OWWA: OFWs safe in HK

CEBU, Philippines - The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration-7 has assured that the 7,300 workers from Central Visayas are safe despite the escalating pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

OWWA-7 information officer Edda Marie Enclomar said they have not received any distress call from the workers in Hong Kong or from their relatives in the Philippines since the political turmoil started four days ago.

“So far wala gyud tay nadawat nga tawag gikan sa pamil-ya nga ni-ask nato ug assistance regarding this one…kay naa man gyud nay manawag kung naay concern like sa repatriation sa Libya,” Enclonar said.

Enclomar said that OWWA-7 is waiting for official communications from the central office regarding the situation of the OFWs.

“I guess dili pud siguro sila ingon ana ka-affected or their jobs…most of them are also not permanent residence in Hong Kong,” Enclonar added.

According to OWWA, there are around 200,000 OFWs working in Hong Kong. The agency official admitted they could not determine how many of them have joined the protest.

OFW protesters were already given advisory by Malacañang to refrain from joining to the activity especially those who were tagged along by their employers.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has also called on OFWs and Filipino tourists to avoid the sites of de-monstrations such as Central, Admiralty, Tim Mei Avenue, Lung Wei Road Causeway Bay, Mongkok, Wan Chai and the government headquarters in Tamar.

Hong Kong, a Chinese special administrative region, is a popular destination among Filipino tourists.

Protests erupted in Hong Kong over the past days after China announced that it will only allow Beijing-approved candidates to participate in the city’s elections in 2017.— (FREEMAN)