Dodoblehin sa $1 ang halaga ng bawat plastic shopping bag

Ng The SUN 

Kailangan nang bayaran ng tig $1k ang bawat plastic bag na kukunin sa mga pamilihan

Simula sa Dec 31 ay dodoblehin na sa $1 mula sa kasalukuyang 0.50 ang bayad sa bawat plastic na shopping bag na hihingin kapag namili.

Ito ang ipinahayag ng Environmental Hygiene Department kahapon, na nagsabing inumpisahan na nila ang proseso para maamyendahan ang dating batas.

Bukod sa pagdoble sa halaga ng bawat plastic shopping bayad ay hindi na rin magbibigay ang mga pamilihan ng libreng plastic bag para sa mga biniling frozen o pinalamig na mga pagkain.

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Maari na lang mamigay ng tig-isang plastic shopping bag kapag ang biniling pagkain ay wala o hindi kumpleto ang pagkabalot, katulad ng mga prutas o gulay, karne o lamang-dagat sa palengke o tinapay.

Pero patuloy na bibigyan ng plastic bag ang bibili ng mga pagkain para i-takeout mula sa mga restaurant. Maari din itong dagdagan kapag hindi kumasya sa isang plastic bag ang mga biniling pagkain.

Ayon sa gobyerno, simula ng kontrolin ang pamimigay ng mga plastic shopping bag noong 2015 ay bumaba ng 25% (3.93 billion mula 5.24) ang dami ng mga plastic na itinatapon ng mga tao sa Hong Kong.

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Ngunit simula noong 2019 ay tumaas itong muli sa 4.07 billion, at 4.18 billion noong 2020.

Pero maari pa ring manghingi ng plastic bag para sa lunch box at prutas na walang sariling lalagyan  

Kabilang sa mga pagkain na hindi na maaring ipasok sa mga ipinamimigay na plastic bag ang mga itlog o prutas na nakalagay na sa kahong plastic o yung iba pa na nakakahon na at hindi na maaring matapon o mawasak.

Balak din ng gobyerno na singilin ang mga gumagawa ng mga babasaging lalagyan ng inumin ng 0.98 bawa’t litro simula sa unang bahagi ng darating na taon.

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Karamihan ng mga apektadong sector ay sinabing tama lang ang hakbang na ito para mabawasan ang tone-toneladang plastic na naitatapon ng mga tao sa Hong Kong kada taon.

Pero ayon sa isang grupo na pangkalikasan, hindi sapat na itaas lang sa $1 ang sisingilin sa bawat plastic bag na pinapamahagi sa mga namimili dahil wala na daw itong halaga ngayon.

Dapat daw ay hindi bababa sa $2 ang singil sa bawat plastic bag para mas maramdaman ng mga tao na seryoso ang gobyerno sa kampanyang ito.

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Ayon sa gobyerno, matapos aprubahan ng mga mambabatas ang mga bagong panuntunan ay maglalathala ito ng mga gabay para sa pagpapatupad nito.

Bibigyan din ng sapat na oras ang publiko at mga negosyo na makapaghanda at makasanayan ang bagong batas.

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Misteryosong pagkamatay ng isang OFW, sinusuri ng coroner

 Ni Leo A. Deocadiz

Ang West Kowloon Court building, kung saan nakahimpil ang Coroner's Court.

Ano ang ikinamatay ni Leonita A. Quinto, isang Pilipinang domestic helper?

Ito ang itinatanong ng mga kamag-anak ni Quinto, 46, mula nang matagpuan siyang patay sa loob ng bahay ng kanyang amo sa Mei Foo Sun Chuen sa Kowloon noong April 4, 2017, tatlong buwan lang mula nang manilbihan siya rito.

Ito rin ang katanungang nais sagutin sa isang inquest o pagsisiyasat na sinimulan ng Coroner's Court kahapon sa utos ng mataas na hukuman.

Nakatakdang tumakbo nang pitong araw ang pagdinig na iniutos ni Court of First Instance Judge Mimmie Chan sa isang desisyon na ipinalabas noon pang April 8, 2021.

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Naantala ang pagsisiyasat kanina, sa ikalawang araw ng pagdinig na pinangungunahan ni Coroner C. Y. Ho, nang isa sa limang juror o hurado ang nagpasabi na hindi siya makakarating dahil nag-positibo siya sa Covid-19.

