Filipina, 3 children fail to get High Court nod to challenge their asylum bid's rejection

 

A Filipina who overstayed and had her three minor minor children brought to Hong Kong hoping they could bolster her claim against non-refoulement or against being sent back home, has failed in her bid to convince the High Court to alow her to challenge Immigration's decision to reject their application. 

In the ruling dated Mar 12 on the consolidated cases of Mylene Navarro and her children Ma. Trisha, Michael and Ma. Jisella, the Court of First Instance rejected their leave to apply for a judicial review of the decisions by the Immigration Director and the Torture Claims Adjudication Board denying their applications.

“Having considered the decisions of both the Director and the Board with rigorous examination and anxious scrutiny, I do not find any error of law or procedural unfairness in either of them, nor any failure on their part to apply high standards of fairness in their consideration and assessment of the Applicants’ claims,” Deputy High Court Judge Bruno Chan said in his decision.

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Navarro, 47, last arrived in Hong Kong on July 20, 2010 as a domestic helper.

When her contract was terminated less than a month later, she did not leave until she was arrested almost three years later, on May 27, 2023. She was convicted and sent to prison for two months.

After she served her sentence, Navarro was sent to the Immigration Department for deportation but she raised a claim for non-refoulement, saying that if he was returned to the Philippines, she would be harmed of killed by her live-in partner, Roger.

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In her application, Navarro said Roger had been having affairs with other women, resulting in frequent quarrels between them. Roger would become violent and hit her. However, she did not complain to police.

She had also sunk into debt because of expenses related to her court case, and her creditors had threatened to kill her and her children because she was unable to repay them.

On Jan. 19, 2015 the Immigration Director rejected Navarro's claim for non-refoulement. Some three months later, or on Apr 17, 2015, her children, then aged 13, 11 and 10, arrived in Hong Kong as visitors. They did not leave when their visas expire on May 1, 2015, and instead they joined their mother in raising a non-refoulement claim.

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The Director also rejected the children's claims, so they joined their mother in appealing their case to the TCAB.

In its ruling dated June 15, 2017, the Board dismissed all their appeals, saying their claim for non-refoulement protection failed on all applicable grounds, including threat to life, threat of torture or harm and persecution risk.

Judge Chan upheld the decision, saying that the risks, even if real, are localized and the family can relocate to other part of the Philippines to avoid them, Judge Chan said,

Navarro’s claim was instead based on a domestic dispute and “there is simply no evidence of any intention of Roger to harm his own children,” Judge Chan said, quoting the board’s decision.

“I do not find any reasonably arguable basis to challenge the findings of the Board in either decisions,” he added. 

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Woman hit by bus across WorldWide House not Filipina, say police

Photos shared online show the victim lying still while her belongings were scattered about

Be careful not to stand too close to the edge of the pavement while waiting to cross the road.

This advice may well have come from the police, as they belied stories spreading on social media that a woman who was hit on a bus this afternoon on Des Voeux Road, Central is a Filipina.

A police spokeswoman said the victim was a local woman, and she was hit by a Citybus as she stepped on the pedestrian crossing across WorldWide House.

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The woman reportedly suffered injuries to her hands and chest, and was sent to the hospital in a conscious state. No other information was available.

Filipinos who shared photos of the accident on social media immediately surmised that the victim was a domestic helper who was doing last-minute shopping before going home to the Philippines as she was apparently carrying a huge stuffed toy and a packed Ikea straw bag.

“Ingat sa pagtawid-tawid. Isang kababayan (ang) nabangga ng bus now lang sa tawiran ng WorldWide. Baka uuwi pa sa Pilipinas kasi ang daming pinamili kasama ang Minnie Mouse stuffed toy,” said one.

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(Be careful when you cross the road. One fellow Filipino was hit by a bus just now at the pedestrian crossing to WorldWide. She may be on her way home to the Philippines as she bought a lot of stuff, including a Minnie Mouse stuffed toy).

