Hong Kong’s Filipino domestic workers vote to clean up back home

This picture shows volunteers in Hong Kong holding placards to campaign for the upcoming 2016 Philippine election. — AFP photo

HONG KONG: Twerking, selfie-taking, picnicking and performing impromptu dance routines – Hong Kong’s 180,000-strong community of Filipino workers fill the city’s public spaces on Sundays, their day off, to relax and party.

But for the past few weeks the colourful gatherings have turned political, as the Philippines heads towards an election in which its migrant workers could swing a tight race.

Bands thrash out rock ballads backing their favourite candidates in the walkways and public squares of Hong Kong’s financial district, and campaigners wear t-shirts bearing political slogans to drum up support.

“It’s important to vote for change. I became a migrant worker because of poverty. We migrants are supporting candidates who want to help,” said 49-year-old Winnie Blaza, a domestic helper who has not lived in her home country for 20 years.

The majority of Hong Kong’s Filipino workers are domestic helpers, an often-abused underclass in the wealthy city, whose plight has been highlighted by several recent legal cases. But there is a sense of empowerment now, as they form part of a key demographic candidates are keen to corner: the 1.3 million Filipinos who are registered to cast absentee ballots.

Blaza is backing controversial candidate Rodrigo Duterte, who leads the polls despite remarks about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary that sparked protests from diplomats, the Catholic Church and women’s groups.

Likened by some to controversial US Republican candidate Donald Trump, he is held up by supporters as a maverick with a solution to corruption and crime. — AFP

 

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