Bello: OFWs who join HK protests risk deportation

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has advised overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong not to join mass protests saying they might risk being deported.

“Don’t join rallies because if you join there is that possibility of you being deported,” Bello said in an interview.

“We have to inform them about that. But if they insist on doing it, we cannot do anything about it,” he said.

“We just give them the advice it’s still up to them if they will join or not,” he added.

Bello said Labor Attache Jalilo Dela Torre was also advising OFWs.

“They know what advice to give to our OFWs there for them to stay away from harm,” he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier asked Filipinos in Hong Kong to exercise extreme caution and vigilance in light of the mass protests against the controversial extradition bill.

Protest organizers are again planning a massive rally tomorrow (July 1) from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to the Central Government Offices in Admiralty. The protest march will start at 2:30 pm.

July 1 is a statutory holiday in HK as the city marks the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.