Nakarating sa mataas na hukuman ang kaso nang tumangging tanggapin ng kapatid ni Leonita na si Imelda Quinto Abong ang unang hatol ng Coroner na “unknown” ang dahilan ng pagkamatay nito pagkatapos dumaan sa normal na proseso.

Sinabi ng amo ni Leonita na si Rachel Wong, sa salaysay nito sa pulis, na noong 5pm ng araw bago namatay ang Pilipina (April 3, 2017), ay nagreklamo ito na masakit ang kanyang ulo at nahihilo, pero nakapagluto pa siya ng hapunan.

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Kinabukasan, nagtaka si Wong at asawa nito na nasa kuwarto pa si Leonita bandang 11am kahit statutory holiday ang araw na iyon, kaya kinatok siya. Nakita nilang nakahiga ito at hindi magising, kaya tumawag sila ng ambulansiya.

Dumating ang ambulansya bandang 11:47am at binigyan siya ng paunang lunas. Dinala siya sa Princess Margaret Hospital bandang 12noon, at idineklarang patay noong 12:27pm.

Isang police inspector ang dumating sa bahay ng amo noong 12:50pm at nag-imbestiga. Sa kanyang ulat na may petsang Oct. 16, 2017, sinabi ng pulis na wala siyang napansing senyales na nagkagulo sa kwarto, na may nag-away, at kahit anong kahina-hinalang tagpo. 

Inireport rin niyang walang CCTV sa bahay.

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Nagpunta rin ang pulis sa ospital upang suriin ang labi ni Leonita at, sa kanyang post-mortem report na may petsang April 12, 2017, sinabi niya na wala siyang nakitang sugat o pinsala dito.

Ayon naman sa report ng Kwai Chung Public Mortuary noong April 12, 2017, ang katawan ni Leonita ay may maliit na gasgas sa dibdib at mga TNM (tumor, nodes and metastasis—mga posibleng sintomas ng cancer) sa kaliwang siko at bukong-bukong ng kanang paa.

Ayon sa autopsy na ginawa noong April 18, 2017, walang nakitang pinsala sa katawan ng namatay. May nakitang kaunting natunaw na pagkain sa kanyang tiyan, mga fibroid sa kanyang uterus, at kaunting paracetamol sa dugo, na kinumpirma ng Government Laboratory sa hiwalay na report nito noong May 23, 2017.

Kaya sa Certificate of the Fact of Death na inilabas noong April 21, 2017 sinabi ng Coroner na walang matukoy na sanhing medikal ang pagkamatay ni Leonita.

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Noong March 26, 2019, naglabas ang coroner ng Death Report na nagsasabing hindi na kailangan ang inquest at ang pagkamatay ni Leonita ay ituturing na “death by unknown causes”.              

Sa kanyang hatol, sinabi ni Judge Chan na hindi kailangang ipakita na may pagkakamali ang coroner upang utusan itong gumawa ng inquest.

Sinabi ni Judge Chan na may kailangang isaalang-alang na interes ng publiko sa kasong ito, kung saan isang tao na nasa mahina at nakaasang sitwasyon ay mamamatay sa kalinga ng kanyang amo, at ang kamatayan niya ay hindi maipaliwanag.

Binigyan niya ng halaga ang salaysay ni Imelda, ang kapatid ni Leonida, na mula pa noong nagsimula itong magtrabaho sa amo niya ay tinatawagan na siya at sinasabing hindi maganda ang trato sa kanya. 

Hindi rin daw siya pinapakain nang maayos at panakaw lang kung sumubo dahil may CCTV na nakabantay sa kanya. Kulang din daw siya sa tulog dahil sa dami ng ipinagagawa sa kanyang trabaho, at laging pinagagalitan at inaalipusta, at pinagbawalang gumamit ng palikuran o toilet sa bahay.

Tatlong buwan pa lamang matapos dumating sa Hong Kong si Leonita ay nagsabi na siya sa kapatid na gusto na niyang umuwi. Nag-terminate siya ng kanyang kontrata noong March 3, pero namatay bago pa matapos ang huling buwan ng trabaho. 

Sinabi ni Imelda na ang salaysay niya ay sinang-ayunan ni Li Wai Hong, ang may-ari ng Popular Employment Services, na nagpasok kay Leonita sa employer.

