SYRIA / HK: 17 YEARS FOR PINAY DRUG MULE
MANILA, FEBRUARY 25, 2012 (INQUIRER) By Tina G. Santos - One of 12
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who opted to be repatriated to the Philippines
Thursday afternoon has been reported to have died in Syria.
Ruby Ramores of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking and Nestor
Burayag of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration confirmed that the
migrant worker, whose name was withheld, died while she was about to be sent
home to Manila along with the 11 other OFWs.
But both officials could not provide other details, saying embassy officials
in Syria had yet to issue an official report.
However, Lorelie Cortez, 37, one of the 11 OFWs who arrived at the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport around 5 p.m. Thursday, said that immigration
officials in Abu Dhabi left the Filipino woman under her care.
[PHOTO - UPRISING IN SYRIA: Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator
John Monterona made the statement Friday amid the delays government is now
facing in the repatriation of at least 17,000 OFWs in Syria, most of which are
undocumented house hold service workers (HSW). The Department of Foreign Affairs
(DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) earlier said
repatriation efforts in the conflict-torn Syria since most of the OFWs in the
Middle East country do not have a registered residence, where they are
working.]
"She was on a wheelchair and she appeared very weak. Her body was bloated and
she was having a hard time talking," Cortez said. "According to her, she was
given the wrong medicine for a headache."
Cortez said that from the consulate, the group was taken to the immigration
office in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday where they were held for several hours prior to
their flight back home.
"She was taken to the hospital only after I pleaded for her. But yesterday,
as we were about to board the plane, we were told that she was already dead,"
Cortez said.
She added that the OFW's relatives probably remained clueless about their
loved one's fate.
The latest batch of OFW brought to 972 the number of OFWs in the troubled
Middle East country to be flown back to the Philippines through a program of the
Department of Foreign Affairs.
FROM PHILSTAR
HONG KONG: PINAY TOURIST DRUG MULE
GETS 17 YEARS
By Carina Roncesvalles – A Filipina tourist was sentenced here
yesterday to 17 years imprisonment for bringing in close to three kilos of
illegal drugs in May last year.
Analyn Ingalla, 31, admitted that she brought in 2.91 kilos of
methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu while in transit to Vietnam.
Judge Alan Wright gave Ingalla a one-third discount on the prison term for
her guilty plea. He imposed 24 years imprisonment as starting point for the
charge and added two years for illegal drugs with a street value of more than
HK$2 million.
"This is a substantial quantity of drugs, very close to three kilos of ice,
so there will be substantial starting point. Whether it was destined for Vietnam
or Hong Kong does not make a difference in the sentence," Wright said.
Ingalla, who had been working as pre-school teacher in Thailand since 2005,
admitted that she acted as drug courier for another Filipina whom she met
online. She said she was promised $3,000 for the drug delivery.
Through her lawyer, Ingalla told the court that she needed money for the
hospital bills – amounting to P500,000 – of her mother who had suffered a
stroke.
Four other Filipino tourists will face the High Court this year for allegedly
bringing in illegal drugs last year.
Among them is Janric Domingo, who was arrested last July for carrying 5.18
kilos of heroine. He picked up the illegal drugs in Vietnam and was in transit
to Shenzhen when arrested at the airport.
Another Filipino tourist, Lolito Balila, was arrested for carrying around 26
kilos of heroin in August last year. From Manila, he went to Malaysia to pick up
the prohibited drugs. He then went to Vietnam then came here en route to
Guangzhou, where he was supposed to bring the drugs.
Bernard Garcia, meanwhile, was charged for bringing in 19.67 kilos of drug
mixture, including 7.95 kilos of heroine.
Another Filipina tourist who came here from Malaysia was arrested in November
last year also for drug trafficking.
Hearing on OFW's bid for permanent residency rights ends
As this developed, the Court of Appeal here ended yesterday its three-day
hearing into a Filipino domestic helper's bid for permanent residency rights.
Chief Judge Andrew Cheung and judges Robert Tang and Frank Stock, however,
reserved their judgment on the case.
Evangeline Vallejos, who first came to Hong Kong to work as a domestic helper
in 1986, won her petition for right of abode at the Court of First Instance last
September.
Justice Johnson Lam had ruled that in excluding foreign domestic helpers
(FDH) from the constitutional right to permanent residency, the Immigration
Ordinance was "inconsistent" with the Basic Law, the city's mini constitution.
The Basic Law states that permanent residents include "persons not of Chinese
nationality who have entered Hong Kong with valid travel documents, have
ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven
years, and have taken Hong Kong as their place of permanent residence."
The Immigration Ordinance, on the other hand, states "a person shall not be
treated as ordinary resident in Hong Kong while employed as a domestic helper
who is from outside Hong Kong."
In seeking to reverse the Court of First Instance ruling, government lawyer
David Pannick said the legislature holds the power to define and refine
provisions in the Basic Law and exclude certain groups of persons such as FDHs
in the category of ordinary residents.
He added that defining the concept of ordinary residence bears "enormous
social and economic importance" in Hong Kong.
Pannick said there are around 285,000 FDHs as of 2010, of whom some 117,000
have been working in Hong Kong for at least seven years.
"There are a lot of people that would potentially be affected by this. The
consequences that would apply to an FDH to be treated as permanent resident are:
they are to enjoy eligibility benefits, take up other forms of employment and
bring dependents," Pannick said.
The government earlier said allowing FDHs to apply for permanent residency
and bring dependents would mean around 400,000 additional permanent residents.
Some local politicians had feared that there would be half a million additional
residents, who will drain the city's resources.
Vallejos' lawyer Gladys Li, for her part, said the figures of the government
were "pure speculation." She said that even if FDHs would be allowed to become
permanent residents, bringing in their dependents is not an automatic privilege.
"Why single out foreign domestic helpers as the Immigration Ordinance
provision does? It's just a category of employment. How is that compatible in
the least way with all categories of employment?" Li said.
"We are not talking about granting them unconditional stay. We are talking
about letting them see whether they qualify for permanent residence," she added.
Pannick said the conditions of stay on FDHs are also different from other
foreign workers who are allowed to apply for right of abode. He cited the
live-in arrangement with employer which effectively prohibits them from
establishing an independent household; enforced return to the country of origin
after the end of a two-year contract; and ineligibility to bring dependents.
"It's very difficult to regard the circumstances of the life of FDHs other
than extraordinary. FDHs retain links with their home country and do not become
part of the ordinary society of Hong Kong," Pannick said.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
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PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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