Pinay’s drug-in-mail case moved to Eastern Court

Drug-in-parcel case now in Eastern magistracy, but will likely be moved to a higher court

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipina domestic helper who was arrested last September for receiving an air parcel containing cocaine purportedly from a friend overseas will have her case transferred to Eastern Court on Feb 18.  

Michelle Mardo, a 41-year-old mother of three, was charged with one count of “trafficking in a dangerous drug” in West Kowloon Court. 

At the hearing on Jan 14, Magistrate Ada Yim told Mardo she has the right to apply for legal aid in the Court of First Instance so she can ask for a preliminary hearing where she can call her own witnesses. She was also advised to apply for bail in the same court.  

Mardo was arrested on Sept 27 after receiving a parcel containing suspected dangerous drugs that arrived from Ecuador on Sept 7.

An officer disguised as a UPS delivery man and other officers from the Customs and police arrested her. Mardo has been in custody since her arrest.

Prosecutors said on Jan 14 that they had amended the charge to show the intercepted parcel contained 418 grams of a solid substance containing 296.3 grams of pure cocaine.

A Customs and Excise Department had said earlier the illegal drug was concealed between layers of four wooden boxes that arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport air mail center and consigned to Mardo in her Yuen Long address.

The defendant was charged initially in Kowloon City Court on Sept 29, before her case was moved to West Kowloon Court on Dec 7.

Yim adjourned the hearing until Feb 18 in Court 7 in Eastern Court, from where it is expected to be transferred to a higher court for either sentencing or trial.

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Ano ang dapat gawin sakaling hulihin ng pulis

Si Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, general manager ng Mission for Migrant Workers (nakaupo) habang sumasagot ng mga tanong. Tinutulungan siya ni Daisy Mandap, editor ng The SUN, (nakatayo) bilang moderator.

Ni Daisy CL Mandap

“Ang una mong gagawin ay hindi ka magsasalita.”

Ito ang payo ni Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, general manager ng Mission for Migrant Workers, nang magsalita siya noong ika-6 ng Enero sa Philippine Overseas Labor Office tungkol sa mga dapat gawin ng isang migrante na dinakip at iniimbestiga ng mga pulis.

Ang kanyang pagtalakay sa mga usaping may kinalaman sa pulis, batas at korte ay bahagi ng pagbibigay-kaalaman sa mga migrante tungkol sa kanilang mga karapatan, na magkatuwang na itinaguyod ng POLO, Mission at The SUN.

Ayon kay Tellez, ito ang karapatan ng isang inuusig na hindi alam ng marami, ang tumangging sumagot sa anumang itanong ng mga pulis na nag-iimbestiga ng kaso.



“Kapag nagbigay ka ng pahayag, (malamang) hahanapan ka ng butas na hindi pabor sa iyo,” sabi ni Tellez. “Kaya stand your ground, you are not saying anything.”

Ipaliwanag din niya na ang pulis o tagausig ang may tungkulin na patunayan ang paratang sa isang akusado, kaya hindi mo sila dapat tulungan na ipahamak ang sarili mo lalo na at alam mong wala kang ginawang masama.

May karapatan lang daw ang mga pulis na patigilin ka sa presinto ng hindi lalampas ng 72 oras.



Sa loob ng panahong ito dapat ay dalhin ka sa korte para pormal na sampahan ng kaso, o payagan kang mag piyansa habang pinagpapatuloy nila ang pag-iimbestiga.

Habang ikaw ay isinasailalim ng imbestigasyon, importante din na malaman mo ang mga karapatan mo, dagdag ni Tellez. Kabilang dito ang humingi ng tubig kapag ikaw ay nauuhaw, o pagkain kapag ikaw ay nagugutom.

“May karapatan ka ding gumamit ng telepono para tawagan ang isang kamag-anak, kaibigan, NGO katulad ng Mission, para ipaalam ang iyong sitwasyon,” sabi ni Tellez.



Habang hinihingi mo na ipagkaloob sa iyo ang mga karapatang ito, importante na ipakita mo na alam mo ang iyong ginagawa, dagdag niya. “Tumingin ka sa kanilang mga mata at sabihin mo ang ‘karapatan ko ito. Di ba karapatan ko ito?”

Sa loob ng mga panahong ito, kailangan daw ng isang akusado na mag-relax, kasi “ginugulat ka nila talaga kasi ang tingin nila may kasalanan tayo,” sabi niya.

