PH should apologize to HK for sake of 180,000 OFWs – lawmaker

OFW Family Club party-list Rep. Roy Señeres. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – A partylist lawmaker said the Philippines should apologize to Hong Kong for the sake of some 180,000 Filipinos working there.

OFW Family Representative Roy Señeres Sr. said the Philippines should not push Hong Kong to impose worse sanctions that could send back  thousands of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers).

He made the statement amid sanctions by Hong Kong that included ending the visa-free access of Philippine officials and diplomatic passport holders.

Relations have soured between Hong Kong and the Philippines after the latter refused to apologize for the act of a disgruntled police officer who hijacked a tourist bus and killed eight Hong Kong nationals three years ago.

“If we push Hong Kong to the brink and we refuse to apologize, they might turn against our OFWs,” the lawmaker said in a news forum Thursday. Señeres had served as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and a labor attaché to Washington D.C.

Meanwhile, Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe took a more hard-line stand against apologizing to Hong Kong.

He said he doubts Hong Kong is ready to send away skilled Filipino workers.

“Our OFWs have a high status. If it has an effect on us if they send our OFWs away, it also has an effect on them,” Batocabe said in Filipino.

“I think we’re doing the right thing not to apologize. This is not the country’s fault,” he added.

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