Cayetano announces hike in legal aid fund for OFWs

By Gina N. Ordona

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said the budget for legal assistance for Filipinos abroad has increased, during a forum held at Duke of Windsor House in Wan Chai on Dec. 10.

Speaking to a group of more than 100 overseas Filipino workers, Cayetano said that the budget for legal assistance fund (LAF) has gone up to Php 400 million from Php100 million, and assistance-to-nationals (ATN) fund to Php 1 billion from Php 400 Million.

“Ibinilin ng pangulo na kailangan kapag may legal problems ang ating mga kababayan ay asikasuhin agad. Kaya from any legal distress, puwede nang gamitin ang legal assistance fund,” said Cayetano.

He said that the implementing guidelines for making the bigger budget more accessible to OFWs in need are now being drafted. Under the new rules, the fund will be immediately available from the time of the distressed OFW’s arrest until the final resolution of the case.

Under Republic Act No. 10022 known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, the legal assistance fund will only be released to aid OFWs facing charges, in filing cases against erring or abusive employers abroad, or to pay for bail and other litigation expenses.

Cayetano also confirmed President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s announcement during his second state of the nation address last July that the ATN fund would be jacked up.

“Ang utos po natin ay huwag sayangin pero huwag tipirin.” Marami po kasi ang napapauwi, let’s say taga-Cagayan de Oro or taga-Gensan. Ang ticket po, hanggang Maynila lang. Wala man lang pangkain at ticket pauwi sa kanilang bayan,” Cayetano said. ATN fund is allocated for distressed Filipinos abroad for their transportation, food and other assistance.

Cayetano also unveiled the government’s plan to create a program that would protect the investments of OFWs in the Philippines. He said the Department of Trade and Industry will be providing up to Php1million “soft loan budget” for OFWs.

“I’ll try to give the guidelines right away to the Consulate. Kasi kung puwede naman na ang mga kamag-anak ninyo ang mangutang sa atin, bakit hindi. Una, it’s safer for you and that gives them also some responsibility,” he said.

Araw ng Karapatang Pantao, ginunita

Pinaikutan ng mga nag-martsa ang isang parte ng Chater Road, na nagsilbing entablado sa pagpapahayag ng niloloob.

Ni George Manalansan

Nagsagawa ng kilos-protesta ang isang grupo ng mga migrante noong ika-10 ng Disyembre sa Central, bilang paggunita sa pandaigdigang selebrasyon ng Araw ng Karapatang Pantao.

Pinangunahan ng Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Hong Kong at Macau (Bayan HK-Macau) ang martsa na nagtapos sa Chater Road bandang alas-4 ng hapon.

Tinuligsa ng mga nagprotesta ang extra-judicial killing o ang pagpatay sa libo-libong katao sa Pilipinas sa ngalan ng kampanya laban sa droga ng pamahalaan ni Pangulong Rodrigo R. Duterte. Kabilang sa kanilang mga isinigaw ay: “Puro pangako, walang pinag-iba! Puro paasa, walang pag asa!”., “Walang pagbabago sa ilalim ni Rodrigo!”, “Kami ay aktibista, hindi terorista!”, “Stop killing the poor!”, “Stop human rights violation!”

Ayon kay Bayan chairperson Eman Villanueva, kailangang manindigan ang mga migrante laban sa maling ginagawa ng mga pulis sa Pilipinas na pinapatay ng parang insekto ang mga pinaghihinalaang gumagamit o nagtutulak ng droga. Ayon sa kanya, marami sa mga pinatay ay inaapakan, inihahampas, kinakaladkad palabas ng bahay kahit nasa gitna ng hapunan, at pagkatapos ay babarilin at tatawaging adik. Gawain daw ito ng mga pulis dahil binibigyan sila ng quota para sa kanilang mga napapatay.

Diin ni Villanueva, hindi dapat patayin ang isang tao ng walang “due process”, o kaukulang paglilitis sa kasong isinampa laban sa isang akusado. Dapat daw silang dalhin sa korte para malaman kung tunay silang nagkasala, at hindi basta-basta na lang pinapatay.

Pinalakpakan nang husto si Villanueva, lalo na nang sabihin niya na ang laging target ng mga pumapatay ay ang mga mahihirap na nakatira sa mga barong-barong, at hindi ang mga sindikato na nagkakamal ng pera dahil sa pagbebenta ng droga.

Kinondena din ni Villanueva ang pagpatay sa nagtataguyod ng karapatang pantao gaya nina Tito Paez at Bishop Alberto Ramento, samantalang hindi man lang inaaresto ang mga pulitikong gahaman, mayor na may kaso ng panggahasa o pagkamkam ng lupa, at iba pang abusadong opisyal ng gobyerno.

Kabilang sa mga nagsalita si Dolores Pelaez ng United Filipinos in Hong Kong (Unifil-Migrante) na nanawagan sa alahat na manindigan para sa kanilang karapatan at pagpapahalaga sa buhay ng bawat Pilipino.

Sabi pa niya, marami sa mga migranteng manggagawa ang kinakabahan dahil hindi nila maproteksiyunan ang kanilang pamilya sa Pilipinas, katulad ng kaso ni Kian de los Santos, isang anak ng OFW na pinatay gayong hindi naman drug addict.

Nanawagan si Pelaez sa gobyerno ni Duterte na itigil na ang pamamaslang sa mga inosente para  hindi na madagdagan pa ang 13.000 na napatay.

Kabilang sa mga dumalo ang ilang mga pari at pastor. Isa sa kanila, si Pastor Joram Calimutan, ang nagsabi na ang pangulo daw ng Pilipinas ngayon ay isang makabagong Herodes.

“Naririnig ng Diyos ang ating karaingan at alam ang ating kalagayan”, ang sabi ni Pastor Joram. “Ang pinaka mainit na lugar sa impiyerno ay hindi para sa mga makasalanan ,bagkus ito ay para sa mga walang ginagawa para itama ang kasamaan.”

Ayon sa isang tagapagsalita Ang ating Pangulo ng bansa ngayon ay isang Makabagong Herodes. Naririnig ng Diyos ang ating karaingan at alam ang ating kalagayan.  ang sabi, ang pinaka mainit na lugar sa impiyerno ay hindi para sa mga makasalanan ,bagkus ito ay para sa mga walang ginagawa para itama ang kasamaan.

Sa bandang huli, nagkaisa ang mga dumalo, kabilang ang ilang mga pari at pastor, na magsindi ng kandila bilang tanda ng  kanilang panata na ipagpatuloy ang pakikibaka para sa hustisya at karapatang pantao.

Nagtapos ang programa sa pag-awit ng “Bayan Ko.”

Consulate issues warning, PEYA posts apology over flights mess

A distressed passenger 

By The SUN Staff

The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong has advised the public against transacting with PEYA Travel, as hundreds more of the company’s customers who had hoped to be home in time for Christmas failed to board their flights on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

“The Consulate General of the Philippines in Hong Kong SAR is deeply concerned over the incidence of unissued and unconfirmed bookings of Filipino nationals supposedly purchased from PEYA Travel,” said a statement posted on the Consulate’s Facebook page at 7:15 pm on Dec. 19.

“In this regard, the public is advised not to transact with PEYA Travel until such time that this issue is resolved and all aggrieved parties have received just compensation.”

The statement urged the complainants to keep calm, while calling on PEYA Travel to take responsibility for the ticketing mess.

About two hours later, PEYA responded with an apology to all affected passengers, and said it was taking full responsibility for what happened.

“Makakaasa po kayo na pinagsusumikapan namin at paninindigan ang lahat ng responsibilidad kaugnay nito,” said the statement posted on PEYA’s Facebook page.

However, the apology fell largely on deaf ears, as most of those who responded gave vent to their anger at being left stranded at the airport, or uncertain about whether they could still fly home in time for the holidays. Most demanded a refund, while some called for sanctions against the travel agency.

One said it would have been her first time to spend Christmas with her family in 10 years, while another shared how frustrated she was that she may not have the chance to see and talk to her child who didn’t want to speak to her.

At PEYA’s shop at World Wide Plaza in Central, hundreds of irate customers demanded a refund after failing to board their flights, or learning that their bookings had been canceled by airlines reportedly because the agency failed to pay for their tickets.

Police kept constant watch at the shop, and at the close of office hours invited PEYA’s marketing manager Arnold Grospe for questioning at the Central Waterfront station.

Grospe who had been manning the shop solo since Monday when word of the booking mess spread, was allowed to leave the station about five hours later with no charges being laid.

Irate passengers swarmed PEYA's office

By mid-afternoon, more than 300 bumped off passengers and others who were scheduled to fly home from Dec 19 onwards with supposedly confirmed bookings had trooped to PEYA, waving so-called itinerary receipts at Grospe as they demanded their money back.

Grospe reportedly tried to appease the customers by promising a refund sometime after the New Year but did not specify the date.  

Grsospe faced the mad passnegers alone

He scribbled “Refund applied Dec 19” on the itinerary receipts then asked the complainants to sign below the notation. Some refused, saying it could be a ruse which PEYA could later claim as proof they had been paid back.    

A Caucasian employer who was one of the estimated 50 complainants packing PEYA’s small office insisted to get back the money he paid for his helper’s ticket. “I want a refund now,” he demanded angrily.

Another employer, a Hong Kong woman who declined to give her name, told The SUN she also asked Grospe to return her money, but he only replied: “You can shout at me but I can’t do anything.”

The employer said she had been sourcing her helpers’ air tickets from PEYA because it was reliable. “We have never had this kind of problem,” she said. For the Dec 23 flight, the employer paid more than $2,000 when she booked it for her maid in June.

But when the helper called Cathay Pacific to reconfirm her flight, an airline staff said her booking was not confirmed because no payment was ever received. PEYA said it was due to system glitch.

Grospe reportedly gave the same excuse to the other complainants, many of whom disbelieved him.

The employer would not believe that. “If it was indeed a system breakdown, would it last two months?” she exclaimed.

Police kept the crowd in check

Yet another Hong Kong employer, Mrs Cheng, went to World-Wide Plaza after her maid called her and told her about the fiasco. The helper bought her ticket in October and was due to take her vacation from Dec 22 but discovered her booking was cancelled for non-remittance of the payment.

One woman from Bacolod, carrying a year-old boy, cried as she vented her frustration at her fouled up travel plans. “This should be my first Christmas vacation is more than six years and my children are anticipating it,” she said.

The woman said she felt so bad because her flight was set for Dec 22, but, when she called the airline after hearing about the mess, she was told she had no booking. Yet, she had a supposedly confirmed itinerary receipt.

“This is too much. I’ve looked forward to this vacation. My children are waiting for me and now everything’s all muddled up,” she said.

Three batches of angry victims went to the Consulate on Dec 19 to seek help, but they were advised to take their complaints to the Travel Industry Council in North Point, a staff at the assistance to nationals section said.

WorldRemit to invest in the Philippines

The Philippines will host the new regional center of WorldRemit, a leading digital money transfer service.

The company had earlier raised $40 million to drive its next phase of growth, starting with the setting up its Asia-Pacific regional center in the Philippines, its biggest receive market, to handle customer queries. A hundred jobs are expected to be created in the Philippines by the end of 2019.

Currently sending from over 50 countries to 148 destinations, WorldRemit will also use the funding to expand its mobile-first digital service into new markets.

The investment comes at a time of significant company growth across the APAC region which now accounts for more than 25% of WorldRemit’s global money transfers. In the Philippines, WorldRemit's largest receive market, the number of transactions has grown at more than 100% over the last year.

The new center in the Philippines, along with its existing operations in Denver and London, will ensure that WorldRemit customers have access to a round-the-clock service across the globe.
WorldRemit handles a growing share of the $600 billion migrant money transfer market, better known as remittances.

Michael Liu, Regional Director for APAC, comments: “WorldRemit was founded because we believed there was a better way for customers to send money home to their families and communities.”

He added: “This new funding will not only allow us to expand our network and service in the Philippines, but also build our regional centre which will allow us to create more jobs for the country’s economy as well as improve our service to customers globally. “

Since its last funding round in 2015, WorldRemit has launched 206 new services across the globe and has grown its transaction volume by 400%. Last month WorldRemit became Arsenal FC’s first-ever online money transfer partner. 

The Series C round was led by LeapFrog Investments - a dedicated equity investor in emerging markets, supporting fast-growth firms that deliver social impact alongside commercial returns. The round also had    significant participation from existing investors Accel and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV).

This latest funding round follows a Series B investment raised from TCV in 2015 and a Series A from Accel and Project A in 2014 - then one of the largest ever Series A rounds in Europe. 

Scores of PEYA customers stranded, held up at airport

Irate customers flock to the Worldwide Plaza office of Peya Travel.

By The SUN

Around 200 Filipinos, mostly foreign domestic workers on their way home to the Philippines for the Christmas holidays, were left stranded or held up at Chek Lap Kok airport over the past two days when their tickets issued by Peya Travel were not honored at the check-in counters.

The scenario could recur in the next few days ahead of Christmas, as hundreds more Filipinos who could have booked with Peya prepare to go home to spend their much-awaited vacation with family members.

Most of the stranded passengers said they were told by airline staff that the travel agency had failed to pay for their tickets, but Peya’s management blamed the fiasco on a technical glitch.

Peya’s owner Rhea Donna Boyce, told The SUN via online chat that she discovered the booking problem on Saturday and “I was really furious about it,” she said, without going into details.

Boyce said she managed to rebook the tickets on Sunday of around 100 passengers who were unable to board their flights, even if it meant paying $3,200 for each one-way ticket to Manila. She said the return tickets issued to them by Peya cost only $2,080 each.

But today, around the same number of passengers encountered the same problem, and many of them descended on the Peya office on the third floor of World Wide Plaza in Central to complain, some with police in tow.

The travel agency’s staff members were so unnerved by the invasion of the irate customers that they walked out on their jobs, leaving only the sales director, Arnold Grospe, to deal with the complaints.

