The SUN HK

Nang dahil sa tirang pintura

Posted on 06 December 2019 No comments

Ni George Manalansan

Ang "Obra' ay isang pagpupugay sa mga migranteng may angking galing sa larangan ng sining

Maraming mga migranteng manggagawa ang may itinatagong husay sa iba-ibang larangan, katulad ng palakasan, pagsusulat, o pagpipinta, dangan lang ay hindi nabigyan ng pagkakataon na pagyamanin pa ito.

Sa darating na Linggo, ika-8 ng Disyembre, Araw ng mga Migrante, ay magkakaroon ng isang pagtatanghal o exhibit sa Konsulado ng Pilipinas sa Hong Kong, bilang pagpupugay sa mga Pilipinang kasambahay na may talento sa sining.

CALL NOW!

Tampok sa pagpupugay na ito na pinamagatang “Obra: Likhang Sining at Galing ng Migranteng Pilipino" ang mga miyembro ng Guhit Kulay na pinamumunuan ngayon ni Noemi Manguera.

Kabilang sa mga bagong kasapi ng GK at isa sa mga magpapakita ng obra ay si Divina O. dela Torre, 29 taong gulang, tubong Davao at pangwalo sa 11 magkakapatid.

CALL OUR HOTLINE!

Unang humawak ng brush at pintura si Divine o “Vine” nang himukin siya ng kanyang guro sa high school na si Jeff Bangot na makisali sa pagpipinta ng “mural” sa gate ng Philippine Women College of Davao

Si Vine katabi ang isa sa kanyang mga obra

Nakitaan daw kasi ng guro na kilala na ring pintor ngayon ng kakaibang husay ni Vine sa pagpinta na ang gamit lang ay watercolor. Kasama ang dalawang kaklase ay pinagsanay silang magpinta sa computer laboratory ng kanilang paaralan.

Mula sa tira-tirang pintura mula sa ginawa nilang proyekto ay nilinang pa ng husto ni Vine ang kanyang talento dahil gusto daw niyang patunayan ang kanyang sariling kakayahan.

Kahit mapuyat siya minsan ay hindi niya alintana dahil natagpuan niya ang larangan na nagpapasaya sa kanya. Nagbunga naman ang lahat ng kanyang pagsisikap nang tanghalin siyang "Artist of the Year" ng kanilang paaralan.

Call us!

Nagpatuloy siya sa kanyang hilig nang mag-aral siya sa TESDA- Aces Polytechnic College of Davao, at habang nandoon ay isang logo ng departamento ang kanyang ipininta.

Nang malipat siya sa Pampanga para mamasukan ay ipinagpatuloy pa rin niya ang kanyang hilig kahit ang pinaka canvas niya minsan ay supot ng harina lang.

" Kapag gusto may paraan,” ang sabi niya.

Nagustuhan daw ng kanyang amo ang kanyang mga obra kaya lalo siyang ginanahan.

Pagbalik niya sa Davao ay nagsimula na siyang kumita mula sa pagpipinta. Mula sa pagbebenta niya ng mga likha niya sa kanyang tita at mga kapitbahay ay nakaipon siya ng pera na ginamit niya para makapagtrabaho sa ibayong dagat.

Una siyang pumunta sa

Kuwait

taong 2015, at muli ay napahanga niya ang kanyang mga amo sa kanyang angking talento.

Minsan na magbakasyon daw ang kanyang mga amo sa London ay iniwanan siya ng perang pambili ng kanyang mga gamit. Pagbalik nila ay pinagparangalan ni Vine ang ginawa niyang portrait ng anak na dalaga ng amo, na labis na ikinatuwa ng mag-anak.

Dahil dito ay malaya daw siyang nakakapunta sa mall kapag sinabi niyang kailangan niyang bumili ng gamit sa pagguhit at pagpinta.

“Inspired ako sa mga pumupuri sa gawa ko kaya naman minsan inaabot ako ng madaling araw, pero walang stress, pagod at homesick dahil gusto ko ang aking ginagawa,” aniya.

Mula Kuwait ay bumalik muna siya sa Pilipinas sandali, at noong ika-20 ng Pebrero ng taong kasalukuyan ay sa Hong Kong naman siya nakipagsapalaran.

Agad daw siyang naghanap ng masasalihang art group. Tiyempo naman na sumali siya sa Domestic Workers Corner at nakita niya ang mga post ng mga kapwa niya migrante na mahilig gumuhit, katulad ni Jacklyn Evangelista.

Nang mabasa niya sa The SUN ang isang artikulo tungkol kay Jacklyn ay sinubukan niyang maki-chat dito, at agad naman daw siyang pinaunlakan.

Hindi nagtagal ay pareho nilang natagpuan ang mga sarili na kabilang na sa Guhit Kulay, kung saan nakilala nila ang ilan pang migrante na mahilig din, at may angking galing, sa larangan ng sining. May mga mananahi, mga litratista, at mga kapwa nila na mahilig mag dibuho o magpinta.

