Anti-corruption body ‘finalizing’ report on Bello graft probe

Jimenez (with mic) speaking at the media conference. 

By Vir B. Lumicao

An anti-graft body that reports directly to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says it is finalizing its report on an investigation of graft charges against Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

A member of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission said in a media conference at the Consulate on Dec. 14 that the outcome of the probe will be “a triumph of justice” and “will be fair.”

PACC Commissioner Manuelito Luna said the collegial body had done two fact-finding inquiries.

“We have conducted two and we are finalizing our report to the president. Whatever it is, it will be the President who will have the final say. But rest assured that that case will be a triumph of justice and it will be fair because we will accord the subject due process,” Luna said.

But he made it clear that what the PACC is preparing only a preliminary report and that it will be submitted to President Duterte in early 2019.

“If the President orders us to conduct further investigation, then we will do so, unless he issues an order and… you know that in corruption cases, a whiff of corruption is enough to get an official fired or caused to resign,” said Luna.

“We are not saying that he’s guilty or not, because that is confidential. But rest assured that justice will be done not only to the complainant but to the subject and all those implicated.”

Monalie Dizon, secretary-general of Kilusang Pagbabago National Movement for Change, a pro-Duterte group, filed a complaint-affidavit at the PACC on Jul 12 accusing Bello and his undersecretary, Dominador Say, of conspiracy to commit administrative and criminal offenses.

Dizon said the alleged illegal activities began after Bello signed in June 2017 Administrative Order 241 divesting the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration of its power to issue and renew licenses for employment agencies.

The order, signed in June last year, also required that all processed applications be sent to Bello’s office “for approval or denial.”

Luna said the PACC has already endorsed a graft case against Say to the Ombudsman, about an alleged pay-off to Say by a former recruitment agency owner, Azzizzah Salim.

Jimenez himself presented Salim to Duterte so she could reveal the alleged extortion by Say.

“It’s now with the Ombudsman and it will undergo the necessary processing. If it merits criminal investigation, the Office of the Ombudsman will do the same dahil wala kaming criminal jurisdiction. Ang amin pong trabaho ay administrative in nature,” Luna said.

Dizon’s complaint included Bello and Say’s alleged extortion of P6.8 million from Salim, in exchange for the reversal of a DOLE decision revoking her agency’s license.

Bello has denied Dizon’s allegation, and claimed Salim had asked him to clarify to Duterte that she did not include the labor chief in her complaint.

Bello said he told Salim he had no power to do that but accompanied her to see Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea so she could make the clarification.

The PACC team, led by Chairman Dante Jimenez and included executive director Eduardo Bringas and executive assistant Jong Sorro, stopped by Hong Kong after a trip to China to introduce the commission to mainland authorities.

The team brought with them a video presentation about the PACC and the actions it has taken against allegedly corrupt government employees.

Jimenez said the PACC was expressly created by Duterte on Oct 4, 2017 to spearhead the President’s anti-corruption drive in government.

He said that out of about 100 complaints against government officials, 56 cases have already been filed with the Ombudsman, including those against regional officers of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Bicol for allegedly anomalous projects.

Luna said the PACC has no jurisdiction over non-presidential appointees and those who are below salary Grade 26 (or Director II level). But, in certain instances, he said, the commission would refer complaints against these type of government employees to the Ombudsman, he said.

 

Kulay Pasko ang Sweet Gum Woods sa Tai Tong

Ang kakaibang tanawin sa Tai Tong

Ni Marites Palma

Kung inaakala ninyo na ang mga puno na nagpapalit ng dahon mula luntian, dilaw, hanggang pula ay makikita lang sa mga bansa na nakakaranas ng matinding taglamig o snow katulad ng Canada, Japan o Amerika, nagkakamali kayo.

Dito sa Hong Kong ay may isang lugar din na kakikitaan ng ganitong klase ng puno, ang sweet gum, Habang ang mga nakapaligid na punongkahoy ay nanatiling kulay luntian ang mga dahon, kapansin-pansin ang matingkad na kulay  ng mga puno na ito.

Parang “magic”, sabi nga ng mga nakakita na nito.

Sa bansang Japan at Canada, nakagawian na ng mga turista na dayuhin ang mga lugar kung saan makikita ang ganitong kakaibang tanawin kapag papalapit na ang winter, o dili kaya ay patapos na.

Sa Hong Kong, bibihira pa ang nakakaalam na may ganitong mala-engkantong lugar kung saan maaaring magkuhanan ng litrato na siguradong hahangaan ng mga makakakita. Disyembre ang pinakamagandang panahon para bumisita dito.

Disyembre ang pinakamagandang panahon para bumisita sa Sweet Gum Woods

Hindi na kailangang lumayo pa para marating ang lugar na ito na tinaguriang Sweet Gum Woods, na nasa Tai Tong sa distrito ng Yuen Long.

Sumakay lamang ng West Rail Line patungong Long Ping Station, at lumabas sa exit B2. Hanapin ang himpilan ng Bus K66, na siyang dapat mong sakyan para marating ang Tai Tong Shan Road (sabihin sa driver na dito kayo bababa para makasiguro, pero ito ang pangalawa sa panghuling babaan). Pagdating sa Tai Tong Shan Road, maglakad pataas ng mga isa hanggang isa’t kalahating oras, at mararating na ang Sweet Gum Woods.

Dilaw at pula ang mga dahon ng punong sweet gum

Sa kasalukuyang panahon na nagkukulay pula ang mga dahon ng punong ito, ang bus K66 ay may biyaheng diretso mula sa Long Ping MTR hanggang Tai Tong Shan Road tuwing Linggo at araw ng piyesta opisyal. Mas malapit din ng may kalahating kilometro ang lugar na bababaan.

