No cancellation of job orders for Filipina maids to HK

A group of accredited Hong Kong recruiters in the Philippines assured that Hong Kong employers have not trimmed their job orders for Filipino workers as an aftermath of the Monday hostage-taking incident at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.

Alfredo Palmiery, president of the Society of Hongkong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines (SHARP), an association of POEA-licensed agencies sending Filipina domestic helpers to Hong Kong, in a statement, said their counterpart Hong Kong recruitment agencies have not canceled current job orders and contracts despite the reported anger felt by some Hong Kong residents over the incident.

The almost 12-hour hostage drama left eight Hong Kong tourists and hostage-taker dead.

Palmiery, who is also the Chairman of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters Inc. (FEDMANEX), an umbrella organization of 11 other recruitment industry associations deploying Filipino workers overseas, said that due to the very long history of reliable and faithful services rendered by Filipino household workers to Hong Kong employers and the Hong Kong government’s recognition of their role in the lives of many Hong Kong residents, the recent tragic incident would not in anyway diminish the preference to hiring Filipino household workers.

He also received reports from the leaders of his counterpart associations in Hong Kong that they have not received any notice from their prospective employers withdrawing their contracts for the household workers.

“They also informed me that they have advised their member agencies hiring Filipino household workers to preserve the good relationships between the employers and the household workers,” Palmiery said.

Palmiery also said that so far, there has been no report coming from his member agencies that any of their deployed household worker was terminated due to the hostage-taking incident.

Hong Kong was the top destination for household service workers in 2009 with 25,000 new hires as gleaned from POEA statistics.

In-land based Filipino workers overseas are among the top three with 100.142 new and rehires in 2009.

The top two destinations for OFWs in 2009 are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with 291,419 and 196,815, respectively.

There are presently about 135,000 Filipino household workers in Hong Kong, receiving a monthly salary of HK$3,580 (P22,000) with one day off every week and a monthly food allowance of HK$ 750 (P4,500), Palmiery said.

Filipina maids comprise almost one-half of the domestic helpers in Hong Kong, which include Indonesians, Thais and few other nationalities. Filipinas are highly preferred for their ability to speak English and are well-liked by their employers for their loyalty and dedication to their jobs.

In a related development, Palmiery clarified reports that the freeze in the salary hike for Hong Kong maids now at HK$3,580 was made long before and not related to the Luneta event in response to statements made by Sen. Miguel Zubiri at a Senate hearing. PNA