The SUN HK

Bello, di yata sumasabay sa paglaban sa katiwalian

Posted on 22 September 2019 No comments

Ni Vir B. Lumicao

Nang mabigo ang mga bugaw sa Hong Kong na mapapirmahan kay dating Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre ang kanilang mga job order para sa mahigit sa 100 bar dancer noong bandang katapusan ng 2017 ay nilakad nila ang pagpapauwi kay Labatt Jolly sa Pilipinas.

Nagsumbong sila kay Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III na mayroong kinikilingan diumano si Dela Torre sa pagbibigay ng akreditasyon sa mga ahensiya ng empleo dito sa Hong Kong. Di nila kinilala ang mga ahensiyang diumano’y kinatigan ni Labatt Jolly.

Kahit walang katibayan ang mga nagbintang ay pinatawag ni Bello sa Maynila si Labatt Jolly upang humarap diumano sa pagsisiyasat.

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Nagkaisang kumilos ang mga manggagawang Pilipino rito sa Hong Kong upang ipaglaban si Labatt Jolly, ang labor attaché ng Pilipinas na mahigpit sa mga abusadong amo at mga tiwali at mapagsamantalang ahensiya.

Ngunit hindi pinakinggan ni Bello ang protesta ng mga OFW. Bagkos, ayon sa mga nakakaalam, nagsagawa diumano sa Philippine Overseas Labor Office ng mga hakbang upang mawala roon ang mga “volunteer” na alam nilang malapit sa suspendidong labatt.

Marahil, isang paraan iyon upang mawala ang mga “mata” si Labatt Jolly at mapagtakpan ang anumang tiwaling gawain na maaaring maganap doon.

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Luminaw ang larawan nang dumalaw si Pangulong Duterte dito noong Abril. Kung sinuman ang nag-ayos sa itinakdang pagkikipagpulong sana ni Duterte sa mga OFW ay matagumpay na na-hijack nila ito.

Nahutok ang programa upang ipakita sa libu-libong manggagawang dumalo sa okasyon na dikit at magiliw kay Bello ang mga ahensiya, pati na ang mga bugaw. Nasa VIP zone sa unahan sila para mapansin ng Pangulo.

Halos anim na buwang nasa Maynila si Labatt Jolly, naghintay ng imbestigasyon.

“Anong imbestigasyon? Wala ngang reklamo, walang ebidensiya, at walang imbestigasyon,” nasabi niya nang pinabalik na siya sa Hong Kong.

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Dahil doon ay akala ng mga OFW ay tapos na ang panunudla ng mga kalaban kay Labatt Jolly, ngunit bago pauwiin nang ganap ni Bello ang opisyal ng POLO noong Hulyo ay lumitaw naman ang isang “poison letter” ng mga hindi nagpakilalang ahensiya upang paratangan ng kaduda-dudang transaksyon ito.

Ayon tuloy, muling iniimbestigahan ang dating labatt sa Maynila dahil umano sa “minadaling” pagbibigay ng kontrata sa pagkakabit ng online system ng POLO sa isang bagong kumpanya, ang Polaris Tools na itinatag ng mga batambatang computer scientist na Pinoy na nagtapos sa Stanford University sa US.

Hangad diumano ng bagong sistema na pabilisin at gawing aninag ang lahat ng mga transaksiyon ng mga ahensiya sa POLO na may kaugnayan sa pagtatrabaho ng mga OFW dito sa Hong Kong.

Dangan kasi, ang lumang sistemang EmployEasy na 13 taon nang ginagamit ng POLO ay inilagay ng isang kumpanyang may sariling ahensiya, ang HelperDB, kaya ito ay may “conflict of interest”.

Ayon kay Labatt Jolly, ang lumang sistema ay ginamit ng mga ahensiya sa pagpuproseso ng mga dokumento ng mga OFW at mga amo nila kaya maaaring nakumpromiso ng sistemang iyon ang mga personal na detalye nila.

