The SUN HK

OFWs warned against ‘love scams’ as police crack down on predators

Posted on 05 December 2019 No comments

By Daisy CL Mandap

Photo of the package the helper's online boyfriend was supposed to have sent from France

The red flag has again been raised on online love scams as a Filipina domestic worker nearly fell for a man who wooed her on messenger, and tried to make her pay US$800 for a supposed gift package he was sending from France on Nov. 27.

At about the same time, a transnational syndicate that swindled 139 women out of HK$34 million (US$4.34 million) in online romance scams in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore was busted in a joint inter-country police operation.

The syndicate’s victims included 58 women in Hong Kong. However, this number was just a small fraction of the number of similar cases reported in the city so far this year.

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According to the police, 425 reports of online romance scams were reported in the first nine months of 2019 alone, in which swindlers managed to fleece their victims of HK$156.6 million.

The worst case involved a 53-year-old local woman who lost HK$28 million to her internet lover.

A Filipina domestic worker from Quarry Bay was among the lucky ones who wised up in time to avoid sending money to a man who wooed her relentlessly on messenger, then tried to make her pay for a gift package he was supposed to have sent her from France.

Facebook profile of the online lover

According to the worker’s friend Jhona, the internet lover who used a Facebook account in the name of Stefan Mihai, initiated the chat via messenger. He reportedly wooed the helper non-stop for a week until she got hooked.

“In short, na inlove agad ang friend ko in just one week. Ang pogi naman din kasi,” Jhona said in her post in the online Facebook group, Domestic Workers Corner.

Not long after, the guy dropped the trap. He said he was sending the helper a package containing all sorts of expensive goodies, and even went to the extent of sending her pictures and videos of the branded items that were supposedly packed inside.

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But then came the deal. The swindler said the shipping cost was US$5,800. He said he paid US$5,000 upfront, but the helper as recipient needed to pay the remaining US$800 in line with FedEx regulations.

When the Filipina said she didn’t have that much money, her virtual lover said he put US$10,000 inside the package so she wouldn’t be burdened by the fee requirement.

Jhona said that was when her friend started having doubts, as she knew it was illegal to put cash in mailed packages. She called up FedEx and learned that what “Stefan” had said about her shouldering the rest of the shipping cost was not true.

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Probably sensing that she had lost interest, another man with the Facebook profile name Avram Gheorge and who introduced himself as Stefan’s friend initiated a chat with the worker, and urged her to pay the US$800 so she could already claim her package.

When she said she was no longer interested, both men stopped communicating with her.

The sweetener: Supposed airway bill for the package addressed to the Filipina worker

Jhona said she posted the warning, along with photos supplied by her friend, to warn her fellow migrant workers against falling for love scams.

“Mahirap kumita ng dolyar, kaya huwag tayong paloloko sa kanila,” she said in her post.

That warning comes too late for hundreds of women in Hong Kong who have fallen for the scam over the years.

Police records show that last year, the romance peddlers netted HK$450 million from 596 victims. They included a 66-year-old businesswoman who was conned by an “engineer from Britain” out of HK$180 million, the biggest amount lost in the scam.

But the longest-running scam involved a finance manager who lost HK$14million over eight years to a con artist who posed as a British film director. In all those years, the victim never met her online boyfriend in person. – with a report from SCMP

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OFW cricketers to power PHL national team in intl tournament

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By Vir B. Lumicao

Divas captain Josie Arimas will lead the Phl national team in its first international competition

Nine players of SCC Divas, the first ever Filipina cricket team outside the Philippines, will leave for Manila on Dec 19 to play for the National Team that will face Indonesia in a four-match T20 international in Cavite on Dec 21-22.

The Divas contingent, comprising Hong Kong-based domestic workers, will form the backbone of the country’s first cricket Women’s National Team that will be playing its maiden international match on Dec 21.

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Divas captain Josie Arimas said in an interview on Dec 4 that the rest of the players in the National Team, which number no more than 14, were chosen from relatively young women’s cricket teams in the country.

As of this writing, the Philippine Cricket Association, which invited the Divas players to join the National Team, has not yet announced who will captain the country’s squad.

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Other Divas stalwarts on the team are Jennifer Alumbro, Jonna Eguid, Romela Osabel, Cherry Octaviano, Christen Joy Lovino, Catherine Bagaoisan, Ma Luz Madia and Rosaly Pagarigan.

Arimas said these former softball, baseball and volleyball players are strong in both bowling and batting.

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They are mostly pioneers of the Divas team that Arimas formed two years ago and captured the crown in their maiden appearance in Cricket Hong Kong’s Development League in the 2018 season.

Formed only 2 years ago, Divas won its first major cricket match in HK, the Development League

Arimas said the Philippine National Team will be facing a big challenge because Indonesia is strong. She said the results of the competition will count in the cricket world rankings for women.

The Philippine and Indonesian teams will play two 20-over, or T20, matches on Dec 21 and another two on Dec 22. All four games will be played on the PCA cricket field in Dasmariñas, about 50 kilometers or 2 hours ride from Nino Aquino International Airport.

“Underdog kami. Ang

Indonesia

ay pang-22 sa ICC T20 women’s rankings samantalang kami ay ngayon pa lang sasali,” said Arimas.

There are 55 countries in the roster of the International Cricket Council, cricket’s world governing body, with the Philippine men’s team occupying 20^th place in the international T20 league.

Arimas said air tickets of some of the Divas players will be paid by their employers as the competition coincides with their annual vacation. But those who are flying to Manila just for the tournament will pay for their own tickets.

