Timmy Alonzo
Welfare
of Filipino Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong: the Primary Interest Articulated by
the Lobbying of OCW-NGOs in Hong Kong
A total of 233,110 female foreign domestic workers
are employed in the Hong Kong territory at the height of the issue regarding the
Hong Kong government proposed wage cut, with Filipinos accounting for some 67
percent or 155,330 of these; Indonesians total a number of 66,970, while Thais
6,940, and 3,870 Nepalese including other nationals (Shame in, Vol. 1, No. 50). In
many cultures and societies, housework—specifically cleaning, caring for the
elderly, cooking, and raising one’s children—is considered to be the
traditional domestic tasks of women. These "domestic helpers" provide
relief to the tight Hong Kong labor market by allowing their women nationals,
who otherwise would have been tied up with domestic chores and childcare, to
earn more income by entering the labor force.
Skillful and even modestly educated Filipinas among their early twenties
to mid-thirties, due to "the lack of employment opportunities in the
Philippines that can provide the same peso-equivalent incomes for their families
(Migrant Overseas, p.66)", worked in Hong Kong as the relatively most
lowly-paid among all the overseas contract workers (Filipino Migrant, Issue No.
41) under the classification of "laborer and unskilled worker". In the
data of the National Statistics Office, overseas contract workers aside from
unskilled workers and laborers chiefly comprising it, may as well include plant
operators and assemblers, professionals, clerks, officials of government and
special executive, special occupation and, farmers and fisheries.
Since the early 1950s, Hong Kong has become an
important industrial center, a center of international trade, finance and
tourism. Hong Kong, sensitive to local pressures and protection of its economic
wealth, maintains a guarded position with reference to migrant workers. Foreign
domestic helpers have been permitted to enter in big numbers since it is not
seen as a direct threat to Hong Kong local workers (Human Rights, p.60).
Hong Kong devised a set of policies and laws
defining the conditions of stay of domestic helpers, their supposed rights as
well as possible channels for grievances. Yet problems of implementation still
persist. The said set of policies and laws are however only ideal. There have
been reported cases of physical and sexual abuse, maltreatment, and other forms
of violation of human right as can be illustrated in the case of the
sensationalized Flor Contemplacion who was tortured and hanged for a wrongfully
accusation of murdering her own employer.
Migrant Worker, under the Republic Act 8042, is defined as any
"person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a
remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a legal resident; to
be used interchangeably with overseas Filipino workers. Filipina
overseas contract workers whose work wholly involves of domestic household
chores are termed as domestic helpers (DH).
Welfare
shall be referred to in this paper not only
as pertaining to the physical, mental and emotional well-being of Filipina
domestic helpers, but essentially to the human rights of each domestic
helper—in emphasis to that of monetary compensation for her work rendered vis-à-vis
the issue of wage cut in Hong Kong.
As
it was already mentioned, domestic helpers are the lowest paid among the Hong
Kong contract workforce with a minimum monthly salary of HK$3,670—$470
US or P24,000. In November 2001, the Hong Kong Employers of Overseas
Domestic Helpers Association and a few members of Bureau as well as the
Legislation Council (Legco) proposed the wage cut. Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (SAR) Government considered lowering the minimum wage for
foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) by 15-30% from the minimum allowable wage (MAW)
of HK$ 3,670 (US$ 471) leaving FDHs between HK$3,120 and HK$ 2,876. An annual
review to be issued on the onset of the following year assured implementation of
the proposed wage cut due to a Hong Kong economic slump brought about by the
1997 Asian-financial crisis.
After
a century and a half of British administration, Hong Kong was handed over to
China on 1 July 1997 and thus became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China. HKSAR is headed by the Chief
Executive who reports to the Central People's government and implements the
directives used by the central government in respect of the relevant matters
provided for in the Basic Law. Under Hong Kong's
constitutional document, the Basic Law, the existing economic, legal and social
system will be maintained for 50 years. Hong Kong, as a special
administrative region, enjoys a high degree of
autonomy except in defense and foreign affairs. Therefore, wage cut
policies and the like fall under the discretion of the Hong Kong special
administrative region government.
