Protestants want Filipino diplomat in HK sanctioned

THE National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) has joined the growing call to sanction a Philippine labor attaché assigned to Hong Kong following the spread of a recorded conversation where the official berated a distressed overseas Filipino worker (OFW).

In a letter to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, the NCCP lambasted Labor Attaché Romulo Salud for failing to at least suggest a legal recourse for Agnes Tenorio, a domestic helper who was fired by her employer barely two hours after she arrived in Hong Kong.

“(Salud) failed to suggest, much less provide, a legal recourse to Tenorio and instead agreed to immediate repatriation. His language was not only abusive but also inconsiderate. His inaction was irresponsible and insensitive. He must be sanctioned immediately,” NCCP general secretary Rev. Rex Reyes Jr. said in his letter to Baldoz.

Reyes said Tenorio’s plight brings to fore the abuses that overseas workers experience at the hands of various Filipino diplomats stationed worldwide.

“For so long, thousands bore similar abuses in silence because it was always their muffled word against those working in these consulates and because of the more urgent need to survive,” Reyes noted.

The pastor urged Baldoz to personally attend to the case and to demand a “higher degree of accountability” from officials of Philippine consulates.

The NCCP, one of the country’s larger coalitions of mostly Protestant churches in the country, has been among the strongest advocates of respect for human rights, including labor rights and overseas Filipino workers’ rights.

Report from GMANews.TV