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CG Tejada sees a decline in trade & tourism
for HK because of the protests |
By Vir B. Lumicao
Stay safe, calm and vigilant. This is the advice of Consul
General Raly Tejada to the Filipino community in Hong Kong
amid the turmoil sparked by the extradition bill.
Congen Tejada gave the advice in an interview with The SUN on
Sept 4, just hours before Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced she was
withdrawing the controversial bill.
The newly installed head of the Philippine mission said
what’s happening in the city is an internal matter for Hong
Kong. He was responding to a query on whether the Philippine
government has a special message to Filipinos amid the crisis.
“They’re undergoing some transformation, they’re examining
what’s going on in their territory, there’s some question being asked,” Congen Tejada said.
“But my advice to all Filipinos here is to stay safe, stay
calm, be vigilant, and rest assured that the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong will be here to continue to look after their
rights and welfare.”
The consul general arrived on the Hong Kong second week of
August and formally took up the post on Aug 14 at the instruction of Foreign
Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., who, accordingly, saw the need to install a head
of post urgently as the protests snowballed.
“We need to protect (the workers’) rights and welfare here,
fight for their rights and welfare, and ensure that all benefits will be
granted to them,” he said.
He said the Consulate issues advisories regularly, almost daily,
on its website and on its Facebook page advising Filipinos to stay away from
demonstration areas and avoid wearing black or white upper garments so as not
to be mistaken for a participant.
Congen Tejada said the weekend protests in Hong Kong have also
hurt the city’s tourism and that its trade with the Philippines may have been hit
likewise, based on news reports that a decrease in GDP is expected.
“Well, tourism has taken a big hit definitely. We have an
advice that tourists or people who are going to have non-essential travel to Hong Kong to delay their trip in the meantime because of
the unstable situation,” he said.
The consul general said he believes Hong Kong people
continue to visit the Philippines
but that “I suppose the (they) now are quite preoccupied with what’s happening
here.”
He said with access to the airport sometimes being disrupted
by protest actions, people find that going in and out of Hong
Kong is a bit inconvenient. “But I am confident travels by Hong Kong
people to the Philippines
are still continuing as scheduled,” he said.
“For sure, some of our trade relationship with Hong Kong might be affected but the figures are not in
yet. I’m not quite sure.”
In his return to the city that was his first overseas
posting as a diplomat, Congen Tejada said he was impressed by Hong Kong’s
transformation from the time he arrived here to serve as a vice-consul in the
early 2000s.
“Well, it has gone by leaps and bounds, it has new
buildings, it is still the dynamic Hong Kong
that I know, very fast, very efficient. They have this can-do spirit which I
truly admire,” he said.
On his first day Sunday at work, Congen Tejada began what he
called a tradition of inviting Filipinos waiting outside the public hall for
consular services to open to attend the flag-raising ceremony.
“You know their reaction was good, they’re very happy. They
were able to sing the national anthem and do the ‘Panatang Makabayan,’ so
nabuhay yung sense of patriotism and they were very proud of it. It was a
simple gesture yet it made a big difference sa kanila,” he said.
“Not only did it start off the day for them, but they’re
very happy with their engagement and this is the kind of engagement I want to
continue,” he said.
Congen Tejada said he had a chat with some of the workers and
found out they were happy to work in Hong Kong.
“It seems that their rights are protected here, the rule of
law is very strong. In fact, all their cases have been always attended to, not
only by the Consulate, but the local government is very active in addressing
their concerns,” he said.
He noted that Hong Kong is
a very safe place for the workers where contracts are being followed. “If their
contracts are not followed, the Consulate runs after those who are erring and,
of course, the Hong Kong government always
makes sure that the contracts are being followed,” he said.
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