The shared photos also showed the female victim in tattered jeans and puff jacket, with one shoe off, looking still and unconscious as three passersby tried to help make her comfortable before rescuers arrived.

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One eyewitness who told everyone it was a fellow Filipina who was hit, said she ran away after seeing blood near the victim.

One eyewitness say she could almost swear the victim was a fellow Filipina DH

The area surrounding Worldwide House, a favorite haunt of Filipinos, is a known traffic blackspot among members of the community.

However, most of the accidents involving Filipinos happened not at the pedestrian crossing, but several steps away, or right across the alleys where pedestrians are known to make a quick dash to the other side, unmindful of incoming traffic.

Among the more serious cases happened about midnight in December 2021 when two Filipinos – one male and one female – were hit by a KMB bus just as they were about to get to the other side of the road in front of WorldWide House.

The bus’ windshield was completely shattered as it tried to avoid hitting the two. The 54-year-old man was conscious when taken to hospital while the 33-year-old woman was in critical condition. She survived following a delicate head operation but had to stay in hospital for two months.

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Employment agency fined $16k for attempting to overcharge FDH

 

Overcharging jobseekers is prohibited by law & the Code of Practice for EAs 

Two staff members of an employment agency were fined a total of $16,000 at Eastern Court today, after being found guilty of attempting to overcharge a foreign domestic helper.

According to a press statement issued by the Labour Department, accused were the licensee and an associate of the licensee of Saiko Hong agency, located in Sheung Wan.

They were prosecuted after an FDH complained in September 2022 about being charged an excessive commission by the two, in violation of both the Employment Ordinance and the Crimes Ordinance.

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An investigation reportedly showed that the two accused did attempt to overcharge the FDH, so the Labour Department decided to prosecute. However, no mention was made of the amount involved.  

Under the Employment Ordinance, a licensee of an employment agency, his/her associate, or a person purporting to act in such capacities, is not allowed to collect more than 10 per cent of jobseeker’s first monthly salary.

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The maximum penalty for overcharging a job seeker, or operating an unlicensed employment agency, is a fine of $350,000 and imprisonment for three years.

The LD warns all employment agencies to fully comply with the law as well as the Code of Practice for EAs at all times to avoid prosecution and/or revocation of their licence.

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Any agency-related inquiries or complaints about malpractices of EAs may be directed to the Employment Agencies Administration by calling 2115 3667, e-mailing ea-ee@labour.gov.hk, or visiting its office at Unit 906, 9/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, 1 Mong Kok Road, Kowloon.

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Cancer patients in PHL falling for ‘alternative cures’

 

Eduarte delayed chemotherapy and instead took supplements for her cancer (AFP photo)

(From Agence France-Presse)

Filipino single mother Mary Ann Eduarte delayed chemotherapy for her breast cancer for several years and instead took food supplements falsely promoted on social media as cures for the deadly disease.

They didn’t work and the cancer spread to her lungs and bones.

Eduarte is one of many Filipinos duped by medical misinformation flooding social media platforms, where they rank among the world’s heaviest users.

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A shortage of doctors, the difficulty of reaching a hospital in the archipelago, poor health literacy, and fear of incurring huge medical bills have led many people suffering from chronic conditions to seek alternative treatments online.

In recent years, Agence France-Presse (AFP) digital investigation journalists have seen an explosion in the volume of posts and paid advertisements promoting unproven treatments for diseases, such as cancer.

The trend was fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, when healthcare systems were overwhelmed and many were too scared to visit a hospital.

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Eduarte, 47, who makes a living selling beauty products online, found a lump in her right breast during a self-check in 2014.

She was advised to have a biopsy to find out if it was cancer, but she was scared and delayed having the procedure for two years.

‘Testimonials’

Instead, she spent about P50,000 ($900) a month on food supplements, including drinks made from tropical fruit and barley grass that she had seen advertised as cancer cures on Facebook and YouTube.

She finally agreed to have the biopsy in 2016, which confirmed the tumor was malignant.

