Diwa’t Kabayan Benlife celebrates 23rd year with banquet

DKB's officers and graduates with some of their guests

One of the migrant community organizations dedicated to helping Filipino domestic workers acquire new skills in Hong Kong that could help them build better lives when they return home just celebrated its 23^rd founding anniversary with pre-pandemic pomp.

The celebration was held on Jan. 7 at Fortune Harbour Restaurant in Quarry Bay, with guests led by Vice Consul Jose Angelo Manuel and Metrobank Remittance General Manager Mark Dexter Yabut. 

Diwa’t Kabayan Benlife Society, which is headed by Naty Manalo, also used the occasion to stage its 10^th graduation ceremony for FDWs who successfully completed their various livelihood training courses.

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Manalo said she was happy that her group could again hold a fitting tribute to its trainors and trainees who worked for months to ensure that the courses could be completed as scheduled, and together come up with products that they could be proud of.

She also advised the trainees to think twice about investing all their savings in businesses, saying not a few workers have returned to Hong Kong because they had run out of funds. 

"Mahirap ang buhay ngayon sa Pilipinas," she said. (Life is hard in the Philippines nowadays).

Like most migrant organizations that cannot afford to hire a covered venue for their activities, Diwa’t Kabayan has been conducting its training sessions outdoors, whatever the weather.

Often, for activities like macramé bag making, beadscraft and wire-twisting sculpture, the venue is a footbridge near Admiralty Centre. For food processing, baking and cake decoration the group would relocate to a flat in the New Territories so they could have easy access to fresh ingredients they need for their training.

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The only respite they got from working mostly on the floor was their end-of-year grand anniversary celebration and graduation when they could dress up to the nines and dine in a nice restaurant, but the pandemic put a halt to this for the past four years.

VC Manuel receives plaque of appreciation from Diwa't Kabayan founder Manuel (back to camera)

Given special recognition during the event were the graduates who completed their respective courses with flying colors.

For the plastic-canvas bag making, Myra S. Doguiles was named Outstanding and Most Creative graduate, while Ma. Richelda T. Buno, Lilebeth P. Poral and Alfreda A. Cosicol were all first honors. Eighteen graduates were given various citations for their performances.

In the macramé bag making class, Analyn Mara Loyoda won as Outstanding and Most Creative graduate.

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In beadscraft, named Outstanding graduate was Alicia P. Monchalog. Thirteen other students were also given recognition for finishing the course.

For the bonsai beads and twisted wire sculpture course, Mamerta M. Belmonte was cited as Most Outstanding and Most Creative graduate, while Lirio L. Miano copped the First Honor  and Most Artistic award.

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Filipina jailed 10 months for stealing employer’s jewelry

 

A Filipina was sentenced today to 10 months’ imprisonment after she admitted stealing $163,000 worth of jewelry from her employer’s house  in Sai Kung during the last three months of 2023.

Sharon Tabareng, 39 years old, pleaded guilty to each of the three counts of theft as they were read to her at the Kwun Tong Court.

The main evidence presented against her were pawnshop receipts for the stolen items, and the statement from staff of a pawnshop in Sai Kung who identified Tabareng as the one who brought the jewelry to them.

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According to facts to which she agreed, her employer Yip Yuong-ming retrieved the first batch of jewelry she pawned for $40.000, consisting of 29 golden ornaments worth $100,000 she was said to have stolen from Oct. 9 to Nov. 9, 2023.

The second charge was for one diamond ring worth $30,000 which she stole on Dec. 20.

The third charge, formally added during the hearing today, was for a pair of earrings and a gold ornament valued at $33,000, stolen on Nov. 22.

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Acting Principal Magistrate Winnie Lau credited Tabareng for her guilty plea by reducing her sentences by a third, resulting in seven months’s jail for the first charge, and four months each for the second and third charges.

Since only 1.5 months of the second and third sentences were to run after the seven-month sentence for the first charge, the final sentence added up to 10 months.

In mitigation, Tabareng’s lawyer said she had been working as a domestic helper in Hong Kong since 2016, and this was the only time her clear record was broken.

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He added that her relatives banded together and contributed a total of $11,000 to give back to her employer as compensation for the theft, although it fell far short of the employer’s actual losses. 

Aside from the $40,000 she paid to the pawnshop to recover the first batch of her jewelry, she has yet to recover  the three other stolen items, which Tabareng had pawned for just $300 and $800, respectively  

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PCG to hold talk on child support

 

Poster for tomorrow's talk

Tomorrow, Jan. 21, the Philippine Consulate will hold a talk on child support, a topic that many overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong, more than 98 percent of whom are women, are often concerned about.

