Another OFW in HK loses job after hostage crisis — DOLE

Another overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Hong Kong was fired from her job following the bloody hostage crisis in Manila last week, which left eight tourists from Hong Kong killed, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Tuesday. DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that a Filipina domestic helper, whose name was not disclosed to media, was fired after her employers in Hong Kong found it “uncomfortable" to have someone from the Philippines in their household after the hostage-taking incident.
She however added that the DOLE managed to find another job for the Filipina OFW days after she was fired. Baldoz likewise said that she does not expect any more OFWs to lose their jobs after the bloody hostage-taking. “Hindi ako nag-eexpect ng backlash… I don’t think it [the situation] will worsen, and it will only be a few cases," she said in an interview aired over “24 Oras" on Tuesday. She however advised OFWs in the Chinese territory to “respect" the “grief" being felt by Hong Kong residents due to the tragedy. “Patuloy pa rin irespeto ang national grief na nararamdaman ng buong gobyerno ng Hong Kong… Doblehin pa ang maayos na serbisyo sa employers nila," she said in the same television interview. (Let’s continue to respect the national grief being felt by the entire Hong Kong government. Let’s redouble the good service we provide their employers.) Baldoz added that there have been no further reports of maltreatment and discrimination among OFWs in Hong Kong as of posting time. On August 23, dismissed Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, hijacked a bus carrying 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos. After an 11-hour hostage drama, nine people died— the hostage-taker and eight Hong Kong tourists. (See: Hostage crisis ends in bloody carnage; 8 hostages dead) Filipinos based in Hong Kong are reportedly feeling the backlash of growing outrage over the way the police handled the incident. The Philippine Consul General in Hong Kong confirmed last week that a domestic helper was dismissed by her employer in reaction to the hostage crisis. Some 150,000 Filipino workers are currently based in the Chinese territory, based on government records.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV