Another 5.5k Filipino DHs lose jobs amid strict travel restrictions

By Vir B. Lumicao

More than 15,600 Filipino DHs in HK have either lost their jobs, or cannot return

Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong took the worst hit so far from the current coronavirus pandemic last month, when 5,489 lost their jobs in the city.

This took the total decline in the Filipino DH population to 15,675 since the start of the year.

The drastic drop in the numbers appears to be the direct effect of the tightened travel restrictions imposed by the Hong Kong government in late July on travelers from nine countries identified as high-risk, including the Philippines and Indonesia.

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But it could also be due to the continuing economic decline, which has led to thousands of people in Hong Kong, many of them employers, losing their jobs.

Immigration figures show that as of the end of July, there were 209,512 Filipino DHs in Hong Kong. The number fell to 204,023 last month.

Indonesian migrant workers also saw their numbers shrink by 4,425 last month to 157,337, as their government reportedly slowed down the deployment of workers to Hong Kong in view of the pandemic.

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The decline in the FDH numbers could largely be attributed to the Hong Kong government’s admitted policy of limiting the entry of migrant workers into the city as part of efforts to contain the pandemic.

Starting Jul 25, travelers from seven high-risk countries including the Philippines and Indonesia, were required to present a certificate of negative result from a nucleic acid test taken within 72 hours before flying to the city. The requirement was later extended to two more countries.

Apart from this, travelers from these countries also have to present a confirmed booking in a Hong Kong hotel for no less than 14 days for the mandatory quarantine.

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The new policy effectively slowed the number of Filipino arrivals to a trickle, as the new restrictions proved daunting to both workers and employers.

The number of FDHs arriving in Hong Kong has dropped drastically because of the travel restrictions

Before this, in late June, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Labour Law Chi-kwong admitted in a press conference that the government wanted to restrict the entry of FDHs during the pandemic.

He was responding to reporters’ queries on why the government did not want to set up quarantine facilities for arriving FDHs, or help employers pay for the cost of putting them up in hotels for the 14-day quarantine.

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From an average of around 500 FDHs arriving daily, Law said the number has gone down to about 30.

Employment agencies say there are around 10,000 Filipino migrant workers who have been waiting for months to get back to Hong Kong. Many of them were stranded by the extended lockdowns in the Philippines, and whose re-entry is now being hampered by the high cost of bringing them back to Hong Kong.

Many employers are said to balk at having to pay between $4,000 and $8,000 for the workers’ hotel quarantine, plus up to $2,000 for the required swab test.

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The problem has been compounded in recent days by the big number of Filipino DHs testing positive at HK airport, despite presenting negative test results before departing from Manila.

This has triggered concern that Hong Kong will not lift its entry restrictions for all arrivals from the Philippines anytime soon.

 

FDH Population in Hong Kong 2020 (HK Immigration Data)
As of end of Month/Year	Philippines	Indonesia	India	Other nationalities	Total -- all nationalities
Jan-20	219,728	170,898	4,838	4,657	400,121
Feb-20	217,654	171,291	4,857	4,619	398,421
Mar-20	218,002	170,318	4,818	4,594	397,732
Apr-20	215,061	167,747	4,723	4,493	392,024
May-20	212,855	165,377	4,664	4,446	387,342
Jun-20	211,426	164,528		9,052*	385,006
Jul-20	209 512	161 762	4 522	4 379	380 175
Aug-20	204 023	157 337	4 360	4 245	369 965

* Including India                                                                                    

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Another Filipina DH tests positive, but CHP says nothing unusual about this

By Daisy CL Mandap

CHP says the Filipina DH flew in via PAL 300 on Sept 12

Another Filipina domestic helper has tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Hong Kong, health officials disclosed today, Sept 14. She was among 14 new confirmed cases, which brought the total tally to 4,972.

According to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection, the Filipina DH who arrived via Philippine Airlines Flight PR 300 on Sept 12, was among two imported cases. The other was a returning resident from India.

The Filipina is the 11^th DH to test positive after flying in from Manila since Wednesday, when five deployed by a single agency were all found infected at Hong Kong airport.

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Asked if they were not concerned that many travelers from the Philippines still test positive on arrival when they should have presented a negative result before departing Manila, Dr Chuang pointed out that there was also an infected case from India.

She also said the Filipino patients had taken different flights, and arrived on different dates. Further, there was a chance they were infected after testing negative, or there was a difference in the sensitivity of the test that they had in Manila.

