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ASIA-PACIFIC / US/CANADA NEWS
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY February 1 - 15, 2016
Philippine presidentiables want
Filipino-Canadian votes
Three
Philippine
presidentiables are hoping
to get the support of Filipino
voters in Canada by seeking
advice from a FilipinoCanadian senator.
This was revealed by
Senator Tobias Enverga,
the first Filipino-Canadian
appointed to the Canadian
Senate,
in a media
interview while visiting the
Philippines.
Enverga was at the
official residence of the
Canadian ambassador in
Manila on the occasion
of the presentation of
beneficiaries to Canada’s
Typhoon Haiyan Relief
Fund.
“They want some
assistance or information,”
said Enverga when asked
what
the
presidential
candidates wanted from
“I told them I cannot
him. “They want some sort
of endorsement or some be involved in politics in
advice on how to deal with the Philippines,” he added.
“I’m not even endorsing my
cousin who is running for
congressman in Quezon
(Mark Enverga). I don’t
want to endorse anybody
because we are foreigners
technically.”
Sen. Enverga said the
last time he was approached
by one of the candidates
was in May last year while
visiting the country.
“I can’t give the names
because it’s private and
confidential
discussion,”
he said. “When I’m here I
don’t announce anything.
Nobody knows except today.
I just go around places at
a very low profile. I’m here
to help some projects in
Senator Tobias Enverga, Jr.
communities. I was in
our kababayans there.”
Baguio, Bataan, Quezon,
Laguna.”
According to Enverga,
Filipinos in Canada have
already shown interest in
the forthcoming presidential
elections in the Philippines.
There are 5,000 to
25,000 Filipino Canadian
voters in Canada.
According
to
government records, about
70,000 overseas absentee
voters are registered in the
Americas, and in the 2013
senatorial elections, 20,000
of them voted.
Now numbering about
800,000, Filipinos are the
fastest growing migrant
group in Canada.
While the more than a
million overseas absentee
voters is a smal l fraction of
the 50 million total Filipino
voters, Enverga believes
Filipinos overseas influence
the votes of their relatives in
the Philippines, especially
because of their significant
remittances.
Last year, the amount
of remittances from Canada
to the Philippines was at $2
billion, or about 10 percent
of the total, Ambassador
Reeder said.
As of September 2015,
Comelec puts the number
of registered OAV voters at
1,103,809, led by Middle
East and North Africa with
475,729 voters, followed by
Asia Pacific with 278,060,
then North and Latin
America with 223,661, and
Europe with 127,359.•
Pinay maid speaks up about alleged abuse
by employers in the US
Maria Elena Bolocon
came to the United States
from Italy last September
under a B1 Business visa,
as the domestic employee
of Aldo and Aurora
Sermoneta, non-immigrant
owners of the Sermoneta
Gloves Shop in the Upper
East Side in New York.
The
Sermonetas
reportedly
promised
Bolocan a weekly pay with
an hourly rate of $15 and
overtime pay rate after 40
hours of work. Plus, she
would get the weekends
off.
According
to
her
contract, normal work
hours would be Monday to
Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
with 2-hour lunch breaks.
But Bolocon claimed
that in the first three days of
her employment, her work
day started at 4 a.m. and
ended at around 11 p.m.
Bolocon added that she
even worked during lunch
breaks.
“Andyan
na
yung
dinuduro
ako.
Minsan
dumarating siya sa bahay
bigla na lang yuyugyugin
yung balikat ko. Go with the
flow na lang ako, ayokong
lumaban,” said Bolocon.
A week later, she was
told they would pay her
after her second week of
employment at a muchlower rate of $1,800 a
month or $450 a week.
“Dahil wala na akong
choice, $1,800, ok pumayag
A month later, Bolocon
na ako. No choice. Kung
hindi pauuwiin ako. Sabi ko finally got paid $1,256 for
nandito na ako, matiyaga four weeks worth of work,
her supposed net wage after
income taxes were withheld
citing a new “Federal law.”
Bolocon also claimed
she was threatened with
deportation or cancellation
of her visa sponsorship for
questioning her employers
about her wages.
“Sabi niya irereport kita
sa immigration. Sabi niya
ite-text ko ang nanay mo na
sumama ka sa lalaki. Ite-text
ko ang nanay mo na involve
ka sa drugs,” she said.
Last October, she
Maria Elena Bolocon
escaped
from her employers
(Photo: Balitang America)
and filed a lawsuit against the
naman ako, matiisin naman Sermonetas with the help
of a Filipino organization
ako,” she said.
called Philippine forum.
Lawyer Felix Vinluan
said, “It’s basically human
trafficking, forced labor.
There are also violations of
the New York Labor law in
terms of the non-payment
of the minimum wages.”
The Sermonetas have
been summoned and they
have 60 days to respond to
the lawsuit.
Bolocon is seeking
at least $75,000 worth of
unpaid wages and unpaid
overtime among other labor
law violations.
Balitang
America
has reached out to the
Sermonetas to get their
side of the story. They have
yet to respond.•
- R. Tagala, ABS-CBN
Alleged Pinay scammer Pinoy killer gets death penalty in US
named in New Zealand
A Filipina in New
Zealand has been accused
of operating a visa scam.
Loraine Anne Cander
Jayme is facing 284
dishonesty related charges
including several counts
of forgery, using forged
documents, and providing
false information.
The Hamilton High
Court ruled to have her
name published despite her
lawyer’s appeal, citing some
reasons including death
threats and the impact it
may have on Jayme’s 7year-old son.
But the judge pointed
out that “publication may
in fact reduce the threat to
her safety because it would
inform those aggrieved that
the matter is before the
courts.”
Jayme was arrested in
October after Immigration
New Zealand found over
Loraine Anne Cander
(Photo: NewsTalk New Zealand)
a thousand Filipino dairy
workers were caught out in
the scam.
The report said Jayme
has been remanded on bail
without plea and scheduled
to reappear in the Hamilton
District Court on March
- ABS-CBN
16.•
It was an emotional
day in a Los Angeles courthouse as the teary-eyed
friends and family of four
murder victims packed a
courtroom as a convicted
killer was officially handed
the death sentence.
The brutal three-year
old quadruple murder
case came to a close on
Friday as Ka Pasasouk,
the parolee convicted of
the execution style shooting that included Filipino
victims, was sentenced to
death.
Pasasouk, was convicted of shooting and
killing four people-- Jojo
Navales, Robert Calabia,
Amanda Ghossein, and
Jennifer Kim-- three of
them Filipinos at an illegal boarding house on
Northridge California in
December of 2013.
“Relieved. So relieved
he’s finally gonna get jus-
tice. It’s a bittersweet victory for us. He’s going pay
for what he did but it’s still
not going to bring back my
brother,” said Calabia’s sister, Rolina.
“It’s hard, really hard.
I brought my son, put him
through school, and somebody killed him. It’s not
fair,” said Calabia’s mother,
Alejandra.
“Justice
has
been
served and it’s always going
to be a pain for our families,” said Ghossein’s sister,
Sophia Verigni.
Another sister, Alyssa
Verigni, commented, “I feel
justice has been served and
it’s finally over. It has affected us emotionally.”
Before the sentence
was handed down, the judge
had denied Pasasouk’s motion for a re-trial.
His defense had unsuccessfully argued that jurors
did not take into consider-
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
ation his traumatic childhood and mental disabilities.
Pasasouk, who is
currently in Los Angeles
county jail, will be transferred to San Quentin’s
deathrow where the execution will eventually take
place if it is carried out.•
- S. Angeles, ABS-CBN
Ka Pasasouk