Kapag nagdesisyon ka pa rin na magbigay ng pahayag, kailangan na may interpreter ka para mas maintindihan ang mga gusto mong sabihin. Madalas sa katarantahan o takot ay hindi mo na daw maitama ang iyong pagsasalita ng Ingles o maipaliwag nang mabuti ang gusto mong sabihin.



Pagkatapos mong magbigay ng salaysay, kailangan ding basahin mabuti ang nakasulat mong pahayag bago mo pirmahan, kasi madalas ay may lumalabas doon na hindi talaga tugma sa sinabi mo, o gusto mong sabihin. Huwag kang matakot na itama ang maling pahayag na nandoon.

Pero bago pa humantong sa pagsusuplong ng iyong amo sa pulis ng kasalanang hindi mo naman ginawa, mahalaga din sa isang migrante na ugaliin ang paggawa ng diary o talaan ng mga pangyayari dahil magsisilbi din itong ebidensya sakaling sampahan siya ng reklamo.

May tinatawag na primary at secondary evidence kapag nililitis ang isang kaso, ani Tellez. Ang paglalahad ng isang saksi ang itinuturing na primary evidence pero maari ding magbigay ng ibang ebidensya katulad ng diary para ipakita ang pagkakasunod-sunog ng mga nangyari.

Kapag itinatala ang mga pangyayari, importante na masagot ang mga importanteng tanong na “who, what, when, where” para masiguro na malinaw ang inyong paglalahad.

“Alam kong taranta tayo kapag may ganitong nangyari, kaya importante na huminga tayo ng malalim at pag-isipang maigi ang anumang gagawin o sasabihin,” payo pa ni Tellez.

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DH fined $2,000 at Eastern Court for shoplifting

By Vir B. Lumicao

A Filipina domestic worker who stole goods worth $1,600 last October from a supermarket in Quarry Bay escaped jail after admitting the offence, and was instead fined $2,000.

D. A. Toquero, mother of a 10-year-old boy and 7-year-old daughter,  was sentenced at Eastern Court on Jan 15 after admitting one count of theft.

The prosecution said that the offense took place on Oct 14 last year inside the Aeon supermarket in Kornhill Plaza, Kornhill Road, Quarry Bay.

Court records show Toquero entered the shop at around 3:50pm that day and took some items from the racks and put them in her reusable shopping bag and backpack.

The stolen items included two packs of coffee worth $107.80, ten packs of chocolate valued at $242.80, two boxes of fish oil pills worth $350, four packs of baby products costing $199, one T-shirt worth $239,  a pair of baby shoes worth $299 and a hoodie priced at $159. The defendant then walked out of the store without paying for the goods.

Unknown to the Filipina, an Aeon security guard in plainclothes saw her take the merchandise from the racks and stuff them into her reusable bag and then left the store without paying for them.

The guard, Cheung Wai-hung, who had seen her stuff the merchandise into her bag, stopped her outside the store and asked to search her bags.

Most of the unpaid items were found in her reusable bag while the hoodie was found in her backpack. Cheung asked for the sale invoice but Toquero could not produce it, so the guard reported to the police.

The police arrested Toquero and charged her with theft last Nov 16.

In mitigation, a duty lawyer assigned to Toquero said the woman has two children who are living with her parents in the Philippines. They were depending on the $2,500 that she sent them monthly.

The magistrate said she considered Toquero’s clear record and the fact the stolen items were recovered and returned to the owner, Aeon Stores (Hong Kong) Company Ltd.

She fined the helper $2,000, already discounted by one-third for her guilty plea.

Toquero’s employer accompanied her to the court but left before the case was heard.

Meanwhile,  a 29-year-old Filipina domestic helper has been charged with theft in the same court for allegedly stealing a platinum ring and a gold ring from her employer in Sai Ying Pun late last year.

No plea was taken and the defendant, G. Manuel, was allowed to post bail of $300. She is due to go back to court on Mar.5.

The alleged theft reportedly took place between Nov 18 and Dec 15 last year in a flat at Kwong Fung Terrace on Third Street, Sai Ying Pun.

The rings were said to be the property of Lee Man Ying but their value was not indicated.

The defendant was accompanied to the court by a case officer from the NGO Mission for Migrant Workers.:

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Filcom leaders mourn passing of One Visayas president

Representatives of various organizations pray for Connie Sampilo’s soul.

