Filipino maids in Hong Kong sacked

Filipino maids working in Hong Kong are being sacked by employers angry over the deadly hostage crisis in the Philippines, a news report said Wednesday.

Eight Hong Kong tourists died in a chaotic shoot-out Monday as police in Manila tried to end a 10-hour siege by an armed former police inspector who took tourists hostage on a bus in protest at his sacking.

Unions representing Filipino maids told South China Morning Post they had received ‘several’ reports of maids being sacked by employers angry at the deaths.

Other employers have posted messages on internet bulletin boards saying they intend to sack their maids in retaliation for the deaths and urging other employers to do the same.

A spokeswoman for one of the maids’ unions said, ‘We are also angry with our government … I hope the Hong Kong government can explain to local people that it is not the fault of Filipino maids.’

Dolores Balladares-Pelaez, chairwoman of the 6,000-member United Filipinos in Hong Kong union, told the newspaper she feared the situation would get worse in the days ahead.

Hong Kong is home to more than 120,000 live-in domestic helpers from the Philippines, who earn a government-set minimum wage equivalent to around $460 a month.