Reduction
of the minimum allowable wage would entail less purchasing power for the
domestic helper amidst the high cost of living in the highly urbanized Hong
Kong. Aside from that, majority of the Filipinas are the breadwinners of their
Filipino families in the Philippines; reduced wage would then entail lesser
allocation for money to be sent back home to the many relatives who, as the
Philippine culture dictates, are in total reliance on these. Thus, less salary
for the Filipino overseas contract workers entails less financial support not
only for themselves but to their relatives in the Philippines as well.
The typical Filipina domestic helper in Hong Kong works six
days a week, is subject to 14-18 long hours of almost non-stop work, and remains
on-call for the rest of the day if in a live-out arrangement with her employer.
For most of them who are not in live-out arrangements, work does not end with
bedtime, as they have to sleep with the child in their care (Human Rights,
p.62). At times, the Filipina domestic helper is even coopted to perform illegal
work, working for more than one family and doing non-domestic work like working
in a factory, office or business establishment owned by the employer. This is in
violation of the standard contract and the worker's conditions of stay.
Moreover, the said illegal work is merely an addition to all the domestic chores
that the Filipina helper must find time to do, leading nevertheless to long
hours of hard work with no extra pay. Furthermore, many domestic helpers are
victims of delayed payment or even nonpayment of monetary benefits as provided
in the contract. Aside from all these, a Filipina domestic helper is more often
than not subject to the inhuman treatment of their employers, suffering from
verbal assault, constant threats and intimidation, beatings and other forms of
physical harm, and even sexual abuse (p.63). To reduce their salaries is
therefore too much.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are non-profit and
voluntary service-oriented institutions. Being a form of interest group, NGOs
are not involved in the institutional or formal process of decision-making.
Interest groups act as messengers and go though the filtering process of
decision-making via various structures and organizations. They are classified as
either domestic or foreign/international according to scope; formal or informal
according to structure; and economic, political, ideological or religious
according to interest. Interest groups concerned with foreign policy decisions
are political parties, media, and lobby groups that have international
relations.
Lobby Groups are the legal front of interest groups.
Lobby groups traditionally lobby either directly to the office of the president
or in Congress during committee hearings wherein they expect to be listened to.
The media on the other hand serves as the venue for interest groups that were
not able to air out their interests in congress or presidential office, for
instance by urging mass action through television programs, letters through
e-mail, or through essays to the opinion-editorial section of newspaper.
It
was through the united efforts of non-governmental organizations such as Unifil-HK,
Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrant Filipinos, Migrante International and other
groups to organize more than 2,000 Asian migrant workers that a march protest on
the main streets of Hong Kong pushed through. Asian
Migrant Coordinating Body led the march that began at the Victoria Park in
Causeway Bay. From the there, the domestic workers took their protests to the Hong Kong labor and migrant
offices; after which, they headed to the to central
government offices and to the consulates of the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand
and other countries from which the concerned migrant workers were from. The Filipino contingent, under the leadership of
Migrante International's Hong Kong affiliate—the United Filipinos in Hong Kong
(Unifil-HK), was said to have challenged the Philippine Consulate officials to
join the big march-rally to prove their support to their fellow Filipinos (HK Filipinos, Issue
No. 42; Filipina maids, Inq7.com).
To
further fortify the protest against the said assault to the welfare of domestic
helpers with the possible imposition of wage cut, about 3,000 domestic helpers
once more poured out into the streets of Hong Kong at the same time as their
counterparts in the Philippines protested in a series of pickets and rallies
outside the labor department office and the Chinese Embassy.
