2 Pinays charged with harming young wards

Two Filipina domestic workers have appeared in separate courts to each face a charge of ill-treating or assaulting their young wards.

Ando pleaded not guilty to ill-treatment of her ward in Shatin court

Merlyn Ando, who has been held without bail since May this year, pleaded not guilty to the offence before Shatin Magistrate Wong Sze-lai on Nov. 22. She will face trial on Jan 29-30.

No details of the case were read out in court.

Tuen Mun court, where Inabiohan faces a charge of assaulting her ward

However, local media have reported that she was accused by her employer of mixing detergent in the milk of her young ward. The reports said the mother found a plastic container of powder detergent beside the can of infant formula that was being fed to the baby.

The second domestic helper, Eden Inabiohan, appeared on Nov 23 before Tuen Mun Magistrate Ivy Chui Yee-mei for an update on her case.

Inabiohan, who is out on bail, has been charged with assaulting her young ward.

No details of the case were mentioned during the hearing.

Magistrate Chui adjourned the case until Dec 24 at the request of the prosecution, and extended the helper’s bail.  - Vir B. Lumicao

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Delayed payment of wages

By Cynthia Tellez

Recently,  some domestic workers came to the Mission to seek assistance, while others were there to refer friends who needed help.

While waiting for their turn, they shared stories about work experiences, including delays in their salary, many for more than a week, others for almost two months. This caught our attention and so we joined the conversation.

One said that her salary for this month, for example, was supposed to be for two months earlier. The reasons given by her employer was that she either forgot or simply had no time to go to the bank. Another worker had it worse, because her employer said he was experiencing financial difficulties so she decided to just wait.

Their fellow migrants regarded this as ‘better than having no work at all’. But then, they kept on saying that their families back home were of course affected by the delay in their salaries, with one complaining that they cannot just give promissory notes to the school for late payment of tuition fees.

Usually, domestic workers regard the matter of delayed salary as a non-issue and dismiss it as if nothing happened. But delayed wages, being part of the Employment Ordinance, is a serious omission on the part of the employer. This act falls under the protection of wages and is prohibited like illegal deductions.

Let us quote from the HK Labour Department’s “A Concise Guide to the Employment Ordinance”, on Payment of Wages:



‘Wages shall become due on the expiry of the last day of the wage period. An employer should pay wages to an employee as soon as practicable but in any case not later than seven days after the end of the wage period. An employer is required to pay interest on the outstanding amount of wages to the employee if he fails to pay wages to the employee within seven days when it becomes due.’



Offences and Penalties
‘An employer who willfully and without reasonable excuse fails to pay wages to an employee when it becomes due is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of HK$350,000 and to imprisonment for three years.’

‘An employer who willfully and without reasonable excuse fails to pay interest on the outstanding amount of wages to the employee is liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, to a fine of $10,000.’




In the above excerpts from the said Guide, it is clear  that delayed salary is an offence under the Employment Ordinance.

But because this is a serious offence by your employer, you need to present concrete proofs.

Following are some tips to guide you in case similar things happen and termination of contract is unavoidable.



One, it would be best to open a bank account and ask your employer to deposit your salary into the said account. The deposit is either printed in your bank book (you can regularly update it), or your employer must give you a bank receipt stating the amount deposited. The important thing is that a date is always printed on any of these. This will show the regularity on when your salary is given.

Two, if you are paid by cash or cheque, you can make a prepared receipt stating the amount of the salary and the date it is given.  You can use any clean sheet of paper to do this. Here is a sample receipt, say your contract started when you arrived on 3rd September 2018:



“THIS SERVES AS A RECEIPT FOR PAYMENT OF WAGES
Received the amount of  FOUR THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND TEN ONLY (HK$4,410 .00) in cash, as payment for my salary for 03 September - 02 October 2018.  Under DH Contract No_______________.
Signature: ___________________________________
Name in block letters: __________________________
Date ___________________________
You can prepare this type of receipt every time your salary is given to you. Make several copies of this, leaving the amount and inclusive dates blank so that you will not waste time in writing the whole thing every time the salary is given.

