By Vir B. Lumicao
A Filipina domestic worker suffering from stage 4 cancer was meted a seven-day jail sentence suspended for 12 months after she pleaded guilty to a charge of breach of condition of stay for overstaying her visa by two weeks
Dolores Laganes, 50, was one of four Filipinas who appeared in Shatin Court on July 6 to face similar charges of overstaying. Three of them pleaded guilty to the charge while the fourth presented a new application for non-refoulement.
Appearing before Magistrate Colin Wong, Laganes, through a duty lawyer, said she was forced to overstay after she terminated her contract with her employer in Shatin on May 2 because of her failing health
The lawyer said that when Laganes found out about her illness, she told her employer about it and they agreed to end their contract so the employer could hire a new maid. She had worked for the employer for one and a half years.
The woman was supposed to have left Hong Kong after the 14-day extension of her visa after her termination, but she chose to overstay for medical reasons. She was arrested by police during an ID check on June 2
Magistrate Wong said that because Laganes pleaded guilty, had a clear record and was ill, he would sentence her to seven days in jail, suspended for 12 months.
Later at the Consulate, Laganes learned from the assistance to nationals section that the Hong Kong government had granted her recognizance, meaning she would not be sent home soon.
ATN staff Hermogenes Cayabyab, Jr. said this meant Laganes was now in the care of the Hong Kong government and she did not have to worry about her visa and, hopefully, her medical treatment.
Cayabyab explained that the Immigration Department took notice of the OFW’s health situation at the time of her arrest, and had taken her to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment immediately after interrogating her.
Laganes told The SUN that doctors at the hospital diagnosed her to be suffering from stage 4 cancer which started in her left breast and had spread to her lungs and brain
She said she had been treated with radiation to shrink her brain tumor and had undergone chemotherapy to stop the spread of the disease. But she needed four more sessions of chemotherapy.
The other former domestic worker who pleaded guilty was Rechie Estacio, 36, who overstayed after being terminated on Feb 25. She surrendered to Immigration authorities on April 11.
Wong sentenced her to seven days in jail, suspended for 24 months, taking into account her surrender and guilty plea.
The lone tourist among the overstayed Filipinas, Judelyn Condez, 31, admitted overstaying for more than a year. She arrived in Hong Kong on Nov 30, 2014 and was allowed to stay for two weeks, but failed to leave the city. She surrendered last month.
Meanwhile, prosecutors applied for a four-week adjournment of the hearing for a breach of condition case against a fourth Filipina, Hasle Quintero, because she filed a new application for non-refoulement protection on June 29, shortly after the Immigration Department’s Torture Claims Board rejected her earlier application.
Quintero overstayed for two years from May 2013 to August 2015 before she applied for the protection.
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