Former House Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada and special envoy to China Mon Tulfo (INQUIRER.net file photos)
MANILA, Philippines — Former House Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada, a senatorial candidate in the May 2019 elections, on Sunday lambasted special envoy to China Ramon Tulfo for insisting that Filipino workers were lazy.
According to Tañada, the dedication of Filipinos to work had already proven for decades, with employers abroad seeking them.
“Masipag ang Pinoy. Huwag namang kapwa Pilipino at opisyal pa ng pamahalaan ang maglalaglag sa ating mga manggagawang Pilipino,” Tañada said in a statement issued on Sunday.
[Filipinos are industrious. Let it not be another Filipino, at a government official no less, who will let down Filipino workers.]
Tañada then urged Tulfo to work for the benefit of the Filipinos working abroad.
“Ginoong Tulfo, magtrabaho ka po para sa ating mga mamamayan. Bigyan mo ng tamang serbisyo ang ating mga OFWs [overseas Filipino workers], kasama dito ang trabaho at kabuhayan kung gusto na nilang bumalik sa ating bayan at sa kanilang pamilya,” Tañada said.
[Mr. Tulfo, please work for our citizens. Give our OFWs the right service — including given them jobs and sources of livelihood when the time comes that they want to return to their families.]
Aside from Tañada, labor leader and senatorial candidate Leody de Guzman also slammed Tulfo for his remarks.
De Guzman said that it seemed like Tulfo was acting like China’s envoy to the Philippines instead of the other way around.
READ: Tulfo acting like China’s envoy to Philippines — labor leader
Last Thursday, Tulfo defended the influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines.
“You know why developers prefer Chinese workers? They’re hardworking,” Tulfo said. “When Filipino workers go to a job site, that’s only when they will start preparing their tools, whereas Chinese workers are already prepared. Filipino workers always smoke and keep talking.”
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines demanded Tulfo to issue an apology for his remarks.
But Tulfo refused to apologize for telling the truth about “lazy” Filipino workers. /atm
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