Pinoy gets 4 months’ jail in $147K money laundering case

 

 

A Filipino construction worker was jailed yesterday for four months for letting criminals use his bank account to launder their earnings totalling $147,394.

Marlon Cayambas, 48, had earlier pleaded guilty to dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable crime, in violation of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance.

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Acting Principal Magistrate Leung Ka-kie Leung gave Cayambas a starting point of six months in jail and gave him a one third discount.

The case arose from the inflow and outflow of money totalling $147,394 in his HSBC account between 15th and 21st  of September, 2021.

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‘Zero remittance’ call by Duterte supporters draws mixed reaction

 

Duterte supporters across Europe gather at The Hague on Mar 23 (Facebook photo)

A call by supporters of detained former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for overseas Filipino workers to halt remittances to the Philippines for a week to protest Duterte’s arrest and transfer to the International Criminal Court has drawn mixed reactions.

The ‘zero remittance’ campaign starts tomorrow, Mar 28, to coincide with Duterte’s 80^th birthday, and ends on Apr 4.

Reacting to the call, Presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile told OFWs they must consider the move very carefully as it could lead to sanctions, such as the possible taking away of their tax-free privileges whenever they fly out of the country.

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In a Facebook post, the former Senate president said he was merely offering a “humble, unsolicited reminder” to social and political leaders and OFWs who are protesting Duterte’s detention at the ICC facility at The Hague.

Malacanang was, however, quick to distance itself from the dire warning, saying OFWs have the right to peaceful protest, but urged them to put their families’ needs first and understand the government’s position on Duterte’s arrest and detention by the ICC.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro noted that the campaign could have adverse effects, given that OFW remittances have long been a driver for the country’s economy.

Castro also said the call might be seen as inciting to sedition as it could prevent the government from fulfilling its duty. But, they have no plans to hold the organizers accountable - yet.

Senate President Chiz Escudero disagreed, however, saying no Philippine law is violated by the no-remittance campaign. But he cautioned against it.

“For me, it is well within their rights, but it will hurt, not only their familie and loved ones when it comes to sustaining their daily, weekly and monthly needs,” said Escudero.

He added he would advise against pursuing the campaign as “this is not an issue of revenge.” Retaliating would not cause the issue to subside and calm emotions and tensions in the county, he said.

Duterte was asked to confirm his identity when he first appeared at the ICC via videolink

Migrante International, which has led similar campaigns in the past, has hit out at the pro-Duterte organizers, accusing them of misusing the protest tactic.

They said the original intention of such a campaign was to fight for the rights of OFWs and not to protect a “criminal” ex-president.

The call was issued by Duterte supporters who are accusing President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. of being behind his predecessor’s arrest on Mar 12, as he landed in Manila from a trip to Hong Kong.

Duterte was served a warrant of arrest issued by the ICC, which said there were reasonable grounds to believe he committed crimes against humanity in the form of murder, rape and torture, during his bloody crackdown on drugs from the time he was mayor in Davao City, and as president of the Philippines.

His drug war left at least 6,000 people dead according to official government records, while human rights groups estimate the death toll to be between 20,000 and 30,000.

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Pinay resident jailed 18 days for 4 assaults on Filipina DH

Building where assault happened (Google Maps photo)

A Filipina resident who pleaded guilty at Kwun Tong court two weeks ago to four counts of assault on her domestic helper, also a Filipina, was jailed today for 18 days.

May Esplana, a 37-year-old customer service officer, received discounts on her sentence from Acting Principal Magistrate Leung Ka-kie for pleading guilty last March 13.

Magistrate Leung initially sentenced her to six days in jail for each of the first three counts of assault on her DH, Justine Melendres, but only took two days from each and added these to the 12 days’ jail for the fourth charge.

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Since she had been in jail for more than two weeks, she would be released shortly.

The assaults were committed in Esplana’s flat on Ting Yip St. in Sau Mau Ping, Kowloon.

