Filipina to face trial for allegedly assaulting ward

 

The Filipina was not allowed to post bail by a West Kowloon magistrate

A Filipina domestic helper has pleaded not guilty in West Kowloon Court today, Tuesday, to three counts of wilfully assaulting and causing injury to her young ward in a residential block in Kwai Chung, New Territories, in March this year.

Shaira Joy G. Umbao emphatically replied “No” when asked before Acting Principal Magistrate Veronica Heung if she was pleading guilty to each of the charges laid against her by the prosecution.

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Her denial set the stage for a trial of the case at 9:30am on May 19 in Court No.5 at West Kowloon Court.

Magistrate Heung considered the case urgent and asked both the prosecution and defense lawyers if they will be available for a trial on May 15. She ordered a break for more than an hour as the prosecutor contacted the mother, who is the main prosecution witness, for her availability to testify.

The prosecution charged that at an unspecified time on March 14, Umbao wilfully assaulted the victim, identified only as Girl X, in a manner that injured the child.

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On March 15, the helper allegedly assaulted the child a second time, also causing her injury. After the third alleged assault on Girl X on March 16, the victim’s mother called the police and the defendant was arrested. She has been in police custody ever since.

The female prosecutor objected to allowing the defendant to post bail, saying her case is a serious offense, the evidence against her is strong, including a video footage. She said Umbao is a flight risk as she has no fixed address in Hong Kong, and that she might interfere in the investigation.

The defense lawyer, however, challenged the video evidence, saying it was just a 10-second clip that showed no actual movement and that the supposed attack was just a still shot labelled as the assault. As such, the evidence is weak, she said.

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The lawyer also applied for a $500 bail for the defendant, saying that since Umbao’s arrest in March, she had been in police custody. The lawyer said that the Philippine Consulate General has been assisting the defendant since her arrest, with a PCG labor staff present at the hearing.

For the proposed address, the PCG offered to admit Umbao into the Consulate’s  shelter for distressed workers.

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Heung, however, rejected the defendant’s bail application, saying the prosecution fears that she might not submit herself to the custody of the court, the charges she is facing are serious, and that she might interfere in the investigation.  

The magistrate ordered her back into police custody and told her to return for the trial on May 19.

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After 6 years, Shatin magistracy decides fate of overstayer

 

The court will decide when the Filipina will be sent home.

A Filipina who has just been blocked by the High Court from reviving her failed non-refoulement claim, has found herself at the Shatin Magistracy to face a six-year-old case for breach of condition of stay¸ and unable to post bail to get out of detention.

Joy Clavero, 34 years old, had offered to increase her $2,000 cash bail offer to $3,000 in a hearing last Friday, April 28, but this  was rejected by Acting Principal Magistrate Cheng Lim-chi who said the circumstances of her detention have not changed.

Instead, he granted her a bail review hearing on May 5 to take up the bail offer again.

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For Clavero, who is now barred from pursuing her non-refoulement claim without permission of the High Court in Hong Kong, the court adjournment of her criminal prosecution for overstaying her visa could only mean prolonging her stay here, likely under detention.

Clavero is charged with overstaying for two years and two months. She arrived on March 21, 2013 as a visitor. When her two-week permission to remain in Hong Kong expired on April 4, 2013, she stayed illegally until she surrendered to the Immigration Department on June 24, 2015.

The Shatin court case was filed in 2017, but by then she had raised a non-refoulement claim -- which would prevent Hong Kong from returning her to the Philippines -- saying that if she went home, she would be harmed or killed by her former boyfriend for ending their relationship.

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Clavero’s  application was denied by the Immigration director, who ruled that her application did not meet the requirements set by various laws, including the Immigration Ordinance.   

The ruling also said that the threat posed by her boyfriend was low, that theirs was a private personal dispute that did not need Hong Kong’s intervention, and that the Philippines was big enough for her to go somewhere where he could not find her.