Chuang also dismissed suggestions that the Hong Kong had failed to meet its target number of participants in the universal community testing, which ends its two-week run today.

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As of 8pm last night, a government press release said about 1.7 million  had joined the program, or about 25% of the city’s population.

Chuang said: “I think the government had no pre-set target for universal community testing.”

About a quarter of all residents joined the universal testing (RTHK photo)

She said the UCT was useful in uncovering some of the silent carriers who could otherwise not have been traced, and this helped prevent some of the invisible transmissions of the virus within the community.

Among today’s cases, six were detected through the UCT, although four of them were linked to previous infections. The two others are of unknown source.

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Three of the new linked patients were found to have frequented the Do Shing Restaurant in Tuen Mun for breakfast. Two of them, aged 61 and 63, are relatives, but they did not know the third, who is 49 years old.

Chuang said it was possible that one of the restaurant staff was infected, although no one among them had so far shown symptoms.

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All 30 or so staff there will be tested for the coronavirus, and the restaurant will be shut for thorough cleansing.

Dr Linda Yu from the Hospital Authority said that another elderly patient passed away in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 100. The 77-year-old male patient died at United Christian Hospital at 5:29am today.

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Yu said 194 confirmed patients are still being treated in 19 public hospitals and the treatment facility at the AsiaWorld-Expo. Of these, 21 are critical, eight are serious, and the remaining 165 are in stable condition.

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Filipino DH wins appeal against upskirt video conviction

By The SUN

The judge said the lower court failed to consider that  what happened may have been an accident

A High Court judge has overturned a Filipino domestic worker’s conviction more than two years ago on a charge of taking an upskirt video of a woman on an escalator in the Megabox shopping mall in Kowloon Bay.

In a judgment issued on Sept 10, Judge Isaac Tam quashed the conviction of Nelson San Juan and set aside his sentence of three weeks in jail, saying he was not satisfied that the prosecution had considered the possibility of accident in what had happened.

San Juan was arrested on Dec 12, 2016 on a charge that he followed a local woman on the escalators of Megabox and took a video under her skirt.

He was found guilty on a charge of “committing an act outraging public decency” by Kwun Tong Magistrate Chu Chung-keung on Jan 4, 2018.

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In his appeal, San Juan said his conviction was unsafe and/or unsatisfactory as Chu erred in finding his behavior deliberate, and excluded the possibility of an accident.

He also claimed “that finding of fact was against the weight of the evidence” as Chu considered only the police officer’s statement that San Juan’s phone camera was focused under the skirt of the woman in front of him on the escalator.

 Judge Tam agreed, saying the video clearly showed that the defendant’s camera was not aimed at the woman’s underskirt as, except for a few seconds, the footage showed the reflected image of a woman in a black skirt.

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 “The fact that the lens of the phone was not aimed at [the victim] provides a doubt as to whether the appellant’s action was deliberate”, said the judge. 

It also cast doubt on the officer’s reliability as a witness that the magistrate failed to pick up.

The judge also said that the appellant's claim that he had accidentally turned on the video in his camera was "at least plausible and it was not, with respect, rendered unbelievable by the prosecution’s cross-examination."

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 He said the whole matter was not helped by the prosecution misunderstanding the defense evidence, and by the magistrate following through from that misunderstanding.

The judge noted that the prosecution had wrongly stated that San Juan followed and took a video of the woman on an escalator from the ground floor of the mall, and then on to another escalator from the first to the fifth floor.

“In fact, according to the evidence, the alleged taking of upskirt video (not photo as put) took place on two escalators, nos 12 and 24.  No 12 runs from 1st to 5th Floors and no 24 runs from 5th to 6th Floors,” said the judge.

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But the judge rejected San Juan’s argument that the offence of taking upskirt footage cannot be classified as outraging public decency.

“Having exercised my powers as a rehearing judge and remembering always that I do not have the advantage that the magistrate had of seeing and hearing the witnesses first hand, I am not satisfied that the prosecution had excluded the possibility of accident in what had happened beyond a reasonable doubt,” Judge Tam said.

San Juan was represented in his appeal by three lawyers from Bar Free Legal Service Scheme.

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Polo opens new Admiralty office to workers' great relief

By Vir B. Lumicao

Migrant workers are happy Polo and PCG are now under one roof

No more long walks going to two key Philippine government offices in Hong Kong.