The discussion will focus on the right of a custodial parent to get support for her/his child or children, in accordance with the law in the Philippines and in Hong Kong. But child support can also be paid by both parents if their child is in the custody of another person, such as a relative.

The “Usapang Sustento” talk will feature a family law expert in the Philippines, Soledad Deriquito-Mawis, who is also the dean of the Lyceum of the Philippines College of Law, along with fellow lawyer Andrea Yasay.

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Sharing her insights on the topic is Hong Kong-based solicitor Jaerey Velasco from the Payne, Clermont Velasco law office.

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The talk which will be held at the Consulate’s conference room is open to the public, but pre-registration is needed as slots are limited. Those interested can do this through this link: bit.ly/PCGTalks or by scanning the QR code in the attached poster.

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For inquiries, call 2823 8523 / 8524

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Woman given probation for making false report

 

Reports submitted to court showed probation was the best punishment for the defendant

A 54-year-old Filipina resident got off lightly for reporting a crime to the police that never happened.

After a stern warning from the magistrate that the penalty prescribed for the offence she committed was too light, Soledad Solomon was sentenced to a probation order on Thursday, Jan. 18.

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Solomon, a saleslady, pleaded guilty at Eastern Court earlier to making a false report of  a commission of an offence on Dec. 13, 2022.

She went to the Wanchai Police Station on Arsenal Street to report to Detective Police Constable Tony Chan that someone had entered their house in Moreton Terrace, Causeway Bay, and stole her bag containing $35,000 worth of foreign currency and $2,000 in Hong Kong bills.

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She also told the police investigator that her son recovered the bag later from a garbage bin, but without the contents.

But when investigators checked the CCTV on the lobby of a building in Happy Valley where their flat was located, the video footage showed only her and her son leaving and entering the flat the whole night.

After Solomon admitted the offence, Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui said the false report caused the police to waste so much time and resources that would have been spent more productively in fighting crime.

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The magistrate said the offence was so serious that the penalty prescribed by the law was “not strong enough” to prevent similar offences being committed in future.

So instead of imposing a fine as suggested by the defense lawyer, Magistrate Chui ordered reports done on Solomon by a probationary officer and a community service officer to determine the more appropriate punishment for her.

Solomon’s lawyer said she had a clear record, was remorseful and was supported by her husband who even wrote a letter addressed to the court seeking a lenient sentence.

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Overstayer allegedly found with $100k worth of drugs back in court

 

The drugs allegedly found in Tamorite's possession

A Filipina overstayer who was arrested on Sept. 25 last year on suspicion of trafficking drugs worth over $100,000 was returned to jail after appearing in Eastern Court on Thursday.

Emilia Tamorite, 43, who faces two counts of drug trafficking and one for overstaying, will be back in court on Mar. 14.

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Tamorite’s arrest came after Wan Chai police received information about her alleged drug trafficking activities, including one that took place 18 days earlier on the eighth floor staircase of Leishun Court on Leighton Road in Happy Valley.

During her subsequent arrest in Sing King Lau on Electric Road in North Point, officers seized 12 grams of suspected cocaine, 5 grams of suspected crystal meth, 240 grams of suspected cannabis, 83 grams of suspected shrooms, 137 bags of suspected cannabis, 63 grams of suspected cannabis oil, 85 suspected ecstasy pills, and 209 pieces of suspected LSD stamps.

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In a subsequent investigation at the North Police station, she was found to have overstayed for three years.  She was allowed to stay in Hong Kong to work as a domestic helper until July 9, 2020 but has not left.

According to a person close to her, Tamorite was forced to overstay because she had no passport as she had pawned it in exchange for a loan.

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The prosecution asked for a further adjournment of the case against Tamorite for further investigation.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offense, and the maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of HK$5 million and life imprisonment.

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Filipina found dead in flat, no foul play suspected

 

The Filipina was found dead inside a flat on Woosung Street in Yau Ma Tei

A Filipina domestic helper who was reported missing since Friday was reportedly found dead on Sunday, Jan. 14, inside a flat on Woosung Street in Yau Ma Tei.

Police there were no suspicious circumstances about the death, but the exact cause will only be known after an autopsy.

A spokesman for the police said the lifeless body of the 39-year-old Filipina with the initials L.A.M. was found by a Chinese cleaning lady who was given keys to the flat by the male tenant who had gone out of town.

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The 61-year-old woman called the police at 3:31pm that day, and ambulancemen who responded to the call declared the victim dead on site.

The spokesman said he had no information as to why the Filipina whose employer lives in Mid-Levels, was in the Yau Ma Tei flat at the time.

