In-person classes to resume in Feb as Covid cases nearly hit 28k

By The SUN 

Schools in all levels will reopen starting on Feb 1

Health authorities on Friday reported 27,830 new Covid infections, of which 946 were imported.

Another 72 patients with Covid have died.

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The bulk of the local cases, or 22,045, were detected by rapid antigen tests while the remaining 4,839 cases were positive results from PCR tests.

Authorities said they are continuing their epidemiological investigation into the infected cases.

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Hong Kong has so far recorded nearly 2.6 million cases of Covid so far.

The new surge in cases happened as the government gave more details of the easing of pandemic restrictions, including the gradual resumption of classes starting in February next year.

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According to a press statement, the Education Development Board has decided that, regardless of student vaccination rates, all secondary schools (including secondary sections of special schools) will resume whole-day face-to-face classes from February 1 while primary schools (including primary sections of special schools) and kindergartens will resume from February 15.

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However, the negative RAT test result currently required of students and staff will continue until January 31 at the earliest.

As the Vaccine Pass scheme has been lifted starting on December 29, anybody entering school premises will no longer be asked to produce their vaccination record.

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Arrangements for after-school activities have also been relaxed so that students on half-day classes may return to schools for after-class activities in the afternoon. 

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Pinoy at Pranses, nagsuntukan dahil sa face mask

Ni Danilo A. Reyes

 

Ang maling pagsusuot ng face mask katulad nito ang nagsanhi ng away (File)

Binalaan ang isang Pilipino at isang Pranses noong Disyembre 28 nang humarap sila sa Eastern Magistrates Court na papagbayarin sila ng tig $1,000 na multa kapag nasangkot pang muli sa gulo sa loob ng isang taon.

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Nagsuntukan sina Melchor Cortez, 51, construction worker, at si Thomas Andre Philippe Boulmier, 28, bangkero, noong hapon ng Set. 17, 2022, matapos pumalag ang Pranses nang pagsabihan ng Pinoy na isuot nang maayos ang kanyang face mask.

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Ayon sa report ng pulis, nangyari ang insidente habang nakasakay ang dalawa sa ferry mula Lamma Islang papuntang Central.

Ang kanilang away ay lumala matapos inuntog ni Boulmier ang ulo nito sa mukha ni Cortez, na gumanti sa pamamagitan ng pagtulak sa katunggali.

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Si Cortez ay nagtamo ng pasa sa leeg, tuhod at sugat sa mukha, habang si Boulmier ay nagkapasa sa dibdib at kaliwang siko, at gasgas sa kanang daliri ng paa.

Nang basahan sila ng sakdal sa harap ni Mahistrado Ivy Chui, inamin naman nila ang gulong kinasangkutan. Pero pareho nilang sinabi na hindi sila ang nag-umpisa ng gulo, at dinepensahan lamang nila ang kanilang sarili.

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Dahil lubos ang pagsisisi ng dalawa, sumang-ayon ang korte na isailalim na lang sila sa bind over o isang kasunduan kung saan ang akusado ay mangangako na hindi na muling gagawa ng krimen sa loob ng itinakdang panahon.

Kapalit nito ang hindi pagkakaroon ng record ng mga sangkot, liban na lang kung gumawa sila ulit ng kasalanan.

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Mariin ding pinagsabihan ni Mahistrado Chui ang dalawa na panatilihin ang kapayapaan, at tuparin ang pangako na hindi na muling sasangkot sa gulo sa loob ng isang taon.

Kapag sinuway nila ang kundisyon, pagbabayarin sila ng multa.

Dagdag dito, pinagbayad din ni Mahistrado Chui ang dalawa ng tig $500 bilang bayad sa gastos sa kanilang kaso.

