HONGKONGNEWS.COM.HK Page 2 The No.1 Foreign Newspaper Vol.XVI No.361 December 15, 2016 Filipino domestic worker Myrna Ramos seeks justice for her son, the victim of an Balikbayan boxes extra-judicial killing in Bulacan. will be tax exempt Page 6 The POLO and the Indonesian consulate agree to work together for standardized working hours for FDHs. Page 12 MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hong Kong gets more colorful this time of the year with a myriad of glitzy holiday decorations and attractions. Above is a picture of part of the Christmas installation set up by French artist Eric Giriat at the Landmark shopping mall in Central. (Philip C. Tubeza) Shenzhen’s Window By Maia Lopez from duties and taxes, Customs Commis- way for the tax exemption that will take goods sent home by OFWs from only of the World amazes sioner Nicanor Faeldon said. effect on December 25. P10,000 to P150,000. MANILA---Starting Christmas Day, all Bureau of Customs and the Department The AO is aligned with the Customs The balikbayan boxes, however, should with its own version balikbayan boxes containing valuables of Finance officials have signed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, which of global attractions. Turn to page 11 worth up to P150,000 will be exempted Administrative Order 05, which paves the raised the tax exemption on consumer PUBLISHED BY HK PUBLICATIONS LTD. TEL: 2851 1766 2 NEWS December 15, 2016 HONGKONGNEWS.COM.HK FDH seeks justice for murdered son By Philip C. Tubeza dle-lighting ceremony, was also held to anak ko. Hindi masasabi na drug addict sabi niya,) ‘Mga adik, tinotokhang nga mark international Human Rights Day on ang anak ko kaya ang sama ng loob ko,” sa barangay.’ E ikaw ba? (Sabi niya,) ‘E “Marami siyang tama. Tinadtad talaga December 10. she said. hindi naman ako adik. Bat ako makiki- nila.” “Anong gagawin ko? Alam kong mga “Walang kwenta ang gobyerno. Hin- tokhang?’” Ramos said. A 68-year-old Filipino domestic worker pulis ang pumatay. Anong hahabulin ko? di yan change is coming. Daming patay “Meron daw pumunta sa bahay kasi ba- in Mong Kok is seeking justice for her son Papatayin din lahat kami--mga kapatid araw-araw. Yan ba ang change is com- wat bahay kinakatok daw. Nang sinabi ko, who was killed in Bulacan in another sus- at kapitbahay ko. Walang laban,” said ing?” she added. ‘Baka ikaw” Adik din?’, nagalit sa akin pected case of extra-judicial killing (EJK). Ramos, her voice choking with emotion. Ramos said her son was selling mami kaya alam ko hindi (siya adik). Alam ko Myrna Ramos, of Tiaong, Bulacan, at- “Asan ang katarungan para sa anak ko? (noodles) along a highway in Tiaong when hindi,” she said. tended a protest against EJKs in Central Pinatay nila,” she added. four men shot him dead at around 5 p.m. “Yung kinikita niya sa mami para lang on December 11 to seek justice for her Ramos had been working in Hong Kong “May dumaan at napansin na may apat sa kanila..sa katulong. Sabi rin ng asawa, son Emerson, 41, and call for an end to since 1991 to build a better life for her na lalaki na bumibili sa kanya. Narinig na wala. Ngayon wala ng taong bahay sa the killings that have left more than 5,800 family but, on August 27, tragedy struck. lang nila binabaril. Nag-alisan na lang sila amin. Umalis na sila kasi natatakot din dead in the Philippines. “Naririto ako nun (sa Hong Kong). May sa takot na baka sila rin (barilin),” Ramos yung asawa baka raw siya rin ay patay- The protest, which included a can- tumawag na lang (at sinabing) binaril ang said. in kaya pinauwi ko na lang sa kanila,” “Marami siyang tama. Tinadtad talaga Ramos added. nila. Apat na malalaking lalaki ang bumar- She said they were reluctant to seek the il sa anak ko. Naiwan pa nga yung apat na help of the police because they believe it lalagyan ng mami,” she added. was the police who killed her son. The killers left behind Ermerson’s cel- “Wala kaming mahingan ng tulong sa lular phone and his earnings of around takot. Kahit nga yung pera na benta na P1,000. P1,000 hindi na binalik ng mga pulis,” Ramos said her son, who was married, Ramos said. had no criminal record and was neither a Kinuha yung lalagyan ng pera at saka drug pusher nor a drug user. cellphone. Baka daw matrace nila kung “Wala siyang record. God knows. Kaya ano tapos wala namang matrace,” she said. hindi namin matanggap na drug addict o “Bakit kami magrereklamo e alam nam- ano kasi walang makakapagsabi na nag- ing pulis din ang pumatay?” she added. drudrugs siya. Hindi namin matanggap. Ramos said that