The angry passengers included Belen, an OFW from Bicol who was on her way home for the burial of her father-in-law, which had already been postponed for five days to await her arrival.

Belen, like many others who could not board their flights on Monday, was furious because her relatives had rented a vehicle so they could pick her up at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila for her scheduled arrival at 8pm so they could get to Bicol in time for the burial.

Belen rushed to PEYA’s office at mid-afternoon after finding out about the fiasco at the check-in counter, and was verging on tears as she angrily demanded her money back.

“May emergency kami tapos ganito pa ang nangyari. Ibalik nila ang pera ko,” she said, adding that the $5,000 she had paid for her ticket was her last money, and did not know where to get more cash to buy a new one.

Another was Perla Santos, who went to HK International Airport early as she was supposed to leave on the 7:50am flight of Philippine Airlines, but was shocked to learn that she was not on the list of passengers.

After fuming for hours at the airport, she decided to just book a 7:20pm flight to Clark Airport aboard Cebu Pacific so she would at least arrive home within the same day.

Like Belen, her relatives had hired a vehicle to pick her up in Manila, but on learning that she failed to board her scheduled flight,  they decided to go back home to Pampanga. They told her to just call them when her plane had landed in Clark.

Another customer, Vhie Azares Endaya, said she was concerned about her children who had been preparing to fetch her at the airport in Legaspi City, because she would miss her 10pm flight tonight. “Actually, my employer would be happy that I would not be leaving,” she added.

“Hindi birong pagod,gutom at puyat ang binuno namin para kitain ang pinambili namin ng ticket na yan kahit pa napakamahal makasama lang namin pamilya namin,” she said later in a Facebook post.

Many furious passengers swarmed over Grospe, demanding a return of their money.

“Bakit, anong nangyari? Ibalik nyo ngayon din ang pera namin para makabili kami ng panibagong ticket. Naghihintay na ang mga anak ko sa airport,” an angry OFW who rushed back to Central from the airport along with her luggage shouted.

Grospe, who frantically tried to help file applications to refund the tickets of the passengers, told The SUN he was unsure what had caused their bookings to disappear from their system.  “Parang na-virus,” he said.

The affected passengers were mostly on Philippine Airlines and Cathay Pacific flights; they were booked but not confirmed. He also found out, upon checking, that some of the passengers on Cebu Pacific had confirmed flights. 

Grospe offered to process refund claims as a crowd filled the Peya office, asking them to leave copies of their booking form, receipt and HK identification card to support their applications.

But he added that he could not promise the complainants when or how much refund would be paid.

At any one time, about 20 irate customers crowded in front of Grospe, who listened to their complaints and assured them they would get rebooked, or get their money back.

Earlier in the day, complainants called police who sent investigators and made inquiries.

The Travel Industry Council (TIC) also sent staff to inquire about complaints it had received. It was not yet known what actions TIC will take but a search of the directory of travel agents indicates that Peya is still listed.

“They (TIC) know about this already. We have reported this to them,” Grospe told an employer who inquired on behalf of her helper who missed her flight today.

TIC is the government agency that issues licenses to travel agencies. It also administers the Travel Industry Compensation Fund, under which up to 90 per cent of the cost of the tickets could be recovered in case the issuing travel agency closes, as long as these payments include its 0.15 per cent levy on the cost of air tickets.

The scene at the airport is no less chaotic.

Some of those who came back from the Hong Kong International Airport said there was a bigger crowd of OFWs there who were unable to leave because their names were not on the flight manifest of either PAL, Cathay Pacific or Cebu Pacific.

PAL’s country manager, Leah Nicolas, was also at a loss when asked what could have gone wrong with Peya’s bookings, but said that as far as the airline is concerned, “the tickets were not issued”.

Nicolas said that PAL does not get bookings directly from Peya, as it is not accredited with IATA (International Air Travel Association). That means Peya had to go through an accredited agency to get the airline to issue the tickets, which did not happen.

“But in the past, we have had passengers booked through Peya and we didn’t have this kind of problem, so this is really strange, ” Nicolas said.

Asked if it was possible for PAL to deploy extra flights to accommodate the hundreds of mainly overseas Filipino workers who made their bookings through Peya and are scheduled to depart within the week, Nicolas said she could try asking.

“We can check but there’s a big demand for our aircraft right now because of the holiday season,” she said.

Nevertheless, Nicolas said she would send a staff member to Peya to inquire how they could help ease the burden on the affected passengers. 

Many of the passengers who had been bumped off their flights also sought help from the Consulate, to ask if they could take action.

But the Consulate’s acting head of post, Roderick Atienza, said “There’s really not much that we can do at this stage because we still don’t know what really happened. The culpability or lack of it by the agency still has to be established.”

Nevertheless, he said he expected the agency to “fix the mess”, and that the Consulate will continue to monitor the situation to make sure the affected OFWs get appropriate help.

Among those who sought the Consulate’s  help was Ma Teresa Macatangay who told the assistance to nationals section that when she checked her PAL flight on Dec. 22 which she booked through Peya she was told that her booking had not been confirmed.

Macatangay said she paid $3,700 for her return air ticket originally, and was asked by Peya to pay an additional $1,700 when she rebooked her return to Jan. 2. She was angry that despite shelling out so much money, her hope of spending the holiday season with her loved ones now look uncertain.

Govt gets flak for putting president’s photo on OFW ID

Militant overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong have given the thumbs down to the newly launched OFW ID, also known as iDOLE, for featuring a big color picture of President Rodrigo R. Duterte in front, alongside that of the holder.

This was despite an announcement from Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello IIII that the ID would be given away free, in contrast to his previous statement in July that employers would be charged for the card, causing an uproar among OFWs.

Bello, in succeeding announcements, said the design will not be altered because there had been no formal objection.

Duterte himself had said in the past he did not want his picture displayed in government offices, as well as in government-issued documents.

“Kelangan talagang may mukha ng presidente ang OFW ID? Iilan pa lang ang nabigyan, baka pwede pang alisin ito,” said Eman Villanueva, chairman of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Hong Kong and Macau.

Villanueva likened it to disgraced President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s move to put her picture on Philhealth cards which were given away free to poor Filipinos ahead of her bid for re-election in 2004.

Other OFWs posted on Facebook that they’d rather not have the ID, saying they didn’t want to keep Duterte’s picture inside their wallets.

Some Duterte supporters, however, said the President may not have approved of the card’s look himself, as he is known to have even ordered government offices not to display his photo on their walls.

The much-awaited OFW card was unveiled by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Dec. 7, who said he had issued it to a limited number of returning overseas workers, calling it President Duterte’s “best gift” to them.Bello said the OFW ID, which was on its first phase of issuance, was intended to test and secure the features of the Integrated Department of Labor and Employment eServices.

“This is only the first phase of implementation and will cater first to our Balik-Manggagawa until the system is ready for all OFWs. We are doing this to secure the database and for further improvements in the system,” Bello said.