By Daisy CL Mandap

Tears flowed freely as friends and fellow officers of One Visayas president Concepcion “Connie” Sampilo gathered in Edinburgh Place, Central on Jan. 13 to mourn her untimely death.

Sampilo, 56, died on Jan. 5 from complications from pneumonia, with blood cancer as the underlying cause, while on vacation in Taguig City.

Connie Sampilo

She left behind her husband, Rodolfo, and two grown-up children, Carlo and Hinalyn.

A date has yet to be set for her burial as her family is still awaiting Hinalyn’s return from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, where she works as a nurse.

Sampilo’s death came as a shock to many of her friends, as she hardly spoke to anyone about feeling unwell, preferring to consult doctors privately.

But at least one recalled seeing big welts on Sampilo’s back (a usual symptom of a blood disease like leukemia) while giving her a massage. “May mga bukol din akong nakapa pero pinalitratuhan lang niya at tiningnan,” said the friend.

Sampilo reportedly consulted a doctor sometime in October, but afterwards told her family that it was just for a cough. She left Hong Kong in late November for what was supposed to be a short vacation in the Philippines, but failed to return as planned on Dec. 6.



By then her health appeared to have deteriorated that she had to be taken to various hospitals for treatment, until she succumbed to her various ailments at Taguig Pateros District Hospital.

While she sought treatment, Sampilo continued to keep mum about her real condition to friends.

At the memorial, fellow One Visayan officer Nerissa Jimena recalled a leader who worked tirelessly to promote her group’s causes while continuing to provide for the needs of her family back home.

Her latest big project would have been the annual One Visayas Festival, set this year on Feb. 17.



Jimena said Sampilo had promised to return to Hong Kong on Jan. 25 to oversee final preparations for the event. She was originally scheduled to return on Dec. 6, but merely said she was still feeling unwell and could not leave as planned.

Alann Cayosa Mas, who as a former chairman of Philippine Alliance, had worked with Sampilo on several projects, recalled her as someone who always extended “all-out support” to fellow officers.



Mas also recalled with sadness how Sampilo had, for the first time, decided to book the venue for the Feb. 17 event by herself.  Now that she’s gone, her fellow officers will have to provide proof of her death so the booking could still be kept by her group.

“Ganito din ang nangyari nang mamatay si Naz (Ampang, who also died suddenly while in the middle of preparations for an annual PhilAlliance event). Kinailangan kong kumuha ng death certificate para mailipat sa pangalan ko yung booking.”



One Visayas founder and vice president Blanche Abasa described Sampilo as “very secretive” that even her employer, a local lawyer who’s an ethnic Thai, was not aware that she was ill.

The employer, who reportedly got upset that Sampilo chose not to use her medical insurance to seek treatment in Hong Kong, made a day-long trip to Manila on Jan.12 to pay final respects to Sampilo and to contribute to the funeral and burial expenses.

In a Facebook post, Abasa said: “She will always be remembered, and we will always treasure memories of her being with One Visayas Hong Kong.”

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Bicol group holds relief drive for typhoon victims

Volunteers pack the relief goods donated by fellow OFWs.

By Ellen Asis

Bicol Migrants Association Hong Kong or BMAHK organized two Sundays of relief operation for the victims of typhoon Usman which swept through their region on Dec 30, killing more than a hundred people and causing massive flooding and landslides.

The relief drive led by BMAHK chairman Art Buban and President Victoria Brabante was held on Jan 6 and 13 outside Worldwide Plaza in Central.



Cargo boxes provided free by companies AFreight, Amazing Speed, GenEx and Royal Cargo were filled by donors from various groups with used clothes, instant noodles, canned goods, toiletries and other non-perishable goods.



Filipino organizations such as Global Alliance, Guardians, FLAG, Filipino Drivers Group, KOBI Group, Philippine Alliance, and Pangasinan Society HK supported the relief operation.



The relief goods will be sent to typhoon victims in Sagay, Camarines Norte, Buhi in Camarines Sur and Tiwi in Albay.



Buban express his gratitude and thanked Filipino community members who responded to his group’s call for donations and support.

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa mga Pilipino dito sa Hong Kong dahil lagi silang nakasuporta sa tuwing magkakaroon ng project ang grupo. Sana ay pagpalain at gabayan lagi sila ng Diyos dahil sa busilak nilang puso,” said Buban.

According to National Disaster Relief Agency, Usman caused 126 deaths, with 26 other people missing, and 75 injured. More than 150,000 people were displaced.

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