Sinabi rin ng dating labatt na wala ni isang kusing na gastos ang POLO sa sistemang iyon. Ikinabit ito ng Polaris gamit ang sariling puhunan at mga kagamitan at babawiin nito ang nagugol sa pamamagitan ng pagsingil sa bawat transaksiyon ng mga ahensiya.

Tila ang ayaw ng mga tiwaling ahensiya sa bagong sistema ay ang iginagawad nitong point system sa bawat matutuklasang tiwaling transaksiyon ng isang ahensiya. Ayon sa paliwananag ng mga nagdisenyo ng sistema, kapag nakakawalong puntos ng paglabag ang isang ahensiya ay kakanselahin ng POLO ang kanyang akreditasyon.

Hindi namin maunawaan kung bakit ang isang sistemang “transparent” na higit na makabubuti para sa mga OFW ay dadaan sa isang imbestigasyon ng DOLE dahil umangal ang isang pangkat ng mga ahensiya na tiyak na malalantad at mahahadlangan ang katiwalian sa sistemang ito.

Kataka-takang sa gitna ng puspusang kampanya diumano ni Pangulong Duterte laban sa katiwalian at kabulukan sa gobyerno ay hahadlangan ni Bello ang isang proyektong may layuning linisin at ayusin ang pagpapadala ng mga OFW dito sa Hong Kong.

Hindi yata sumasabay si Bello sa tugtog ng Pangulo laban sa kurapsyon.
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Victim unconscious during alleged rape, High Court told

Posted on 20 September 2019 No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao

The rape trial at the High Court will end Monday next week

A Chinese-Filipina was in deep sleep due to drunkenness when a Japanese male co-passenger on a minibus allegedly took her to his flat in Kowloon and raped her, a seven-member jury heard at the High Court on Friday, Sept 20.

Details of the alleged sexual attack emerged as defendant, Kaise Hiroki, gave evidence as the sole defense witness.

Hiroki, who is out on bail, denied he raped the drunk 24-year-old woman, identified only as “Miss X,” at dawn on Aug 5 last year in his flat after they got off a red minibus they rode on from Central to Mong Kok.

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Hiroki, speaking through a Nihonggo court interpreter, said his mind was clear and he was aware of his surroundings when he took the woman home. But he insisted they had consensual sex.

“X,” who was the first to give evidence on Sept 16, told the court she had drunk more than she could take between 11pm on Aug 4 and 2am on Aug 5 last year as she celebrated her birthday with three friends.

She said she was very drunk and dizzy when she got off at the minibus terminus in Mong Kok, and when she regained her senses, she found herself weak and naked in a dim room, so she got into her panties and shorts.

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She said the defendant carried her to a taxi, which took her home to Kwai Chung.

The prosecutor asked Hiroki whether “X” was not aware of her surroundings and if she was responding to what was happening around her, including during penetration. The defendant said he did not know.

Defense counsel Oliver Davies reminded Hiroki that when he asked him if what he said in the police video recorded interview was all true, he answered “almost true”.

The defendant said that when he watched the interview on DVD and “I realized there were untrue things that I said but I was already arrested at the time.”

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Judge D’Almada, taking over the questioning, asked the defendant, a university graduate, whether he had the ability to think clearly that night. He replied “yes” but added that “it was not perfect.”

The judge asked him if he knew what he was doing and he replied there were some he could not remember. That led D’Almada to ask if he remembered the foreplays and kissing on the lips he mentioned in the VRI. He said sometimes their mouths were open.

Hiroki also told the court that he couldn’t decide if he should do “it” or not, but “I saw there was agreement. I thought so from her facial reaction and my experience. From all these I saw there was consent,” he insisted at the conclusion of his evidence.

But CCTV footages in the block where Hiroki lives showed the woman looking very weak and unable to walk, so that the defendant had to carry her to a taxi.