Bilang miyembro ng GK member ay kabilang ang dalawa sa mga naimbita nitong katatapos na Hunyo sa “Face and Hand Painting Exhibition” at nagawaran ng katibayan ng pagkilala sa kanilang obra.

Umaasa si Vine na magkakaroon sila ng marami pang pagkakataon na mahasa ang kanilang kakayahan, at mabigyan din ng pagkilala ang kanilang pagsisikap na maiangat ang sarili hindi lang bilang migranteng manggagawa, kundi bilang mga Pilipino na may angking galing.

---
I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer. Pindutin ulit upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin ang mga numero.

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!

Pinoy bartender fined $4k for criminal damage, assaulting officer

Posted on No comments

A magistrate at Eastern Court ordered Sy's arrest after he failed to appear at a hearing of his case

A 20-year-old Filipino male bartender against whom an arrest warrant was issued for failing to appear in an earlier hearing, has been fined a total of $4,000 for criminal damage and assaulting a police officer.

S.P. Saracanlao admitted his offenses on Dec 6 before Eastern Magistrate Veronica Heung, a month after failing to appear in a previous hearing supposedly for his plea-taking. A warrant for his arrest was issued by Magistrate Bina Chainrai at the time.

CALL NOW!

After his plea, Heung asked Saracanlao why he absconded in the last hearing, and he said he had no money and that he had written the court explaining his absence.

Asked if he had a job and how much he was earning, Saracanlao said he was working parttime as a bartender earning a total of $4,000 a month. He said he was born here and was living with his father and grandmother.

CALL OUR HOTLINE!

Heung imposed a $2,000 fine for each charge, and offset $100 of the penalty from his bail money.

Saracanlao asked if he could have a month to pay the fine because he had no money, and the magistrate agreed.

The prosecution said Saracanlao, who was drunk, was arrested at dawn on May 18 after he punched and cracked the glass backdoor of California Tower in Central when accosted by a guard for entering the building with a friend and causing nuisance.

Call us!

At the Central Police Station, he turned emotional while being interviewed and angrily pointed his index finger at officers Cheung King-on and Kwok Hoi-ming. He then poked Cheung’s left eye with his finger.

Cheung was sent to Queen Mary Hospital where he was treated for tenderness in the left eye and discharged.

Saracanlao was arrested anew for assaulting the police officer. – Vir B. Lumicao

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!

Filipino acquitted of illegal assembly wins claim for court costs

Posted on No comments

By Vir B. Lumicao

Pioquinto

A Filipino performer at Hong Kong Disneyland has been granted his claim for legal costs

after a charge of unlawful assembly against him was dropped in Kowloon Court 10 days ago.

Magistrate Ada Yim approved the $30,000 claimed by Jethro Pioquinto for the costs he incurred while fighting his case in court. His lawyer Fiona Nam, made the application on his behalf at a hearing earlier today, Dec. 6.

Pioquinto, 36, was not in court because he was reportedly in the Philippines for a family reunion.

CALL NOW!

Before granting his claim, Yim asked the defense for a map showing the rally assembly point, the dispersal location and where Pioquinto was arrested.

“The map shows the dispersal was near the Mongkok MTR Station far from the Prince Edward Road assembly point. The defendant was carrying only his personal belongings. That’s why I am awarding his claim,” Yim said.

CALL OUR HOTLINE!

Nam

said that apart from the legal costs, her client will file a civil claim for damages, including loss of income during the nearly four months he was detained without bail while his case was pending.

Pioquinto was arrested during a dispersal operation by police at the corner of Argyle street and Nathan Road in Mongkok at about 11:15pm on Aug 3.

Call us!

The Filipino said that he was returning from work to his boarding house on nearby Canton Road when he got caught in a rally by anti-government protesters.

He was seen on video running away when riot police charged. Officers then ganged up on him and pinned him to the ground after he stumbled. He was arrested and sent to hospital for bruises on his arm.

Yim ordered Pioquinto released on Nov. 26 after prosecutors decided to drop the charges against him and another defendant arrested that evening.

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!

Filipina worker charged with money laundering

Posted on No comments

Kowloon City Court

A 45-year-old Filipina domestic helper has appeared in Kowloon Court to face two charges of money laundering over alleged questionable activities in her bank account.

No plea was taken from E. Gumabay when she appeared before Magistrate Ada Yim on Dec. 5.

CALL NOW!

The magistrate adjourned the case until Jan. 30 for further inquiries and extended the defendant’s bail.

Gumabay was charged with two counts of “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offense”, or what is commonly known as money laundering.

CALL OUR HOTLINE!

The prosecutor said the police had obtained a bank report and had completed their investigation of Gumabay’s banking activity. Investigators have also finished examining her mobile phone for clues.

Call us!

No details of the case have been disclosed. But labor records show Gumabay has been working in Hong Kong for more than 10 years. --- Vir B. Lumicao

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!

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.

CALL NOW!

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.

CALL OUR HOTLINE!

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.

Call us!

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

CALL US NOW!

CALL US NOW!