This was how Filipino workers and officers of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office welcomed with relief the opening of Polo’s new premises today, Sept 13, on the 29^th floor of United Centre in Admiralty.

Labor Attaché Melchor Dizon said the new Polo address is more convenient and easily accessible than its just vacated premises at YF Life Tower on Lockhart Road in Wanchai.

All offices of the Polo/Overseas Workers Welfare Administration are on one floor. More importantly, the office is in the same building as the Philippine Consulate General, which occupies the entire 14^th floor.

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He said workers with business to transact in both offices will no longer have to walk some distance from Polo’s previous office in Wanchai to the PCG in Admiralty.

Aside from the convenience of being near the public transport hub, the workers have more space to line up in United Centre, especially during peak seasons or inclement weather.

For orderly queuing, two volunteers manning a passage to the cordoned off second floor lift lobby at United Centre directed those visiting POLO or PCG where to go.

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Volunteers said worker traffic was heavy in the morning with more people going to POLO to process contracts or approach the OWWA for help.

Assistant Labor Attache Tony Villafuerte said he was at the lobby before 8am helping the volunteers direct the crowd of workers going up, as Consul General Raly Tejada reportedly wants an orderly queuing so as not to upset the building management.

The only glitch on opening day was the lack of seats in the public area

Up on the 29^th floor, Polo’s doors open directly to the spacious public hall where workers can transact at six counter windows. The hall is evidently bigger than the Consulate’s public hall and is a wide bare area without any seats.

Some of the 60 workers at the queue before 1pm said they were happy with Polo’s move.

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“Mas mainam na rito. Hindi na kami maglalakad nang malayo kapag may lalakarin din kami sa kabila,” said one woman who said she was lining up for the OWWA window. But she said there should be seats for those waiting for their turn at the windows.

ALA Angelica Sunga said the blue folding chairs from the previous site are still in the storeroom as POLO officials are still drawing up the layout plan for the hall. “We still have to finalize the layout plan,” she said.

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The executive offices are in a separate, northern wing of the premises with four equally large rooms for the two assistant labor attachés and two OWWA welfare officers on the right side of a hall. A conference room and four POLO cubicles are on the left side.

Labatt Dizon's new office is twice as big as the old one

At the northern end of the hall is Labatt Dizon’s room. It is more than twice as big as his former room at YF Life Tower with a spacious sitting area for visitors.      

       

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3 quarantined Filipina DHs linked to 5 earlier infections test positive for Covid-19

By Daisy CL Mandap

8 of the 13 Filipinas who arrived from Manila together on Wednesday are now infected

Three more Filipina domestic helpers who arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday as part of a group of 13 recruits by the same employment agency in Manila, were confirmed as positive for Covid-19 today, Sept 13.

The three tested positive while in a quarantine centre where they were taken after five of their companions tested positive on arrival at Hong Kong Airport.

Two, aged 34 and 35, both developed symptoms yesterday, but the third, who is 40 years old, was asymptomatic.

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All of the eight infected FDHs from the group were taken to public hospitals for isolation and treatment, while the remaining five are still in the quarantine centre.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said that all the 13 FDHs who flew in via Hong Kong Airlines Flight HX872 on Wednesday had lived in the same dormitory ran by their recruitment agencies in Manila days before their flight.

Consul General Raly Tejada identified the Manila agencies as Placewell International Services Corporation and Triple One Human Manpower Services Corp which appear to be operated by one family, and are located on different floors of JMC Centre in Makati.

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In Hong Kong, the agencies have been listed as FRA Golden Full and FRA Golden Win, but neither is listed in the Employment Agencies Administration Portal. But there is one Golden Win, which has three branches across the city.

Congen Tejada said the agencies have been told to extend help to their infected recruits. 

It remains unclear why a majority of the FDHs from a single group were found infected, when everyone who departs from the Philippines is required to present a negative result for a Covid-19 swab test taken no earlier than 72 hours before departure.

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Meanwhile, a 41-year-old Indonesian domestic worker was found infected when she and her employers took part in the universal community testing on Sep 10 at the Lai King Community Health Centre.

Dr Chuang said the Indonesian’s employers were found negative of the virus although the maid often stayed with them at home, and would only go to the Mei Foo wet market to buy food supplies. The Sunday before the test, she did not take a day-off.