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HK lists 13 statutory holidays for 2023

 

If the holiday falls on a Sunday or a worker's rest day, a holiday should be given the next day

 The 13 statutory holidays for 2023 are:

1. The first day of January – January 1

2. The second day of Lunar New Year – January 23 

3. The third day of Lunar New Year – January 24 

4. The fourth day of Lunar New Year – January 25

5. Ching Ming Festival -  April 5

6. Labour Day – May 1

7. The Birthday of the Buddha – May 26 (added since 2022)

8. Tuen Ng Festival – June 22

9. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day – July 1

10. The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival – September 30

11. National Day – October 1

12. Chung Yeung Festival – October 23

13. Chinese Winter Solstice Festival or Christmas Day (at the option of the employer)- December 22 or December 25

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Please note:

（i） According to the Employment Ordinance, when either Lunar New Year's Day, the second day of the Lunar New Year or the third day of the Lunar New Year falls on a Sunday, the fourth day of the Lunar New Year is designated as a statutory holiday in substitution. As the first day of Lunar New Year of 2023 falls on a Sunday, the fourth day of Lunar New Year will be designated as a statutory holiday 

（ii） In the event that the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival falls on a Sunday, the day thereafter is designated as a statutory holiday in substitution.

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（iii） All employees are entitled to the above statutory holidays. If the statutory holiday falls on a rest day, a holiday should be granted on the day following the rest day which is not a statutory holiday or an alternative holiday or a substituted holiday or a rest day.  An employee having been employed under a continuous contract for not less than 3 months is entitled to the holiday pay which is equivalent to the daily average wages earned by the employee in the 12-month period preceding the holiday.

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Reference example:

An employee is granted rest days on Sundays. As the National Day (1 October) falls on Sunday, the employer should grant a holiday on the next day (i.e. 2 October), but this day should not be a statutory holiday or an alternative holiday or a substituted holiday or a rest day.

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Filipinos seeking non-refoulement face HK’s tightened screening procedure

By Danilo A. Reyes

 

Failed non-refoulement claimants being escorted to the plane that took them home in November

As Hong Kong’s Immigration Department steps up its removal of unsubstantiated non-refoulement claims, Filipino nationals are reminded of the risk of being prosecuted and jailed if they make claims without proof in Hong Kong.

According to Immigration statistics provided to the Legislative Council on Nov. 23, out of a total of 14,900 non-refoulement claimants, 1,343 are Filipino nationals who claim that they face risk of torture, if not death, if they are sent back to the Philippines.

“I just wish to remind all Filipinos in Hong Kong to always obey and respect the law. To avoid problems, it is also important to be honest and truthful, especially when dealing with authorities,” said Consul General Raly Tejada.

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Some of these non-refoulement claimants, however, filed claims for various personal reasons–from avoiding prosecution once caught overstaying, to avoiding their creditors in the Philippines.

Among the more recent claimants whose appeal against their removal from Hong Kong were rejected by the High Court were Isabel Magna Ticuala and Loida Dontogan, both former domestic helpers who had overstayed their visas before filing for non-refoulement.

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Their claim that they feared retaliation by creditors in the Philippines was dismissed by the High Court, which has consistently said that there is a functioning government back home that could protect them. 

Another option open to them is to move away from places where their creditors could possibly harm them.

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The High Court has also said that these are personal matters that the Hong Kong government must not interfere with.

In recent weeks, a number of Filipino non-refoulement claimants have been taken to Magistrates’ Courts to face prosecution for breach of condition of stay, after their bid against removal failed. Many of them have been in Hong Kong for over a decade, trying to fight off repatriation.

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This is in line with a new Immigration policy which took effect last December 7, which mandates the removal of all torture and non-refoulement claimants once they fail in their first bid to challenge their repatriation.

This aims to puts an end to the current practice of many of the claimants filing judicial reviews against the decisions by both the Immigration Department and the Torture Claims Adjudication Board to reject their opposition to non-refoulement.

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But according to a report published by the Legislative Council in August this year, the screening of torture and non-refoulement claimants was tightened as early as 2014, which led to a 95% reduction in the annual screening backlog from 2015-2018.

Of the total non-refoulement claims filed between 2014 to 2021, Immigration found that 99% claims were unsubstantiated. Ticuala and Dontogan’s claims were rejected within this period.

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No more PCR test on arrival or vaccine pass from tomorrow

By The SUN

 

CE Lee (center) announces the relaxed measures at a press conference today

From tomorrow, new arrivals in Hong Kong will no longer have to undergo PCR tests, while everybody else will no longer be required to present their proof of vaccination to enter many public places, including restaurants.

In addition, close contacts of infected persons will no longer have to undergo quarantine although the patients themselves will still have to isolate.

However, all travelers entering Hong Kong will still be asked to take a rapid antigen test within 24 hours of boarding their flights, or a PCR test conducted not earlier than 48 hours before. They will also be advised - not required - to take daily RATs for six days from their arrival.