She appealed to the Torture Claims Appeal Board, which upheld the decision.

She then went to the High Court to try and reverse the Board’s ruling but was denied. The court said it was not an arbiter of facts but whether the previous rulings were fair and in accordance with the law. 

In all, Clavero filed five successive appeals at the High Court – and even reaching the Court of Final Appeal in 2021-- and each time, she was rebuffed.

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On her fifth appeal , the High Court issued a decision on March 16, 2023 that sought to stop her.

“… it is clear from the above that the Applicant’s conduct in seeking persistently to re-litigate her non-refoulement claim without viable grounds amounts to an abuse of process,” said Tam Kam Man, clerk to Deputy Judge Bruno Chan, who wrote the decision for the Registrar of the High Court.

“… unless a RPO (Restrictive Proceedings Order) is made against her, of which she was unable to answer or raise any valid objection at the hearing, I am convinced that the Applicant will likely continue to do so and/or to make vexatious appeals, thereby wasting further precious time and resources of the Judiciary,” Ms. Tam added.

The RPO prohibits Clavero from from starting any new proceedings relating to any non-refoulement claim she makes at the High Court, or any appeal, including this Order, without the leave of a Judge of the Court of First Instance.

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The prohibition would last for five years.

But under new rules approved by the government last year, anyone who is under a deportation order could be sent back home at any time, even if a case relating to her or his non-refoulement claim is still pending.

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Pagsasanay para kumita, inilunsad muli ng Kasambuhay HK

Kasama ng mga miyembro ng Kasambuhay ang mga dumalo sa pagsasanay

Matagumpay na idinaos ng Kasambuhay Hong Kong Foundation ang kanilang kauna-unahang pagsasanay pangkabuhayan para sa mga migranteng manggagawa pagkatapos ng pandemya.

Ang aktuwal na pagtuturo ng paggawa ng mga artipisyal na bulaklak ay isinagawa kahapon, Linggo, Apr 30, sa tambayan ng Kasambuhay sa tulay sa likod ng police headquarters sa Admiralty.

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Akmang akma ang pagsasanay para sa mga gustong gumawa ng kakaibang regalo sa mga kaibigan o kaanak para sa Mother’s Day sa May 14.

Lubhang kapaki-pakinabang ang paggawa ng artipisyal na bulaklak

Ang pagtuturo ng livelihood skills o kaalaman na maaring gamiting panghanapbuhay ay bahagi ng programa ng Kasambuhay, na nakatuon sa paggabay sa mga migranteng manggagawa para gamitin nang wasto ang kita, mag-ipon at magnegosyo sa tamang pamamaraan.

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May mga inihanda pang ibang pagsasanay ang Kasambuhay, katulad ng paggawa ng mga alahas, palamuting lobo para sa mga espesyal na okasyon, pag disenyo ng mga prutas at kakaibang pagbabalot ng mga regalo.

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Plano din ng grupo na magsagawa ng workshop hinggil sa pag-iwas sa mga scam at paano alagaan ang puhunan sa negosyo, sa mga darating na buwan.

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Sa mga gustong sumali, mangyari lang na bisitahin ang kanilang Facebook page, Kasambuhay Hong Kong Foundation @KasambuhayHK. Para mag rehistro, magpadala lang ng mensahe gamit ang #Register2023.

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Campaign against illegal work nabs 27

 

Officers herd arrested workers for investigation

A four-day operation mounted by the Immigration Department with help from the Labour Department and Hong Kong Police to flush out suspected illegal workers resulted in the arrest of 27 people between Apr 24 to 27. 

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The operations netted 19 suspected illegal workers, seven suspected employers and one overstayer.

In ImmD’s two anti-illegal worker operations codenamed Lightshadow and Twilight, officers arrested six suspected female illegal workers aged 30 to 50 and two suspected employers in raids on 56 target locations including a car park, a garage, residential buildings and restaurants and.

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Of the arrested workers, three were holders of recognizance forms, which prohibit them from taking any employment. In addition, one woman was suspected of using a forged Hong Kong identity card.

Two women, aged 36 and 51, were also arrested for employing the workers.

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In operation "Powerplayer" and "Champion", officers raided 24 target locations in New Territories North and Kwai Chung district, including restaurants, a recycling yard and a residential building.

They arrested eight men, aged 33 to 58, illegally working in the establishments.

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Two men and three women, aged 27 to 74, were also arrested for employing the illegal workers. Among them, one woman aged 24 was arrested for overstaying her visa.

In operation "Windsand", five Mainland visitors comprising five men, aged 28 to 50, were arrested for breaching their conditions of stay by engaging in suspected parallel goods trading at San Wan Road in Sheung Shui district. 

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The goods included skincare products, cosmetics products, food products and milk powder.

Immigration warned it remains firm in its objective of stamping out illegal work in the city.

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Filipino migrants to hold Labor Day protest today

 

The rally was originally meant to be held tomorrow, May 1

A group of Filipinos in Hong Kong will hold a protest action outside the Philippine Consulate General today, Apr 30, starting at 11 am.

Dolores Balladares, chairperson of United Filipinos in Hong Kong and one of the leaders of Hong Kong Filipinos for Justice and Peace says protesters will call for a wage increase for workers in both the Philippines and Hong Kong.

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Also include in their calls is the scrapping of the overseas employment certificate and mandatory government fees for Filipino migrant workers, and the cancellation of job-hopping allegations against migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong.

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The original plan was for the group to join a citywide May Day protest tomorrow, but local organizers withdrew an application for the rally because of heightened security restrictions by the police.

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Other groups that had applied for a permit for mass gatherings on May 1 also had to move their events to a later date, like the “Balik Saya” show of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, at the behest of the Hong Kong Police.

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Filipina DH apologizes for spreading fake story about Mark Six win

The faked winning ticket

Filipina domestic helper Myra D. Mendoza has admitted pulling off a bad prank about winning the top prize of $15 million in Thursday’s  Mark Six draw. 

Mendoza's post late Friday night immediately went viral, with many Filipinos sharing it among themselves on Facebook or messenger.

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The SUN posted an article about her claim, but with a warning that it was yet to be independently confirmed.

Mendoza said, "Pakibura po yung post niyo." (Please delete your post)

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"Prank po yung post ko. Alam po ng totoong nanalo na hindi ako yun." (That was a prank. The real winner knows it was not me who won).

"Burahin ko na po ang post." (I will delete the post).

"Lesson learned po." 

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The SUN earlier reached out to Mendoza but she did not respond to queries about her post.

Mendoza's messages admitting to her bad prank

In her post and several comments afterwards, Mendoza even expressed fear that because her identity was revealed her life might be in danger.

She even used a photo showing a hand holding a ticket with the winning combination: 8+12+21+43+44+49 with the word “1^st” stamped in blue next to the numbers. The ticket also shows the date of the draw as April 27, 2023 and a bet of $10.

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According to the official Mark Six results for that day, only one ticket won the top prize of $15,042,030 in the April 27 draw. Two second prize winners each received $1,008,080 each.

But in line with lottery rules and privacy regulations, the names of the winners are not published

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Earlier, a Facebook page, “It’s all about Hong Kong” posted a photo of the supposed winning ticket alongside the result of the Thursday draw, and said simply that a Filipina domestic worker had won the top prize but did not give any other information.

Mendoza said she did not have anything to do with this post, and did not know the people behind it.

The original post carried the unverified information about a Filipina DH winner 

However, various commenters confirmed the story that a Filipina DH had won the top prize. They also said the win came at a most difficult time because the winner had just been terminated, and was due to go home on Monday, May 1.

Mendoza, whose Facebook account shows she is from Camiling, Tarlac, said she just copied the photo of the supposed winning ticket from a post that was circulating openly on Facebook.

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