ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III on Thursday slammed Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano for attacking President Rodrigo Duterte’s Hong Kong stopover as a junket and public relations stunt.
He called Alejano a “grandstanding faultfinder.”
“We cannot avoid grandstanding nitpickers who always try to find fault, however petty, everywhere they look,” he said, referring to Alejano.
Publicity seekers tend to get greater media mileage every time they pan Malacañang, thus their rants against the President, he said.
“The way we see it, these whiners are actually the ones trying to draw attention to themselves. The President is a natural media magnet wherever he goes, even abroad. He does not need gimmicks,” he added.
In an official statement, Bertiz even said the Magdalo lawmaker is a “publicity-seeking whiner.”
On April 12, the President, in a six-hour meeting, met with members of Hong Kong’s Filipino community as an online registration was extended to accommodate as many people as possible at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.
He went to Hainan province to attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference last April 8 to April 11.
Meanwhile, Bertiz said she sees a “positive upward pressure” on the wages of the 190,000 Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong in the years ahead, on account of the strong demand for educated, English-speaking household staff in mainland China.
“Just like in Hong Kong, many middle class families in mainland China want their children to learn English – the world’s business language – at an early age. Thus, they prefer Filipino staff in their homes – around their children,” he said.
He said the President must visit Hong Kong again to pay tribute and lend encouragement to these overseas Filipino workers who send home an average of $830 million, or P43.16 billion.