However, before the protesters made a move, a study
was first conducted regarding the subject of wage cut. Then a consultation among
the different non-governmental organizations regarding the action to be taken
followed. A forum afterwards took place within which the pros and cons were
evaluated. They tried their best to carry out the resolution and protests first
in a form of petition letter, then delegation, dialogue ensued, then a petition
was sent to congress, and finally a march through the streets to express their
indignation (Gratela, Poe; interview).
Consequently,
the Philippine Congress was prompted to pass a resolution in aid to the cause of
the foreign domestic helpers. In addition to this a delegation headed by
Representatives Roseller Barinaga and Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna was sent to
Hong Kong to express their support (Shame
in, Vol. 1, No. 50).
In contrast, the Arroyo administration has a
different view regarding the matter. The main agenda of the government is to
keep a smooth relationship between the Philippines and the economically
developed Hong Kong, so as to employ more Filipinos abroad in order to secure
more foreign remittances which sustain our mendicant economy. It is in the
unskilled and semi-skilled categories where there is a stiff competition, which
is very well attested by the fact that the Hong Kong government decided to lower
the wages of the lowest paid and categorized as 'unskilled' workers. It is for
this reason that the Filipino labor is suggested to be made cheaper so as to
allow workers in these categories to continue to be competitive with that of
same skills categories from other nations, which in the other hand was exactly
why the Arroyo administration initially approved of the Hong Kong government
proposed wage cut.
"Overseas employment policy helps not only
solve the local unemployment situation but also secures the much needed foreign
exchange for other development programs." as recounted in the article Cheap
Labor Policy:the Philippine Dilemma and Experience. This situation "can
lead, and has often led to a number of contradictory policies and inconsistent
polices as well as consequences." Such can be illustrated through the
inconsistencies between two mandates of the state, particularly "1) its
duty to provide job opportunities for its constituents, and 2) its correlative
obligation to protect workers and promote their welfare in whatever situation
they may find themselves (Migrant Overseas, p.69)"
The situation can be explained further in detail
through the Republic Act 8042 of 1995. The inferable principles behind
the protest and lobbying of interest groups are to obtain better protection of
the rights of FDHs, to generate support for the welfare of FDHs, and to try to
work with government of both Hong Kong and Philippines to recognize the needs of
migrant workers by providing more information regarding rights and protection.
The government's R.A. 8042 otherwise known as, An Act To Institute The
Policies Of Overseas Employment And Establish A Higher Standard Of Protection
And Promotion Of The Welfare Of Migrant Workers, Their Families And Overseas
Filipinos In Distress, defines the rights, conditions, rules and regulation
of the Filipino migrant workers.
It
is included in its provisions in sec. 3, "the State shall afford full
protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote
full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all" and that,
"the State shall provide adequate and timely social, economic and legal
services to Filipino migrant workers." In the subject of Hong Kong wage
cut, the State in many ways failed to provide adequate legal services to
Filipinas since the Arroyo government aside from not extending its support and
not doing anything, even negotiated and agreed to the wage cut for the sake of
foreign remittances.
R.
A. 8042 also recognizes NGOs as "legitimate," and "as partners of
the State in the protection of Filipino workers in the promotion of their
welfare," and that "the State shall cooperate with them in spirit
of trust and mutual respect." However in the case of Hong Kong wage cut
issue, the disparate forces, the government and the interest groups, advocated
their own interests—government for security of remittances, while NGOs for the
welfare of Filipina domestic helpers.
From the enumerated circumstances, it is deducible
that the government failed to provide job opportunities for its constituents, as
well as it failed to promote the welfare of migrant workers in Hong Kong in the
issue of wage cut. It was the independent action of the lobby groups rather than
the government's influence that changed the decision of the Hong Kong
government. The government obviously did not adhere to R.A. 8042 in its
provision to recognize non-governmental organizations as partners of the state
in protecting the welfare of Filipino migrant workers. The provision stating
that the state shall cooperate with NGOs "in spirit of trust and mutual
respect" was not honored as exemplified when President Macapagal-Arroyo sent Labor Secretary Sto.
