Press Release No. 086-03
March 14, 2003
OPLE
ASKS BEIJING TO STOP WAGE CUTS OF HONG KONG MAIDS
Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople yesterday asked the People’s Republic
of China to persuade the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to hold
in abeyance the decision imposing a wage cut on Filipino domestic helpers
in Hong Kong with effect on April pending further consultations with the
Philippine government and various sectors of Hong Kong society.
The Secretary conveyed this request to Chinese Ambassador Wang Chungui whom
he summoned to the Department of Foreign Affairs for a discussion of the
Filipino maids’ problems in Hong Kong.
Ambassador Wang promised to transmit Ople’s request to the foreign ministry
in Beijing. But he also said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
had full authority under its basic law to promulgate policies on domestic
wages.
“I can see a small opening through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but it
may not be enough to encourage hopes of a reversal which is within the authority
of the Hong Kong government,” the ambassador said, adding: “We share your
view that it is important to maintain the very excellent ties between Hong
Kong SAR and the Philippines.”
Secretary Ople informed the Chinese ambassador that even Hong Kong employers
have begun a signature campaign to oppose wage cuts.
A group of Hong Kong lawyers, representing the Filipino domestic helpers,
has filed an injunction in a Hong Kong court. A case of discrimination has
also been filed with the Equal Opportunity Commission in Hong Kong. In Manila,
the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines has announced, through its Secretary
General ex-Senator Ernesto “Boy” Herrera, that it has filed a complaint before
an ILO Tribunal against both China and the Hong Kong SAR, both of which are
signatories to an international convention on the rights of migrant workers.
“In the interest of our close friendship, we hope and expect that the Chinese
government will intervene to avert such unjust treatment of the Filipino
workers in Hong Kong,” Ople said.
There are some 156,000 Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong.