HONGKONGNEWS.COM.HK Page 9 The No.1 Foreign Newspaper Vol.XVII No.377 August 15, 2017 American city Boston offers great food, vibrant local vibe, lots of books and Staggered hours prestigious academic credentials. for FDHs sought Page 16 Hong Kong-based groups mount a video production project depicting the busy lives of migrants in the city. Page 20 Filipino youths perform the ati-atihan dance during the staging of “Ang Ugoy ng Duyan” on July 30 at the MacPherson Stadium in Mong Kok. The musical is about a Hong Kong-born Filipino boy discovering his identity and his country’s traditions and history (story on page 5). By Cheryl M. Arcibal est Technical Working Group meeting be- hours for foreign domestic helpers as even Instead, the LD said they would con- tween Hong Kong and Philippine officials local employees had no standard working tinue to encourage employers to be more PHILIPPINE officials proposed that a held on July 19. hours. humane and considerate in providing suf- Korean star staggered work schedule be granted to The staggered working hours would “They (LD) added that it is hard to ficient rest to their helpers. Alexander Lee is Filipino household service workers so the grant rest hours within the working day of quantify the working time of an FDH in a “LD again vowed to step up the educa- latter could enjoy rest hours within their the domestic helpers. household setting,” said a report about the tion (campaign) for employers,” the report Heart’s leading man working day. Hong Kong’s Labour Department raised meeting submitted by the Philippine Con- in a new TV show. The proposal was made during the lat- the difficulty of setting fixed working sulate General to its head office in Manila. Turn to page 10 PUBLISHED BY HK PUBLICATIONS LTD. TEL: 2851 1766 2 NEWS August 15, 2017 HONGKONGNEWS.COM.HK ‘Girl lied about assault’, lawyer says By Ally Constantino swimsuit and putting it in a bag. The duty lawyer added that on the next Under cross-examination, the child then walked back to house. While walking The defendant also said that owing to day, a pediatrician noted that the bruises admitted that apart from some minor ar- she received another call from her grand- THE Filipino domestic helper charged in her limited English skills, she was unable were already fading. guments with the defendant, their rela- daughter and she said the granddaughter court for allegedly beating up the daughter to explain that she did not intentionally hit The child, the defense added, was also tionship was “OK” in the three years the was even crying harder that time. of her employer in March gave evidence the child. diagnosed with oppositional defiant disor- Filipino helper was at their home. “Grandma, please return soon. Cheche on Aug. 10. In her closing submission, the duty law- der whose symptoms include blaming oth- She also admitted that after the inci- is beating me to death. I’m in great pain,” Emerolyne L. told an Eastern Magis- yer of the defendant told the court, the ers for their own mistakes, arguing often, dent and while she was in the hospital the witness quoted her granddaughter as tracy Court that she only hit the shoul- child gave conflicting statements and dif- and angry and resentful of others, authori- for medical examinations, she sent a text telling her. der and slapped the back and abdomen ferent versions about the events. ties and even caring parties. message to Emerolyne saying “I love you After several minutes, she returned to of the 10-year-old girl to stop the latter The defense said the medical report In a hearing on July 14, the girl, who very much, but I can’t see you anymore. the house and found the defendant wash- from screaming and shouting at her on the showed there were only minor injuries could not be named for legal reasons, said You can still call me and check with me ing the dishes in the kitchen, and her evening of Mar. 17. or “tenderness on the hips, and over the that on the evening of Mar. 17, she had on Facebook”. granddaughter was crying. The defendant said she lost control be- abdomen”, contrary to the child’s claims some words with her grandmother. The child also admitted that she had The granddaughter then told her grand- cause the child was scolding her and using that she had injuries on the rear part of The girl then went to her bedroom and asked Emerolyne for a kiss on the lips. mother that “cheche hit” her. foul language for misplacing the latter’s the head. began venting her frustration by saying The child’s grandmother gave evidence The defendant walked out of the kitch- what she wanted to tell her grandmother and recounted that on the