Page 28 Page 10 Page 19 ITALY. Zsa Zsa Padilla VIEWS. The Philippine plans to tie the knot Consulate General next year with her is showing to the boyfriend Conrad public a controversial Onglao in the land of documentary on the Romeo and Juliet. South China Sea. SUCCESS. This Cebuano graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong at the top of The No.1 Filipino Newspaper Vol.VI No.328 August 1, 2015 his class. PH agency US hits abuse fined $112k for illegal placement of FDHs in HK fee By Philip C. Tubeza PHILIPPINE Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Hans Cacdac Jr. cancelled the license of a recruitment agency in Manila and or- dered it to pay P650,000 for collecting an illegal placement fee from a Filipina domestic worker in Hong Kong. In an order on June 25, Cacdac also banned the officers and directors of Kan-ya International Services Corp. from recruiting overseas Filipino work- ers (OFWs) for collecting a placement fee of P85,000 from complainant Sarah V. Nievera. The POEA pursued the case even after Nievera issued an affidavit of de- sistance. “As a consequence of the penalty of cancellation of license, the officers and directors of the respondent agency at the time of the commission of the of- fense are hereby disqualified from par- ticipating in the business of recruitment and placement of (OFWs),” Cacdac said. He also ordered Kan-ya and its in- surance firm to refund the amount of P85,000 that was collected from Nie- vera. In her complaint, Nievera said she ap- THE FINALE. President Aquino delivers his last State of the Nation Address on July 27, asking voters to elect leaders who will uphold “Daang plied with Kan-ya for overseas employ- Matuwid.” Aquino was expected to anoint Interior Secretary Mar Roxas on July 31 as the administration’s standard-bearer. (Malacanang photos) ment in June 2012. That same month, she signed an employment contract for By Philip C. Tubeza In its 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report, comply with the minimum standards for the ployed,” said the report, which was released the position of household service work- the US State Department said Hong Kong elimination of trafficking” but are “making last month. er “but the spaces for employer and date THE United States has criticized the abus- was a destination, transit, and source territo- significant efforts to do so.” “Recruiters in the Philippines and Indo- were left blank.” es suffered by foreign domestic helpers in ry for men, women, and children subjected “More than 320,000 foreign domestic nesia generally charge excessive job place- “Complainant categorically stated Hong Kong and urged the territory’s gov- to sex trafficking and forced labor. workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, ment fees, which may lead to situations of that she paid a placement fee to the ernment to enact a comprehensive anti-traf- The report again put Hong Kong on Tier Burma, and Bangladesh work in Hong debt bondage in Hong Kong,” it added. respondent agency in the amount of ficking law to prevent these from happen- II---the same as the Philippines—or the cat- Kong; some become victims of forced labor Turn to page 16 ing. egory for those countries that do not “fully in the private homes in which they are em- Turn to page 16 PUBLISHED BY HK PUBLICATIONS LTD. TEL: 2851 1766 WEBSITE : WWW.HONGKONGNEWS.COM.HK 2 NEWS August 1, 2015 HONG KONG NEWS 4 FDHs caught gambling pay $500 By Philip C. Tubeza R. Nacis, and Josephine V. Pumaris after “If you commit a crime in the next 12 favorite hang-out of Filipino domestic means” since they work in Hong Kong as they agreed to be bound over for $1,000 months, you will be penalized for that of- helpers in Central. foreign domestic workers. A court has ordered four Filipino domes- for 12 months. fense plus pay $1,000. If not, you don’t Squad members went there at around 4 “Upon hearing your submission, each tic helpers who were caught gambling in “This means you should not commit have to pay $1,000,” he added. p.m. and noticed the four women playing defendant should pay $500,” Judge Chu Central to pay $500 each. or attempt to commit any illegal act in- The four Filipino women were arrested cards. After six rounds, the investigators said. The government decided to withdraw volving illegal gambling in the next 12 on May 31 after an anti-vice police squad saw that the four women exchanged cash. The Philippine Consulate General the illegal gambling charges against Clari- months,” said Eastern Magistrate Chu conducted an operation on the ground Squad members later confiscated from (PCG) earlier warned Filipino workers ta R. Mapanao, Merlina S. Valdez, Beatriz Cheung-kung on July 16. floor of the HSBC building in Central, a the four women a total of $107 in gam- against illegal gambling, especially if they bling proceeds. do it openly in Central during their day off While the