Sinabi ni Li kay Imelda na palaging nagrereklamo si Leonita sa agency tungkol sa trato sa kanya. Ang una niyang payo ay magtiis lang muna, pero kalaunan ay sinabi niya rito na malupit nga sa mga nakaraang helper ang amo at pangatlo na siyang gustong umalis dito. Plano rin nitong i-blacklist ang amo at huwag nang bigyan ng aplikante.

 

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More infectious Omicron sub-variant only causes mild symptoms, says health official

By Daisy CL Mandap

 

Chuang says the BA.2.12.1 sub-variant only causes mild symptoms

Health officials reported 558 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, including 63 brought in from overseas. They took the total tally from the fifth wave to 1,203,596.

No new Covid-related deaths were reported, so the overall toll from the Omicron wave remains at 9,176.

The new cases comprised 257 confirmed via PCR tests and 301 self-reported rapid test results which for the time, have been confirmed beforehand in laboratories.  

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Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said at today's press conference that most of the confirmed rapid test results were reported to the government platform two days ago.

Chuang also said 14 new cases of the BA.2.12.1 Omicron sub-variant have been detected, raising the total tally to 112, with 51 of them acquired locally.

She said that while cases abroad showed the sub-variant to be highly transmissible, it does not seem to result in serious symptoms.

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"We have seen around a dozen transmission chains in the community that involve the Omicron BA.2.12.1 subvariant," she said.

"The symptoms of all of the cases are mild, which is similar to BA.2.2. We also haven't seen serious cases. Overseas experiences have told us that the subvariant is more transmissible but not much difference in terms of its seriousness.”

Of the new local cases involving the sub-variant, a number were untraceable, including that of a 52-year-old woman who lives in the same building in Taikoo Shing as an earlier patient, three members of a family that lives in Tai Ping estate in Sheung Shui, and a 46-year-old woman who lives in Tseung Kwan O.

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Six other cases could be linked, Chuang said. They include four family members living at Island Garden in Chai Wan, and two people who dined separately but at about the same time on Jun 1 at Ashima Yunnan restaurant in Cityplaza 2 in Taikoo Shing.

Two customers of this restaurant in Cityplaza tested positive for the Omicron sub-variant

Among the 63 imported cases, 16 were detected at the airport, 38 at quarantine hotels and nine post-isolation.

A total of 94 cases were reported by 87 schools, involving 61 students and 33 teachers and staff. Fifty-four were tested positive today, while the remaining 40 were from yesterday.

Among the schools affected is the Singaporean International School, which has been closed for two days for disinfection after two students and a staff tested positive.

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Two more cases were linked to Funful English Primary School in Kowloon Tong and another one to the international section of the Kiangsu and Chekiang Primary School in North Point, where the affected classes have already been suspended for a week.

Two Central bars where big clusters of cases have been uncovered added more infections. At Shuffle on Lan Kwai Fong, 17 cases were added, pushing the total number there to 114. Chuang said the additional infections involved nine patrons and two six staff members.

Over at LINQ on Pottinger Street, two more cases were added, taking the total number of infections to 95. Virus samples here were similar to those found in Iron Fairies on Hollywood Bar, and investigations revealed three patrons had been to both bars over a seven-day period.

Dr Sara Ho of the Hospital Authority reported that 327 patients are still receiving treatment at various government hospitals and medical facilities. They include 12 who are in critical condition and five in serious condition. Four of the critical patients are in intensive care.

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CE says HK will keep all Covid restrictions until end of June

By The SUN 

CE Lam says HK will not tighten or relax any Covid restrictions until she leaves

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said earlier today that all social distancing measures, including border restrictions, will remain unchanged until her terms ends at the end of June.

That includes the seven-day hotel quarantine, negative result for a PCR test taken within 48 hours of boarding a flight to Hong Kong, and flight suspensions for airlines that incur a number of violations of pre-boarding regulations.

Hours after she made the statement, the Centre for Health Protection reported 489 new Covid-19 cases, 231 of them confirmed from PCR tests and the remaining 258 from self-declared positive results from rapid antigen tests.

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CE Lam said that following a sharp increase in the number of false-positive cases reported to the CHP, everyone who report positive results from rapid tests will be required to undergo a PCR test for confirmation.

As a result, the CHP said in its daily press briefing that it was changing the way it was reporting daily infections. Starting today, only self-declared rapid tests confirmed by PCR will be added to the daily tally.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, CE said it was too early to tell if Hong Kong was headed towards another wave of infections, but called the daily caseload that now hovers around the 500 mark “concerning.”

