By Hannah Torregoza
Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay on Thursday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and other government agencies to be on alert, noting there is no sign the anti-government protests in Hong Kong will die down soon.
Senator Nancy Binay
(Senate of the Philippines official Facebook page / MANILA BULLETIN)
Binay issued the call to the DFA, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) as she urged them to constantly monitor the developments in China's special administrative region.
Since June, Hong Kong has been plagued by protests that started over the citizens’ opposition to an extradition bill which has eventually been withdrawn.
However, the demonstrations continued and evolved into a broader protest movement against alleged police brutality and calls for full democratic rights for Hong Kong citizens.
"As the political tension continues to build across Hong Kong, I appeal to the DFA, DOLE, OWWA, and POLO to put on standby its comprehensive contingency measures alongside their repatriation plans sufficient enough to assist our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and fellow Kababayans in the territory should the situation further escalate," Binay said in a statement.
Binay said reports have reached her office about some employers terminating the contracts of some household service workers due to the escalating violence in Hong Kong.
"Umaasa akong isolated cases ang mga report na may mga employer na nag-terminate ng kontrata ng mga household service workers, (I'm hoping that these reports that some employers are terminating the contracts of household service workers are merely isolated cases)," she said.
"Gayunpaman, kailangang maghanda tayo sa kung ano mang pangyayari na may direktang epekto sa kapakanan ng ating mga kababayan sa Hong Kong (Nevertheless, it's better to be prepared for whatever may happen that could directly affect our citizens in Hong Kong)," she stressed.
The senator said the Senate will continue to monitor the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong "will extend all the necessary support to concerned agencies in order to guarantee the welfare and safety of Filipinos in Hong Kong and its three territories."
"In times of distress, communication is everything. Should there be a need to activate repatriation plans, Filipino organizations in Hong Kong may be tapped to reach out to OFWs who are directly affected by the ongoing protests," she said.
"Kumpiyansa akong maayos na matutugunan ng ating Consulate Office sa Hong Kong ang pagsiguro sa kapakanan ng ating mga kababayan (I'm confident that our Consulate Office in Hong Kong can respond efficiently in ensuring the welfare of our people there)," said the lawmaker.
In a related development, opposition Senator Leila de Lima expressed her solidarity with the pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, especially the youth, against the police siege on the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) which has been occupied by protesters for days.
“I express my solidarity with the people of Hong Kong, especially its courageous youth and students, in their struggle for greater democracy and meaningful freedom amidst China’s authoritarian exertion of its control over the autonomous region,” de Lima said in her latest statement.
"A people thirsting for real democracy, instead of being ruled from Beijing, deserve the solidarity and support of the free world, even those who, like us Filipinos, are again under the yoke of a tyrant who has discarded the rule of law and destroyed our democracy,” the detained vocal critic of the Duterte administration further said.
She said the plight of the Hong Kong citizens who continue to fight for their freedom mirrors that of the Filipinos who once fought to restore the country's democracy by toppling the Marcos' dictatorship.
"All freedom-loving Filipinos only know too well what the people of Hong Kong are going through. The same demonstration of people power that liberated us from a dictatorship more than 33 years ago is now happening in Hong Kong,” she said.
De Lima, who just marked her 1,000th day in detention, maintained that Filipinos should “do everything in the power of our solidarity as freedom-loving people of the world” to prevent another massacre from happening in Hong Kong.
"As Duterte is to us Filipinos, the Communist Party of China is to the Hong Kong people the authoritarian figure that cannot be allowed to go on suppressing the people’s clamor for freedom and democracy, in what they call the revolution of their time,” she said.