DFA: Pinoys in HK still safe

Despite the ongoing troubles in Hong Kong, there is no need to evacuate the estimated 130,000 Filipinos working and living there, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Saturday.

“The DFA wishes to assure everyone that, contrary to some false reports circulating in social media, Filipinos in Hong Kong remain safe and are largely unaffected by the ongoing protests in the area. Hence, the DFA sees no need to evacuate them at this time,” the department said in a statement.

The DFA said the Philippine consulate general in Hong Kong has been “closely monitoring the situation and is taking every step to ensure the continued safety and well-being of our nationals there.”

“Those wishing to follow the impact of developments in Hong Kong on our nationals are advised to visit the consulate’s website for updates and advisories, instead of turning to questionable sources of information in the social media,” it said.

Largest foreign ethnic group

Filipinos made up 2.5 percent of the territory’s population—the largest foreign ethnic group followed by Indonesians at 2.1 percent.

While many of the Filipinos in the Chinese territory are domestic workers, there are also many white-collar professionals who live and work in Hong Kong.

There are architects and engineers working on some construction projects in Hong Kong, some are information technology professionals while others are in media, accounting, culinary, dentistry, design, finance, law and music professionals, too.

Antigovernment protests paralyzed parts of Hong Kong for most of last week with protesters occupying schools, blocking roads and destroying private property.

The Hong Kong Transport Department said several important thoroughfares are not usable because of road blockages and damaged facilities. About 210 sets of traffic lights are under urgent repair.

Train services have also been disrupted after repeated attacks by masked, black-clad protesters who are seeking democracy for the territory.

A student from mainland China has been beaten by protesters and a city street cleaner was killed after he was hit in the head by a brick thrown by protesters.

Even the Chinese territory’s Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng was attacked while promoting Hong Kong in London.

Officially in recession

The Hong Kong government confirmed on Friday that its economy plunged into its first recession in a decade, weighed down by increasingly violent antigovernment protests and the escalating US-China trade war.

The economy shrank by a seasonally adjusted 3.2 percent in July-September from the previous quarter, in line with a preliminary reading, revised government data showed.

Gross domestic product contracted for the second consecutive quarter, meeting the technical definition of a recession.

From a year earlier, the economy contracted 2.9 percent, the same as the preliminary drop. The readings were the weakest since the global financial crisis in 2008/2009.

Months of confrontation between police and protesters have plunged the financial and trading hub into its worst crisis since it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Tourists are canceling bookings, retailers are reeling from a sharp drop in sales and the stock market is faltering, adding to pressure from China’s economic slowdown and the prolonged trade war.