25 people arrested for scamming Filipina in HK of over P5M, says report

 

Police display items seized from online scammers (File Photo)

Another Filipina in Hong Kong has been fleeced of more than Php5 million in a cryptocurrency scam, according to a report on GMA News.

No dates were mentioned, but the report said 25 suspects were arrested after the Filipina immediately reported the case to the police after realizing she had been duped.

It did not say, though, whether the money or part of it, has been recovered.

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The Consulate’s assistance to nationals section has not responded to a query on whether it was aware of the case.

The report comes just two months after another Filipina resident complained to the police and the Consulate after she lost HK$700,000 (also about Php5million) to a group that lured her into a supposed trading platform.

In both cases, the victims were made to think they were making a profit from their “investment” when all they were shown were manufactured figures in an online platform controlled by the syndicate.

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In the later case, the Filipina called “Joy” was offered the fake investment scheme on social media. She was told that she would make money by transferring money into some bank accounts.

Joy was encouraged to keep transferring money when her initial investment of Php1,500 ballooned to more than Php2 million according to her dummy account controlled by the scammers.

But when she asked to withdraw her money, she was told she would be charged 20% of the total amount. In truth, the scammers would never have given back a single cent of what she had put in.

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Joy reported the case immediately to the police, and the suspects were nabbed.

In the earlier case, the victim lost all her money in just one day. An offer to reward her small amounts by participating in a survey and small online jobs got her hooked to the investment scam.

After reporting to the authorities, she was told that the three Filipinas whose bank accounts were used to receive her money were all migrant workers in Hong Kong. But she was not made aware of any arrests being made following her complaint.

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At one stage, the police also told her that her case had been transferred from the Wanchai station to Tseung Kwan O because that was where one of the suspects had operated from. But again, no further information was given her.

She has now accepted that there is little chance that she will get her money back, but remains hopeful that the people behind the scam would be put behind bars.

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HK Labour Sec ‘saddened’ by death of Filipina DH while cleaning windows

 

Secretary Sun observes caregiving course in the Philippines during a visit last year

 Hong Kong’s Secretary for Labour Chris Sun has said that he was “deeply troubled and saddened” by the death of a Filipina domestic helper while cleaning windows last week, and has vowed to extend help to the victim’s family.

This was according to Department of Migrant Workers’ Secretary Susan Ople, who told GMA News that she had spoken with her counterpart on the phone Thursday night.

The focus of their conversation was the case of 38-year-old Jonalyn Galan, who fell to her death on May 15 while cleaning windows at her employer’s flat in Cheung Sha Wan.

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Ople said she had discussed with Sun the need to remind employers about the prohibition against dangerous window cleaning by foreign domestic workers as provided for in their standard employment contract.

The ban which became part of all FDW contracts starting in January 2017 prohibits the cleaning of windows unless they have grilles, and only the arm of the worker extends outside.

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Both officials promised to extend all possible help to the Filipina worker’s relatives.

Ople also promised that the governments of the Philippines and Hong Kong will work closely to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

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“We will extend full assistance and support to her bereaved family while working closely with Secretary Chris Sun and his department to ensure that the principle of ‘safety above all else’ is carried out as part of employers’ obligations,” Ople was quoted as saying.

The report said Galan’s two siblings are now in Hong Kong attending to the repatriation of the worker’s remains with help from the Philippine Consulate and the Migrant Workers’ Office.

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They will also meet with the deceased’s employer and the Hong Kong Employees’ Compensation Division to discuss a possible payout.

Under the updated rules of the Employee Compensation Ordinance, no less than $486,300 should be paid to the next-of-kin of a worker who died in the line of duty on or after Apr 13 this year.

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16 people arrested in new anti-illegal work operations

 

Those arrested included six women suspected of doing illegal work

Four consecutive days of anti-illegal work operations recently resulted in a total of 16 people arrested, said the Immigration Department.

 Those arrested in the raids conducted from May 15 to 18 were 14 suspected illegal workers and two employers.

 

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The operations carried out by Immigration officers covered 75 target locations including car parks, industrial and residential buildings, restaurants and retail shops.
 
Nine suspected illegal workers comprising three men and six women, aged 28 to 51, were arrested, along with two of their employers, one man aged 38 ang a woman aged 51.
 

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Among the workers, one man and two women were found to hold recognizance forms – indicating they are asylum seekers – while two men had forged HK ID cards.

A suspected illegal seller is shown with his goods

In a separate operation conducted with Hong Kong police, the operatives arrested five mainland visitors, made up four men and one woman, aged 26 to 46, on suspicion of carrying out parallel trading in Sheung Shui district.
 

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The mainland suspects dealt with cosmetics, basic household items and skin care products.
 
Illegal work is punished by a maximum fine of $50,000 and between two and three years in jail, depending on the visa status of the suspect.
 

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Those holding fake ID cards can be jailed for up to 10 years, and fined a maximum of $100,000.

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Employers of illegal workers bear the worst brunt, with a maximum fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for up to 10 years.