evening of the en, when the grandmother asked what to a wall. She then called Emerolyne to her incident, after having dinner at the home happened. As the grandmother’s English room and scolded the latter about misplac- of her daughter, son-in-law, she was in a was poor, she then decided to call the em- ing some of her stuff. rush to leave so she could exercise and go ployment agency to report the incident. The helper then allegedly became angry back to her home in Tseung Kwan O. She also lifted her granddaughter’s shirt and started hitting the child. The child said However, her granddaughter was “mak- and saw some red patches in the abdomen she was lifted from her armpits and then ing a fuss” and wanted her to stay in the and in the back and took photos of them. thrown onto the bed. Her head was also flat, but she said her parents were about to Under cross-examination, the grand- bumped twice on the corner of the bed. come home soon. mother admitted that her granddaughter The child said that after the incident, the Several minutes after leaving the house, had a habit of blaming other people for her defendant left her room and went to the the grandmother received a phone call misdeeds, and that the latter was seeking kitchen and started washing the dishes. from the girl. The grandmother said she some psychological treatment. She also The girl also said that while hitting her , heard the girl crying and asking her to said the defendant had complained to her she saw Emerolyne smiling. come back because “cheche or Malyne” that the child had asked to kiss her on the After the incident, the girl said she was hurting her. lips. called her maternal grandmother to come The grandmother told her granddaugh- Asked by the duty lawyer if the defend- back to the house. ter to calm down, stay home, and keep the ant had also complained that the child She followed Emerolyne to confront the peace with the defendant. wanted to kiss the helper’s breasts, the latter about her action. After the phone call, the grandmother grandmother said she could not remember. POLO seeks approval to move to Wan Chai By Cheryl M. Arcibal The POLO chief said the Sunlight Tow- Teachers would be held on Sept. 24 at er had bigger space and was offering them the Delia Memorial School (Hip Wo) in THE Philippine Overseas Labor Office 14,000 square feet, an increase by half Kwun Tong. As of August 9, POLO said (POLO) has sought the approval of the compared to the 9,000 square feet their of- 151 have registered to take the exams. Of Department of Labor and Employment to fice is presently occupying in two floors of the number, 78 would be taking exams for move to one of two buildings in Wan Chai. the Admiralty Centre. elementary teachers, and 73 for secondary “We’ll throw it to the Central Office The East Town Building, meanwhile, teachers. whether they want space or they want would be cheaper by $10 per square foot. Last day for the online registration to cheap,” said Labor Attache Jalilo dela “We have to consult our main office kasi take the exams is on Aug. 20 following the Torre, referring to the Sunlight Tower on may mga renovation costs,” Dela Torre approval of a request to extend the dead- Queen’s Road East, and East Town Build- said. line from the POLO to the Professional ing on Lockhart Road, respectively. Meanwhile, the Licensure Exams for Regulation Commission. Faster passport processing for new OFWs A group of Philippine-based recruiters made an arrangement with the Department of Foreign Affairs to allow would-be overseas Filipino workers to skip the online scheduling to get their new passports. Alfredo Palmiery, president of the Society of Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines (SHARP), told Hong Kong News the new recruits would be allowed to walk in instead of going online to schedule the date for them to process their passport. SHARP is a member of the Federated Asso- ciations of Manpower Exporters Inc., which is made up of 15 industry associations. Presently, an OFW lane only allows current OFWs to skip the regular waiting lines to re- new their passports. Palmiery said presently, passport applicants, both first-timers and those renewing their passports, would have to wait two to three months to process their application. “There’s no more waiting period of the would-be OFWs and they could get their pass- ports in one month or shorter. Hopefully, this begins in September,” he said. Cheryl M. Arcibal HONGKONGNEWS.COM.HK August 15, 2017 3 4 NEWS August 15, 2017 HONGKONGNEWS.COM.HK ‘Roaming’ health insurance for migrant workers urged By Maia Lopez cient health coverage to migrant workers.