Filipino domestic helpers in HK rally against WTO

HONG KONG (AP) — Hundreds of domestic helpers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Nepal working in Hong Kong protested yesterday against the World Trade Organization, denouncing it as favoring big business over rank-and-file workers.

One protester dressed up as the devil, holding a sickle that said "WTO." Others posed as indigenous people, donning black masks, straw-like dresses and holding shields with the letters "WTO" crossed out.

Eman Villanueva, spokesman for the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, which organized the protest, said about 1,200 people turned out. Police didn’t immediately provide a crowd-size estimate.

The protest came two weeks before a key WTO meeting in Hong Kong that aims to lay the groundwork for a new treaty liberalizing world trade.

The demonstrators also staged presentations showing better local economic conditions without unfettered free trade, Villanueva said.

"Generally speaking, the policies of the WTO are favorable to businesses and to multinational companies at the expense of the life and welfare, the livelihoods of the common people," he said.

The WTO didn’t immediately respond to a reporter’s e-mail seeking comment.