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10k katao sa HK ang nagpopositibo sa Covid-19 araw-araw, sabi ng gobyerno

 

Sa 10,000 katao na nagkaka Covid araw-araw, karamihan ay wala, o di malala ang sintomas

Aabot sa 10,000 katao sa Hong Kong ang nahahawaan ng Covid-19 sa araw-araw, ayon kay Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau, bagamat ayon sa isa pang eksperto, malamang na mas madami pa dito ang tunay na numero.

Sinabi ni Prof Lo sa isang panayam na ang binanggit niyang dami ng nahahawaan ng Covid-19 ay base sa pag-aaral ng Department of Health.

“Base sa tantiya ng Health Bureau, may mahigit sa 10,000 bagong kaso ng coronavirus ang naitatatala sa Hong Kong araw-araw,” sabi niya sa panayam na inilathala sa mainland nitong Biyernes. “Hindi naman natin mapipigilan ang pagkakaroon muli ng epidemya.”

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Pero ayon pa rin sa kanya, walang dapat ikabahala sa biglang pagtaas bigla ng mga kaso dahil hindi naman malala ang kundisyon ng mga nagkakasakit, at marami pa rin ang may pangontrol sa coronavirus dahil sa bakuna nilang natanggap.

“Kumpara sa fifth wave noong nakaraang taon, mas mahusay na ang pagbibigay ng serbisyong pangkalusugan sa ating siyudad,” sabi ni Lo. “Kahit dumami ang bilang ng mga naiimpeksyon, kakaunti lang ang mga nagkakasakit ng malubha, o ng namamatay.”

Pero ayon pa rin kay Lo, mas marami ang nagkakasakit ng Covid-19 ngayon kaysa noong Agosto at Setyembre ng nakaraang taon, kung kailan muling dumagsa ang bilang ng pasyente dahil sa pagsulpot ng Omicron variant.

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Base sa talaan ng Hospital Authority, may 2,700 na pasyenteng may Covid-19 ang ginagamot ngayon sa mga pampublikong ospital, na ang karaniwan ay nararatay nang 4.8 araw.

Para mas lalong mabantayan ang sitwasyon ay inumpisahang muli ng HA ang 24 oras na operasyon ng kanilang emergency command centre.

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But the surge would not pose serious challenges to the healthcare system provided the virus did not mutate suddenly, he said, noting the population had built up a strong immunity with about 85 per cent of residents having taken three jabs.

Pinaalalahan niya ang mga may edad o tinaguriang “high risk” na magpabakuna, o dagdagan ang bakuna, anim na buwan mula nang sila ay huling maturukan, o naimpeksyon.

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Samantala, ang isa pang eksperto na si Dr Leung Chi-chiu ay nagsabi na base sa isang pagsisiyasat ng University of Hong Kong, ang bilang ng mga nagkaka Covid-19 sa bawat araw ay aabot sa 50,000.

Sa isinasagawang pag-aaral, 10,000 katao ang tinetest para sa coronavirus tuwing linggo para makita ng mga dalubhasa kung gaano ito kabilis kumalat.

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Pero ayon kay Dr Leung, karamihan sa mga nagkakasakit ngayon ay hindi seryoso ang mga sintomas, samantalang ang iba ay walang kahit na anong nararamdaman na kaiba.

Sinang-ayunan naman ng ilang doktor ang lumalalang sitwasyon ng Covid-19 ngayon. Ayon sa isa sa kanila, puno lagi ang kanyang klinika simula nitong Mayo, at halos kalahati sa kanila ay may coronavirus, at karamihan ay mga may edad.

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Trial on for Filipina who denies assault on 2-year-old ward

 

The Filipina DH is on trial for alleged child abue

A Hong Kong man who accused his Filipina domestic helper of assaulting his two-year-old son thrice last March, said in a trial in West Kowloon Law Courts on Friday, May 19, that he called the police after reviewing CCTV footage and actually seeing the defendant “throwing” his son ward into a cot.

The employer, Mr Chan, 30, was the lone prosecution witness in the trial of Shaira Joy Umbao, who pleaded not guilty to three charges of “wilful assault causing injury to a child.”

At the opening of the originally planned one-day trial before Magistrate Leung Ka-kie, the police officers who arrested Umbao and investigated her begged off from giving evidence, leaving the victim’s father as the lone prosecution witness. The defendant is also slated to give evidence.

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Upon questioning by the prosecutor, Chan said the assaults took place on March 14, 15 and 16 this year inside his flat in Shek Yen House, On Yam, Kwai Chung, New Territories.

To support Chan’s accusations, the prosecution played back five CCTV footages that show the moments the alleged assaults took place

The first video clip taken from overhead on March 14 showed the helper pulling the child’s hands with force as to raise him as he lay on the sofa crying. The child’s crying and the helper’s angry voice got louder as she yanked the boy.

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The second footage showed the seated child’s legs being pulled with force to turn the boy about 90 degrees right towards the defendant.

The third footage showed the helper grabbing the child’s feet and pressing them against a Lego toy on the sofa. The boy at first seemed to be giggling but his voice turned into crying.

The fourth video showed a woman’s lower half-body leaving the masters’ room and a child lying on his right side on his cot. The prosecutor said the footage did not capture the moment when the defendant threw the boy into the cot, as alleged by the father, but added that Chan insisted he saw Umbao actually throw the boy into the cot.

