2 filipino globe news November 2006 Prisoners hope – and wait Inmates make appeal as final agreement on transfer languishes in congress JOSE MARCELO Filipinos languishing in Hong Kong jails are enduring more anxiety waiting for the implementation of an agreement that will allow them to serve out their sentences in the Philippines. Hong Kong citizens in Philippine jails face the same prospect. ‘Black Jack’ gang members fall in Kowloon police swoop Hong Kong police have arrested six Filipino members of a syndicate preying mostly on Japanese tourists in the Kowloon Park area in Tsim Tsa Tsui. Tagged as “Black Jack Squad”, the syndicate was in the process of divesting a 28-year-old Japanese tourist of HK$80,000 worth of gold when they were arrested. The six Fillipinos, aged 36 to 68, have bee detained. They are facing fraud conspiracy charges. Police learned syndicate members usually approach tourists at Kowloon Park and offer to teach them the fine points of the card game black jack. Three syndicate members had taken the Japanese tourist to a jewellery shop in Tsim Sha Tsui and encouraged him to buy, using a credit card, HK$80,000 worth of gold, which supposedly would be used as stakes in the card game against a rich businessman. Unknown to the gang members, Hong Kong detectives were already on their trail and made the arrests shortly after the purchase. JOSE MARCELO Philippines unleashes new weapon in DH market battle From Page 1 The so-called Transfer of Sentenced Persons agreement was signed between Hong Kong and Manila in June 2002. But the long-delayed enabling legislation on the part of the Philippines is pending in congress. “We’re really just waiting for the final draft and approval of the implementing rules and guidelines,” said consul Victorio Dimagiba, head of the Philippine consulate’s legal division. He said at least five Filipinos have applied to serve their time back home, where it would be easier for their families to visit. More than four years later, the wait is still on. “Some of these inmates have been complaining why it is taking so long,” Dimagiba said. “They’ve been sending petitions to our government officials and they’ve been doing it for a while already.” A ray of hope came months ago when the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Corrections agreed to form an inter-agency panel to put together draft guidelines. But until the final hurdle has been cleared, the Filipino prisoners can only hope – and wait. Amid Kowloon Park’s lush and serene surroundings, criminals operate with impunity. will entail over 400 hours of training, including countryspecific language and culture orientation. In turn, a certified “supermaid” will be guaranteed a minimum salary of US$400, slightly below the minimum in Hong Kong. “The government of a labor-supplying country cannot demand what it wants from foreign employers,” Federated Association of Manpower Agencies Inc president Eduardo Makahiya said. “That is a function of a free market, dictated by demand and supply.” There are fears that the policy will create another layer of red tape in an already complex recruitment system. “Baka pagdating ng araw, pampadagdag lang sa gastos ‘yan,” said Marian Macapagal, 38, from Tsuen Wan. The biggest fear is that the stringent screening could lead to a decline in the number of Filipino domestic workers. Even without the policy, Indonesian helpers are on pace to outnumber Filipinas in Hong Kong by next year. “Paliit na nga ang mga bilang ng mga Pilipino rito, tiyak na liliit pa ‘yan,” said Remedios dela Cruz, from Manila. Dimapilis-Baldoz, however, believes the policy will elevate Filipino domestic helpers to a level that they won’t even need to compete with helpers from other countries. Lita Catimon, a 51-year-old domestic helper from Naic, Cavite, agrees. “Kahit ano pa ang ilagay nila riyan, marami pa ring employer and kukuha ng mga Pilipina.” “Alam nilang iba pa rin ang Pilipina.” EASTERN SAMAR The Department of Public Works and Highways is doubling its efforts to finish the Dolores-Oras- San Policarpio road project. DPWH director Gil Villanueva said the road concreting project is 57.42 per cent complete. Being built at a cost of P117.8 million, the project is covered by a loan agreement between the Philippines and Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The project is under contract with Tokwing Construction. The road will serve as a vital link from municipalities in Eastern Samar to various market areas. BENGUET ANGBANSA Benguet provincial board member Cesar Soriano is urging local businessmen to invest in mini-hydroelectric dams to generate high revenues and profitability. Soriano was among Cordillera officials who were in guided tours of various hydro-electric plants of the Hydroelectric Development Corp (Hedcor) to personally see how the electric-irrigation systems are environment friendly and essential to the local economy. During the tour, Hedcor officials showed how Hedcor developed a small section of a river into an electric generator, making use of the water current and producing cheap energy. PALAWAN Opening of cross-border trade between the Philippines and Malaysia set in Brooke’s Point, Palawan on Tuesday has been shelved. Provincial information officer Rolando Bonoan blamed the unavailability of a commercial vessel to be utilised by Palawan governor Joel Reyes, other officials and members of the Development Exposure Trip and Trade, Tourism and Investment Showcase. The vessel reportedly lacks proper crew documentation. The East Asian trade grouping brings together Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. filipino globe news November 2006 3 Officials linked to visa scam Former OFW says immigration officers conniving with fake-passport gangs BRAD CAMPOS and RAUL ACEDRE in Manila Philippine immigration officials are being linked to a multimillion-dollar passport scam involving Filipinos bound for Europe. A former overseas Filipino worker serving a prison sentence in Hong Kong for possession of forged documents, said he was allowed to go through immigration at NAIA without being checked and was escorted by officers into the departure area. “I strongly believe some immigration officials are involved in the In Hong Kong, strictly family affair – well, almost JOSE MARCELO Even presidents need some distraction from matters of state. President Arroyo is no exception – and Hong Kong was just the place for that. Coming after a hectic week of meetings of Asean and Chinese leaders in the mainland, four relatively quiet days in Hong Kong during All Saints’ Day came as a welcome and refreshing change of pace for the chief executive. Except for a handful of talks with top business executives and leaders of the Filipino community, the visit was a rare opportunity for the President to scam,” he said on condition of anonymity. “May hinala akong alam ng mga opisyal ang passport ko kaya hindi na ako pinadaan sa immigration check-in.” A spokesman at the immigration bureau in Manila declined to comment “without the benefit of an investigation”. The victim has been jailed for nine months in Hong Kong after being sent back from Rome. His situation became a domestic matter because he transited Hong Kong on his way to Italy. He said he had paid a recruiter put her feet up, hit the fairways and spend time with her family. Elaborate state dinners, as a result, were replaced by lunch at an al fresco seafood restaurant in Lamma Island, and later a quiet dinner with the First Family at a floating restaurant off Aberdeen. She did meet with Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang, P400,000 for the passport with a valid Italy visa. “Sinabihan akong magpanggap na kasama ang pamilya, pero hindi ko kilala ang mga kasama ko,” he said. “Pagdating sa Italy, kargahin ko raw ‘yung batang kasama namin na kunyaring anak ko para mapabilis ang proseso sa immigration dahil yung bata ay marunong ng Italian.” Known as “baklas”, the scam involves the use of genuine passports and visas. The details of the original owner are kept but the picture is substituted with that of the user. “Syndicates buy these passports from Filipinos in a foreign country but it was no more than a chance encounter when the two leaders heard early-morning mass at St Joseph’s Church in Central on All Soul’s Day. The President squeezed in talks with Philip Chen, chief executive of Cathay Pacific and Robert Kuok, chairman of the Shangri- La group, as well as a round-table and send these to Manila for forgery,” a foreign affairs official in Manila told Filipino Globe. Vice-consul Noel Novicio, chief of the assistance to nationals section of the Philippine consulate, said the consulate is handling nine such cases, eight involving Filipinos bound for Europe. “It’s alarming,” he said. “You cannot begin to comprehend the extent of the problem until you have talked to the victims.” The latest one is a Filipina barangay official from Batangas who was arrested in Hong Kong. She is serving time in jail. President Arroyo takes time out with Filipinos in Lamma (top) at the end of a hectic week which had taken her to Xiamen, China, where she addressed a regional summit (above). discussion with members of the foreign press. There was also a function attended by about 30 leaders of Filipino organizations in which the President was joined by Consul General Alejandrino Vicente and OWWA Administrator Marianito Roque. But that’s about it. CEBU Eric Amaro, 18, has been unable to get a college education because of poverty. His mother is in dire need of a leg surgery. Yet Amaro, and his cousin Arnel Pahanonot, 17, did not think twice when they decided to return to a television station a shoulder bag containing P100,000 in cash and two bank books containing a P160,000 that they found while biking near their home in Sitio Campo, Barangay Guadalupe in Carcar town. Amaro said he and Pahanonot were biking at around 5am when he noticed a brown shoulder bag at the roadside. Inside, he found the cash. DUMAGUETE ANGBANSA Mayor Agustin Perdices has urged educational plan holders of distressed preneed educational companies to avail of scholarship grants offered by the Parents Enabling Parents (PEP) Coalition. Perdices issued his call following the recent visit of PEP Coalition officer Vicente Ortueste, wherein he disclosed that only four applicants from Dumaguete and Oriental Negros whose educational planholders had already matured, had filed for the tuition grant. The scholarship grant comes from a P50 million fund put up by former congressman Mark Jimenez. CAMARINES Authorities in Pili are keeping strict warning against consumption and selling of shellfish from three coastal towns of Bicol as investigations continue to determine if other toxic chemicals could be blamed for the latest death in Rizal, Sorsogon City. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said it had launched another round of investigation in the affected areas, particularly Sorsogon Bay, to determine the toxicity of red tide in the water and the shellfish collected from the areas where the ban was earlier imposed. Two more deaths were reported after a family in Barangay Rizal ate mussel.