Judge D’Almada adjourned the case until Monday, and told the jury to get the pictures that both the prosecution and defense would give them , before deliberating on their verdict the next day.
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Pinoys in HK recall horrors of martial law

Posted on 19 September 2019 No comments

By The SUN

Image may contain: 7 people, including Dolores Balladares Pelaez, people sitting, table and indoor

Tellez talks of why Filipinos should resist any new attempts to impose martial law in the country

The oft-repeated chant of “never again to martial law” was given fresh meaning on Sept 15, when a group of migrant workers hosted a film screening and dialogue in Li Hall of St John’s Cathedral on the horrors that followed the imposition of martial law in the Philippines 47 years ago.

The event, organized by Bayan Hong Kong and Macau, was held ahead of the commemoration of the declaration of martial law in the Philippines on
Sept 21, 1972, by the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

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Highlighting the gathering was the screening of a graphic film showing the arrest and torture of Bonifacio Ilagan, then a young student leader at the University of the

Philippines

, shortly after martial law was declared.

Ilagan was arrested along with noted journalist and film writer Pete Lacaba, who was tortured along with him during the two years that they were detained inside a dreaded unit of a military camp.

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Ilagan’s story also includes his younger sister, Rizalina, who followed in his footsteps as an activist at UP, and later disappeared, presumably after being arrested by military agents.

She is among dozens of “desaparecidos”, or people who vanished during the brutal crackdown on anti-government activists by Marcos’ soldiers and paramilitary troops.

Lacaba’s older brother Eman, meanwhile, was killed during an encounter between rebels and soldiers, just as the journalist was about to be freed by his captors.

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Three Filipino community leaders who lived through the dark years of Marcos’ iron-fist rule shared their painful experiences during the gathering.

The SUN publisher Leo A Deocadiz related how two cousins he grew up with, and who both attended UP with him, were taken away by the military, never to be seen again.

The SUN editor Daisy CL Mandap spoke of neighbors and friends who were among the tens of thousands who were tortured and abused by the military during the reign of terror throughout the ‘70s and early ‘80s.

Amid mounting pressure from the international community, Marcos formally lifted in martial law on Jan 17, 1981, but continued his one-man rule until he was ousted by the People Power Revolution on Feb 25, 1986.

During his dictatorial rule, more than 3,000 people were killed, 35,000 were tortured, 77 disappeared, and 70,000 were imprisoned.

Jun Tellez of the Mission for Migrant Workers, who was an activist during the martial law era, said the gathering was a reminder that Filipinos should resist any attempt by the country’s leaders to go down that path again.

Bayan’s chair Eman Villanueva said the resistance put up by thousands of Filipinos against martial law is mirrored in the ongoing protests by Hong Kong people who are fighting to preserve their freedoms.

Villanueva also urged vigilance, as the Philippines’ sitting president Rodrigo Duterte has shown signs of emulating Marcos, and has already done far more in a short period of time to gain control over the country.

He enthusiastically supported a call for a community-wide network to be set up to call for Duterte’s resignation or ouster, to head off another bloody dictatorship.

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Judge says case vs Pinoy with fake US$500b gold certificates can proceed

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Morano presented the fake gold certificates he claims to have received from Marcos, to HSBC in Central

A District Court judge has ruled that a Filipino tourist accused of trying to pass off US$500 billion worth of fake gold certificates has a case to answer.

Judge David Dufton made the ruling on Sept 19 as he sent defendant David Morano Jr back into custody.

The case has been adjourned to Sept 23 for the final submissions by both sides.

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Morano pleaded not guilty to a charge of “using a false instrument” at the start of his trial on Sept 16.

According to prosecutor Frederic Whitehouse, Morano had claimed that the fake gold certificates were personally given to him by the late President Ferdinand Marcos to help fund his humanitarian projects.

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Morano brought the documents to the HSBC headquarters in Central on Oct 29 last year, and presented them to a clerk who called her manager.

Giving evidence during the trial, the manager, Ms So, said the documents included US$500 billion gold certificates issued in Morano’s name by “Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corp.” on Jun 12, 1983; four HSBC cards bearing his name, and 12 documents certifying he owns the gold certificates.

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Morano also presented certifications purportedly from Marcos, the United States and the United Nations, that he was the owner of the gold certificates. – Vir B. Lumicao