5,000 Filipino maids march in HK vs new deployment rules

By Blanche S. Rivera, Contributor
Inquirer
01/28/2007

HONG KONG— In the biggest show of force since the wage cut protests in 2001, about 5,000 Filipino domestic helpers marched on the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday to protest the Philippine government’s new pre-qualification requirements for household service workers.

Enraged by tales of terminated contracts, steep cost of training and tests required by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and alleged extortion in Manila’s airport, the domestic workers demanded the immediate scrapping of the new POEA guidelines.

A petition to junk the new scheme was submitted to two labor officials from the Philippine Consulate here, who refused to address an agitated crowd that booed at every mention of the consulate or government.

“The additional P5,000 to P10,000 fee for the training and the certificate will even worsen the financial situation of OFWs and our families,” the petition signed by 135 groups stated.

“We are already burdened by various government fees such as the high price of passport, the authentication fee, and even the Overseas Employment Certificate. For the government, every document and every service that we require has a price tag,” the groups said.

Filipinos comprise the biggest population of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, with over 120,000 working in households.

Hong Kong is one of the top three destinations of Filipino maids, according to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office.

United Filipinos in Hong Kong chair Dolores Balladares said the crowd turnout was the biggest since the protests over the wage cut in 2001, which saw a peak of 12,000 Filipino workers out on the streets.

“This was hastily called. We only announced this last week, but so many people came here because they are really angry about this new money-making scheme,” Balladares said in Filipino.

“We expect more will come next week,” she said. Next Sunday’s protest will be led by church organizations in Hong Kong.

Migrante secretary general Rowena dela Cruz said one member had reported the case of a Filipino domestic worker who had to pay P15,000 at the airport so she could get a certificate without undergoing the required training and the tests.

Dela Cruz said the helper, a friend of one of its members in Hong Kong’s Sha Tin district, was in the Philippines on emergency leave because her father had died. When she was about to fly back to Hong Kong, she was stopped at the airport.

Migrante, however, could not identify who exactly sought the P15,000 in exchange for the certificate. Tales of employers terminating contracts of vacationing Filipino workers who could not return on time are common in Hong Kong.

“This is extortion. We do not want these training or tests. They are only a burden to us and our families,” Balladares said.

The protesters’ line snaked from Chater Road in Central to Harcourt Garden beside the United Center in Admiralty, which houses the Philippine Consulate office.

The march to Harcourt Garden caused traffic jams in major thoroughfares in Central, prompting police to block more groups from joining the crowd already gathered in the plaza.

“I’m just here to support,” said Gloria Javier, who has been a domestic worker in Hong Kong for 15 years.

Javier, who does not belong to any militant organization and normally spends her day off in church, said she had heard of the new guidelines and had to drop plans of recommending her niece in the Philippines to an employer here whose need for a maid was urgent.

“Hindi naman marami ang pera namin. Malaki na nga ang natutulong ng remittances tapos kukuhaan pa kami ulit, parang sobra na naman (We’re not earning a lot. Our remittances help the economy and yet, the government wants more. It’s too much),” she said.

Unifil’s Norman Carnay said the Hong Kong Police’s community relations officer had told the group that it would issue an official warning to the organizers for going over the number of protesters approved by the police.

To acquire a permit to use the Harcourt Garden, organizers told police only around 1,500 people would come, but Carnay said police had estimated the crowd at 5,000 when Unifil stopped others from joining. The Inquirer count placed the crowd at Harcourt Garden at 4,000 at its peak.

Those who were stopped by police on their way to Harcourt Garden conducted their own program at Chater Garden in Central.