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"For the time being, it is a bit too early to say that we are now confronting a sixth wave of Covid-19 epidemic because it needs a lot more indicators in order to confirm the situation,” she said.

It was inevitable for the cases to rise, according to her, because some infected people have been allowed to isolate at home. This in turn, led to some indicators to go up, including the viral load in the sewage.

For the time being, she said the anti-pandemic curbs will not be eased, but they won’t be tightened, either, unless there’s another major outbreak. She said most people will agree that Hong Kong should continue to return to normality, although at a slower pace.

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However, she added she will be meeting with government health advisers to discuss the situation.

Meanwhile, CHP’s Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan said the false positive rate of between 15 and 15 percent in recent days has gone far beyond expectations.

Chuang says that from today, all positive rapid test results will be confirmed through PCR tests

"We think this is not ideal, so we will change our way of reporting the cases. For positive rapid test results that have not been checked by PCR tests, we will not consider them as confirmed infections,” she said.

Thus, all the 258 who were reported today as having declared positive results from rapid tests will be asked to give specimen samples for nucleic acid testing tomorrow. The results from the confirmatory tests will be announced on Thursday or Friday.

Chuang also reported four more cases involving the Omicron BA.2.12.1 sub-variant. Two of them were family members of a previously confirmed patient while the source of infection of the two others is unknown.

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The two latter patients live in Yan Yuet House in Fanling, involving a 15-year-old girl and her 67-year-old family member.

As for the bars, 12 new confirmed cases were found among those who had been to Shuffle, taking the number of cases there to 97.

LINQ, where a cluster of cases were found at about the same time, did not have any new case, so the total tally there remains at 93.

Chuang also reported that 72 cases were reported by 62 schools, involving 56 students and 16 teachers.

They included a student at  Kowloon Tong Funful English Primary School who is a sibling of a previously confirmed case. There are now four cases linked to this cluster.

Chuang said the affected classes in this school, and another at Kiangsu and Chekiang Primary School in North Point which has about 30 students, have been told to stop reporting for class after a small outbreak in cases there.

Five students and two teachers in one class of the school’s international section have tested positive for Covid-19.

The day’s caseload also included 53 imported cases, 32 of which were detected at the airport and 17 were identified during hotel quarantine.

The total infection tally from the fifth wave has now gone up to 1.203 million with 9,176 deaths.

This was after Dr Lau Ka-hin of the Hospital Authority reported that three more patients, a man and two women aged 81 to 93, succumbed to the disease.

There are now 372 patients receiving treatment at public hospitals and medical facilities. They include 12 who are in critical condition and seven in serious condition.

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Na terminate dahil sa panay pink na gamit, pulang mukha

The SUN 

Ayon sa amo, mukhang hindi marunong magtrabaho si Gigi dahil panay pink ang dalang gamit

Ganoon na lang ang sama ng loob ni Gigi nang pagkatapos niyang maghintay ng ilang buwan bago makarating sa Hong Kong ay ora-orada siyang tinerminate ng kanyang amo sa mismong araw nang pagdating niya sa bahay nito noong May 19.

Ngayon, kahit may nakuha na siyang kapalit na employer ay hindi na siya pinayagan ng Immigration na manatili pa ng Hong Kong dahil diumano ay natapos na ang unang 14 araw na palugit para makapasa siya ng bagong kontrata.

Nakatakda na siyang bumalik sa Pilipinas sa Huwebes.

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At bakit daw siya tinanggihan agad ng kanyang amo na gumastos din ng malaking halaga para mapapunta siya dito, kabilang na ang bayad para sa kanyang quarantine hotel?

“Ang sabi po, dahil red ang mukha ko! At dahil pink ang damit ko, pink backpack, pati luggage ko pink. Ang sabi daw parang hindi ko alam magtrabaho,” ang sabi ni Gigi.

“Paano nila nalaman e hanggang sa lobby lang naman ako, ni hindi man lang ako nakapasok sa bahay nila?”

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Binayaran naman daw siya ng isang buwang suweldo at nagbigay ng plane ticket pauwi sa Pilipinas.