Filling out the health declaration form before boarding a flight to Hong Kong will be made optional.

Details of the relaxed rules were disclosed at a press conference earlier today by Chief Executive John Lee, who said the government is “further improving” anti-pandemic measures because there is now a relatively high vaccination rate in the city.

Apart from this, there is already sufficient medication against Covid and medical personnel and the public have come to understand better how to cope with the pandemic.

CE Lee said the focus now will be on preventing serious illnesses and deaths due to Covid-19, and protecting the more vulnerable sectors like the elderly.

Thus, the mask mandate will continue, as well as the daily rapid antigen tests required for children going to school, as well as staff at care homes for the elderly and the disabled.

Lee rejected claims the radical easing of restrictions was sudden, saying the government has all along been making preparations for returning the city to normalcy.

"There will always come a day when we have to make big decision about normalisation. That is exactly what we are doing now, because the time is appropriate for us to do it, having prepared for six months to do all this. In fact, I think society as a whole is preparing because I have been hearing a lot of voices saying this is the thing to be done," he said.

Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau, who was also at the press conference, said people in Hong Kong need to still wear masks so they are protected not just from Covid, but also from seasonal flu and other respiratory tract infections

He said officials will consider allowing people to go out in public without a mask only after spring next year.

This is because of what he called a “serious winter surge,” when the daily tally of Covid-19 cases has been hovering around the 21,000-mark.

Health authorities later reported that a total of 20,865 new Covid infections were recorded today, of which 1,176 were imported.

Another 59 patients with Covid have died.

OFWs stranded in HK by pandemic reunite with family after 4 long years

By Danilo A. Reyes

 

Rowena is now home with her three children she did not see for 4 years

Years of separation from their family members due to the pandemic have ended for some overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong who finally managed to go back home recently to spend the Christmas season there.

Among them was Rowena Macasinag, who finally made it home on Dec. 22, after four long years of being separated from her three children who are now aged 7, 16, and 21.

Before her flight home, Rowena made sure she had chocolate bars for her children.

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“Nakakalungkot kasi hindi tayo nakakauwi. Iniisip natin na hindi natin makapiling mga anak natin (It feels lonely because we could not go home. We long to be with our children), said Rowena, as she recalled how it felt being away for four years.

Rowena left her hometown in Bicol in September 2018 to work for the first time in Hong Kong and has been stuck here since.

Like many OFWs, Rowena had to leave to work abroad, first in Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker for two years, then Hong Kong. She is separated and considers herself a “single mother” and breadwinner of her three children.

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“Hindi kami nagkaintindihan (We had a misunderstanding),” was Rowena’s short reply as she burst into tears when asked about her husband.

But her mood drastically changed, this time with a sense of excitement, when asked what was the first thing she would do once she saw her children again, after four years of separation.

“Siyempre very excited ako makita yung mga anak ko. Yun yung priority ko talaga. Yayakapin ko sila (Of course, I’m very excited to see my children. It is my priority. I will hug them,” she said.

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Rowena, whose contract was terminated by her former employer simply for asking to go home, did not have good memories of that time. But she never lost hope that she would get a new and better employer, saying she had a good record and did no wrong.

Lorraine (front) is joined in chat by younger sister Divina

For returning OFWs who do not have children, what they long to do once they are at home is just to sleep and rest.

In a zoom interview from her hometown in Iloilo province on Dec. 26, Lorraine, 41, said: “Gusto ko lang matulog, magpahinga, kasi sa pagod ng trabaho sa Hong Kong (I just want to sleep, to take a rest, because my work in Hong Kong is very exhausting.”

While her work has been physically tiring, Lorraine has had no problems with her employer, who renewed their employment contract for the third time before her flight on Dec. 16.

Lorraine was also given a hefty salary increase. From the previous minimum wage of $4,520 her pay was raised to $6,500, reflecting the good relationship she has with her employers and her ward.

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This came in handy as Lorraine has taken over her 65-year-old parent’s responsibility of sending her sibling, Divina, to college.

But this is not the case with three of Lorraine’s domestic-helper friends.

Two of them, both old-timers, and another who is a newcomer, did not last long in their jobs. They all had their contracts terminated prematurely, saying they failed to get along with their employers.

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