She said the Divas players on the National Team will no longer be able to play in Hong Kong’s Development League, a division for new teams or sides that need to improve their performance before rejoining the big league.
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Civil service exam ruled out for HK because of low pass rate

Posted on 04 December 2019 No comments

By The SUN

Of about 1,000 who took the first and only civil service exam in HK in 2016, only 47 passed overall

The Civil Service Commission has ruled out holding another examination in Hong Kong for overseas Filipino workers who want to join government service in the Philippines.

According to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, this is apparently because the CSC was disappointed with the dismal result of the first and only civil service examination held here in November 2016.

Of the 676 college degree holders who took the professional level examination then, only 17 passed, for a 2.5% pass rate.

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In the sub-professional level, taken by those who have less than four years of tertiary education, only 30 of the 277 takers passed, for a success rate of 10.8%.

Acting Labor Attache Antonio Villafuerte said Polo will nevertheless continue asking for the civil service exam to be held here for Filipino overseas workers who are looking at working in government as a career option.

“We will keep trying to convince them to administer the exam here,” Villafuerte said.

ALA Villafuerte says he will keep pushing for the civil service exam to be held in HK again

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But if the CSC does not change its position, he said Filipino migrant workers can try other means of taking the exam, like registering for the test online and scheduling their vacation in the Philippines around the exam date.

The civil service eligibility examination is given multiple times a year in the Philippines, and can be taken through one of two modes: paper and pencil test (PPT) or computerized examination (Comex).

However, both modes require pre-registration, and for the examinee to be physically present at a testing venue.

Examinees can take the test using paper and pencil, or a computer

Welfare Officer Marivic Clarin said she had written to CSC on Apr 14 at the instruction of then Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre, to relay the request for the test to be held here again.

She said she received no written reply, but a CSC official called her up later, saying the commission was concerned about the poor showing of the Hong Kong examinees, which made the administration of the exam here not cost-effective.

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Clarin said this was a pity, as there are new government jobs opening up in the Philippines now, and OFWs should have the same opportunity to try and qualify for them.

There has also been a salary upgrade for those working in government recently, making top-tier posts pay competitive salaries. A division chief, for example, now gets a starting pay of around Php100,000 per month.

Those who hurdle the sub-professional examination will qualify for clerical, trades, drafts, and custodial service positions.

Those who pass the professional examination will acquire a “Career Service Professional” eligibility, which will qualify them for first-level positions or second-level scientific, technical and professional positions up to division chief level.

Dela Torre arranged for the civil service exam to be held here on Nov. 27, 2016 as part of the government’s reintegration program for OFWs.

About 1,000 OFWs in Hong Kong and Macau took the career service eligibility exam which was held at the Delia Memorial School in Kwun Tong.

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UPDATED: Official results show 13% average pass rate for teachers’ board in HK

Posted on 03 December 2019 No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao

Former Consul General Antonio Morales administers oath to 2018 LET passers (File photo)

Figures released to The SUN by the Professional Regulation Commission show a total of 60 out of 460 Filipinos who sat the licensure examination for high school and elementary school teachers held last September in Hong Kong have passed, for an overall pass rate of 13%.

Of the 237 examinees in the elementary level test, 26, or 10.7%, passed. The pass rate was higher for the secondary level, where 34 out of 223 examinees, or 15.25%, were successful.

The statistics were sent through text message today, Dec. 4, by PRC Chairman Teofilo Pilando. He also relayed a message from his staff that they are still awaiting a request from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office for a separate list of passers from Hong Kong.

Gemma A. Lauraya, head of the National Organization of Professional Teachers in Hong Kong, said Polo has already requested for the official results. However, these couldn't be released yet because PRC records show one examinee from Hong Kong had not paid the full application fee of Php2,200 although her notice of admission said she did.

She also relayed the complaint of some examinees about how the subject "Professional Education" was unfairly difficult for those without classroom experience as it was "situational" and not part of the curriculum.

One examinee, for example, scored 90 for "general education" and 92% for her major subject, which is Math, but was declared "failed" because she only got 46% for professional education, for an average rating of 73%.

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This year's performance is slightly higher than in the previous two years, when an overall pass rate of 11% was recorded in 2018, and less than 10% in 2017.

Among those who passed the high school test was Marlene Raquel Bautista, who was also the first to finish the exam held at the Delia Memorial School Hip Wo in Kwun Tong on Sept 29.

Prophetic: Bautista flashes the 'V' sign after being the first to finish the high school test on Sept 29

Across all 29 testing centers in the Philippines, Hong Kong and

Thailand

, 28,973 elementary and 54,179 secondary teachers passed the exam, the PRC said.

That accounts for a pass rate of 31.34% for those who took the elementary-level test and 39.68% for those who sat the high school test.

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Of the new elementary school teachers, 4,907 were repeaters. For high school, 5,732 repeaters made the mark this time around.

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The Professional Regulatory Board for Professional Teachers which co-administered the test with PRC is made up of Dr. Rosita L. Navarro, chairman; Dr. Paz I. Lucido, vice chairman; Dr. Paraluman R. Giron and Dr. Nora M. Uy, members.

The complete list covered various schools in Manila, Bacolod, Baguio, Batanes, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Catarman, Cebu, Davao, General Santos, Iloilo, Kidapawan City, Cotabato; Laoag, Legazpi, Lucena, Masbate, Boac, Marinduque; Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro; Calapan, Oriental Mindoro; Pagadian, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan; Balocor, Pampanga; Odiongan, Romblon; Rosales, Pangasinan; Tacloban, Tuguegarao, Zamboanga City and two international testing centers in Hong Kong and Thailand.