Backtracking to a promise he made to OFWs in Hong Kong last year, he said that the OFW ID is free, as it will be funded by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

“This is free for our OFWs. We do not want our OFWs to shoulder the cost because this is a gift from the President to recognize their sacrifices and immense contribution to our economy,” he said.

During an interview with assistant secretary for communication Mocha Uson in July, however, Bello clarified that the ID was free for OFWs but employers would have to pay for the cost of production. A price of Php500 plus Php200 for postage was originally floated as the cost of obtaining one.

Balik-Manggagawa, or vacationing OFWs, are required to log into their BM Online accounts to apply for the ID, which they can use to avail themselves of travel tax and terminal fee exemptions.

 They can log in and create an account with the iDOLE.ph or the iDOLE One-Stop Online Facility/Portal and apply for the OFW ID by inputting their latest and valid OEC number. The unique ID is equipped with decrypted QR code for security.

 The DOLE said the ID will free OFWs from queuing up to transact with agencies for OECs, as they can access government services online in further phases of the iDOLE eServices implementation.

The first phase links DOLE with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, OWWA and the Bureau of Immigration.

PH eyes deal on sending OFWs to China by next year

By Vir B. Lumicao

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano sees China’s “Belt and Road” initiative as an opportunity to supply the Chinese mainland with Filipino talent, such as professionals, including English teachers.

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano

The foreign secretary, who was a guest at a “Belt and Road” trade fair at Chater garden on Dec 1, said he is hoping for a breakthrough in moves to secure an agreement by the end of the first quarter of 2018 on exporting Filipino workers to China.

“The sooner any agreement that would give the Filipinos legal protection is good, and although they are treating the Filipinos very well, to be staying in a country legally and having a work contract is more desirable,” Cayetano told The SUN.

“So, we’re hoping to have a breakthrough in the first quarter next year because of the relationship getting better and better and many cooperation agreements going,” he said.

But he said the government is not only focusing on the employment, “but also on how to better the lives, especially through education, of our workers abroad, so that they will have a career path, a ladder where they can improve their situation as the years go by”.

He said China, especially Beijing, has programs for expatriates and workers, but Filipino workers are not covered as they do not have job contracts there.

“It’s a matter of getting the agreement and seeing which programs will be available to them,” he said.

He said China is very keen to hire English teachers, such that its foreign minister had followed up talks about getting the teachers from the Philippines.

“It’s even their foreign minister who followed up and their Belt & Road initiative will be a very big idea that will affect the world and especially our region, and even the Chinese themselves have said that they not only need the cooperation, collaboration, but they will need the best talents from all over the world, and they recognize Filipino talent,” he said.

Cayetano said the Philippines would need to do a balancing act because it sends workers out to earn for their families and help the economy, but it also have to keep the best people at home “so we can develop and we don’t want to see people separating from their families”.

He said the ideal setup is one like in the US, where Filipino nurses can bring their spouses who can’t work, for a year. He said this is better than separating families.

In a press briefing in Macau, Cayetano said he had a “short and fruitful meeting” with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, partly about the OEC suspension that effectively stopped the deployment of all new overseas Filipino workers from Manila. But the issue became moot when Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III lifted the 15-day suspension as scheduled on Dec. 1.

Cayetano said his talk with the CE covered the human trafficking issue, but only in relation to the OEC. But he said the Philippine government is quietly talking with countries which are take-off points for traffickers like Hong Kong.

Whether it is illegal recruitment, white slavery or all other types of trafficking, this has to be addressed, he said. “It’s only when we consider it as a transnational crime, meaning it is not only a problem on one side, on the Philippine side, but it’s a problem among nations, can we truly address it,” he said.

“Both with Hong Kong and China, we are also stepping up our intelligence so that we can identify more (culprits), especially illegal recruiters or the people who are doing the trafficking,” Cayetano said.

Hirap nang dahil sa OEC

Mahigit dalawang oras nang nakapila papasok sa Philippine Overseas Labor Office si Ate Magdalena, 61 taong gulang at taga Ilocos Sur, nang mapansin siya ng isang volunteer. Dahil hindi na kailangang pumila pa ang mga senior citizen ay tinanong si Ate Magdalena ng volunteer kung ano ang sadya nito.

Ipinakita agad ni Ate Magdalena ang email at password ng kanyang BMOnline account, sabay sabi ng, “Ne, patulong naman aakyat ako kuha ng OEC”.

Naawa na naaliw ang volunteer kaya tiningnan muna ang e-mail address at password nito, at sinubukan siyang I log-in gamit ang kanyang sariling cellphone. Nabuksan naman ang account ni ate kaya na-edit pa ng volunteer ang ilang impormasyon bago siya inaplayan ng OEC exemption.

Naglapitan naman ang ilang tao sa pila para malaman kung makakatulong ba sa kanila ang paliwanagan. Sinabi ng volunteer kay ate na hindi na niya kailangan pang pumila para makaakyat para sa OEC dahil puwede iyang ipakita na lang ang kanyang exemption number.

Ngunit hindi pumayag si ate na wala siyang hawak na papel katulad ng dati. Naisip ng volunteer na gamitin ang mismong telepono ni ate para doon kunin ang exemption number nito at ipa print sa amo, pero wala pala itong smart phone.

Kahit anong paliwanag ng volunteer ay hindi pa rin maintindihan ng matanda kaya sinamahan na lang siya ng volunteer sa isang computer shop para doon ipa print ang kanyang exemption slip. Kahit nagbayad ng $15 sa isang pirasong papel ay natuwa pa rin si ate dahil hindi na siya kailangan pang pumila ulit.

Ibinigay ng volunteer ang kanyang pangalan at numero para sa susunod na pag-uwi ni ate ay tatawagan na lang siya nito para matulungan. Si Ate Magdalena ay 32 taon na sa Hong Kong nguni’t hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin maintindihan ang proseso ng pagkuha ng OEC exemption para masiguradong makakabalik siya sa kanyang trabaho sa Hong Kong pagkatapos magbakasyon sa Pilipinas - Rodelia Villar

Kumusta na?

“Uuwi na yata ako ate, ilang buwan ko pa lang dito pero nahihirapan na ako.” Ito ang naging kasagutan ni Lorna nang kumustahin ng kapwa niya kunyang na noon lang niya nakita, at nakasabay lang sa paglalakad.

Malungkot kasi ang mukha ni Lorna sa araw na iyon kaya kinumusta siya ni ateng. Sa sinabing iyon ni Lorna ay naikwento ni ateng na mayroong mga OFW na mas malala pa ang sitwasyon sa kanya ngunit nagtitiis dahil alam na marami sa mga Pilipino ang nangangarap na sa Hong Kong makapagtrabaho. Iniisip daw nila na kapag uuwi sila ay wala naman silang mapapasukang trabaho na ang suweldo ay mahigit sa beinte mil (Php20,000) sa isang buwan.

Napag-isip isip si Lorna sa tinuran ni ateng, bago ngumiti, sabay sabi ng “Pinapatibay mo ang loob ko ate”.

Pagkaraan lang ng ilang araw ay nagkalubong muli ang dalawa sa daan, at kitang-kita sa mukha ni Lorna ang saya dahil sinunod daw niya ang pangaral ni ateng na dapat ay kausapin ang amo kung mayroon siyang hindi naiintidihan sa mga sinasabi sa kanya.

Dahil dito ay naging masiyahin na siya. Paggising daw ng mga amo sa umaga ay nag gu good morning siya sa kanila, at good night naman bago sila matulog. Higit sa lahat ay nakukuha na niyang alukin sila ng maiinom kapag dumadating sila galing sa trabaho, gaya ng tsaa o kape.

Iyun lang at mukhang nakuha na niya ang kiliti ng mga amo, kaya malamang daw na tatagal din siya sa Hong Kong katulad ni ateng na naka ilang dekada na dito. Naisip ni ateng na may malaki din palang epekto ang pagbati sa mga nakikita na malungkot, dahil ang kaunting pagpapakita ng malasakit ay malaki ang nadudulot na ginhawa, lalo sa mga bagong dating na OFW. S

i Lorna ay 28 taong gulang, dalaga at mula sa kabisayaan. Namamasukan siya ngayon sa mga among taga Shatin. – Marites Palma

Sisante bigla at walang nakuhang bayad

Nahulog mula sa kuna ang 18 walong buwan na alaga ni Hanna habang nagluluto siya ng pagkain para sa isa pa niyang alaga na 4 na taon at sa 80 taong gulang na lola.

Pinababa siya ng among Intsik ng walang karampatang bayad at sinabihan na sa agency na lamang sila maghaharap. Pagdating doon ay tinakot daw si Hanna ng tauhan ng agency para pumirma siya sa termination letter dahil siya naman daw ang may kasalanan sa pagkahulog ng kanyang alaga.

Kahit wala naman daw makita na galos man lang sa bata ay sinabi ng ahente sa kanya na baka makulong pa siya pagkalipas ng ilang araw dahil baka may makita nang diperensya sa alaga.

Marami sa mga kaibigan ni Hanna ang nagsabi na huwag siyang pipirma sa termination letter pero ginawa pa rin niya. Dahil dito ay wala siyang nakuhang isang buwang sahod kapalit ng pasabi, kundi ang sahod lang sa mga araw na pinagtrabaho niya, at para sa tiket pauwi sa Pilipinas.

Tinangka niyang maghanap ng ibang amo sa mga ahensya ngunit puro tanggi daw ang inabot niya. Nawalan na siya ng kumpiyansa sa sarili kaya nagdesisyon siyang umuwi na lang na masama ang loob, lalo at naalala niya na hindi siya binibigyan ng amo ng pagkain sa umaga at pati kumot niya ay siya ang bumili.

Si Hanna ay 30 taong gulang, may asawa at anak, at tubong Cagayan Valley. Ang dating amo niya ay nakatira sa Shau Kei Wan. – Marites Palma

Pinayuhang huwag pasaway

Di sinasadyang nagkita sa MTR train sa Central sina Linda at Ella, na naging matalik na magkaibigan noong sila ay nasa Pilipinas pa, at nag-aapplay pa lamang na pumunta ng Hong Kong. Magkasama nilang nilakad ang mga kinakailangan na dokumento hanggang makarating sila pareho sa Hong Kong.

Nakakuha ng amo si Linda na taga New Territories samantalang sa Mid-Levels naman napunta si Ella. Hindi na sila nagkaroon ng pagkakataon na magkita muli dahil parehong naging abala sa trabaho.

Dahil ganoon lang lang ang saya nila nang aksidenteng magkita ay napalakas ang kanilang usapan sa tren, dahilan upang mairita ang isang matandang babae na katabi nila.

Pinagsabihan ang dalawa na dahan dahan sa paggalaw at hinaan ang boses dahil nakakasagi sila at nakakagambala sa ibang pasahero. Sa halip na sundin ang sinabi ng kapwa pasahero ay sumagot si Ella ng, “This is a public place at masaya ako”.

Dahil sa tinuran ni Ellen ay nagsalita bigla ang matanda sa Tagalog at sinabi na hindi lamang siya ang ang tao sa mundo at porke ba nasa pampublikong lugar ay maaari nang gawin ni Ella ang gusto na magsalita ng malakas. Dapat din daw niyang isipin ang mga taong nakapaligid,  matuto na umakto nang tama at hindi nakakasagabal sa iba.

Biglang natahimik ang magkaibigan dahil hindi nila akalain na Pilipino pala ang katabi. Nahihiyang humingi sila ng dispensa dito. Tinanggap naman ng matanda ang paumanhin, at bago ito bumaba ay pinagsabihan ang magkaibigan na maging halimbawa ng kagandahang asal sa kapwa at huwag nang dumagdag pa sa bilang ng mga Pilipinang pasaway dito sa Hong Kong.

Si Linda ay dalaga at tubong Bacolod samantalang si Ella ay laking Maynila na buhat sa Cebu. – Ellen Asis

Muntik makasunog

Hiyang hiya si Adel, 39, at taga Pangasinan, nang magising noong Nob. 23 dahil nakitang muntik na niyang nasunog ang bahay ng mga amo.

Ininit niya ang lemon na iinumin niya sana sa umaga, pero nakatulog siya at nakalimutan ang nakasalaang sa kalan. Sunog hindi lang ang lemon, kundi pati ang takure, at posibleng kumalat pa ang apoy.

Siya namang paglabas ng alaga niyang dalaga, sabay sabi ng “You fell asleep last night and forgot to turn off the gas, didn’t you? Fortunately I went to the kitchen to drink.”

Walang nasabi ang nanlulumong si Adel kundi, “I’m sorry.”

Wala ang mga amo niya noong araw na iyon dahil namamasyal sa Japan, at kinabukasan pa ng gabi ang dating. Nang makabalik na sa bahay ang mga amo ay pinakain muna sila ni Adel at nagligpit sa kusina.

Dahil alumpihit siya at ikot ng ikot sa sala, naalibadbaran ang among lalaki at tinanong siya ng, “Adel why you look so worried, anything bothering you? Can we help?” Naisip ni Adel na hindi pa siya sinumbong ng alaga, kaya agad na sinabi ang, “Sir, Sir I’m sorry for my negligence…it is a big mistake. I left the stove on unattended and fell asleep, the other night, please forgive me. Fortunately “mui mui” was around, saw it and turned it off for me.”

Biglang natigilan ang amo, bago sinabing, “It’s okay,  we understand, we forget things too." Pero bigla nitong sinundan ng, “You know, if this happened in a village of Chinese families, they will expel you for three years.”

Mula noon ay ayaw nang magluto ni Adel ng hiwalay para sa kanyang pagkain kapag mag-isa lang siya sa bahay, Nag steam na lang siya ng ulam, sabay sa sinaing sa rice cooker para siguradong hindi maulit ang nangyari. Laking pasalamat din niya na hindi siya nakasunog ng bahay. – George Manalansan

Ylagan returns to HK, claims she’s been duped yet again

By Daisy CL Mandap

Ester P. Ylagan

Elusive recruiter Ester P. Ylagan is back in Hong Kong, 15 months since she went into hiding in the Philippines amid an unfolding scandal over the fake jobs she offered to Filipino domestic workers in exchange for thousands of dollars in fees.

