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By Vir B. Lumicao
On the day Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III visited two shelters for distressed Filipino workers, Hong Kong employment agencies also unwrapped a surprise– their own halfway houses for the maids.
The agency groups’ shelters highlighted separate meetings on Sept. 24 that two agency groups had with the visiting labor official.
Bello asked Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Hans Cacdac and Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration head Rebecca Calzado to disclose details of the meetings.
“Administrators Calzador and Cacdac had had longer time with them. I had to cut my meetings with them because of other meetings,” the labor secretary said.
Cacdac said the discussions covered the Hong Kong labor market, “especially in terms of protecting our OFWs, especially domestic workers”.
“The agencies anticipated our questions with respect to how well they protect our workers who are in need here in Hong Kong as well as issues that challenged us over the years, such as excessive recruitment fees and other fees that they charged workers,” the POEA head said.
“These matters were taken up amid continuing assertions from the Philippine side that employment agencies should especially look after the welfare of the Filipino workers here in Hong Kong,” he said.
Bello and his team first visited the OWWA-run Filipino Workers’ Resource Center in Kennedy Town, where the secretary listened to the stories of the maids housed in the shelter while waiting for their cases to be resolved.
The entourage then drove to the Bethune House Migrant Women's Refuge in Sheung Wan to speak with a dozen residents there. They were received by Bethune executive director Edwina Antonio and her clients.
During the meeting, Bello told the residents of President Rodrigo Duterte’s resolve to strengthen the economy so Filipinos would not have to leave the country to earn a living.
“The President loves you. He is cleaning up the country of crime and corruption so that investors will come in and revive the economy,” he said.
From Bethune House, Bello went to a luncheon meeting with owners of member agencies of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies.
Administrator Calzado said that while the discussions between the POEA and the agencies centered on ethical recruitment, “our focus was more about the welfare of overseas Filipino workers they recruited”.
She said the talks also focused on how the agencies and the government could cooperate in strengthening the pre-departure and post-arrival orientation for the Filipino workers.
Calzado said the agencies were asked how they could help better prepare the OFWs to avoid potential tensions between them and their employers
The HKUEMA briefed the Philippine labor officials on its coming shelter for distressed domestic workers that would house not just Filipinas but other Asian nationalities as well.
Not to be outdone, the Association of Hong Kong Manpower Agencies led by chairwoman Teresa Liu launched its Assistance Action Centre, a halfway house for Filipino and Indonesian helpers who get terminated.
Secretary Bello and Liu unveiled the signage of the shelter, which is on the 11th floor of Phoenix Apartments at 70 Lee Garden Road in Causeway Bay.
The shelter can house as many as 40 people who would stay for free, Lui told The SUN. Its only requirement is for the clients to be recruits of member agencies of AHKMA.
“Our facility is open 24 hours to domestic workers, Filipinos or Indonesians,” Liu said.
The two shelters run by the agency groups impressed the labor officials, who welcomed the idea that there are more shelters for workers in need of a place to go when they run into trouble.
“This is a welcome development and obviously caters to the needs of OFWs,” said Cacdac of the AHKMA facility, which has a Filipina manager.