The first two charges of common assault were committed by Esplana on the helper on two separate occasions on Oct. 29 last year. She again assaulted Melendres two days later, on Oct. 31.

The assault was repeated the next day, Nov. 1, but leaving “actual bodily harm” on Melendres, resulting in the fourth charge.

The maximum penalty for assault occasioning bodily harm is three years' imprisonment while for common assault it is a year in jail.

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Non-urgent hospital visits to cost more from next year

 

Non-urgent patients will be charged more than 2x the current rate from Jan 1

Starting Jan 1, 2026, patients who go to public hospitals’ accident and emergency departments for non-urgent or non-emergency cases will be charged $400 instead of the current $180.

But patients who are in critical condition or need emergency services will not be charged.

The move is part of the government’s plan to revamp health care charges, with the higher fees taking effect over three phases from next year.

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Also as part of the new scheme is the adjustment of charges for other services, such as hospital stays and consultations at specialist and outpatient clinics.

To ease the effect on less financially able patients, the government plans to cap charges at $10,000 per patient per year, and help eligible people to apply for a total fee waiver when needed.

Health minister Lo Chung-mau said that what the government intends is to offer more help to indigent patients and those who are seriously ill.

The estimated $3 billion that will be generated from the initial phase of the scheme will go toward improving public health services, Lo said.

As part of the plan, a “co-payment model” will be introduced, in which patients will be charged between $50 and $500 for advanced and highly complicated pathology and non-urgent imaging tests.

But basic check-ups will remain free.

The scheme will also see patients being prescribed no more than four weeks' worth of drugs each time they go to public hospitals or clinics for a consultation.

Despite all these adjustments, the government is still expected to subsidize about 90% of the patients’ treatment in public hospitals, slightly down from 97.6 percent at present.

Hospital Authority chief executive Tony Ko said that from past experience, a number of patients would rather try alternative methods of care once a new fee structure is put in place.

"This enables us to have more capability to reserve our manpower resources to take care of the patients who really need emergency and accidents, and urgent care,” he said.

About 1.4 million residents are expected to benefit from the government’s plan to relax the income and asset requirements to qualify for a fee waiver, up from the current 300,000.

The HK$10,000 annual fee cap, on the other hand, is expected to benefit around 70,000 chronic or severely-ill patients who need to visit hospitals frequently.

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Pinay faces theft, obtaining property by deception charges

 

Kowloon City Court

An unemployed Filipina has been detained after appearing at Kowloon City Court, charged with stealing several items from a hostel guest, including five credit cards which she then allegedly used to purchase goods.

Mylene Navarro, 48, is accused of one charge of theft and four counts of obtaining property by deception. Acting Principal Magistrate Ko Wai-hung ordered her to remain in custody until the next hearing on May 21.

In a hearing on Mar.19, Navarro was alleged to have taken one mobile phone, one Rolex watch, and one wallet containing  HK identity card, one-way travel permit to the Mainland, $2,000 cash as well as five credit cards, with a total value of $96,095.50.

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The Police complaint alleged that the theft was committed on Nov. 23 in one of the rooms of Rainbow City Inn on Pitt Street in Yau Ma Tei.

The four counts of obtaining property by deception arose from Navarro allegedly using the credit cards for the following purchases later that day:

• $1,204 worth of goods from the Circle K store on Jordan Road, using a stolen Standard Chartered credit card.
• $2,292.50 worth of goods from the 7-Eleven store on Bowring Road, using a stolen Standard Chartered credit card.
• $227 worth of goods from the 7-Eleven store In the MTR Prince Edward station using a stolen HSBC credit cad.
• $204 worth of goods from the 7-Eleven store on Jordan Road, using a stolen HSBC credit card.  

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Link to pre-enrolment for overseas voting out, but…

It was an agony getting to this page for many overseas Filipinos who tried to pre-enrol to vote

Three days after it was supposed to have been made public, the link to the pre-enrolment for overseas voting was finally released by the Commission of Elections on Mar 23, but this was immediately met with widespread criticism.