prosecution agreed to with- on Sundays. draw the charges against the domestic The PCG said the police had received workers, Judge Chu said they still had to complaints about Filipino workers illegal- pay for the “cost” of their litigation. ly gambling by playing cards and making Their lawyer asked for leniency, noting bets openly while they hang out with their that the four women were of “very limited friends in parks and walkways. HONG KONG NEWS August 1, 2015 3 4 August 1, 2015 HONG KONG NEWS HONG KONG NEWS August 1, 2015 5 6 NEWS August 1, 2015 HONG KONG NEWS Govt spurns bid to cut passport, PhilHealth fees By Cheryl Arcibal imbursement for overseas hospitalization, incurred by the posts,” said the reply from and lifetime membership for those who DFA, which was read by Catalla. THE Philippine government has rejected have paid 120 months of premium at the UINIFIL and Bagong Alyansang Maka- the pleas of Filipino groups in Hong Kong time of retirement age of 60. bayan (Bayan) Hong Kong & Macau rep- to lower the “excessive fees” it collects The benefits enjoyed by OFW members resentatives noted that Indonesian pass- from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). will also apply to their dependents, Padilla ports cost only HK$280 (48 pages), and In a community meeting on July 27, said. HK$124 (24 pages). Consul General Bernardita Catalla told On the other hand, Catalla said the “It’s possible (to reduce passport fee) as representatives of OFW groups that the Manila International Airport Authority long as hindi iaasa sa income ng posts ang Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and (MIAA) has yet to send its formal re- subsistence ng posts. Talagang dapat nasa Department of Foreign Affairs have in- sponse to the request made by the United Pilipinas at i-provide ang budget para hin- formed the consulate that a rollback in the Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK) di kuhanin sa mga mangagaggawa,” said fees was not feasible. that it stops including P550 terminal fee in Eman Villanueva, Bayan leader. According to a June 18 letter signed by the airplane fare of OFWs. The DFA added that passport fees take then PhilHealth chief Alexander Padilla, MIAA also previously declined the invi- into account the “operational expense a rollback in the premium paid by OFWs tation of the PCG to send a representative of posts in foreign currencies, including from P2,400 to the previous P900 is not to a June 29 meeting with various OFW transport/courier charges from Manila to possible “as the prices of commodities in- groups in Hong Kong. the issuing posts.” cluding health care services have tremen- As for the bid of UNIFIL to roll back the Catalla added that the costs of produc- dously increased.” HK$480 (about P2,784) paid by OFWs in ing Philippine passports increased owing Padilla also said the present premium the territory to renew their passports here to the upgrade in their security features, paid by OFWs was “already the lowest to the P950 or P1,200 paid by those who including “microchips.” rate being paid by members, including renew their passports in the Philippines, However, Villanueva said it was wrong those in the informal economy as well as the DFA said this was “not...realistic”. for the government to assume that as those sponsored indigent members.” “This call (reduce passport fee) will overseas Filipinos receive relatively high- He noted that PhilHealth members are necessitate more government subsidy to er salaries, they should be able to afford entitled to various packages, including re- cover the direct and administrative costs paying higher fees. House to probe DFA’s P8B passport deal By Maia Lopez THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is not yet off the hook for its “ques- tionable” P8 billion e-passport contract, an administration ally in Congress said. Akbayan Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez said he will file a resolution for Congress to in- vestigate the contract DFA inked with the APO Production Unit to print the coun- try’s e-passports. “We expect the DFA to explain and clarify its intentions and fully explain the reasons behind its decision to transfer the printing of the country’s passports from Aquino visits the APO Production plant in Laguna. (Malacanang photo) the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to the APO Production,” Gutierrez said in an ensure that they cannot be forged – help- Gutierrez, however, said the securi- interview. ing us crack down on smuggling and tax ty plant of the BSP is the only govern- Gutierrez made the statement even after evasion.” ment-owned printing facility that has the President Benigno Aquino III hailed APO “The APO’s capacity to undertake high capability and security features required in for securing printing job orders from gov- security printing projects for government producing vital travel documents.