she was glad when she Ramos Bakit ganun? Ang kuro-kuro baka nag- found out that there were groups of Fili- pupusher. E bakit wala siyang pera?” she pinos in Hong Kong who were protesting bi-gabi ako nagdadasal na bigyan ng paru- said. against EJKs. sa,” Ramos said. “Ang ilaw at tubig ng bahay, ako pa rin “Hinanap ko talaga ang grupong ito para “Wala itong katapusan kaya kailangan ang nagbabayad. Sapat lang yung kinikita ilabas ko ang sama ng loob ko...Sobra po,” mapigil ito. Dadami pa at dadami ang niya sa mami para sa kanilang pagkain,” she said, holding back tears. katulad ko. Galit ang naririto sa puso ko. she added. Ramos said she was angry at President Sobrang galit ko,” she said. Ramos said she talked to Emerson be- Duterte for not doing enough to stop the “Pag sinabi mabuti ang gawa ni Duterte, fore he was killed and he told her that the killings and that she blocked in Facebook kaaway kita. Magaling pumapatay. Kina- police were conducting Oplan Tokhang even relatives who claim that the Presi- tutuwa niyo? Anong good? Pinapatay? (the government’s campaign against ille- dent was doing good. Basta lang barilin? Hindi tama. Kaya gal drugs) in their community. “Kahit adik ang isang tao, hindi mo dapat maalis siya. Maimpeach. Hindi na “Sabi ko, ‘Anong balita dyan?’ (Ang dapat ipapatay. Tuwang-tuwa ka pa. Ga- tama,” she added. 14 Pinoys die in HK By Cheryl M. Arcibal FOURTEEN Filipinos died in Hong Kong in the last several weeks, a sen- ior official of the Philippine Consu- late General told Hong Kong News as he reminded Filipinos here to take care of their health. Vice Consul Alex Vallespin said kin and friends of the deceased have reported to the PCG about the deaths. “We have 14 deaths between No- vember 1 and December 9,” he said. Out of the 14 who passed away, 12 cases were deemed to be of “natural causes”, while one fell from a height while performing his duty as a con- struction worker, and the other com- mitted suicide. These natural causes include vari- ous kinds of heart disease, pneumo- nia, liver problem, leukemia, kidney failure, and breast cancer. Nine of the deceased were fe- males, and five were males. Of the total, nine were workers here, four were residents, and one was a tourist. HONGKONGNEWS.COM.HK December 15, 2016 NEWS 3 Oil exec admits to taking upskirt video By Cheryl M. Arcibal “He has been in custody for five days flew in from the Philippines to attend the and he was just here in Hong Kong for a hearing and show their support, the lawyer A 43-year-old oil executive from the Phil- one-day visit before his scheduled flight to added. ippines has admitted to taking an upskirt the Philippines,” Yap’s lawyer said. “He comes from a good family,” the video of a Chinese woman in an MTR “He was in Macau for an international lawyer said, adding that Yap was willing station. shooting competition and he has recently to pay a fine so that he could immediately F. Yap Jr., a petroleum company oper- gotten the rank of a range officer of (an go back to the Philippines. Yap had no pre- ations manager, pleaded guilty to com- international group for range officers),” he vious criminal record in Hong Kong. TST MTR STATION mitting an act outraging public decency added. on December 2 at the Eastern Magistrates The lawyer also said Yap has realized Courts in Sai Wan Ho. the “seriousness of his action” and that his “Here in Hong Kong, this is a very se- guilty plea “in the earliest instance” saved rious kind of offense,” Acting Principal the court’s time and showed that he was Magistrate Joseph To Ho-shing told the “genuinely remorseful”. Filipino. He added that there was only one vid- The judge sentenced him to 10 days eo clip stored in the defendant’s mobile imprisonment but suspended it for 12 phone. months. This means that if Yap does not “(Yap) had committed the offense out commit a crime in the next 12 months in of sheer stupidity and he understands its Hong Kong, he will not go to jail. legal consequences. He is willing to bear “We had studies showing the grave ef- the consequences of his actions,” the law- fect of this kind of conduct,” Judge To yer said. said. “Some women have refrained from Yap also submitted a letter to the court, wearing skirts, and some have refrained apologizing for his action and saying that from going to shopping malls and some he has learned his lesson. have avoided escalators.” A university graduate in the Philip- Yap’s lawyer told the court that the de- pines, Yap is married and has two chil- fendant was in Hong Kong for a one-day dren.