By Vir B. Lumicao
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| The graduates with Labatt dela Torre (in white), with his two deputies flanking him |
Filipino domestic workers here should take advantage of free
skills and livelihood trainings to prepare them to return home should the
political uncertainty in Hong Kong worsen, and
put their jobs in jeopardy.
Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre gave this advice on Sunday,
Jun 16, as he spoke at the graduation of 52 massage therapy trainees at the
Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Wanchai.
The graduates made up the 10th batch of the 10-week training
course offered by the POLO and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Labatt Dela Torre, who was sweating and panting as he
arrived from a Health-Wise mission outreach in Yuen Long, apologized for his
delayed arrival for the graduation rites, where he was the guest speaker.
He spoke of how he had a hard time returning to the city by
bus and train because of the heavy volume of black-shirted passengers going to
Admiralty to join the anti-extradition protest.
He said at Admiralty, he had to find his way out of the
station because all the exits were clogged with people, as was the platform for
the line towards Wanchai. In the end, he
said, he had to exit in Admiralty by all means.
Labatt Dela Torre said the past few days’ protest action
against the extradition bill being pushed by the Carrie Lam administration shows
OFWs the importance of preparing for any eventuality.
He explained that the proposed legislation, if passed as
scheduled last Jun 12, would have made it possible for Hong Kong to send
accused people to places where it does not have an extradition treaty, such as
Taiwan, Macau, and especially, China.
He asked the workers if they thought they would be affected
by the proposed amendment to the law, and they answered “yes” in unison.
“This points to the fragility of our stay here in Hong Kong . So, the more empowered you are to return to
the Philippines
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“Kasi hindi natin alam, eh. Who would have guessed na ganito
ang mangyayari sa…ang bilis ha! Kailan nag-umpisa? Last Sunday, and then
Wednesday, then ngayon. Talagang ang bilis ng mga pangyayari,” he said.
He said things seemed to have cooled because the government
had backpedaled and suspended the hearing on the extradition bill indefinitely.
But he warned that when the protests had died down, the government could push
the bill again and “maaapektuhan na naman ang mga trabaho natin”.
He congratulated the graduates, many of whom, he said, were
already raring to go home. He said he hope they could put to good use the
skills that they learned.
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| Labatt congratulating a graduate |
Labatt Dela Torre reminded them of a standing offer from Nuat Thai, a massage therapy company founded by an OFW, that offers its franchise free of charge to every group of 10 OFWs who could to put up an outlet of the company.
He also advised them to prepare for the certification
assessment by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in
December this year.
“Sana
Also addressing the graduates were assistant labor attaches
Antonio Villafuerte and Angelica Sunga, who both urged the workers to take
advantage of the POLO’s skills training programs.
“Maganda ang ginagawa ninyo na ganyan na kung hindi kayo
busy sa inyong mga gawain…tingnan ninyo yung mga programang ibinibigay ng
opisina para magagamit ninyo pag-uwi ninyo sa Pilipinas,” Villafuerte said.
Sunga, for her part, praised the graduates for their
initiative to learn new skills instead of playing cards elsewhere on their days
off.
“Mabuti iyan para pag-uwi ninyo sa Pilipinas magkaroon kayo
ng ibang options. Sana
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