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But she refused chemotherapy, fearing it would make her sick and lose her hair, and continued taking the supplements for another three years.

“I really believed they would destroy my cancer cells because that’s what I was being told by their marketing,” Eduarte told AFP at her home near Manila.

“They were posting testimonials that said people were being cured.”

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After her cancer metastasized, Eduarte agreed to chemotherapy.

“I made the wrong decision,” she admitted.

“Those food supplements actually cost me more than if I had immediately sought standard medical treatment.”

Some of the food supplements Eduarte took to cure her breast cancer (AFP photo)

‘Out of pocket expenses’

Madonna Realuyo, an oncologist at the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center in central Philippines, said online misinformation about cancer treatment was a “serious problem.”

“Five out of 10 patients I see ask me about something they have seen or read on the internet—90 percent of the time the information is incorrect,” Realuyo said.

“Telling them the correct information does not guarantee that they will listen to us or believe us.”

The cost of cancer treatment, which can reach millions of pesos, made patients vulnerable to deceptive marketing of unproven products that are supposedly cheaper.

“Once you’re diagnosed with cancer, the reality is that there’s a lot of out-of-pocket expenses,” said Aileen Antolin of the Philippine Foundation for Breast Cancer.

AFP has a global team of journalists who debunk misinformation as part of the third-party fact-checking program of Meta, the parent company of Facebook.

Fact-checkers from around 90 organizations, including media outlets, check posts on Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

AFP has repeatedly debunked posts on Facebook that have falsely promoted products as natural cures for cancer, including “Doc Atoie’s Finest Guyabano Wine,” which was one of the products used by Eduarte.

Misinformation

The drink was featured in hundreds of posts that were shared on Facebook pages with tens, even hundreds, of thousands of followers.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told AFP it was not able to go after companies or individuals falsely promoting products online because it still doesn’t have guidelines for implementing a section of the 2009 law that established the agency.

Instead, it issues warnings on its website and social media pages.

“Our powers are limited,” FDA lawyer Pamela Sevilla told AFP.

Meta’s ad policy prohibits any “promises or suggestions of unrealistic outcomes” for “health, weight loss or economic opportunity.”

It says ads for over-the-counter medicines should comply with licenses and approvals required by local laws.

These ads can be removed from the platform once flagged, while posts that do not directly violate Meta’s community standards but are rated as false by third-party fact-checkers like AFP are labeled as misinformation and demoted so they are less likely to appear in newsfeeds.

But when AFP checked Meta’s ad library it found ads for “Doc Atoie’s Finest Guyabano Wine” and some other products debunked by AFP still there.

Silenced by lawsuits

The barrage of medical misinformation during the pandemic prompted Melbourne-based doctor Adam Smith, who speaks Tagalog, to make YouTube videos identifying misleading ads or posts.

“I realized a huge number of people in the population believed they could treat their medical illness with supplements and vitamins, which was crazy to me,” Smith told AFP via Zoom.

But he quit after being hit with several lawsuits by the companies whose products he was exposing.

“These companies and individuals are very happy to use the Philippine justice system to silence free speech and to silence any criticism,” Smith said.

After surviving cancer, Eduarte said she was now on a mission to educate others about the dangers of online misinformation.

“I’m telling you, having taken those food supplements, … they really did nothing to cure my illness,” she said. —AFP 

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Police to crack down on traffic violators

 

Both errant drivers and pedestrians will be targeted in the crackdown

From tomorrow, March 18, law enforcers will be dispersed across Hong Kong to crack down on jaywalkers and drivers who commit traffic violations like drink driving, speeding, using mobile phones while driving and disregarding traffic lights and signs.

The move was announced by the police on Thursday, March 14, as they announced an alarming increase in the number of traffic accidents that occurred last year, compared to the previous year.

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They supplied statistics showing that 1,009 deadly and serious accidents happened in 2023, of which 98 resulted in deaths. This marked a 10% increase in the number of fatalities compared to 2022.

