Press Release
February 3, 2009

NO MASS LAYOFFS OF PINOY WORKERS IN HONG KONG

Overseas Filipino workers, consisting mostly of domestic helpers, in Hong Kong are secure in their jobs although this autonomous region in China - a leading commercial and financial center in Asia - is not exactly untouched by the global economic turmoil.

This was the first-hand information gathered by Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. during his brief stopover in Hong Kong on his way home from Geneva, Switzerland where he attended a four-day conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union's Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of which he is a regular member.

"In Hong Kong, there are no mass layoffs of Filipino domestics, but some households are scrimping on house-helps because of the economic meltdown that affected the companies in which their employers are working," Pimentel said.

More than 150,000 Filipino workers are employed in households, commercial establishments and factories in Hong Kong.

Pimentel said white collar and blue collar Filipino workers in Switzerland and Germany appear to be not in immediate danger of being laid off.

He said Ambassadors Erlinda Basilio and Maria Theresa Lazaro briefed him about the situation of the OFWs in Geneva, Lausanne and the rest of Switzerland.

While in Frankfurt, Pimentel said Consul General Enrique Manalo told him that many Filipinos in Germany are married to German nationals and their being repatriated to their country of origin for any reason is remote.

"In sum, there does not seem to be any imminent danger of our Filipino professionals and other workers are being deported or thrown out of work in the Swiss Confederation," he said.

"The work of our compatriots in Germany also appear stable from information passed on to me by Consul General Manalo."

This is in sharp contrast to the situation in Taiwan where more than a thousand Filipino contract workers--mostly employed in factories--have been terminated and forced to come home. Many factories involved in manufacturing electronic products, computers and computer accessories have either scaled down operations due to weak sale of products or reduced orders by their corporate clients.

In his report to the Senate on his activities at the IPU, Pimentel said he informed the CHRP that there are moves in the Senate to allow detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes to participate in the deliberations of the chamber via teleconferencing after the Supreme Court denied the petitions to allow the former Navy officer to physically take part in Senate plenary sessions and committee hearings even under guard.

He said he told the CHRP that the resolution on the use of teleconferencing by Trillanes is supported by an overwhelming number of senators.

"To that end, we are moving to amend the rules of the chamber precisely to enable the senator to do his work as a senator in his detention cell even by teleconferencing," Pimentel reported.

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