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| Secretary Bello blends serious talk and jokesas he apprises POLO staff on the goals of the DOLE under the Duterte admnistration. He was formally welcomed to Hong Kong by Consul General Baernardita Catalla. |
By Vir B. Lumicao
Hong Kong labour officials have assured Philippine Labour
Secretary Silvestre Bello III that Emry’s Service Staff Employment Agency will
be prosecuted over claims of scamming hundreds of Filipino applicants for
purported jobs in Britain and Canada.
Labour Secretary Matthew Cheung gave the assurance during
his dinner-meeting on Sept 23 with Secretary Bello and his entourage, according
to Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre.
However, a criminal prosecution of Ester Ylagan, former
co-owner of Emry’s and sole proprietor of Mike’s Secretarial Services,
apparently is still being considered.
“Ang sabi ni Secretary Cheung, the police are still
investigating,” he said.
Secretary Cheung reportedly met the Philippine delegation over
dinner and discussed problems concerning Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong,
on top of which was the life-endangering task of cleaning windows.
The Hong Kong delegation included Cheung, Police
Commissioner Stephen Lo, and Permanent Secretary for Labour Annie Tam. The Philippine
side was made up of Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Hans
Cacdac, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Rebecca Calzado, Labatt
dela Torre and Vice Consul Fatima Quintin.
“The Secretary of Labour assured us that there will be
prosecution and that they will issue summons against the erring agency,” Labatt
De la Torre replied without naming the agency.
However, Secretary Bello himself deflected The SUN’s query
about whether the Emry’s/Mike’s alleged jobs scam was discussed with the Hong
Kong officials.
In the meantime, Emry’s/Mike’s have been suspended by both
sides, Administrator Cacdac butted in.
Labatt dela Torre also said that Emry’s counterpart agency
in the Philippines is also under investigation.
“Sa claims naman, we will make a representation
with the (Small) Claims Tribunal na i-consolidate
nila yung mga kaso para hindi sabog ang ating
monitoring,” he added.
Bello said his team and the Hong Kong side discussed ways to
help the 187,000 Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong.
When asked by media about whether he discussed with Cheung
the workers’ clamor to ban window cleaning, Bello said the other side promised
to study Polo’s recommendation to strike it out of the list of domestic
workers’ duties.
“Pag-aaralan nila,
although very positive sila but wala siyang (Cheung) commitment,” Bello
said.
“Tinitingan pa nina Labor
Attaché Dela Torre ang tungkol sa paglilinis ng mga workers ng bintana. Kasi
sinasabi naman nila hindi rin maiiwasan kasi kung minsan na ang mismong may-ari
kailangan din niyang maglinis,” Bello
said.
“Wala tayong magagawa.
Lalo na kasi ganyan talaga ang mga bahay dito. Sa Pilipinas one-story lang ang
mga bahay natin, dito hindi eh,” the official added.
At this stage, the window-cleaning ban is still a recommendation
and that Polo should make a representation with Hong Kong authorities to
exclude it from the domestic chores stipulated in the contract, Bello said.
Asked whether he had taken up with his Hong Kong counterpart
illegal fees being exacted by agencies on workers such as forced loans from
lending companies, Bello said he had not yet heard of such issue.
“Hindi pa nakakarating sa akin ang reklamong iyan pero kung
meron mang ganyan, meron din namang legal remedies at pwede nating habulin iyan,”
he said.
Bello said the Hong Kong side is “grateful na meron tayong mga overseas workers dito dahil malaking tulong din sa kanila at
they prefer Filipino migrant workers dahil
masisipag at magagalang at sinisiguro nila na gagawin nilang lahat para maproteksiyonan
sila.”
When asked by one reporter how Hong Kong officials regard
the new government of President Rodrigo Duterte, Bello said they were cordial.
He said in fact, he told them that Duterte might visit China
and that he might be able to convince him to stop over in Hong Kong.
“Baka makumbinsi natin na dumaan dito para masalubong niya
naman ang mga mahal niya sa buhay. Mahal na mahal niya ang mga migrant
workers, eh. Aba ,
mahal kayo niyon ha. Palagi niyang iniuutos sa akin na huwag kong pabababayaan
ang inyong kapakanan,” Bello
said.
He visited Bethune House in Sheung Wan for about an hour on
Sept 24 to see for himself one of the two shelters managed by executive
director Edwina Antonio. Earlier, he paid a visit to the OWWA-run Filipino
Women’s Refuge Center
in Kennedy Town
Bello spoke with each of the 12 Filipina clients of Bethune
about their particular problems, promising to assist them in getting jobs if
they decide to go home. He endorsed to either Calzado, Cacdac or De la Torre
the clients’ concerns.
