A group of Filipino workers in Hong Kong has criticized the Philippine Overseas Labor Office for hitting them with a “double whammy” of not telling them about a crucial change to their employment contracts, and then charging them again with the same fees they paid for what they thought was the correct paperwork.
Dolores Balladares, chairperson of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong or UNIFIL-MIGRANTE-HK, said it was doubly painful for OFWs “due mainly to the lack of information and foresight of the Philippine Consulate General through the POLO.”
“They already knew the HK Immigration Department will not be processing old contracts anymore starting February—and yet [POLO] processed the old contract they knew they could only give back to the applicant for submission to the Immigration by the said date or even after,” Balladares added.
She said many Filipino domestic workers complained they were not aware of the new blue-colored contract paper from Hong Kong Immigration when they submitted their old green-colored employment contract processed at the POLO office. The OFWs were then asked to return to the Philippine consulate to process the correct paper.
“However, instead of making amends for their failure to inform OFWs, thus creating confusion among the migrant workers, the POLO added more misery for them when they were required to pay another processing fee for the blue-colored contract,” Balladares said. “Should OFWs be punished and penalized for the incompetence of government officials?”
Philippine officials in Hong Kong were responsible for informing OFWs about the new contract process, and should not capitalize on the problem “of their own doing” to collect more fees from Filipino workers there, Balladares stressed.
She asked POLO officials to waive the employment contract processing fee for those whose contracts will be rejected by Hong Kong Immigration, and refund the payment of those already made to pay again.
“We urge you to provide genuine service to our sector and to stop taking advantage of the Immigration Department’s new policy to make money from the concerned OFWs,” she said.