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| Marie went home in February and has been unable to fly back to HK, leading to her termination |
The five-month-old coronavirus pandemic has brought about
mixed fortunes for three Hong Kong-based Filipino domestic helpers who have
been caught up in the health crisis.
Just today, Jun 15, Marie received a message from her Hong
Kong female employer, who told her she is being terminated effective today
because the employer could no longer wait for her return from her vacation in
the Philippines
Marie, 37, remains stuck in her hometown Alaminos in
Pangasinan since going home in February. Until her firing, she had been working
for her employer for one and a half years in her first job in Hong
Kong .
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“I’m sorry to inform you that I can’t wait you anymore, as
you know Jamey is starting the school now in June and he is going to primary
school…I was so busy here in Hong Kong,” the employer said in her letter.
“I stopped my work and waiting for you to back for almost
half year, it caused me a lot of trouble and I can’t wait you anymore,” she
said.
Marie’s friend Esther said the maid was allowed by her
employer to take a vacation after completing her first year to be with her
husband and their 18-year-old daughter, not knowing that Covid-19 would become
a pandemic and impact their lives.
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The employer said she would pay Marie a sum of $5,728
representing a month’s salary of $4,410, a $290 payment for two days of unused annual
leave, another $290 for two days of statutory holiday, $638 one-way air fare
and $100 travel allowance.
Her friend said Marie was distraught over her sudden loss of
employment and was asking if she could fight her case at the Labour Department.
Another Filipina, Ghie, is bored and is thinking of breaking
her contract because she, her employer and her ward, have been in Taiwan Hong Kong just yet.
In a post on the DWC Help Group’s page on Facebook today,
Ghie sought advice on whether to terminate her contract or hang on.
“Kasi po 6 months na kami dito sa Taiwan
“Naka ilang next month na, nandito pa din kami, tapos wala
pang off. Mabait naman sila kaya lang ito ang problema ko, ayaw niya bumalik ng HK
hangga’t extend visa daw pero gusto ko ng bumalik ng HK… ang lungkot kasi dito
sa Taiwan
(That 'next month' has been told to me a couple of times but we're still here, and I don't get to have a day off. They (employers) are kind, but my problem is, they don't want to go back to Hong Kong and keep extending their visas, but I want to go back to Hong Kong. It's lonely out here in Taiwan).
Group members advised Ghie to be patient and to take it
easy, as Taiwan is a much
better place to be than Hong Kong . Others
cautioned her not to bug her employer.
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“Mas maganda diyan sa Taiwan
(It's better there in Taiwan. Your employers are kind, anyway, and you're paid properly. If you insist on coming back to Hong Kong, you might get terminated).
Another commented that as long as Ghie gets paid completely,
she should not worry about her employer.
“Mapalad ka pa din kasi sa dinami-dami
ng gustong pumunta dito eh iilan lang ang nakakapunta...kaya swerte kapa din.”
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| Sheena has been quarantining in style at Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore |
A third worker, Sheena B. Salero, considers herself really lucky. Just
about a year ago, she was still being called a “slave” by her former employer’s
young son. When she scolded the 8-year-old boy, he said that was how his
Mainland mom referred to the helper.
But Sheena’s fortune changed when, on finishing her contract
last year, she got employed by a generous couple who posted a wanted ad for a
helper in a Facebook group page, Social Justice for Migrant Workers.
In the short time that she has worked for them, Sheena has
been to Thailand , where the
couple has a vacation house; and to Singapore
When Covid-19 crept into Hong Kong just before the Lunar New
Year, her employers decided to move to Singapore Singapore
Even when she was practically doing nothing living in the
employers’ flat in Hong Kong , she received her
salary and food allowance from her employers, who also checked on her often.
Sheena finally received her visa last week, and her
employers immediately bought her air ticket.
She flew out of Hong Kong
last Saturday, Jun 13, to join her employers. She is now on her third day of
quarantine at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore
Sheena still cannot believe that after two years of hard
work, lack of food and sleep, and verbal abuse from her previous employers, she
would be where she is now.