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Of those killed, 62 or 63% were pedestrians, and 39 of them were aged 65 and above.

The major cause of the accidents was distracted driving, which accounted for 322 of the cases. This marked a 20% rise in such incidents compared to 2022.

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Goods vehicles figured in 27% of the accidents, followed by taxis at 20%, and mini buses at 16%.

At the same time, the police noted that jaywalking by pedestrians was a big contributor to the rise in traffic accidents, prompting a simultaneous campaign to crack down on pedestrian violators.

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But alongside law enforcement, the police, along with other departments, will conduct promotional and educational activities at various locations across Hong Kong.

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OFW dancers to get spotlight in HK Flower Show

 

The winning garden plot of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department Western Style Garden Plot Competition.

Visitors to this year’s Hong Kong Flower Show at the Victoria Park in Causeway Bay will be able to see tomorrow (Sunday) a group of OFWs who will showcase Philippine culture in an hour-long presentation.

Tinikling Group of Migrant Hong Kong will lead a group of OFW groups which will mount the segment of the day’s show in the main stage at the center of Victoria Park, presenting Philippine dances starting at 10:15am.

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As in previous years, Marie M. Velarde, chairwoman of TGM and the Ilagan City Migrants Alliance HK, has been tasked by the Hong Kong government to produce the segment that features dances that represent various Philippine regions.

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Velarde’s Tinikling Group of Migrants HK will dance the Tinikling, Pandango Ivatan, Carinosa and Mammangi festival.

Star Pinoy HK will present the Pintados dance and Gaway gaway.

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Kalinga Association wil show the Banga dance.

Dynamic Overseas Migrant Organization HK will present Bulaklakan dance and Pamaypay ng Maynila.

The participants in one of their rehearsals

Panay Overseas Workers Association will showcase its region’s prime attraction: Ati-atihan.

A group song by all the participants, Tagumpay Natin Lahat led by Joshua E. Almeda, will cap the performance.

Velarde

Velarde said the groups have been practicing on their own for months in various locations, and gathered for the final rehearsals at the Central Pier 3 recently.

“I hope our fellow OFWs will watch the folk dance presentation this year,” she said.

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Velarde also invited fellow OFWs, both male and female, to join her Tinikling group. “There is no age limit as long they are willing to learn and participate,” she added.

Those interested can call her at 6717 5379.

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2 overstayers among 13 people arrested in latest immigration raids

 

Some of those arrested are led to an unmarked van

A total of 13 persons were arrested in a series of anti-illegal work raids conducted by immigration agents and the police over four consecutive days, from Mar 11 to 14.

Those arrested included nine suspected illegal workers, two employers and two overstayers.

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In the first series of raids, seven target location were searched, including a commercial building, premises under renovation and restaurants.

Six suspected illegal workers comprising two men and four women, aged 32 to 63, were detained.

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Two of them, a man and two women hold recognizance forms which prohibit them from taking up any jobs. Another woman was in possession of a false identification document.

Two men, aged 42 and 46, were arrested on suspicion of hiring them.

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In separate raids on 65 locations in Central and Eastern Districts, three more suspected illegal workers were rounded up. They comprised two men and one woman aged 35 to 52. One of the men was on recognizance.

Separately, two overstayers, a 45-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman, were arrested.

A statement from Immigration again warned that overstaying and illegal work are both serious offences.

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Those found to have overstayed their visas can be jailed for up to two years and fined a maximum of $50,000.

The penalty is more severe if the overstayer is also found to have taken up work, whether paid or unpaid. An offender faces a maximum prison term of three years and a fine of up to $50,000.

Employers of illegal workers are punished more severely, with 10 years’ jail and $500,000 fine as the prescribed maximum penalty. Immediate imprisonment is also prescribed by the courts.

Mere failure to inspect a job applicant’s travel document in the absence of a Hong Kong permanent identity card could lead to the employer being meted a maximum fine of  $150,000 and jailed for up to a year.

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