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.
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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.
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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:
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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.
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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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Airport baggage handler Allan B. Vega had his name cleared on May 20 when a District
Court judge dismissed a theft charge laid against him for his alleged role in stealing US$85,000 from
a passenger's luggage two years ago.
Judge Ernest Lin questioned the credibility of the two Hong Kong Chinese employees of
SATS HK Ltd. who accused their Filipino superior of having taken part in the crime for which the two
were convicted also in the District Court two years ago.
"The court accepts the principle that a person has to be proven guilty beyond reasonable
doubt," the judge said as he dismissed the charge.
Vega, embracing his wife and an aunt who attended the hearing, cried openly in court after
the judge announced the verdict at the end of the four-day trial.
"Alam ng Lord na wala akong kinuha, alam niyang wala akong
kinuha," he told his tearful wife.
His aunt said the case had been a mental baggage to the family for the past two years.
Vega has denied any role in the theft and Lin said "it would rather be a heavy burden to
prove" the evidence given by the Filipino's two accusers because CCTV footage of the crime scene
two years ago was no longer available and there was no cautioned statement from the defendant.
As such, Lin said, he could not accept the evidence given by Leung King-lung (PW2) and
Choi Au-luk (PW3), the two subordinates of Vega who acted as prosecution witnesses.
Lin noted that Leung and Choi were both convicted after admitting in a separate trial in
April 2013 that they took the US$85,000 from the luggage and shared it.
He said police who investigated the crime found part of the loot hidden in the flats of
both Leung and Choi days after the disappearance of the luggage.
In addition, the judge said Choi had two previous theft convictions in 1982.
He said the trial was all about was the credibility of the two witnesses.
On the other hand, Lin said Vega, a permanent resident of Hong Kong, had a clear record
and that his superior has testified that he was a "reliable and honest worker".
"The question is to determine whether the defendant opened the luggage, took the cash
and shared it with PW2 and PW3," Lin said, but that there was no conclusive evidence to prove it.
The judge said Leung and Choi had implicated Vega in the hope of receiving a lighter
sentence for the crime. Their sentencing was delayed pending the outcome of Vega's trial.
The court heard that the theft happened on Jan. 12, 2013, when a South African tourist
forgot his black suitcase at the baggage claim area of Hong Kong airport.
Leung and Choi were instructed by Vega, newly promoted that day as their supervisor, to
take the suitcase and deliver it to the Customs storeroom on the third floor of the terminal building.
The two baggage handlers said in court that when they returned to the storeroom to deliver
more left baggage, they saw Vega opening the luggage.
Later that day, they said, they saw their "supervisor" Vega counting money in the same
customs storeroom and, seeing them, took some cash from the luggage and gave them a wad each.
When he took the witness stand, Vega belied the two witnesses' evidence, saying that he
never went up to the storeroom that day.
Vega worked for SATS for two years and it was his first day as the staff in-charge when the
theft occurred. He was suspended from work indefinitely on the same day.
But his wife said his boss had called him on the day of the verdict, offering to take him back
if he got an acquittal.
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