Editor's Note |
20 years of service to the community
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Time flies.
Exactly 20 years ago this month, The SUN shone for the Filipinos in Hong Kong. It was
the fulfillment of a dream that took shape years earlier, or shortly after I arrived here in 1987 and
realized there was no reliable information channel serving the community.
But turning that dream into reality proved to be difficult. Several people offered to fund
the publication of a news-paper, but everyone wanted a business model different from what we had
in mind.
Details...
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Anak Araw |
Pagpapabaya
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Nitong nakaraang buwan ay naging saksi tayo sa nangyari kay Manang Gloria Ortinez,
ang OFW na biktima ng tanim-bala sa Manila airport. Halos buong araw kasi ay naglagi siya sa
opisina ng The SUN, kasama ang mga naghatid sa kanya na sina Susan "Toots" Ople na tagataguyod ng
mga OFW, at ang abogado niyang si Atty Spocky Farolan, kaya nasaksihan namin siya nang malapitan.
Details...
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Migrant's Forum |
Nanay Gloria's journey to HK
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President Benigno Simeon Aquino III recently told the media that cases of tanim-bala
were sensationalized, citing figures to prove his point. As an OFW advocate, I respectfully
disagree. Looking at this from a purely numbers perspective could lead one to overlook the deep trauma
that such incidents have caused its innocent victims.
Had he met and spoken to 56-year old OFW Gloria Ortinez, our President would have
learned the following:
Details...
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Know Your Rights |
The Mission
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This was the speech delivered by the Mission for Migrant Workers' general manager,
Cynthia Tellez, at the launch of the 10-year Impact Evaluation Report of the Mission's work held on
December 5, 2015 at the Li Hall of St. John's Cathedral.
Details...
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With at least one -- and possibly two disqualification cases in the presidential race --
the Supreme Court has assured the nation politics will not dictate its decisions.
See this month's stories...
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Staff and volunteers at the Mission for Migrant Workers had reason to celebrate when
they launched the non-government organization's 10-year Impact Evaluation Report at Li Hall of St
John's Cathedral on Dec. 4. Nearly all, or 97% of migrants who sought assistance said that they were
helped by the Mission, and more than half of them (57%) said they would recommend the NGO to others.
See this month's stories...
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Mid-December 2014
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Hong Kong News
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A Filipino claiming to be 80 years old but whose passport
indicates he is only 69 has
succeeded in securing a postponement of a theft case against him while the
judge finds out the truth about
his claim.
Ricardo G. de Jesus has admitted stealing--along with Victoria O.
Brillantes, 48, and
Rodrigo C. Torres, 37--a ring and a watch worth about $500,000. They all
pleaded guilty to two charges
of theft and six charges of breaching a deportation order.
But their sentencing was postponed by District Court Judge J. Lam
until Jan. 5 to wait for
De Jesus' birth certificate that would establish his real identity and age, as well
as a medical report
from the Queen Elizabeth about his health condition.
During the hearing on Dec. 1, the defense lawyer asked the judge
to consider in sentencing
his client's claim that his real age is 80, as it appeared on his other passport.
The prosecution lawyer
put the old man's age as 69 in her report, based on the document in the court's
possession the
fake passport confiscated from him bearing the name Benito A. Suarez.
But the defense was adamant the new passport issued by the
Philippine government in
Manila bore the man's real name Ricardo Gatus de Jesus and his real age of 80.
De Jesus said he has a birth certificate showing that as his real
name, but the document
was with his wife and it would take about a month to send to Hong Kong.
The judge told the prosecution that ascertaining the correct age
and health condition of the
old man was crucial to handing him a sentence.
"Knowing what the real age of D3 is important because it would
make a difference in
sentencing. I would like you to get more proof regarding his age and identity,"
Lam said.
The amended prosecution report said Brillantes, alias Arlene J.
Jumuad; Torres, alias Julius
R. Reodique, and De Jesus, alias Benito A. Suarez, entered two jewelry shops
in Tsim Sha Tsui on
May 27 this year and separately stole a diamond ring and a diamond-studded
Cartier men's watch.
The ring, worth $20,922, was stolen from Loi Kee Jewellery on
Hanoi Road, while the
men's watch, a Cartier model valued at $477,000, was stolen from Elegant
Watch & Jewellery at
Ocean Terminal.
Jumuad, Torres and De Jesus flew back to Manila the next day and
sold the ring and watch
and divided the money among themselves.
On July 21, the trio returned to Hong Kong with the intention to
pull another caper. They
were arrested on July 24 after police saw them wandering suspiciously outside
a shop on Haiphong
Road. Judge Lam convicted the three after they pleaded guilty to the charges.
The defense lawyer prayed for a lenient sentence on Brillantes,
including a concurrent
serving of sentence for the two deportation order breaches on grounds she
needed the money for her
kidney operation.
The lawyer said Brillantes' husband died of liver disease in 1990.
The woman came to
Hong Kong and worked as a domestic helper in 1994 but was terminated by
her first employer. She
overstayed her visa and was deported after serving time in jail. Brillantes, a
widow since 1990, has
five children in the Philippines, three of whom lived with her. Before coming
to Hong Kong, she
worked as a hawker and messenger earning Php15,500 a month, the lawyer
said.
Torres is married, but he and his wife are jobless. He has three
children aged 3, 13 and 14.
The family is living with his mother-in-law, who has a small grocery where he
helps and earns
Php1,800 a month.
The defense lawyer said his three clients came to Hong Kong for
economic reasons and
driven to commit crime due to the hardships caused by Typhoon Yolanda in
2013.
De Jesus is married and his 61-year-old wife does laundry and
earns P2,000 a month.
Through the defense lawyer, the old man transmitted a letter to the
judge begging for
leniency and pardon. "Please forgive me for the offenses I committed in Hong
Kong. I beg you to give me
a lighter sentence. I promise never to return to Hong Kong and to straighten
my life so I can talk
care of my own family."
He said he was suffering from diabetes and was hospitalized for six
days at the Queen
Elizabeth Hospital.
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