Tumatakbo ang bus na ito tuwing ika-15 minuto mula 10:30 ng umaga hanggang ika-4 ng hapon papuntang  Tai Tong, at ang pabalik naman sa Long Ping station ay mag-uumpisa mula ala una hanggang ika-pito ng hapon.

Kung marami kayong magkakasama, mas maigi na sumakay na lang ng green taxi mula sa Yuen Long MTR diretso sa Tai Lam Country Park kung saan nagkukumpulan ang mga puno ng sweet gum. Aabot ng mga $60 ang biyahe, na tatagal ng ilang minuto lang.

Dahil ang Hong Kong ay kabilang sa mga lugar na sub-tropical ang klima, karamihan ng mga puno dito ay naglalagas lang ang dahon bago mag winter, nguni’t hindi nagpapalit ang kulay. Bukod tanging ang puno ng sweet gum lang na madalas na ihalintulad sa maple tree ng Canada ang nagkukulay ng matingkad na pula bago tuluyang nalalagas ang mga dahon.

Ang mga dahon ng puno ng sweet gum  ay nagsisimulang magbago sa buwan ng Nobyembre at nalalagas sa Enero, pero sa Disyembre, mula sa kalagitnaan hanggang sa katapusan, makikita na mapulang mapula na ang mga dahon nito.

Bakit nagbabago ang mga kulay nito?

Ayon sa paliwanag ng mga siyentipiko, ang mga dahon kasi nito ay naglalaman ng ibat ibang klase ng pigment o kulay: ang chlorophyll na nagbibigay ng kulay na luntian, ang  carotenoids para sa dilaw na kulay, at anthocyanin para sa pulang kulay. Sa pagbabago ng klima ang mga dahon ay natutuyo at nalalamigan kaya namamatay ang chlorophyll at naiiwan ang kulay na dilaw at pula ng mga ito.

Sa mga nagnanais na makakita ng kakaibang tanawin sa Hong Kong sa buwan ng Kapaskuhan, magpunta na sa Sweet Gum Woods, at siguradong kakainggatan ng inyong mga kaibigan at kaanak ang mga litrato ninyo na kuha dito.

HK migrants protest Japan’s plan to deport Filipina

Protesters called on the Japanese govt to stop Quindoy's deportation

Hong Kong migrant groups have protested outside Exchange Square in Central where the Japanese consulate general is located, to call for a stop to the deportation of a Filipina community leader from Japan.

Loida Quindoy’s fate is set to be decided on Friday, Dec 14, by a court in Tokyo.

The picket at the Japanese mission was in response to a request for support from Migrante Japan, which has launched a similar petition asking the Tokyo government to stop its plan to deport Quindoy.

Migrante Japan said Quindoy has contributed so much to society by helping compatriots and migrants of other nationalities through her work with KMC and the KAFIN Half-way House in Japan.

She has lived in Japan for over 22 years with her only son and his two daughters. She went there in 1996 by marrying a Japanese national, Serikawa Eichii. But she filed for divorce in 2000 allegedly due to verbal and emotional abuse from Serikawa.

Quindoy became a permanent resident in 2009. But on Oct. 11 her status was revoked and she was detained at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau allegedly because of violations committed by her former Filipino husband.

The demonstrators handed a petition letter to a Japanese consulate representative before dispersing.

Filipina injured in North Point bus crash still being sought

Silvestre Velasco, Jr.,

By Daisy CL Mandap

A newly arrived domestic worker who was one of two Filipinos injured in the fatal bus crash in North Point on Dec. 10 has yet to be interviewed by officers at the Consulate.

Marjorie Salvador, 43, was reportedly discharged from Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan before officers of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration could visit her.

Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre said the contract number for her that is on their data base was no longer working.

Salvador reportedly arrived in Hong Kong only in August this year.

The other Filipino injured in the freak accident, family driver Silvestre Velasco, Jr., was contacted through his listed number, and immediately went to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office on Dec. 12 to seek advice on filing claims.

Velasco, 50. is a family driver who has been working in Hong Kong for years. He visited Labatt dela Torre a day after being discharged from the Eastern Hospital, with his right arm still in bandage.

The two were injured when a bus that had just been parked by its driver on Cheung Hong street rolled down the slope and crossed busy Kings Road, before hitting two vendors’ stalls in an alley on the other side.



Four people were killed on the spot and 11 others, including the two Filipinos and the bus driver, were injured.

During his visit to Polo, Velasco reportedly recounted how he was sideswiped by the runaway bus while he was standing on the pavement on Cheung Hong street.



He had reportedly just bought a packed lunch after dropping off his employer’s child at a nearby school when he saw the bus start to move. Velasco said he tried to move away from the vehicle’s path but he was hit on his right arm.

At the time, Velasco said he was nearly abreast of the driver and saw him try to stop the bus from rolling down the hilly road, but was instead run over.




Blood marks on the street suggest the bus driver was dragged several meters down the road. Reports say he was brought to hospital in serious condition, with wounds to his head and upper body.

Labatt dela Torre advised Velasco about the claims he could pursue as a result of his injury, including employee compensation and financial aid from the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance scheme of the Social Welfare Department.



He could also apply for Legal Aid to pursue a personal injury claim from the insurers of the school bus.

On Tuesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam pledged help to the families of those who died or were injured in the accident. She also said safety measures to prevent road accidents will be stepped up.