Ylagan. looking noticeably thinner, showed up at The SUN’s office in the evening of Dec. 13, claiming once again that she had been duped into parting with the money she meant to pay her irate job applicants.

She was apparently flushed out of hiding by a TV news report in the Philippines which aired early last month, in which she was branded an illegal recruiter while a video of her conducting a briefing for her job applicants in Hong Kong was shown.

 She said she wanted to speak up to clear the air, and also to seek advice.

She furnished a copy of the statement she gave to police on Dec 5 in which she accused a former friend of fraudulently taking over ownership of a flat on Yue Kok street in Aberdeen which she used to co-own with her recently deceased husband, Rick Ylagan.

Ylagan said the friend had caused her and her husband to transfer their joint ownership of the 2-bedroom, seaview flat to their 24-year-old son, Ridge Michael, on the understanding that the property would eventually be sold to satisfy the claims against her.

Instead, Michael was somehow tricked into transferring ownership of the flat to this trusted friend.

Ylagan also hinted that her MPF savings had been drained by the same friend who allegedly told her the money would go towards her legal defense and to pay off the claims.

While this was happening, Ylagan said she was advised by her former friend to go underground and to deactivate all her social media accounts while the case against her in Hong Kong was being sorted out. She was reportedly told she would be arrested and thrown in jail if she returned here.

Ylagan claimed that in the 15 months that she had stayed away from Hong Kong she was not aware that the claims against her by more than 300 Filipino job applicants in Hong Kong, Macau and the Philippines were still being pursued.

She reportedly only learned of this when she saw the TV news report, and somehow finally managed to access reports published by The SUN in both its print and online platforms.

In an earlier statement she gave to police on July 8 last year, Ylagan, a 30-year-veteran of the recruitment business, said she had been tricked into offering the fictitious jobs by a certain “William Clinton”.

This Clinton guy supposedly caused her to send a total of $4.194 million to various recipients in places such as Burkina Faso and Nigeria in West Africa.

She claimed she was not to be paid any cash for recruiting for Clinton, but would be rewarded with a British passport, 15 air tickets to London, and “an opportunity to explore the UK market”.

She in turn, was to collect $15,000 from each job applicant for Canada, and $10,000 for those applying to work in Britain. Given the number of claimants running after her for a refund of their money, Ylagan could have collected as much as $5 million from the scam.

But with her flat gone and her once highly profitable Emry’s Employment Agency shut down, Ylagan says she has no money left to repay the applicants. In fact, she told The SUN she was applying for legal aid so she could claim back her house and sell it so she could satisfy the claims of all those running after her.

The fantastic claim has, however, already been rejected by most claimants who have remained firm in demanding a refund, and for Ylagan to be held to account for fraud for the spurious job offers.

Congress okays 1 more year of martial law in Mindanao

With a vote of 240 in favor and 27 against, a joint session of Congress overwhelmingly approved President Duterte’s request to extend martial law in Mindanao by one year.

The military has warned of continuing threats from the pro-Islamic State group militants and the communist organization.

This despite Duterte’s declaration in September of the defeat of the Islamist militants in Marawi City.

 Justifying Duterte’s request to Congress, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said remnants of the IS-linked militants were trying to regroup and recruit to recover from their defeat in Marawi City.

“The rebellion has not stopped, it has just moved to another place,” Lorenzana told senators and congressmen in a special joint session.

Duterte immediately thanked Congress for swiftly responding positively to his request. He spoke at a ceremony at an Army camp where hundreds of rifles and other weapons used by the extremists in Marawi were destroyed with a road roller. Asked by reporters about the prospects of martial law being imposed nationwide, the president said it cannot be ruled out if the country’s survival is at stake.

“You threaten the existence of the Republic of the Philippines, I am sure that everybody will react and do what he must do to prevent it,” he said.

Five months of intense fighting, including daily airstrikes and artillery bombardments by the military against hundreds of militants, left more than 1,100 combatants and noncombatants dead and displaced about half a million people, turning mosque-studded Marawi’s central business and residential districts into a smoldering war zone.

Lorenzana said it would take at least three years to rebuild Marawi, a bastion of Islamic faith in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines.

Opposition lawmakers questioned the constitutionality of the martial law extension, saying it was an “extreme measure” that can only be imposed when actual rebellions against the government exist. They expressed fears that such a move can be a prelude for Duterte to declare martial law throughout the country.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, president of Liberal Party, said the martial law declaration did not have a clear constitutional basis. He cited the government’s declaration that the terrorists have been defeated in Marawi, and said that major rebel attacks have been dealt with by past presidents without resorting to martial rule.

“We will be in danger of becoming the monsters that we seek to defeat, those who have no regard for law, order or respect for the constitution,” Pangilinan said.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao on May 23 this year to quell the rebellion of the Islamic State-inspired Maute extremist group.

Congress rushed approval of the martial law extension bill before it adjourned for a month-long holiday break on Wednesday, December 13.

But some senators see the proposed one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao as yet another attempt to place the entire country under authoritarian rule.

Senator Franklin Drilon, minority leader in the Senate, raised suspicions on the justification that the administration gave for extending the martial law period in Mindanao. It was originally declared to contain and defeat the Islamic State-inspired Maute group that attempted to take take over Marawi City earlier this year.

“The president cited the NPA for the first time in his extension. The NPA conflict was not cited in the original request. The NPA conflict has been there for the last four decades. Suddenly, the NPA has been cited as an additional ground for the extension of martial law in Mindanao,” Drilon cited during a joint session of Congress on the President’s proclamation..

“Is this now a prelude to declaring martial law nationwide?” he asked.

Opposition groups have raised concerns that martial law, which surveys suggest has the support of Mindanao residents, will be expanded to the Visayas and Luzon.

“Is this now a prelude to declaring martial law nationwide?” Opposition groups have raised concerns that martial law, which surveys suggest has the support of Mindanao residents, will be expanded to the Visayas and Luzon.

Drilon said there is no basis to further extend martial law since there is no actual rebellion in Mindanao following the liberation of Marawi City in October.

For her part, Senator Risa Hontiveros noted that the NPA has already been characterized as a spent force, and wondered why it is now being used to extend martial law in Mindanao.

But Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said NPA had recently staged attacks in Eastern and Southern Mindanao.

“NPA is not a main target of martial law. They are already branded as a terrorist organization because they have already alerted their troops on the ground to strengthen attacks,” Lorenzana claimed.

The Defense department said in February, when peace talks with communist rebels first hit snags over political prisoners still in detention and alleged continuing counterinsurgency operations, that the NPA had grown to about 5,000 members across the country.

Lorenzana said then that he had received reports stating that there had been a “surge” in recruitment by the NPA.

In his letter to Congress, Duterte cited continued threats from Islamic State-linked extremists, local terrorists and communist rebels as the primary reason to justify the extension of martial law for another year.