Pero hindi ito sapat para mawala ang sama ng loob ni Gigi na may isang anak. Unang una, dahil nabaon siya sa utang kaya pati ang bahay niya sa Abra na naipundar niya mula sa pagtrabaho sa ibang bansa dati ay naisanla niya para may panggastos sa pagpunta niya sa Hong Kong.

“Nakasangla ang bahay ko dahil sa pangungutang ko ng 5/6. Hindi ko naman akalain na ganito lang pala kadali na i-terminate ako at papauwiin agad.”

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Hindi naman agad sumuko si Gigi. Kasama ang bagong amo na pumirma sa kanya ay nagpunta siya sa Immigration kahapon, Lunes, para makiusap na huwag na muna siyang pauwiin para makapagtrabaho na agad, pero bigo sila.

“Nakausap naming ang mga taga Immigration, at ang sabi nila dapat bago natapos ang 14 days ay may naipasok na akong kontrata, hindi ngayong extension na 7 days,” sabi niya.

“Nakiusap kami pero ang sabi nila, huli na.”

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Ang pinapanalangin niya na lang daw ngayon ay makabalik sanay siya sa Hong Kong pagkatapos ng isang buwan para makapagtrabaho na at makapagbayad ng utang. Natatakot daw kasi siyang lumobo pang lalo ito.

Unang lumapit si Gigi sa The SUN sa pamamagitan ng messenger noong Mar 17 para makibalita kung kailan matatanggal ang flight ban ng Hong Kong sa Pilipinas.

Oktubre pa lang daw noong nakaraang taon ay inakala niyang makakaalis na siya patungong Hong Kong pero nabigo siya, hanggang muling na ban ang mga biyahe mula sa Pilipinas noong Jan. 8 dahil sa biglang pagkalat ng Omicron.

Ayon sa kanya, ang inutang niyang Php50,000 ay dumoble na dahil sa laki ng ipinataw na interes. “Kailan po kaya mag-oopen ang Hong Kong? Sobrang stress na at nakakaloka na,” himutok nya. Baka daw ang buong bahay niya ay maibenta na niya para lang may maipambayad sa mga nautang niya sa pag aaplay sa Hong Kong.

Pagkatapos ng paulit-ulit pang aberya, kabilang ang pagsasabi ng kanyang agency noong una na mga residente lang muna ang papasukin sa Hong Kong simula noong Apr 1 ay parang nabunutan ng tinik si Gigi nang sabihan siyang makakalipad na siya paalis ng Pilipinas noong nakaraang buwan.

Ang hindi niya akalain, pagkatapos ng mahaba niyang paghihintay para makalipad ng Hong Kong ay mas matagal pa ang ilalagi niya sa quarantine hotel kaysa sa bahay ng kanyang daratnang amo.

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Government approves tram fare increase

 

The tram is an icon of Hong Kong

The government today approved an increase in tram fares, to take effect on July 11.

The Chief Executive in Council approved the proposal of Hong Kong Tramways Limited (HKT) to make the following changes:

• For people aged 12 or above will be raised from $2.60 to $3.00.
• For children aged 3 to 11 will be raised from $1.30 to $1.50.
• For the elderly (aged 65 or above) will increase from $1.20 to $1.30.
• The cost of the Monthly ticket will increase from $220.00 to $260.00Government approves tram fare increase.
• The tourist ticket will be cancelled.

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In a press statement,the government said the fare increases were needed to ensure that HKT would have sound financial capability in providing economical, efficient and quality tram services at reasonable fares.

“The Government has, in accordance with the established policy and mechanism, taken into account various factors, including the quality and quantity of service provided and the planned improvement projects of HKT; the changes in operating costs and revenue since HKT's last fare adjustment; HKT's forecast of future costs, revenue, profit and return; and the likely public acceptability,” it said..

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The last time tram fares were increased was in 2018.

Since then, however, the company’s profit margin declined from 18% to -3% due to fewer people taking the tram, as a result of competition from other public transport modes and the two-year-old pandemic which required social-distancing measures.

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 “HKT has been providing emission-free and affordable services over the years. It has a unique historical significance and has always been received by the local community and visitors, and has represented the collective memory of Hong Kong citizens.” It said. “Furthermore, HKT has implemented various improvement projects as well as introduced innovative measures to enhance tram services with a view to providing a safer and more comfortable experience for passengers, while preserving its historical value.”

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“Given HKT's prevailing financial situation, the fare adjustment is necessary for maintaining its financial sustainability,”the government added.

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