(EXCLUSIVE)
By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Labor Secretary Bello says no talks held on jobs for Filipino domestic workers in China |
Philippine Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has denied
being in talks with Chinese officials about a supposed plan to hire Filipino
domestic workers in China
for as much as Php100,000.
“I haven’t talked to anyone from China , much less agreed to meet
with anyone next month on this,” said Secretary Bello in a phone interview with
The SUN.
He said he was not aware of anyone from the Chinese embassy
in the Philippines
visiting his Undersecretary, Dominador Say, and disclosing any such plan.
Neither has Bello been told of a plan for a follow-up meeting next
month.
“How could there be a follow-up meeting when there was no
initial meeting in the first place?”, Bello
said.
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| Ambassador Sto Romano says there signs China wants to let OFWs in |
In Beijing , Philippine
Ambassador to China
Chito Sto. Romana said there had been indications that China plans to open its door to
Filipino domestic workers. However, he said he was not privy to what
Undersecretary Say disclosed to various newspapers in Manila , including the widely circulating Philippine Star.
“I am not in a position to confirm this report in the Philippine Star, talks are still
exploratory at this stage, but there are indications that Chinese authorities
are interested in opening the door somewhat to Pinoy household service workers
(HSW). Shanghai & Guangzhou authorities have recently announced
an experiment to grant work visas to Pinoy HSWs, these are pilot projects that
could pave the way to more work visas for Pinoy,” said Ambassador Sto. Romana.
However, he said the Department of Labor and Employment may
have more information on the matter as it is the lead agency on the Philippine
side.
Labor Undersecretary Say prompted the comments after he told
reporters in Manila earlier in the week that a
delegation from the Chinese embassy had approached him about Beijing ’s supposed plan to open its doors to
Philippine domestic workers.
The Philippine Star
quoted Say as saying that the salary to be given was Php100,000 (US$1,980), but
he later told the South China Morning
Post that the reported salary offer was not accurate.
However, he stuck to his original statement that he
discussed the plan with Chinese embassy officials.
Say also said that China
wants to hire 100,000 foreign domestic workers, but not all would come from the
Philippines .
Further, he said the scheme will be put in place in five major Chinese cities,
including the capital, Beijing , and Shanghai .
But his statements were immediately dismissed by the acting
head of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), further
causing confusion.
In an interview with ABS-CBN, Undersecretary Bernardo Olalia
said it was not true that there were 100,000 jobs available for Filipino
domestic workers in China .
The only jobs there now are reportedly only for teachers and call center
agents.
"Lahat ng klase
ng trabaho nasa website [ng POEA], kung wala, that job is nonexistent,"
Olalia was quoted as saying.
The conflicting statements from his two undersecretaries
have prompted Secretary Bello to call for a meeting tomorrow, Aug. 3, to try
and sort out the issue.
“I don’t know why my two undersecretaries are saying two
different things,” he said.
But he reiterated that what was clear was that he had not
met with anyone from the Chinese government on the reported plan.
Say’s statements caused a stir in Hong
Kong , with many domestic workers saying on social media that if
the reported salary was true, they would prefer working on the mainland
instead.
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| Villanueva says OFWs will go where pay is better |
Several migrant workers have also started asking how they
could apply for the China
jobs, completely disregarding reports that the scheme, even if true, was still
in the drawing board.
Eman Villanueva, spokesman for the Asian Migrants
Coordinating Body (AMCB) said it was just natural for Filipino workers, being
economic migrants, to go where the pay is better.
“It just shows that the salaries of migrant domestic workers
in Hong Kong are no longer competitive,” said
Villanueva. “Why else would our workers choose to go to a place where the labor
laws are not as defined as in Hong Kong ?"
He also said that sending more Filipino workers abroad was
not desirable, as it shows the Philippines
is not sincere about its promise to curb its labor export policy.
The Philippines
has no bilateral labor agreement with China , although up to 200,000 Filipinos
are believed to be working on the mainland, many as domestic helpers. Most of
the workers are there as tourists, but some have managed to secure business
visas which allow them a longer stay.
Most domestic workers are known to get between 6,000 and
7,000 yuan a month, which is far higher than the minimum allowable wage of
HK$4,310 a month paid to their counterparts in Hong Kong .
Recently, Guangdong
province and Shanghai
have reportedly allowed foreigners to hire domestic workers from overseas, but
it is not clear how many Filipinos have been hired under this scheme.