Tomas in Hong Kong along with Filipino consulate officials, who instead told
leaders of the migrant groups, as recounted in Bulatlat.com, that their actions
are “speculative, alienating and counter-productive,” even warning them that
the Hong Kong government may become annoyed with their demonstrations, even
asking the Filipinos "to fold up their placards, lay low and allow
diplomatic negotiation to take its course on behalf of the workers."
Clearly, the account did not prove any display partnership, cooperation or
mutual respect on the part of the government.
Another point is the fact that R.A. 8042 is under
the Philippine Law, which is actually unenforceable in other nations, defeating
its very purpose since it is an act for protection of migrant workers. The doctrine
of State territorial sovereignty maintains, "a State enjoys immunity
from the exercise of jurisdiction by another State." It is then inferable
that the individuals of one State, once in another State, are under the
jurisdiction of the host State (OCWs in Crisis, p. 131). Hong Kong SAR therefore
has territorial sovereignty over the migrant workers residing in Hong Kong, and
R.A. 8042, as the many cases of abuse have proved, is of no use at all.
In
conclusion, this paper recognizes that the government in its efforts to
resuscitate the economy has a responsibility to generate as much jobs as
possible. Nonetheless, it should never be at the expense of the welfare of its
citizens employed outside the country. For the Philippine government to allow
the reduction of salaries of Filipinas, who work long periods of hours and who
are subject to different forms of maltreatment, is congruent to the renouncement
of its responsibility over them as Filipino citizens.
It
is through bilateral, regional and specialized agreements that instruments of
human rights are enforced (OCWs in crisis, p. 133). Such agreements are essential for the protection of the
rights of migrant workers. It is therefore imperative that the Philippine
government begin efforts of entering into bilateral agreements with the nations
wherein the Filipino migrant workers are employed. Just the same, the Philippine
government must not be too friendly, too giving or too generous in its execution
of bilateral negotiations. The officials must discern exactly when to impose an
uncompromising attitude, particularly in the subject of welfare of its citizens
in the other countries.
This
paper acknowledges that the Department of Foreign Affairs indeed exerted efforts
to enter into bilateral agreements with host countries to protect the Filipino
overseas workers (OCWs in crisis, p. 134). Yet it is still not enough.
Interest
groups serve as intermediaries between the people and the government. In Lester
W. Milbrath's Interest Groups and Foreign Policy, it has been established that
interest groups generally have not much influence in the foreign policy decision
making for the reasons that it is in the sole discretion of the president, and
the transmission of messages are often hindered and not clearly conveyed between
parties. Essentially, it is already difficult for an interest group to influence
local policy decision-making, how much more the realm of foreign policy. In the
case of Hong Kong wage cut proposal, the interest groups were not at all able to
influence the Arroyo administration, as attested by the visit of Sto. Tomas in
Hong Kong. With the release of Hong Kong government's order on the subject of
the proposed wage cut on 31 January 2001 stating that the minimum wage of
foreign domestic helpers shall remain unchanged, the Arroyo administration, with
its meager efforts to protect the Filipina migrants' welfare, claimed to be the
victor as the "representative" of the FDHs to the Hong Kong
government. On the contrary, it is rather the independent move of these interest
groups that lobbied throughout Hong Kong in protest against the inconsideration
of Hong Kong government regarding the welfare of migrant workers that worked
wonders and had caused change.
Vis-à-vis
the Hong Kong wage cut proposal, NGOs have become salient elements in making
sure that the cause of human rights is furthered. In the area of foreign policy
however, the president will remain to be the sole implementer and
decision-maker, as interest groups will continue to have only a slight bearing
since their voices will continue to be unheard due to the ambiguous filtering
process where the message generally gets distorted.
As
interest groups, non-governmental organizations that certainly want and need to
be heard, specifically those specializing the issues plaguing migrant workers,
must devise an unambiguous transmission process wherein their messages will
likely be clearly conveyed.