For payments made by cheque:

“THIS SERVES AS A RECEIPT FOR PAYMENT OF WAGES
Received the amount of  FOUR THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND TEN ONLY (HK$4,410 .00) in cheque:
Cheque No.___________,
Date Issued___________, as payment for my salary for 03 September - 02 October 2018.  Under DH Contract No:_______________.

Signature: ________________________________
Name (in block letters): ________________________
Date  : _______________________________________  Take a photo of the cheque before depositing, if possible.

I am sure there are other means on how you can gather proof to substantiate your complaint against delayed salary payment. Just be sure to keep these pieces of evidence in a safe place.

Three, always keep a diary stating what happened during your supposed pay day and onwards.

Four, for the more serious cases of delayed payment of wages, you can file a complaint against your employer at the Labour Department. You may consult service providers like the Mission for help in doing this. After calling the attention of your employer to the repeated delays, you can file claims for your unpaid wages plus wage in lieu of notice because by not paying you within the prescribed period, your employer is deemed to have terminated your contract. Further, your employer is liable for committing an offence under the law.

Together with your claim, do not forget to mention to the Labour Officer to compute your delayed salary plus interest for the whole period of delay. The interest imposed is in the Labour Ordinance and in fact a separate case against your employer.

Just remember that there is no less important or more important offence or case as far as the law is concerned. The law is law and every violation will be meted with corresponding penalties.

If you have any further questions, or would like to ask for clarifications, please do not hesitate to call the Mission at 2522-8264.
---
This is the monthly column from the Mission for Migrant Workers, an institution that has been serving the needs of migrant workers in Hong Kong for over 31 years. The Mission, headed by its general manager, Cynthia Tellez, assists migrant workers who are in distress, and  focuses its efforts on crisis intervention and prevention through migrant empowerment. Mission has its offices at St John’s Cathedral on Garden Road, Central, and may be reached through tel. 2522 8264.


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‘Katutubo 2018’: First Philippine native design fest in HK

Connie Atijon, a multi-awarded weaver who has been invited to various exhibition events in the Philippines and in Canada and Australia, turns out hablon from her traditional loom.

By Daisy CL Mandap

The first thing that struck guests at the first-ever Philippine fashion show to be held in Hong Kong on Nov. 10 was the presence of a woman quietly weaving Iloilo’s famous hablon cloth in one corner of the Sheraton Hotel in Kowloon, where the event was  held.

Even more striking was her use of a heavy-looking handloom weaver made entirely of wood, a sight that looked totally anachronistic in a modern city like Hong Kong.

The events catalogue for “2018 Katutubo Haute Couture” named her as Connie Atijon, a multi-awarded weaver who has been invited to various exhibition events in the Philippines and in Canada and Australia. Her presence at “Katutubo” highlighted what organizers Likhang Pamana wanted to achieve, which was to focus on the weaver as she sets off the magic that ultimately leads to the creation of beautiful native Filipino outfits.



At the opening cocktails for the event, Consul General Antonio A. Morales paid tribute to the four women who set up Likhang Pamana, and conceived the Katutubo runway show and exhibition as their first project in Hong Kong. He said they helped raise the awareness of Philippine culture among the local people.

“It is ironic that despite the fact that there are many Filipinos in Hong Kong, the knowledge of Hong Kong people about the Philippines is still lacking. And we need more of these activities to make them more aware of the richness of Philippine culture, so thank you Likhang Pamana for making Hong Kong people more aware of Philippine culture.”



But Morales said the benefit from the landmark project also extends to Filipinos in Hng Kong.

“We hope that through this event we get a better appreciation of our Filipino identity, recognizing the country’s multi-cultural heritage, and harnessing the power of our culture as a means, not to focus on differences of which we have many…but to bring out commonalities and humanity to the fore.”