The complaints ranged from the link not going to any page or was broken, to messages of the person being blocked because of a security trigger, the clicked page expiring too quickly, and so on.

Some who tried to pre-enrol got this alarming notice

The problems appear to have been so widespread that by Monday, Mar 24, only about 5,000 Filipinos overseas had managed to pre-enrol, according to Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia himself.

This is a tiny fraction of the 1,241,690 Filipinos registered to vote abroad.

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But Garcia did not seem overly concerned, telling reporters that he expects the number to increase in the coming days. He also expressed hopes that the pre-enrolment figure will rise to nearly the same level as the registration figure.

..or this quirky reply, but still no pre-enrolment page

Bayan Muna Hong Kong is not as optimistic, saying Comelec’s “flawed system” is bound to lead to widespread disenfranchisement.

“Not only was Comelec late in providing the pre-enrolment link and information drive, there are no advisories on what to do if such problems are encountered. We need an accessible and reliable system,” said Bayan Muna spokesperson Lai Besana in a Facebook post.

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She said that because of the difficulties encountered by many of those trying to enroll, some voters are not calling for the return to in-person voting. But this, said Besana, is a problem in itself because it would mean a return to the long queues and hours of waiting to vote, especially on Sundays.

Besana said her post was a call for Comelec to urgently address the issues faced by voters frustrated with their inability to take the first step towards casting their vote for the upcoming national elections in the Philippines.

Pre-enrolment is a test run for the actual online voting which will be held from Apr 13 to May 12.

PCG provided the link, and says that those who cannot access the page may go to them for help

Pre-enrolment is set from Mar 20 to Apr 7, and the actual enrolment to vote will be from Apr 13 to May 5, or a week before online voting ends. All registered voters will have to enroll to gain access to the voting portal where they will be asked to fill a ballot and cast it online afterwards.

As it is a mid-term election, overseas voters can only vote for 12 senators and one party-list group on any day during the election period.

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Filipina DH jailed 10 months in $834K money laundering case

 

A Filipina domestic helper was jailed for 10 months today after she pleaded guilty at the Kowloon City Court to two money laundering charges involving $833,935.01.

Jocel Pajela, 43 years old, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment for the first charge of “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable crime,” and six months for the second.

However, Acting Principal Magistrate Ko Wai-hung, made the first four months of the second sentence run at the same time as the first, leaving two months’ additional jail term.

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The first charge arose from the deposits and withdrawals of $478,503 in crime money in Pajela’s Hang Seng Bank account between July 12, 2023 and Sept. 6, 2023.

The second charge was for the $355,432.01 that went in and out of her Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. account on April 18 to 29, 2023.

Both acts violated the Serious and Organized Crime Ordinance.

Meanwhile, another DH walked free on bail of $2,000 from the Kwun Tong Court today despite the addition of two more money laundering charges against her, in which a total of $2.2 million in crime money allegedly passed though her three bank accounts.

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Eva Rose Tacda, 47 years old, initially faced one charge of “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable crime,” according to the information filed by police on July 26, 2024.

The charge arose from deposits and withdrawals totaling $256,510.1 in her MOX Bank Ltd. account within two days, on Feb. 22-23, 2023.

The first of the two additional charges was for her alleged handling of $940,356 though deposits and withdrawals in her Standard Chartered Bank account on February 22-27, 2023.

Her third charge arose from the inflow and outflow of $983,839 in her HSBC account also on February 22-27, 2023, the police complaint added.

All of the alleged offences are  in violation of the Organized and Serious Crime Ordinance,

Acting Principal Magistrate Leung Ka-kie adjourned the case to May 20.

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Careless opening of taxi door costs Pinay $600

Be careful when getting off taxis (file photo)

Be careful when opening a door of a taxi or any vehicle, to get off. If you cause an accident and hurt someone, you will be liable under Hong Kong laws.