“A further extension of the implementation of martial and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao will help the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and all other law enforcement agencies to quell completely and put an end to the ongoing rebellion in Mindanao and prevent the same from escalating to other parts of the country,” the president wrote.

He dedicated five paragraphs out of 17 to detail alleged atrocities committed by the NPA.

Duterte said that NPA committed 385 “atrocities” in Mindanao, which resulted in deaths of 41 government personnel and 23 civilians.

NPA is also responsible for at least 59 arson incidents in the southern Philippines, he added.

On December 5, Duterte signed a proclamation classifying the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the NPA, as terrorist groups.

On November 23, Duterte formally terminated negotiations with communists through Proclamation 360, citing the rebels’ supposed failure to display sincerity to the peace process.

The New People’s Army, the armed wing of the rebels, has earned Duterte’s ire for staging attacks that killed civilians.

Martial law was declared on May 23, within hours of the Maute attack on the capital of Lanao del Sur. The extension was approved by Congress in July until December 31 this year.

Dead phone battery stalls trial of Pinoy in upskirt video case

By Vir B. Lumicao

Trial of Pinoy in upskirt video case
resumes on Dec 15

A magistrate in Kwun Tong Court was forced to adjourn the trial of a Filipino worker accused of taking an upskirt video of a woman when the phone with the contested footage failed to boot up on Dec. 5.

Magistrate Chu Chung-keung postponed the trial of defendant Nelson San Juan to Dec. 15 after the defense said the battery of the mobile phone with the video had drained.

The defense lawyer said the phone was kept by the police since it was seized in December last year, and its battery had gone dead.

He said the phone would need at least 25 minutes to recharge to 50% and be able to play back the video footage.

The magistrate adjourned the hearing after realizing that San Juan would not be able to finish his evidence by the 1pm break if the phone battery was to be charged up first.

San Juan is on trial for “committing an act outraging public decency”.

The magistrate admitted the video footage as evidence in the case, but disallowed a notebook on which the arresting officer wrote his initial interview with the suspect.

At the previous hearing, the arresting officer had alleged that San Juan admitted his iPhone’s video camera was running while he was behind the woman, Miss X, ascending an escalator at a mall in Kowloon Bay on Dec 23 last year.

The defendant was arrested by the plainclothes officer who tailed him after seeing him holding a mobile phone and following the woman, the prosecution said.

When all three got to the upper floor of the mall, the officer alerted the woman, then accosted San Juan and checked his phone.

In his testimony, the officer said San Juan initially denied he had taken upskirt photos of Ms X but later told him the phone’s video camera was on.

The officer also said he wrote the defendant’s statement on his notebook. But Magistrate Chu rejected the notebook as evidence after the defense lawyer said the statement was taken without San Juan being allowed to contact his employer first.

However, the magistrate said San Juan had a case to answer regarding the video footage.

San Juan, who was free on police bail, was accompanied to court by two female friends. 

DH walks free as sexual assault case dropped

Pinay DH set free in Kwun Tong court

By Vir B. Lumicao

The Filipina domestic worker in the much-publicized vibrator assault case walked free from Kwun Tong court on Dec 8 after the prosecution withdrew a charge of ill-treatment of a child against her for lack of evidence.

Gina Buduan, 38, shed tears of joy after Magistrate Don So told her she could go.

The Filipina had been in police custody since last October after she was arrested for allegedly using her employer’s pink vibrator to assault her two-year-old female ward.

On Dec 7, the prosecutor told the court she was withdrawing the charge because investigators could not gather enough evidence against Buduan, despite a medical report showing the child “had rashes and abrasions on her body”.

The helper, whose eyes were smarting when she appeared on the dock, finally walked free after the magistrate said no one could tell how her ward got hurt.

“A two-year-old cannot tell between a lie and the truth. How she hurt herself is a mystery”, So said.

The prosecutor said the child could not tell her mother and the investigators how she got injured. Likewise, she could not tell the exact date when she suffered those rashes and abrasions.

A police report on the incident said the employer, from Lohas Park, Tseung Kwan O, discovered in mid-October that her daughter had pain in her private part.

She took the child to a doctor, who prescribed ointment for the redness on the girl’s genitals. When the mother applied the ointment in the evening, the girl allegedly told her Buduan had poked the dildo on her private part and tied a black mouth gag on her thighs.   

The employer reported the matter to the police and Buduan was arrested. When she first appeared in court on Oct 31, the helper denied the charge.

    

High Court rejects bail bid by overstayed Pinoy

By Vir B. Lumicao 

High Court judge said defendant might disappear again
ahead of  his trial for overstaying his visa for 19 years

A Filipino male who overstayed his visa for 19 years failed in his High Court bid on Dec. 6 to post bail for his temporary release.

Manuel C. Sy, Jr., who appears to be in his 20s, had gone underground after being refused a dependant’s visa in 1998.

He was arrested only in recent weeks when he tried to make off with $54 worth of food items from a supermarket in Hong Kong Island.

Court of First Instance Judge Kevin Zervos refused Sy’s bail application ahead of his trial on Dec. 21 in Shatin court for breach of condition of stay.

The judge noted that the defendant had failed to show up in court for an earlier hearing and might repeat the misdeed.

According to court records cited by Zervos, Sy came to Hong Kong in 1998 to join his mother, a permanent resident of the city. But for some unspecified reason, his mother’s application to take him in as a dependant was denied by immigration.

Sy was granted bail initially after he said he would live in his mother’s rented house. But the bail was cancelled and an arrest warrant issued by the magistrate after Sy did not appear at the July 28 hearing.

“I did not go to the hearing because I had no money,” Sy replied when asked by Zervos why he did not go to the court.

Police who checked the home of Sy’s mother discovered that he was not staying there, in breach of his bail application. The officers also found out he had no communication with his mother for the past two years.

“I’m not prepared to grant you bail because it is likely that you won’t appear again at the appointed date of trial,” Zervos said.

The judge set Sy’s trial for Dec. 21.

Gay Pinoy tourist jailed 2 months for offering sex-for-fee to cop

By Vir B. Lumicao

A 20-year-old Filipino gay tourist was ordered jailed for two months at Eastern court on Dec 7 after he pleaded guilty to soliciting sex for a fee from an undercover police officer and for breaching his condition of stay.

Gene Belonio, who is said to be a university student in the Philippines, appeared before Magistrate Bina Chainrai wearing a miniskirt dress and sporting shoulder-length hair.

He arrived in Hong Kong as a tourist on Nov 27 and was allowed to stay until Dec. 11.

A report read out in court said that at about 12:57am on Dec 6, plainclothes officer Anthony William Lothian was carrying out an anti-vice operation outside Wanchai Central Building on 89 Lockhart Road when he was approached by Belonio.

The transvestite reportedly offered the officer sex for $1,000. When Lothian agreed, Belonio hailed a taxi and took the officer to a hotel in Causeway Bay.  

When they got to the hotel, Lothian identified himself as a police officer and placed the defendant under arrest, the report said.

