Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Sunday said there should be “no singling out of any nationality” in Hong Kong’s plan to inoculate around 370,000 foreign domestic workers before their contracts can be renewed.

Locsin made the statement in support of an earlier call made by Philippine Consul General to Hong Kong Raly Tejada who opposed the Special Administrative Region’s mandatory plan to vaccinate all domestic workers.

“@DFA Tell him he has my 100% support although all Filipinos in Hong Kong should get vaccinated but I see your point. I had to beg the Cabinet to get our domestic workers back in Hong Kong with Carrie Lam’s promise that they are like family and will be protected,” the foreign affairs secretary said in a tweet.

On Sunday, Consul General Tejada told the Hong Kong media that if the vaccination becomes a provision to work in the former Crown Colony, the application should be “non-discriminatory” and must not only include foreign domestic workers but also other non-resident workers to eliminate the “feeling of being singled out”.

At the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in China last year, the Philippine government halted the deployment of OFWs to Hong Kong only to allow their return later on at the behest of the Special Administrative Region’s Chief Executive Officer Carrie Lam.

Last week, the Hong Kong government ordered all house helpers to undergo COVID-19 testing until May 9 after two domestic helpers were discovered infected with mutated strains.

Locsin did not only support the Filipino consul general’s view but even went further by saying that Hong Kong’s plan to inoculate only domestic workers is something that “smacks of discrimination”.

“He’s got a point; it smacks of discrimination even though we’d all like to be treated that way in the Philippines where we lack vaccines. So, since I did Carrie Lam the favor to get domestic workers back into Hong Kong, make it mandatory for all foreign workers,” he said.

He noted that in the Middle East there was no discrimination in the implementation of its vaccination roll out because it covers everyone, Arab citizen or overseas workers, get vaccinated.

“Not even sure it was compulsory but it would’ve been okay. But no singling out of any nationality,” Locsin said.