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| The block in Ap Lei Chau where Pangan, Escanillas and their two daughters lived for the past three years |
The Filipino parents of two teenage girls whose births were not registered with authorities for 19 years are reportedly not in a hurry to register their children with the Consulate.
This was according to Vice Consul Fatima Quintin, head of the assistance to nationals section, who said the reluctance was regrettable.
She urged Filipino parents to register their children, no matter their circumstances, so they would get consular help and protection.
But she admitted that some parents were reluctant to register their children for some personal reasons, and that the Consulate could not force them to do so. “As much as we would like to encourage them to register, hindi natin makuha, pero iyon nga, kawawa yung mga bata kasi wala silang identity rito. Kung wala silang identity, hindi sila makaka-avail ng available services,” Quintin said.
“Ini-encourage namin na i-register yung mga bata. Ang importante ay yung kapakanan ng mga bata, hindi yung circumstances ng mga parents.”
Ma Lorena Escanillas, 43, a former domestic helper, told officers of the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section that she would attend to the documents of her daughters, aged 18 and 19, only after her release from prison.
Her partner, 58-year-old Reynaldo Pangan, earlier ruled out registering the children with the Consulate soon as he was concerned that this could interfere with the Hong Kong Welfare Department’s processing of benefits for his daughters.
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| Eastern Court |
Pangan received a similar jail sentence for aiding and abetting Escanilla’s breach of condition of stay by sheltering Escanillas during this period. He was also sentenced to two months in jail for failing to register the two children.
But Magistrate Clement Lee suspended both sentences for two years to allow Pangan to look after their children.
Escanillas is reluctant to talk about the circumstances of her case, said ATN officer Hermogenes Cayabyab Jr., who, along with Quintin, visited her in Lowu on June 20. “She was tightlipped, she doesn’t want to her story to be played up by media,” Cayabyab said of Escanillas after the prison visit.
Filipinas who live near the building on Aberdeen Main road where the family has stayed for the past three years did not know the family.
“Hindi sila siguro lumalabas dahil kung hindi ay nakilala namin,” said one of the workers who, along with a handful of other Filipinas, gathered every weekday outside a primary school nearby.
The court was told that the second-floor flat was rented by Pangan starting on Jan 5, 2013 for $11,000, while he was reportedly earning the same amount as a domestic helper.
Pangan reportedly met Escanillas after she lost her job and she became his girlfriend.
The maid was pregnant when her visa expired on Oct 22, 1996 and Pangan found a place for her to live.
Escanillas gave birth to their elder daughter on Mar 4, 1996 at Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin. Then exactly a year later, the second daughter was born in a flat in Taipo that Pangan had rented for his family.
Police said the Marriage, Birth and Death Registration Section of the Immigration Department had no records of marriage for Pangan and Escanillas, as well as the birth of their children. They also found no record of the children with the Education Department.
Pangan told investigators that he was unable to register the children because the mother was overstaying and he did not know anyone who could help him. He was also unable to send them to school because they did not have birth certificates.
But he said that during the whole episode that spanned almost two decades, he provided for Escanillas and the children. The couple also gave the children basic education at home, including reading and writing.
Pangan boasted that his children could read and speak in English and were good at computers.
