the Union. “We are all excited and wishing all the best to the candidates.”

Casi's team is campaigning on a platform of continuity and care

Lo, who is closely identified with Casi's team as he has served as her vice chair for her entire term, told The SUN she looks forward to seeing more progress for HKMU, whoever wins the vote.

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The outgoing chair said she decided it was time to quit so she could focus on retirement, and prioritize her family.

“It’s about time, eight years!” she said.

Asked what she thought were her biggest accomplishments as HKMU chair, Lo said it was being able to present talented members of the group to the local and Filipino communities.

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“We did big events, (like) on Oct 13, 2015 when we did Broadway Music at City Hall, on Oct 5, 2016 when we did Song from the Silver Screen at Sheung Wan Civic Centre, and on Apr 28, 2018 when he had HKMU 7 Decades with special guest Arnel Pineda at TST Piazza,” Lo said.

As for her biggest frustrations, Lo replied: “I wish I could have done more.”

Left unsaid were the past two years of the pandemic, when she had to navigate HKMU through one of its most difficult years.

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Most musicians were left without jobs, and Lo had to ask around for whatever help could be extended to them, while lobbying government officials to reopen bars so they could work again.

Castillo's ticket calls for change for the betterment of the Union

Among those who stepped in to help were the three feisty women who are now running under Castillo’s ticket. Using their first-name initials MJM, Maricel Bedana, Jennifer Palor and Marlyn Hazelton raised enough money to buy rice and other food supplies for hundreds of their financially strapped colleagues.

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Somewhere along the way, frustration over the lack of a unified approach to helping fellow musicians apparently boiled over so Castillo’s team is now campaigning on the slogan of “We need change.”

The group is calling for a list of things which they say should bring about the change that HKMU needs, including equality for all members, bringing together musicians of all nationality, providing membership options without the need to join a pension fund scheme, and “creating a union that we could be proud of.”

On the other hand, Casi’s team is calling for continuity, and building on what the past administration has done to promote camaraderie and care among members.

“We serve with our hearts” is the team’s motto, and as Daproza said in a video uploaded on the HKMU public page, they will strive not to burn bridges, but to continue looking after the welfare of members and their families.

This coming Sunday will show which call resonates more with the group’s nearly 100 active and voting members.

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Elderly man in hospital after being jabbed twice; 5 new imported cases reported

By The SUN 

One of the 3 seafarers had already left HK when his infection was detected

Three seafarers are among five newly confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported in Hong Kong today, Aug. 12.

Staff from the Health Department said the other two, a 55-year-old woman and a 14-year-old teenage boy, are from the same family who flew in together from Switzerland on Aug 8.

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They both tested positive on their day 3 sample while quarantined at Sheraton Towers in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Four of the patients were found to carry the L452R mutant strain of the coronavirus. Test results on the fifth, a 43-year-old seafarer who came from Thailand, are still pending.

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The two other patients are a 38-year-old sea crew who came from South Korea, and a 35-year-old seaman from Singapore who had left on board his ship by the time his infection was detected.

Meanwhile, a health expert said an elderly man who was mistakenly given two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine Wednesday should not have much to worry about, apart from the possibility of experiencing more side effects than usual.

Worst that could have happen, says the expert, is the patient will experience more side-effects than usual

The 66-year-old man was taken to hospital after receiving two BioNTech jabs at a community vaccination centre in Tuen Mun. He was resting after taking the first jab when a nurse came by and gave him another shot.

Health officials said they were notified about the incident Wednesday afternoon.

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Reports quote Andrew Wong from Chinese University as saying that the man did not receive a “super dose” which could endanger his health, even if he is reported to have high blood pressure and cholesterol level.

The expert said each BioNTech shot contains 30 microgrammes of vaccine, but 100-microgramme shots, or more than three times the regular dose, were also tested in trials.

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"Theoretically, there might be an increase in adverse reaction, like pain in the arm, fever and also fatigue, which usually last for one to two days for a normal dose. So we need to observe the patient, to see whether [he experiences] more reaction or for a more prolonged duration," Wong said.

But he added the man should still receive a booster shot after 21 days, saying this is necessary to make his immunity last longer.

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Reports also said the nurse who administered the double dose to the patient has been relieved of her duty while the operator of the CVC has pledged to closely monitor all medical procedures from now on to ensure safety.

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PH economic surge not seen to last due to lockdowns, inadequate pandemic control

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The 11.8% growth in the economy was a rebound from massive losses last year, says IBON

The Philippine economy grew 11.8% in the second quarter this year, but economists see no real recovery as growth was a rebound from the massive collapse caused by the pandemic during the same period last year.

Research group IBON says growth will likely fall in the remainder of 2021 as the impact of economic scarring, continued lockdowns, and misguided fiscal conservatism is felt.

One of the constraints to a real and rapid recovery is the government’s refusal to spend out of a misplaced obsession with creditworthiness, said the group.

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Government figures show it spent Php2 trillion in the first half of this year, which is just 9.4% more than the Php1.8 trillion spent in the same period last year.

IBON said this is below the average annual growth in government spending since President Rodrigo Duterte took over in 2016.

The group said the government must spend more on the fight against the virus through free mass testing, expansive contact tracing, and targeted self-quarantines. Unless it does so, community quarantines could go on, said the group.

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Herd immunity also remains a distant target due to tight vaccine supply and more infectious Covid-19 variants, so, lockdowns remain possible.

Economists said the second-quarter growth was only the second double-digit expansion since the Second World War. The first was the 11.99% growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 1988 after the Asian financial crisis.

While the growth halted five straight quarters of economic contraction, IBON and economists point out that this comes on the back of the worst-ever dip of 17% in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2020.

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Economist JC Punongbayan referred to the headline-grabbing second quarter growth as a “mathematical illusion,” while National Statistician Dennis Mapa noted the GDP actually dropped to -1.3% based on a quarter-on-quarter rate.

Per sector, industry and services grew 20.8% and 9.6%, respectively, while agriculture, the bright spot in 2020, contracted by 0.1%. By industry, accommodation and food services grew the most at 53.4%, with other services at 39.4% and construction at 25.7%.

Year-on-year growth will only get worse in the coming quarters as the base effect fades, while the economy remains virtually stagnant, IBON said.

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Several basic issues need to be resolved to sustain high growth and hasten recovery, according to IBON, which noted that the economy was already slowing even before the pandemic.

New lockdowns will further dampen economic growth, say experts

“The lockdown-induced economic scarring of households and enterprises comes on top of this and will drag recovery even as vaccination proceeds and quarantine restrictions are relaxed,” the research group said.

“High unemployment, bloated low-paying or non-paying pseudo-work, and collapsed family savings dampen the purchasing power of millions of households. Hundreds of thousands of enterprises that have closed or only operate partially will not easily reopen or expand,” it added.

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The government’s refusal to spend more on stamping out the pandemic is another downside.

In late July, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III predicted a “pretty good” second-quarter economic growth due to the improved employment situation in the country.

He said in an interview on Bloomberg TV that he is “not big on predictions” but cited the drop in unemployment and underemployment last May. 

“The fact that we’ve created about 2.5 million new jobs over the last year seems to be good signs for us,” he said.

IBON, however, was unimpressed. It pointed out that despite the positive growth, the 3.9 million jobless in the second quarter (average of April-June) were still more than in the first (average of January-March).

According to the group, 1.5 million more Filipinos were jobless in the second quarter than in January 2020.

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Newly arrived Bangladeshi DH lone coronavirus case in HK today

By The SUN 

The Bangladeshi worker tested positive on arrival, but is asymptomatic

Hong Kong health officials confirmed one imported coronavirus case today, Aug 11, a 27-year-old female domestic worker who arrived on Monday evening from Bangladesh.

A Department of Health staff said the result of the patient’s variant type test is still pending. The woman showed no symptom when she flew into the city on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG 078 from Dhaka.

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​The Centre for Health Protection said the additional confirmed case took Hong Kong’s total caseload to 12,020. There are about 5 preliminary positive cases, the DH staff said.

A total of 40 cases had been reported in the past 14 days ending Aug 10, including a local “re-positive” case with unknown source. The rest are imported cases.

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The Hospital Authority said that as of 9am today, a total of 43 confirmed patients were being treated in  nine public hospitals and the North Lantau Hospital infection control centre.

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Among these patients, one is in serious condition and the remaining 42 are in stable condition.

The child care centre had an outbreak of Covid-like illness

Meanwhile, the government issued a compulsory testing notice yesterday on a child-care school in Hung Hom after an outbreak of upper respiratory tract infection and/or influenza-like illness with symptoms similar to those of Covid-19.

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The CHP said all staff, students and visitors who were at Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children William Grimsdale Day Crèche at Ka Lei Lau, Ka Wai Chuen, for more than two hours from Jul 28 to Aug 10, have to undergo testing by Aug 12.

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Those who choose to undergo testing using specimen bottles distributed by CHP, they have to return the bottles with the sample by Aug 14.

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Foreign affairs secretary twits HK for not recognizing Phl’s vaccination records

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

Locsin says the lack of centralized issuance of vaxx record in PHL is the problem

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. has lamented that Hong Kong authorities are not accepting vaccination cards issued by local government units in the Philippines “because they are not connected to a single source.”

“Poor OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) going to their jobs in Hong Kong even if jabbed,” Locsin posted on Twitter earlier today, Aug 11.

What the country's top diplomat means is that Hong Kong is looking for a centralized data base for all the vaccination records issued throughout the Philippines.

Right now, each LGU is allowed to issue vaccination cards to its residents, and these are not connected to a single agency or department run by the government. Thus, there have been reports of tampering, or fake vaccination records being produced for local use.

The Bureau of Quarantine has tried to remedy this recently by issuing yellow-colored international vaccination cards, with “World Health Organization” stamped on the cover.

However, the roll-out has been slow, with many people saying the appointment slots for securing the so-called “yellow card” have all been booked for this month.

And even if they do get the much-coveted card, Filipinos who got vaccinated in the Philippines still face uncertainty because Hong Kong has yet to give the green light for it.

According to Consul General Raly Tejada, talks are still ongoing between the Consulate and Hong Kong authorities on this, although local authorities seem receptive to accepting the BOQ-issued yellow card.

"We are working hard to come out with a unified vaccination card soon. Our dialogue with HK counterparts is both open and constructive so I am very hopeful that all our nationals can travel back to HK whether they were vaccinated here or in the Philippines," said ConGen Tejada.

Chan says HK's non-recognition of Phl vaccine certificates is blatant discrimination

Despite the assurance, some employment agency operators see Hong Kong’s rejection of vaccination cards issued in the Philippines as puzzling and downright discriminatory.

Thomas Chan, head of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies, said his group is disappointed with the Hong Kong government’s decision.

“We really don’t understand the mentality behind this. According to my knowledge, they (HK authorities) accept vaccination certificates from the USA even where there is no centralized data bank of vaccinated persons there. It is an obvious and blatant discrimination,” Chan said.

He also pointed out that people from the USA or any medium-risk countries are not only allowed to come in using whatever vaccination card they can present, they can also reduce their quarantine period from 14 to 7 days if they test positive for antibodies.

In contrast, people coming from high-risk countries like the Philippines will have to quarantine for 21 days even if they are fully vaccinated, and possess “valid” vaccination records.

In one of his press briefings, Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong also said foreign domestic helpers who are able to hurdle the vaccination requirement, will not only spend 21 days in isolation, they will also be put together in one or two designated quarantine hotels.

Hong Kong has consistently announced that vaccinated people coming from high-risk countries will be able to enter only if they hold a valid vaccination record.

By that, it means the vaccination certificate was issued by HK, China, Macau and countries with WHO-certified authorities like Britain and Ireland, which are both under the high-risk category.

The others in that classification do not qualify as having valid vaccination records. Apart from the Philippines, there’s Indonesia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa and Brazil.

 

 

4 new imported cases reported, including unvaccinated flight crew

 By The SUN  

3 of the 4 new patients received full vaccination in HK

Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection reported four new Covid-19 cases today, Aug 10, all of them imported and asymptomatic.

Three of the new patients received coronavirus vaccines in Hong Kong between March and April this year.

The fourth, a 31-year-old male flight attendant from Germany, was unvaccinated and tested positive for the L452R mutant strain on arrival in Hong Kong.

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Of the three other cases, one of them, a 54-year-old man who arrived from France on Sunday, also carried the L452R strain.

He was vaccinated with the BioNTech vaccine on Mar 23 and Apr 13 in Hong Kong and tested positive for antibodies on Jul 2.

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One other patient, a 60-year-old woman from Thailand, also tested positive on arrival. She received the Sinovac vaccine on Mar 3 and Apr 1 in Hong Kong.

The third is a 34-year-old man who flew in from the United States and tested positive while in hotel quarantine. He received the BioNTech vaccine on Mar 20 and Apr 12.

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The CHP said there were fewer than five preliminary positive cases.

Today’s infections raised Hong Kong’s total confirmed infections to 12,019.

HKUST is the first school to restrict entry of unvaccinated people 

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has announced that it will bar anyone from entering the campus unless they are vaccinated or comply with the fortnightly testing requirements.

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Students, staff and regular visitors are all covered by the regulation which will take effect starting Sept 1.

Staff and students will be required to upload their vaccination or testing record to an online system in order to receive an electronic ‘Campus Access Pass’.

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Those who aren’t vaccinated will need to get tested every two weeks to renew their access pass. Vaccinated staff and students will get an entry pass that expires at the end of this year.

Anyone who fails to present a vaccination or testing record will be barred from entering campus or other university facilities with access controls, such as the library or sports facilities.

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While students will not be dropped from the rolls if they do not comply with the requirement, the university said their studies will nevertheless be affected because they won’t be able to attend face-to-face classes or on-campus activities.

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