Of the day’s infections, eight were imported. The other five were all returning residents from India, and include a three-year-old boy who arrived on Sept 11, and four members of the same family who tested positive while quarantined in a hotel in Tsuen Wan.

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Asked if she was worried about the return of the daily tally to double digit in the past two days after dropping to just six previously, Chuang said no as because many of the cases are imported. These patients are tested on arrival, and are made to undergo a 14-day quarantine so the risk of them spreading the virus in the community is low, she explained.

Chuang said there's less chance imported cases will spread the virus in the community

Chuang said the bigger worry is still the number of local cases for which the sources are unknown, like the five listed today, three of which were detected through the mass testing.

Apart from the Indonesian helper, the two other cases from the UCT were a 65-year-old woman who lives in Tai Hing Estate in Tuen Mun and a 75-year-old retired male patient who lives in Cheung Sha Wan.

The CHP expert said the low positive rate from the UCT was a good thing as it means there are not a lot of  silent carriers in the community.

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 “But it also proves that there are indeed some cases in the community, so we have to be vigilant and keep up with our personal hygiene,” she said.

Out of more than 1.7 million people who took part in the two-week program which ends tomorrow, only 26 people tested positive for Covid-19.

There are now a total of 4,958 people who have been infected in Hong Kong. However, only 181 remain in public hospitals and the treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo. Of these, 21 are critical, nine are serious, and 151 are in stable condition.

The fatality toll remains at 99.

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Musicians urge live performances to resume as officials mull bar reopening

By Daisy CL Mandap

HKMU officers & advisers led by Lo (in green shirt) met with Cheung to air their concerns 

Musicians are calling for the resumption of live performances as Hong Kong officials have assured that bars, karaokes and nightclubs could reopen by next week if the infection rate remains at a low level.

Manuela D. Lo, chairman of the Hong Kong Musicians Union, says she hopes the reopening of bars could again lead to live shows being allowed to resume.

“Like before, they opened the bars first, then the live music,” Lo says.

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The head of one of Hong Kong's oldest unions has kept up an appeal for help, particularly for her 100 or so members who have been jobless for months because of the ban on live shows.

Lo estimates that about 1,000 musicians have either lost their jobs or have resorted to doing unrelated work to survive since the pandemic swept across the city early this year.

Including the forced closures from protest-related violence late last year, she says most musicians have been without income for about six months.

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Among those she has called upon for help is lawmaker Tommy Cheung, who represents the catering sector in the Legislative Council.

During a meeting with Cheung on Wednesday last week, the HKMU led by Lo proposed new social distancing measures that the legislator could present to government health officials to convince them to allow live shows.

These include barring musicians from interacting with customers during their performances, for everyone to wear face masks while on stage, and to use protective shields between the performers and the audience.

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Cheung said he had already forwarded their request to the relevant authorities, but it might help if they could appeal directly to the decision-makers. He suggested a meeting between the musicians and a top policy maker as soon as possible.

Live performances were first halted in early April, following an outbreak among about 50 musicians, food servers and customers of four bars in Central, Wanchai and Tsim Sha Tsui.

They reopened on Jun 18, only to close again after about a month when the third wave of infections swept across Hong Kong.

Cheung has promised to arrange a meeting between HKMU and govt decision-makers

In a separate interview earlier today, Sept 12, Cheung urged the government to reopen bars, karaokes and nightclubs as soon as possible, saying the industry is happy to implement new measures needed for their businesses to reopen safely.

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His call follows a statement made by Health and Food Secretary Sophia Chan last week that pubs, karaoke bars and nightclubs could reopen next if the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong remains under control.

Starting last Friday, various business establishments previously shut like gyms, beauty and massage parlors were allowed to reopen, and the gathering restrictions relaxed further to allow up to four people to eat and gather together in public.

Cheung has proposed that his sector could take various anti-epidemic measures such as sterilising utensils with boiling water, using e-money and limiting customer stays in the restaurant to no more than two hours, but has yet to get a definite response.

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"We met with the Chief Secretary and a whole bunch of government officials from the FEHD and all that and make our proposals. So far we have no received any word – positive or negative – about our proposals," Cheung said in a radio interview.

Earlier, the chairman of the Lan Kwai Fong Group, Allan Zeman, also called on the government to make good on its promise to reopen bars from Sept 18.

"The traditional bars, just for drinking, they're having major problems, many of them are on life support, I don't know how much longer they can hang on,” said Zeman in a separate interview with RTHK.

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