A Filipina learned this lesson today after she was summoned to Tuen Mun Law Courts to face the charge of opening, “without reasonable excuse, … the door of a taxi on a road… so as to cause danger to another person.”

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S. Duldulao, 32 years old, pleaded guilty and was fined $600 by Magistrate Debbie Ng.

According to the information laid by the Police Central Traffic Prosecutions Division, Duldulao was getting off a taxi in the afternoon of July 9 last year on Man Tak Road in Tin Shui Wai when the door hit a person who was passing by.

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The incident kicked into action two provisions of the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) Regulations which were made under the Road Traffic Ordinance.

Regulation 44(2) states: “No person shall open or cause or permit to be opened any door of a motor vehicle or trailer on a road so as to cause injury or danger to any person.”

Regulation 61(2) also states: “Any person who without reasonable excuse contravenes any of the provisions of, or any requirement under, regulation … 44 (among others) … commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 1 ($2,000).”

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HK to ban use of power banks on aircraft

 

Use of power banks will no longer be allowed on board local aircraft from Apr 7

From Apr 7, all local airlines should not allow their passengers to use power banks to charge mobile phones or other electronic devices, or recharge power banks while on flight. 

Additionally, all passengers will not be allowed to stow power banks in the overhead compartments of aircraft starting on the same date. What this suggests is that the power banks can be placed under the seat, or in the seat pocket in front of the passenger.

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The move was announced by the Civil Aviation Department today, Monday, following a meeting with representatives from local airlines last Friday, Mar 21.

The restrictions will be on top of the International Civil Aviation Organization's relevant regulations on the carriage of items by passengers onboard, including prohibiting the carrying of power banks in check-in baggage, and allowing only power banks with watt-hour rating of not exceeding 100Wh to be brought on board.

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Additionally, batteries must be packed sparately and protected from overheating by taping over exposed terminals. Each passenger is allowed to bring on board a maximum of two battery packs, with each not exceeding 100Wh.

Other airlines, such as Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways, have already imposed similar restrictions.

The move follows a number of fires breaking out aboard aircraft, which have been directly linked to power banks.

In the latest case, an inbound Hong Kong Airlines flight from the mainland Chinese city of Hangzhou was forced to divert to Fuzhou after a fire broke out on board the aircraft last Tuesday. Passengers suspect the blaze was caused by a power bank that overheated.

  

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2 Philippine displays win merit awards at HK Flower Show 2025

The PCG's booth won the 'Merit Award for Unique Feature'

The Philippine Consulate has won a merit award for its booth display at the Hong Kong Flower Show which ended today, Mar 23, while a Philippines-based organization won a similar award.

The PCG’s display which was done in collaboration with the United Architects of the Philippines Hong Kong chapter was handed the “Merit Award for Unique Feature.”

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The display, which featured a Philippine “balangay”, a colorful, colonial-era boat side-by-side with a Chinese junk, was meant to symbolize the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of Philippines-China diplomatic relations.

The flowers used for the display were the everlasting which is mainly grown in Baguio;  cosmos, which is the featured flower for this year’s Flower Show; as well as aster, chrysanthemum, begonia, million bells, kalachoes and daisies. A bonsai tree completed the display.

Blue Grass Project Philippines won Merit Award for Design Excellence

The other winner was the Blue Grass Project Philippines, which on the “Merit Award for Design Excellence” for its flower displays which appeared to float on air.

Another participant from the Philippines was the World Flower Council (Philippines chapter) which showcased a profusion of orchids in various colors.

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Named as Grand Winner for Unique Feature was the Pakistan Consulate General’s booth which was turned into a pebbled garden with walls showing the country’s scenic attractions, and its world-famous rug being used as a centerpiece.

Pakistan PCG's display won the Grand Award for Unique Feature

As in years past, the Tinikling dance by Filipino migrant workers, some of whom did the intricate footwork with bamboo poles while blindfolded, was a big hit.

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HK Flower Show 2025 with the theme “Ablaza With Glory” opened on Mar 14, and drew an estimated 650,000 visitors.

The Philippine contingent at the Flower Show

More than 400,000 flowers mostly imported from abroad, were used by 238 organizations which took part in the annual event organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. 

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7 Pinoys arrested for illegal work appear in court

 

Immigration Department photo of those arrested 

Seven Filipino men who were arrested for working illegally in a cargo company in Kwai Chung last March 4, have appeared at Shatin Court, charged with violating the Immigation Ordinance and the Immigration Regulations.

Of the seven, only Rodrigo Sarabia, 60 years old, was charged with breach of condition of stay because he was allowed to stay in Hong Kong to work as a domestic helper at the address specified in the employment contract he used to get his visa.

In a hearing on March 19, Sarabia was allowed by Magistrate David Chum to post bail of $1,000.

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Earlier reports said six  of the suspected illegal workers arrested in the raid were asylum seekers or non-refoulement claimants holding recognizance papers which prohibit them from taking up work. The seventh is a male FDH while the eighth was a female overstayer.

Two of the asylum seekers arrested were Junipher Sambalod, 41 years old, and Marcelino Guisinga, 44. Both were also allowed to post bail but at $10,000 cash plus surety of another $10,000.

Both are facing a charge of “taking employment while being a person in respect of whom a removal order is in force” in violation of section 38AA(1)(b) and 38AA(2) of the Immigration Ordinance.

The four others, who are facing similar charges – Julie JR Arcega, 43, Aris Pareja, 51, Christian Mendane, 34, and Joel Lorente, 46 – were returned to jail to await their next court date on April 22.

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Arcega is one of four Filipinos and a Bangladeshi who were cleared by the District Court last March 19 of acting indecently towads a child, but was not freed because he was detained at that time for this case.

Last March 5, the Immigration Department announced it has arrested nine persons in an anti-illegal work operation conducted by its agents in Kwai Chung last Mar 4, eight of whom were Filipinos. The ninth is a 51-year-old male Hong Kong resident who is suspected of employing them.

The statement said the eight suspects were caught while performing transporting and wrapping duties in a unit of the industrial building. They comprised seven men and one woman, aged 34 to 60. 

The woman, who was reportedly an overstayer,  was not among those who appeared in court to face charges. 

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Immigration warned that illegal work is a serious offence that merits a jail sentence.

Those who are convicted of the offence while on tourist or domestic helper’s visa could be jailed for up to two years and fined $50,000.

Recognizance paper holders or overstayers face a maximum of three years in prison and a fine of $50,000.

Those found to have employed illegal workers could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined a maximum of $500,000.

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Illness postpones Filipina’s sentencing for fraud

 

Immigration Department

The Shatin Court postponed for a week the sentencing of a Filipina who had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Immigration Department, when she did not show up Friday (March 21) due to illness.

Acting Principal Magistrate Cheang Kei-hong rescheduled to March 28 the sentencing of Mariclaire Calagui, 41 years old, but required her to present a medical certificate.

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Magistrate Cheang extended her $1,000 bail on the same terms.

According to the police complaint, Calagui conspired with Lee Ka Ming and Kathleen Emily Vizcarra to defraud the Director of Immigration and his officers by entering into a fake employment contract to work as a domestic helper of Lee.

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The fraud induced the Immigration officers “to act contrary to their public duty, namely to grant you permission to remain in Hong Kong under circumstances in which they would not otherwise have granted.”

Vizcarra is herself facing a similar case in District Court for her part as agent in the alleged conspiracy that involved Calagui and several others.

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Magistrate Cheang also scheduled the sentencing of another Filipina for April 17 at Shatin Court for "making a false representation to an Immigration Officer lawfully acting under or in the execution of  Part III of the Immigration Ordinance."

The charge against Melinda David, 42 years old, arose from her telling the officer on Oct 2, 2023 that she would work for a certain employer "knowing the same to be false o not believing the same ti be true...." 

She was set free on bail of $1,000.

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