At the police station, Belonio was charged with “soliciting for an immoral purpose,” a euphemism for prostitution, and “breach of condition of stay” for working illegally.

Chainrai convicted Belonio after he pleaded guilty to both charges.

In mitigation, the duty lawyer said the defendant came to Hong Kong to earn tuition money so he could finish his course. The counsel said Belonio was remorseful and had admitted his guilt.

The magistrate meted the defendant a discounted two-month sentence for each offense, to be served concurrently.                                                                                                                                                                              

Even worst employers will change—Daddy Leo

By Vir B. Lumicao

The bad or good treatment that you get from your employers depends on your attitude towards them. Show them goodness and their conscience will change them.

That’s what domestic helper, Filipino community leader and movie celebrity Leo Selomenio told her fellow OFWs when she spoke at the International Forum on Migration in Hong Kong held on Nov 19 at Admiralty Convention Centre.

“Dito ko na-realize na ang ugali ng mga amo pala, depende iyon sa ipinapakita mo sa kanila. Kasi kahit gaano kasama ang isang tao, kapag ipinakita mo ang kabutihan, makukunsensiya siya, eh. Iyon talaga ang experience ko. Kahit gaano kabait ang ating amo kapag tayo naman ang abusado, wala tayong magagawa dahil abusado ka eh,” said Selomenio, chairman of Global Alliance.

Her sharing appears to have impressed one of the groups that attended the event that they invited Selomenio to be their guest speaker at the National Forum on Migration to be held at the Philippine International Convention Center on Dec. 18. The group, Philippine Migrants Watch, will shoulder all her costs, including air fare and accommodation, says Selomenio.

In her Hong Kong speech, Selomenio shared how she had gone through a lot of hardships as an OFW. After graduating cum laude with a BS Education degree major in physical education from the Western Visayas State University, Selomenio decided to go abroad to work, with Singapore as her fist destination. 

While many helpers in Hong Kong complain about going to bed at 1am or 2am and getting up very early, Selomenio said, wala pa sa kalingkingan ng naranasan ko when I was in Singapore.”

There, she said it pained her to realize that she, a college graduate, would be working as a servant. Worse, she had to work until 2am, look after two children, put up with the whims of the stay-in wife of her employer and make do with little, mostly leftover food.

“Hindi naman tayo sanay kumain ng tira-tira, pero no choice ka naman, kung hindi ay magugutom ka,” she said.

Her male employer used to tell her she was his 14th helper, a hint of how unbearable the working conditions were in the household. But Selomenio said she persevered because she dreamt when she was just a child that she would be president of the Philippines. Her patience eventually paid off because she was able to change the attitude of her employer towards her.

“Kung marami kayo diyan na masama ang amo, mas matindi talaga ang amo kong iyon. Hindi ko na lang isa-isahin kung gaano siya kalupit. Petmalu talaga. Pero tiniis ko lang, kasi yun ang purpose ko, eh, na one day yayaman din ako. So I stayed there for six years,” she said.

Selomenio’s “insatiable desire” to prove herself drove her to move on to Kuwait, where she worked as a helper for four years before coming to Hong Kong in 1994. She has been with her present employer for 12 years.

It was in the SAR where her journey as a community leader started, with full support from her employer who allowed her to rest on Saturday, and use her Sunday for community work.

She attributes her leadership to her being top of the class from Grade 1 to her senior year in high school, and then graduating from the university with honors.

“Hindi ako kasi sanay na ako yung sumusunod. I was born kasi to be a leader. Kasi simula noong maliit ako gusto ko talaga yung ako ang nagunguna. Ayaw kong sumunod sa iyo. Why should I? Magaling naman ako sa iyo. Kaya na-instill sa utak ko na kailangan I have to be a leader. I have to do it,” she said.

Then in 2014, newbie director BabyruthVillarama came to Hong Kong looking for a community leader who would play a key role in “Sunday Beauty Queen”, and Vice Consul Fatima Quintin suggested Selomenio.

The Filcom leader agreed, and the director and her crew followed her around Hong Kong, as she did her daily chores such as taking her ward to and fetching her from school, and on to her Sunday community activities, mainly volunteering at the PCG and helping workers.

The movie eventually won the Best Film award at the Metro Manila Film Festival last year, and made Selomenio a star, especially among her fellow OFWs.

Selomenio advises domestic workers not to think of the hardships here, otherwise their lives would be like hell. “Isipin mo talaga na kaya pumunta ka dito para sa family mo, para sa sarili mo… alam natin ang magiging trabaho natin dito. Hindi tayo mga turista rito,” she said. 

It doesn’t hurt either to love what you do, and extend the same to your fellow workers.

“So, love your work, nasa puso natin iyan,” she urged her compatriots. “Pero ang pagmamahal mo sa kapwa, yung integridad mo sa community, they will never forget you. Kasi marami kayong nagawa para sa kanila.”

Selomenio says she will be proud of her many experiences in life as a helper when she returns home for good. “Marami akong pinagdaanan kaya I’m proud of myself. And I’m proud to be a domestic helper.”

She says her fervent hope is that the Philippines “will stop exporting mothers, and mothers will stop exporting their daughters as well “kasi napakasakit talaga sa isang mother na iwanan ang anak niya. So that tomorrow we will have a different perspective of not leaving our families behind.”

Agency loses license for not giving copies of job contract

An employment agency in Taiwai, Shatin that failed to provide a copy of the job contract to employers and the foreign domestic helpers it recruited has been stripped of its license by the Hong Kong Labour Department.

In a press release, the LD said its Employment Agencies Administration revoked the license of Festival City Employment Service Co Ltd for failing to meet standards set out in the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies.

The EEA, the industry watchdog, took action after Festival City Employment did not rectify irregularities detected earlier despite repeated warnings.

A department spokesman reminded agency operators to conduct their business in compliance with the law and the code at all times.

The spokesman said EAA will conduct regular and surprise inspections to agencies and issue warning letters to those found contravening the code, to rectify any irregularities detected.

If an agency still fails to comply despite warnings, the commissioner may consider revoking or refusing to renew the agency’s license on the grounds that the licensee is not fit to operate an agency.

Festival City Employment is the fifth agency to have its license revoked this year. Included among these is Java Maid Recruitment Service in Causeway Bay which lost its license after it was convicted of overcharging a job-seeker.

Three other agencies, namely Sunday Employment Agency in Prince Edward, Chun Hing Agency in Sham Shui Po, and In On Domestic Employment in Kwai Chung, also had their licenses revoked for varying offenses.

Sunday Employment was found to have contravened the code by abetting employers in deducting the fees they paid to the agency from the wages of their domestic workers.

Chun Hing was found in breach of the code for withholding passports from FDHs without reasonable excuse, and In On was prosecuted for failing to draw up service agreements with job-seekers and employers.

Another agency with a Chinese name in Mong Kok had its license renewal refused because its operator was an undischarged bankrupt.

For enquiries or complaints about unlicensed employment agencies that overcharge job-seekers, call the EAA at 2115 3667 or visit its office at Unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon.