116 Filipina migrants graduate from Umela’s training courses

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

All smiles as the graduates join their mentors and special guests

There were big smiles all around as more than 50 Filipina domestic workers joined the graduation ceremony organized by the United Migrant Entrepreneurship and Livelihood Association (Umela) and held at Bayanihan Centre on Dec 12.

For good reason: these women were among 116 workers who braved the year-long challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic to finish various livelihood training courses offered by Umela.

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For their feat, they received profuse praises and well-meaning advice from guests at the event, led by Consul Bob Quintin, head of the Consulate’s cultural section.

The graduates were encouraged to use their newly acquired skills to start their own businesses when they go back home, or use them to help family and friends who need massage therapy to get over some ailment or as a form of relaxation.

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According to Umela founder Ofelia Baquirin, many of the graduates who failed to join the celebration had already gone back to the Philippines for good, armed with the skills they acquired from the intensive training that took months to complete.

Baquirin said the graduates completed courses in massage therapy, cupping and ventosa, and macramé bag making. The bulk of the group, or 82, made up seven batches who completed massage therapy, 15 cupping/ventosa, and 19 macrame bag making.

Finding a place big enough for their hands-on training is a challenge amid the pandemic

Unlike in the past when each batch would finish the training sessions in a few months, including lectures and on-hand practice, the new graduates took as long as the entire year to complete the course.

“Mahigpit kasi ngayon, minsan pinapaalis kami ng mga pulis mula sa puwesto namin sa High Court dahil bawal ang magtipon-tipon,” said Baquirin. (It’s more difficult nowadays, sometimes the police would ask us to leave our hangout at the High Court because of the gathering restrictions).

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Getting a big enough space for their training sessions was always a challenge as practice massage and cupping/ventosa requires students to work on people lying flat-out on the floor. Bag-making also requires a space big enough for students to work on their craft together.

In the past, they made do with the hidden nooks just opposite the High Court building in Admiralty to learn the rudiments of pressure points and kneading tight joints, but pandemic restrictions prevented them from gathering there and in other public places.

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That halted their training most days, and forced them to look for more private places to continue their hands-on training, if they could find them.

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But the challenges only strengthened their resolve, as shown by the big number of graduates who completed the course.

Outstanding Student awardees join Umela founder Baquirin (middle) and guests

Given special mention during the end-of-year awards were those who rose above their peers, to achieve the Outstanding Student award. For batch 42 of massage therapy, the awardee was Merly Lagalagot. For batch 42, Amelia Mostoles; batch 44, Generose Dela Cruz; batch 45, Nimfa Balignasay; batch 46, Maria Estrella Javier; batch 47, Mary Joy Villalobos and batch 51, Norma Menodiado.

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Umela will start accepting new applicants for their training courses this Sunday, Dec 19. 

They will also hold an outreach to give free body check and massage on the same day at Edinburgh Place in Central from 10am to 3:30 pm. For more information, send a WhatsApp message to 69790766.

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Lockdown ordered as cargo crew tests positive, likely with Omicron variant

By The SUN

 

The Yau Ma Tei building where the cargo crew lives, was locked down overnight

A Yau Ma Tei building was locked down overnight and all its residents tested for Covid-19, after a local cargo crew who lives there tested preliminary positive, possibly with the highly infectious Omicron variant. 

The Centre for Health Protection said late on Thursday, Dec 16, that the 36-year-old male patient living at Cheung Hing Building on Pitt Street, Yau Ma Tei was found infected three days after arriving in Hong Kong by flight CX2071 from the United States.

As he was exempted from compulsory quarantine, he was allowed to go home after testing negative for Covid-19 on his arrival in Hong Kong on Dec 13.

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During his period of self-isolation, the patient said that except from buying good outside for a short duration on Dec 15 and going to a mobile specimen collection station, he stayed at home most of the time.

Both places were included in a compulsory testing notice later issued by CHP, as well as other venues he visited across Hong Kong during the incubation period.

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The patient tested negative in Hong Kong on Dec 9 and left for the US two days later. He tested negative again on his return to Hong Kong on Dec 13.

After being allowed to go home, a sample he submitted on Dec 15 tested preliminary positive for Covid-19 and he developed symptoms on the same day with a Ct value about 25 to 29, indicating a recent infection. He was also found to carry the N501Y mutant strain.

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He received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong on Mar 22 and Apr 15.

The CHP said that testing by the Department of Health’s public laboratory services showed the spike protein gene of the patient’s sample involved the T478K mutation.

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“In view of the testing property of the Omicron variant, both N501Y and T478K are two of the targets to detect the Omicron variant, hence the CHP suspects at this stage that the patient carries the Omicron variant,” said the CHP’s statement.

But it cautioned a whole genome sequencing still needs to be conducted to confirm whether the patient does carry the highly feared variant.

Nepal Air is banned from flying in for 2 weeks after 4 passengers tested positive on arrival

Earlier, health authorities banned Nepal Airlines from flying passenger flights to Hong Kong for two weeks, after four passengers on a Dec 14 flight were confirmed positive for Covid-19.

The patients, comprising two men and two women aged 24 to 76, tested positive on their arrival test. All carried the L452R variant and were fully vaccinated.

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They were among 10 new confirmed cases reported by the CHP on Thursday. The rest comprised two air crew who arrived from Germany and Kenya via United Arab Emirates respectively; a foreign domestic helper from Indonesia, another seafarer aboard the quarantined vessel Glory Sky; and two returnees – one from the Netherlands and another from

Belarus and Lithuania via the UAE.

They took Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 12,507, which includes one probable case.

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Meanwhile, the CHP is also investigating the case of a 51-year-old woman who tested positive after traveling to Taiwan.

The woman, who lives at Silver Waves Court in Mui Wo, tested negative before she left Hong Kong on Dec 2. On Dec 11 she developed symptoms while in Taiwan and tested positive the next day.

As a precaution, the places visited by the woman in Hong Kong during the incubation period have been put under compulsory testing notice.

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Free rides this Sunday on public transport offer chance to see more of HK

By Vir B. Lumicao 

You can take the MTR for free to anywhere - except the airport

Here’s a rare chance for the wanderlusts among Hong Kong residents, especially migrant workers, to see more of the city. 

Rides on the MTR, trams and buses will be free this Sunday, Dec 19, as the government said it wanted to allow more Hong Kong people to vote in the 2021 Legislative Council elections set to be held on the same day.

The free rides are applicable to domestic MTR services, including Light Rail and MTR Bus, but excluding the Airport Express.

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MTR Corp said that as its rides are free, the interchange discount for MTR and designated green minibus routes, as well as kaito ferry and the MTR Park & Ride scheme, will not apply on that day.

First-class coaches on MTR trains that travel all the way to Lowu and Lok Ma Chau on the border with the Mainland are also open to anyone, as passengers will be able to get in and out of trains without presenting a ticket.

On Hong Kong Island, all tram rides will be free.

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Passengers will also enjoy free rides on franchised bus routes of the Kowloon Motor Bus Co, New World First Bus Services, Citybus, Long Win Bus Co and New Lantao Bus Co.

The exclusions are “A” and “NA” routes to the airport, “B” routes to ports of entry, sightseeing bus “H” routes, overnight bus “N” routes, new long-haul services “P” routes, and several southern Lantau routes.

Free tram rides may not be as popular this time around, given the number of choices that are available

Executive Councillor Ronny Tong described the free rides as unprecedented.

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“Never before has any administration tried this, but knowing that the coming election may well have the lowest turnout rate in history because of the non-participation of the pan-democratic camp, I think it's a good idea to allow people to come out and vote, and allow more people particularly elderly people to have a chance to come out and vote,” Tong said.

“I think anything which can help to make it more convenient for people to vote would be a good thing in any event,” he added.

A political analyst from Chinese University, however, doubted whether the arrangements would encourage more people to vote.

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“I think most of the polling stations are within walking distance, and I think most of the voters do not need any kind of public transportation to go to the polling stations,” said Ma Ngok. He said people may have other plans on that day.

“It would encourage people to go out and leave their homes to take advantage of the subsidy. And then it may actually mean that more people are away from their homes and away from the polling stations,” he said. 

For the legion for foreign domestic workers who mostly take their holiday on Sunday, this is one great opportunity for them to travel as far as they can around Hong Kong without feeling the pinch.

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The MTR expects more people at railway stations due to the free rides and says it will closely monitor train services on that day and implement appropriate operational measures to meet passenger demand.

“We appeal to passengers to remain courteous during their MTR travel, pay attention to signage at stations and allow sufficient time for their journeys,” the company said.

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Creation of Department of Migrant Workers almost a done deal

By Daisy CL Mandap

OFWs stranded at Bangkok Airport at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic early this year

It looks like the much-talked about Department of Migrant Workers will be in place in time for next year’s presidential election.

This emerged after the Senate unanimously approved on third and final reading on Tuesday the bill creating a separate department to handle all concerns related to overseas Filipino workers.

A migrants rights advocate who took part in the long deliberations on the bill said President Rodrigo R. Duterte is expected to sign the measure shortly. 

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“It will be signed in a matter of days as PRRD’s offering to OFWs,” she said.

Senate Bill 2234 was passed with all 20 senators sitting in five different committees giving it their approval. Once signed into law, a Transition Committee will formulate its implementing rules and regulations within 60 days, and then promulgate the same within 75 days.

This means that even if the bill is signed within the month, it could be implemented only in March at the earliest.

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The creation of a separate department that focuses primarily on OFW concerns was one of the campaign promises of President Duterte.

The new department will take over the functions of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and six other government units, including the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, currently under the Department of Foreign Affairs.

All Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (Polo) currently under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will be replaced with Migrant Workers Offices (MWO) at all government posts abroad, while the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will be an attached agency.

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In a speech after the Senate’s plenary vote, Senator Joel Villanueva who sponsored the bill as chairman of the Senate labor committee, said the new department will serve as “a dedicated service arm” for 10 million OFWs, who account for 10% of the population and 12% of the national income.

 “This moment is for every Filipino abroad who has sacrificed so much for their family and our beloved country,” he said.

Villanueva also maintained that the department, while servicing the needs of OFWs, would still uphold the state policy of not promoting the employment of Filipinos overseas.

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 “Naniniwala po tayo na balang-araw—at hindi po tayo mawawalan ng pag-asa—na darating ang panahong hindi na kailangang mag-abroad ng Pilipino at mawalay sa kanyang pamilya para lang mabuhay,” Villanueva said. (We believe that someday, and we do not lose hope, that time will come when Filipinos will no longer have to go abroad and be separated from their loved ones just to earn a living).

But a prominent OFW leader in Hong Kong disagreed with this view, saying the new department is unnecessary and will only serve to strengthen what he says is the government’s labor export policy.

Villanueva says the new department will only promote the government's labor export policy

Eman Villanueva, chairman of Bayan Hong Kong and Macau chapter, said the DMW is not the answer to the problems currently faced by OFWs. Its creation would only result in greater bureaucracy, red tape and corruption, he said.

“Ang DMW ay naglalayong pabilisin ang proseso ng labor export at koleksyon ng iba’t-ibang bayarin na sinisingil sa mga OFWs. Gagawin lamang nitong mas sistematiko ang pangungulekta sa ngalan ng “convenience” para kuno sa nga nagpo-prosesong OFWs. Ganito din naman ang inilakong “improvement” ng DoLE at POEA nang ginawa ang mala one-stop shop na proseso sa POEA,” he said.

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(The DMW will only speed up the labor export process and collection of different fees from OFWs. It will only systematize the exactions in the name of so-called convenience for OFWs processing their documents. This was exactly the ‘improvement’ promised by DoLE and POEA when they initiated the one-stop shop processing at POEA).

Villanueva said the DFA should just be allowed to deal with matters affecting all Filipinos abroad, as what other countries who send workers overseas do.

Originally, the Senate proposed to create a Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos, but this was later amended to exclude non-OFWs during deliberations on the floor.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon suggested the amendment in order to limit the new department’s role to overseas employment and labor migration, with the DFA continuing with its task of looking after other Filipinos abroad.

Thus, all consulates and embassies abroad will retain their assistance to nationals section, and work with MWOs in promoting the interests of OFWs through bilateral and multilateral agreements with host governments.

Apart from OUMWA and POLOs, the other agencies whose functions will be subsumed by the DMW include: 

1) International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) under DoLE 

2) National Reintegration Center for OFWs under OWWA

3) National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) under DoLE 

4) International Social Services Office (ISSO) under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

Among the DMW’s functions is to regulate the recruitment, employment and deployment of OFWs, formulate national plans and policies that will ensure the protection of OFWs and their effective reintegration on their return home, provide skills training to overseas workers in cooperation with the various educational bodies and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and establish a 24/7 emergency response unit that will assist OFWs and their families who need immediate help.

A key feature of the bill is the mandatory review after five years of its viability, with stakeholders including OFWs, workers organizations, employers and civil society being consulted by a Reorganization Commission to be set up by the new president.

The Commission will be tasked to recommend the reorganization, consolidation or even abolition of the DMW “should circumstances prove that there is no more need for its existence.”

Thereafter, there will be a similar evaluation of the Department’s tasks and performance to be conducted every five years. 

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Filipina DH settles for $8,252 after employer agrees to drop $45k counterclaim

By Vir B. Lumicao 

The Tribunal officer threw out the Filipina's claim for damages and a month's salary in lieu

A Filipina domestic helper who was claiming around $40,000 at the Labour Tribunal against her female employer in the New Territories agreed to settle her case on Dec. 9 for one-fifth of that amount in the face of a $45,000 counterclaim by the employer.

But the case is not a simple employer-helper dispute, as it allegedly involves a breach of Immigration rules by the employer. The helper said she did not live with the woman in Ta Kwu Ling, N.T., but stayed and worked in the house of her son on Seymour Road, Mid-Levels.

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The helper, M.G. Abarento, 35, filed the claim against Lee Kam Tai after the employer’s son, a former district council chairman, allegedly fired her summarily on Oct 26.

The employer, in her counterclaim, charged that it was the Filipina who left the house on her own on Oct 26, just 11 months after she started her employment.

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Abarento was chasing eight items totaling $40,487 from Lee. These were $4,454.93 wages in lieu of notice; $3,883.92 arrears in wages; $188. 46 statutory holiday pay – Chung Yeung; $737.35 annual leave; $308.66 rest day pay; $3,800 air ticket; $100 travel and food allowance; and $27,780 in damages for her estimate of loss of income for 6 months.

Presiding Officer Timon Shum, however, threw out the damage claim, saying his court could not deal with it. He told the helper to take it to another court.

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Lee, in turn, filed a claim for $45,434 against the helper. These were $3,898 for wages in lieu of notice; $14,100 agency fee; $12,600 hotel quarantine; $1,700 swab test and ticket fee; $960 insurance fee; and $12,176 representing agency fee for replacement helper.

Each party’s claim for wage in lieu of notice remained the sticking point before Shum suggested a sum of $8,252 to settle the issue once and for all. This meant that neither party would get a one month’s salary in lieu of notice from the other.

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Abarento at first insisted on a $12,706.93 claim, including wages in lieu, while the employer asked for time to discuss with her son and daughter-in-law. When the parties returned, Lee abandoned the rest of her claim and said she agreed to Shum’s proposal.

The helper, however, could not make up her mind and asked for another break. When she returned, she agreed to the $8,252 settlement.

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Shum ordered Lee to pay the amount to the court with a cash check within one week and instructed Abarento to pick up the payment after receiving an advice from the tribunal.

The helper said her concern now was to find a new employer as she has been jobless and unable to send money home since she got tangled in the dispute.

The employer, on the other hand, still has to contend with a charge that she gave the wrong workplace address in the contract.

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Phl reports first 2 Omicron cases while HK records 9th

By The SUN

 

The Philippines' first two Omicron patients arrived from Japan and Nigeria

The Philippines reported its first two cases involving the new variant of concern, Omicron, today, Dec 15, from two recent arrivals from Japan and Nigeria.

Hong Kong, meanwhile, recorded its ninth Omicron case involving a 21-year-old female patient who arrived from the United States on Dec 12.

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According to the Department of Health in the Philippines, the two imported cases were detected after 48 samples were put through genomic sequencing yesterday. Both patients are in isolation at a facility run by the Bureau of Quarantine.

The traveler from Japan is a returning Filipino who arrived on Dec 1 and had colds and cough on arrival, but is now already asymptomatic. The other patient is a Nigerian national, also asymptomatic, who arrived in Manila on Nov 30.

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The DoH says it is now conducting contact tracing on the two patients, including those who had sat close to them during their flights to Manila.

In Hong Kong, the female patient who was reported as among confirmed cases yesterday had flown in from the US aboard flight CX845 and tested positive on arrival at the airport. She developed symptoms on Dec 11, or the day before her flight.

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The Ct value of her sample after admission to hospital on Dec 12 was less than 30, indicating a recent infection, but she tested positive for antibodies. She had two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in the United States on May 12 and Jun 2.

She became the ninth case of Omicron detected among new arrivals in Hong Kong, and the second from the US. The other cases included two linked to South Africa, two to Nigeria, two to the United Kingdom and one to Tanzania.

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One additional confirmed Covid-19 case was also reported today, involving a 46-year-old man who flew in from Germany aboard flight LH796. He is asymptomatic but carried the L452R variant of the coronavirus. He received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong.

This sole case raised Hong Kong’s total Covid-19 tally to 12,497, which includes one probable case.

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A total of 67 confirmed patients are currently being treated at the North Lantau Hospital Infection Control Centre and the Hospital Authority Infectious Disease Centre.

Among these patients, one is in serious condition while the rest are stable.

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