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During cross-examination of Chan by defense lawyer Vivian Wong, the witness denied that since the Filipina started working for her in April 2021, she was only allowed to go out thrice on her holiday.

He denied he was letting the helper work during Umbao’s day off without pay, saying he was paying her $170 each day off that she was asked to work.

The witness also denied that he was letting the helper work from 6am to 1am. Chan disagreed but struggled to explain why the helper had no room and had to sleep in the living room.

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Wong also got Chan to indirectly admit monitoring his helper on CCTV even in wee hours, quickly adding that the camera was focused on Umbao’s feet only, after the defense lawyer asked her how he knew that the helper was awake watching TV drama or chatting with her mother on the phone.    

When pressed on his statement about the helper chatting with her mother at 4am, he said the mother was in a different time zone so she was already awake. Wong corrected him, saying Hong Kong and the Philippines are on the same time zone.

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The defense lawyer also got Chan to admit that he was treating Umbao harshly because he noticed that the helper and his wife have close and friendly relations. But he denied the two women were “sometimes holding hands while walking.”

Chan said at first he, too, was friendly to Umbao, but when he noticed that she and his wife were beginning to get close, he treated her harsher as a counterbalance.

Magistrate Leung adjourned the trial until May 23, when Umbao will give evidence and Wong will sum up the defense’s case.

The lawyer also applied for bail for Umbao, saying she had been already in remand for more than two months since her arrest and might be detained longer than her sentence, if convicted.     

Leung refused the bail application just the same.

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Filipina cricketers, mostly OFWs, win 2 silvers in SEA Games

 

The team, shortly after their big win in the SEA games

Fresh from winning two silver medals in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, the  Philippines' first ever women's cricket team, made up mostly by domestic workers in Hong Kong, returned to their work place victorious and reinvigorated.

They flew in on May 17, along with their manager Animesh Kulkarni, the women’s complement from Manila and the men’s national cricket team.

Consul General Raly Tejada sent protocol officer Patrick Lozano to meet the heroic Filipinos at planeside in Hong Kong International Airport upon learning that they won medals for the country in the biennial regional games.

Though happy with the result of their first international outing, team captain Josie Arimas said cricket should be taught at an early age to Filipinas, for an even more formidable result.

A Consulate representative meets the mainly OFW contingent at HK Airport

The national women’s cricket team took pride in its debut appearance in a major international event like the SEA Games.

Skippered by Simran Sirah from Manila, the Philippine women’s T10 squad locked in the country’s first silver medal of the regional meeting by defeating Cambodia 45-44 in the event on opening day on April 29. But they lost to top-ranked Thailand 13-11 in the final on May 16.

On May 10, the Filipinas with Jennifer Alumbro from Hong Kong at the helm, earned a shot at the Sixes gold-medal match by thumping host Cambodia 54-42 at the AZ Group Cricket Oval, but settled for silver in a defeat to Indonesia, 78-25, in the final. 

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The Filipinas also competed on May 1 in the gruelling T20 tournament with Arimas as captain, but they proved no match to the pitch veterans Thailand, who won 10-9 with 116 balls remaining.

Ranged against the old-timers, the Filipinas on May 6 suffered a 23-21 defeat to Malaysia, which won 10 wickets with 105 balls left.

Yet their back-to-back silver triumphs were reason to celebrate for the Filipinas, whose freshness and lack of international exposure told on their performance against the veteran sides in the region.

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Learning a lesson from the recent Games, Arimas said that starting Filipino girls early in the sport, the country can help the country build a strong team to be reckoned with in international tournaments.

Arimas is also the founder and captain of SCC Divas, the all-Filipina domestic helper side in Hong Kong cricket.

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“Thailand is the top team in Southeast Asia and ranks 12^th in world cricket,” said Arimas shortly after flying back to Hong Kong with her team of fellow workers on Wednesday afternoon. The rest of the team flew back to Manila on the same day.

“As a cricket mentor, I’d like to spread the sport across the country so that the Philippines can build a formidable cricket team that can play strongly against the older teams around the region,” Arimas said.

She said this was the first time that a Philippine cricket team competed in the SEAGames, and the team’s Hong Kong contingent comprised the first Filipina cricketers who formed the SCC Divas side in the SAR’s cricket league back in 2017.

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“I think it’s best to start training young girls now to produce a strong Philippine Blue Caps team para sa next SEA Games in Thailand in 2025,” said Arimas, who is now 47 years old. 

In a sport where agility and speed count on the pitch, the Filipinas from Hong Kong who played for the national team may not be in their prime but still managed to produce medals despite being minnows in the sport. 

Arimas said among those who scored were April Saquilon, Jonna Eguid, Alex Smith, Jhon Andreano, Jennifer Alumbro and others who scored 1 or 2 runs.

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The captain said the team needs to score big in batting. She said the Filipinas’ more challenging matches were against Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Kulkarni, their manager who went with the team to Cambodia, said he was happy with the Filipinas’ performance in their first major tournament outside Hong Kong. But he said more preparations will be needed to hone up the team for the next SEA Games in 2025. 

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