DOLE warns OFWs anew amid ongoing HK protests

FILE: Hong Kong (Photo By Baycrest/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5)

MANILA — As mass actions in Hong Kong continue, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday urged overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) anew to stay away from areas where protests are held.

“Follow the advisory to avoid joining protest actions, do not wear white or black clothes, and stay at home after work,” DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.

Bello issued the advisory as violence is imminent from pro-democracy protests in the special administrative region.

For months, anti-government protests have rocked Hong Kong. Police authorities have described the situation as being on the brink of a total breakdown.

Bello said there is no advisory yet from the Department of Foreign Affairs or the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Hong Kong to impose a deployment ban.

“No word yet (on deployment ban),” he said.

Government data shows that there are some 180,000 OFWs in Hong Kong, majority of them are working as household service workers.

Protests started in June against plans to allow extradition to mainland China.