Meanwhile, the employer who informed the Migrant Workers Office of the Philippine Consulate about the death today, Wednesday, reportedly said the Filipina had been sick.

A friend of the Filipina who initially contacted The SUN for help on Tuesday confirmed this, but could provide no details about the nature of her illness.

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At the time, the friend said the deceased had been missing for five days, and even the employer was unsure where she was.

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OFW Lounge opens at Manila airport’s Terminal 1

 

Ignacio welcomes some of the first batch of OFWs who enjoyed the lounge's facilities 

OFWs catching their flights through Terminal 1 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, can enjoy their last moments in the country by staying at the OFW Lounge which opened recently at the Departure Area.

Patterned after the lounges put up by airlines for their business and first class passengers, the OFW lounge offers comfortable seats for those waiting for their flights. Food and drinks are free to all OFWs, whatever flight class they are in.

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They can enter whether or not they are members of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

“To enter, all they need to say is, ‘I am an OFW’,” OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio said.

The lounge opened last Jan. 13, in a ceremony attended by Ignacio and a group of congressmen led by House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

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The lounge is a joint project of the House of Representatives, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Department of Migrant Workers and Manila International Airport Authority.

Ignacio said the next OFW Lounge will open at Terminal 3.

More such lounges are being planned in other international airports in Clark, Pampanga; Cebu; and Davao.

Ignacio said this was their way of treating OFWs as real VIPs.

“That's the way we want to express our love for our OFWs,” he added.

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It will be cold in HK again next week

 

Next Wednesday will be as cold as last Christmas day

The Hong Kong Observatory has advised people to keep warm starting this weekend as temperatures are expected to plunge again.

A cold front is expected to move across the coast of southern China on Saturday night, causing temperatures to dip to 13 degrees on Sunday morning. It will continue to drop until it reaches about 9 degrees on Wednesday.

“The associated intense winter monsoon will affect the region in the following few days. It will become cold appreciably,” said a spokesperson for the Observatory.

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Meanwhile, the next few days are expected to be cloudy with some rain places. The Observatory said this is due to an “upper-air disturbance” in the region.

Separately, “Milk Tea” has emerged as the favorite name for a typhoon in a survey conducted recently by the Observatory.

Forty names were suggested by weather officials, and the list was whittled down to 20 after 20,000 voters were consulted.

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Coming in as second favorite  is “Tsing-ma” from Tsing Ma bridge, while “Fo-lung” which means dragon in Chinese, came in third.

The other names that won the nod of netizens were “Siu-lung,” the stage name of the late action star Bruce Lee; “Shu-sin” and “Heung-pin” which are two different kinds of tea; and “Pui-pui”, from the crocodile captured in the city 20 years ago.

Also voted in were Dim-sum, Egret, Red-bean, Junk-boat and Sampan.

Not chosen were “An-an, Jia-jia, Ying-ying and Le-le, all referring to the beloved pandas in Ocean Park.

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Filipina admits using fake contract to get DH visa; sentencing put off

 

A Filipina pleaded guilty in Shatin Court yesterday (Jan. 16) to entering into a fake work contract to get a domestic helper’s visa, but her sentencing was put off as investigation continues on people who enabled the crime.

Elynette Montalban, 43 years old, was carrying her toddler when she entered the court on a charge of conspiracy to defraud, which is against Common Law, Criminal Jurisdiction Ordinance and Crimes Ordinance.

Acting Principal Magistrate Amy Chan acceded to a request of the prosecutor to put off the sentencing to Feb. 22 because the investigation could determine the extent of Montalban’s participation in the case and help assess the penalty to be imposed on her.

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She was accused as conspiring with one Kathleen Vizcarra and her supposed employer, Tam Ka-ki, to defraud the director of Immigration and his officers into granting her a visa by submitting a fake work contract.

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

Montalban was set free on $1,000 bail.

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Vizcarra was also mentioned in a similar case heard by Magistrate Chan, in which Filipina Virginia Jovilla pleaded not guilty  to two charges of conspiracy to defraud, saying she depended on her agent to process her application for a domestic helper’s visa.

Chan scheduled the pre-trial review for Feb. 26 and the trial for March 15.

Jovilla is out on bail of $1,000.

She is accused of conspiring with Vizcarra and her supposed employer Kung Yee-chi, to defraud Immigration officials from January to March 4, 2022 by submitting a fake work contract to be allowed to enter and stay in Hong Kong as a domestic helper.

From March 2022 to Jan. 31, 2023, she again allegedly conspired with Vizcarra and with another employer, Liu Chung-hang, to submit a fake domestic helper contract to Immigration and was granted another visa.

In both cases, Jovilla was told by her agent to just wait for her visa to be approved, her lawyer said.

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