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Thursday, March 06, 2003
RP stops sending helpers to HK
By She Caguimbal-Torres
PRESIDENT Arroyo ordered Wednesday the temporary suspension of sending of Filipino domestic workers to Hong Kong to express the country's opposition to the proposed wage cut for foreign domestic helpers.
"The decision of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to slash the minimum wage for foreign domestic workers in the territory is unfair and unjust," she said.
She added that even the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission has ruled that a levy imposed on foreign domestic helpers discriminates against the foreign workers.
Arroyo said the government has already done what it can to convince the Hong Kong authorities to defer the implementation from appeals made through the Philippine consulate general in Hong Kong to her personal appeal to HK-SAR chief executive Tung Chee Hwa.
She said even Secretaries Blas Ople (foreign Affairs) and Patricia Sto. Tomas (Labor) assiduously pleaded to the Hong Kong authorities while Senate President Franklin Drilon and Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. "gallantly threw the weight of their respective offices behind this cause" to o avail.
Arroyo said there is no other recourse but to direct the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to suspend the processing of all contracts for domestic workers helpers in Hong Kong.
"I have also instructed the sec of labor to review existing policies on the deployment of Filipino domestic helpers in other problem areas around the world. I have likewise ordered the DFA to forge a coalition with other labor source countries in order to protest unfair levies or wage cut," she said.
She added that the Philippine government fully supports the Filipino workers in Hong Kong who are adopting measures to contest the wage cut and convince the Hong Kong authorities to reconsider the implementation of its "discriminatory policy".
The imposition of the HK$400 wage cut on the minimum wage of Filipino domestic helpers would result in the lost of P5.6 billion worth of remittance annually. (SCT)
(March 6, 2003 issue)
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