‘HK is still the best for FDHs’

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Hong Kong

 

EVEN if mainland China opens its doors to Filipino domestic workers, Hong Kong would still remain their “best” destination, a Filipino recruitment industry leader said.

Alfredo Palmiery, head of the Society of Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines, said working in HK had its advantages.

“What I see is that, once even China is open, still many will come to Hong Kong because it is still the best destination for Philippine workers,” Palmiery said in an interview.

He said the working conditions other countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei “do not compare” to those in Hong Kong.

“You can see the government cooperation with the Philippine government, the enforcement of laws, the handling of complaints,” Palmiery said.

“These things are not found in other countries. So, I allayed their (the local agencies) fears that they will have a problem with the supply. Still, there will be plenty who would be coming to Hong Kong,” he added.

Philippine Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno in November said that Beijing wanted to hire 10,000 Filipino domestic workers for expatriates working in mainland China.

“In fact, the fear of some people is that those who are working now in Hong Kong will now transfer to China because the terms will be much, much higher,” Diokno said in a media forum.

He said workers would get higher wages since they will be hired through a government- to-government (G2G) arrangement and not through recruitment agencies.

Diokno added that China was initially looking at hiring 10,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) particularly domestic helpers to work for expatriates in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong.

In July 2017, then Philippine Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say said Chinese embassy officials in Manila were looking at the possibility that Filipino domestic helpers could earn up to HKD$15,000 in mainland China.

In April, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Manila expected to deploy up to 300,000 more OFWs to China.

There were an estimated 200,000 OFWs currently working in the mainland, he added.