Ana Briones-de Guzman, operations director of Likhang Pamana, responded by saying that their group was formed out of a desire to give back to the Philippines by promoting its rich cultural heritage as reflected in its local products.

The three other women who make up Likhang Pamana are Myrna Pama Hill, who serves as PR director; Catherine Tating-Marsden, artistic director; and Jhoannaliza Timbreza-Siao, creative director.

Aside from Atijon the weaver, the other artists and groups that took part  in the group’s initial foray into Philippine arts promotion were Joanique Studio, Kandama Social Enterprise, Narda’s, Zarah Juan, Antique Provincial Tourism, Jaki Penaloza, Joy Anya Hill of Anthill, Regine Sarabia Espinosa, Galleria Camaya and Everyday PNay.  The two-day event culminated in an arts fair on Chater Road the next day, Nov 12.

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BSK HK holds livelihood festival to mark 24th year

One of the booths features the handcrafted output of members.

By Daisy CL Mandap

Rare are the Filipino community organizations in Hong Kong which can lay claim to having survived for more than two decades without losing focus on their objectives, and with most key officers remaining on board.

BSK HK leader Chuing Baltazar bades goodbye.

But rarer are those that can lay claim to having helped their fellow Filipinos in a big but quiet way, without asking for anything in return.

To this latter category belongs Balikatan sa Kaunlaran (BSK) Hong Kong Council, which celebrated its 24th year anniversary with a show on Chater Road on Nov. 11, and on the side, held the first ever OFW Livelihood Festival.



Spearheaded by one of its founders, Ching Baltzar, BSK has over the years, resolutely stuck to its goal of providing free livelihood training to overseas Filipino workers, despite not having any budget, nor space for its programs.

With only a narrow pedestrian overpass in Admiralty as its base, BSK has provided crafts training such as ribbon folding, macramé weaving, balloon design and beadwork to hundreds, if not thousands, of Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong.



Many of these graduates have moved back to the Philippines to start their own businesses, or formed their own groups in Hong Kong through which they have started their own skills training for fellow migrant workers.

This year, Baltazar decided to celebrate its anniversary in a big way, with Consul General Tony Morales and Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre leading its list of guests. Senator JV Ejercito, whose mother Guia Gomez, founded BSK in Manila, also flew in to join the celebration, as well as Party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles.



All the guests extolled Baltazar and BSK for focusing on the mission of getting Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong prepare for their eventual return home by providing them with skills that they could use in starting their own businesses.

ConGen Morales urged migrant workers to spend a few hours of their precious day-off in the week to learn a new skill which could help provide them with a source of livelihood when they return home.



“Hindi naman masamang tumambay dahil isang lingo naman tayong nagtatrabaho, pero kung sa buong araw na iyan, maaari naman nating bigyan ng ilang oras…ang makakuha tayo ng bagong kaalaman sa ikabubuti din ng ating kinabukasan,” he said.

Labatt dela Torre also asked migrants to look after their health, and take advantage of the free medical check-ups that is being offered to them by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office through its HealthWise program.

After a Catholic mass that kicked off the celebration, the event was officially opened with a ribbon cutting by Baltazar and the VIP guests.

In between the speeches, various groups provided dance numbers, before about 100 graduates of BSK’s livelihood programs were called to the stage to accept their certificates of completion from Congen Morales, Labatt dela Torre and Rep. Nograles.

To wrap up the celebration, BSK awarded prizes to the winners in its livelihood contests.

Here is the complete set of winners:
Group Entries:
Ribbon Folding: Kailangan ang Kabuhayan para sa ating Kinabukasan (KKK)
Beads & Accessories: Overseas Kapuso Livelihood Association (Kapuso)
Macrame: United Migrants Entrepreneurship & Livelihood Association (Umela)
Stocking Flower Making: Filipino Workers Livelihood Association (Fiwla)

Individual Entries:
Cross Stitch: Delia A. Palma
Fruit & Vegetable Carving: Elpie Leba
Upcycling: Meriam C. Asiong
Painting: Noemi Manguerra


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