Domestic workers from the Philippines gathered at Chater Road, Central on Sunday ahead of newly-elected president Rodrigo Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address.
The address is an annual speech that takes place on the fourth Monday of July in the Philippines’ Congress.
The president is set to inform the nation about the current state of the country as well as the plans of his governance.
Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong often use the occasion to voice their concerns. The event included a parade in Central followed by performances and speeches by representatives from various groups.
They demand the promotion of policies to support domestic workers and the forwarding of a list of requests for the president to attend to within his first 100 days in office.
They also asked groups to sign a letter to the president on domestic worker-related affairs.
They hope to draw attention to issues such as the abolition of the Overseas Employment Certificate and the lowering of passport fees.
They are also asking for the scandal in which bullets were allegedly planted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as a means of extortion to be addressed.
These issues are amongst others that domestic workers face, such as potential overcharging of recruitment or placement fees, the mandatory live-in rule – which requires them to live with their employers – as well as the two-week rule, an immigration law demanding that workers find a new contract within two weeks of quitting or being fired from their job.
