We'll prepare for their repatriation pronto. Deeply disgusted with HK wch begged us to let domestic workers return to work. I extracted promise from Chinese ambassador that they'd be given same protection from COVID-19 as HK residents. I shoulda specified "from Hongkongers." https://t.co/3Ly1CHCfCm
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) March 3, 2020
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 3) – Filipino workers in Hong Kong who lose their jobs in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak will be brought home by the government, a Cabinet official said Tuesday.
“We’ll prepare for their repatriation pronto,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin tweeted.
Locsin reacted to a report that a Filipina is among dozens of foreign domestic workers in the Chinese region sacked in the past weeks. Among the reasons cited were disagreements over their days off.
The report came after the country partially lifted the travel ban on China’s special administrative territories, allowing Filipinos employed in Hong Kong and Macau to go back to their jobs. The restrictions were to prevent the spread of the coronavirus or COVID-19 infection.
Locsin denounced Hong Kong for supposedly not keeping its promise of giving overseas Filipino workers the same protection from COVID-19 as Hong Kong residents.
“Deeply disgusted with Hong Kong which begged us to let domestic workers return to work,” Locsin said.
There are over 210,000 Filipinos working in Hong Kong and another 32,000 in Macau, majority of them household helpers, according to government data.
As of Tuesday, Hong Kong reported 100 COVID-19 cases, including two Filipinos.
