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Philippines incensed over HK maid
levy
MANILA - The Philippine Senate
unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday denouncing
"in the strongest possible terms" the decision of the
Hong Kong government to reduce the minimum wage of
foreign domestic helpers by imposing a HK$400 (US$52)
levy on their salaries.
The
resolution, introduced by Senate President Franklin Drilon, said
the levy was "discriminatory and should be brought to
the attention of the International Labor
Organization".
Drilon said "the tax burden is cruel and
unjust as, under Hong Kong's salary tax schedule, a Hong
Kong resident must have a monthly income of HK$9,000 (if
single) or HK$18,000 (if married) to be liable for
salaries tax".
"A foreign domestic helper in
Hong Kong earns only about HK$3,670 a month and yet she
would be required to pay the same amount of tax as a
Hong Kong junior executive who earns more than seven
times her salary." Drilon noted.
"This tax is
inequitable as it will be imposed only on domestic
helpers while the other service givers will not be
similarly taxed," he added.
In
a statement, Drilon also noted that the decision of the
Hong Kong government to cut the minimum wage of
foreign domestic helpers will ruin its international image as
a global city that adheres to free-market principles.
"Hong Kong's success has always been
built on free-market principles and its reputation for
openness to foreign trade, investment and services. It has
always prided itself to be a global city and a free-market
economy," Drilon said.
"This discriminatory and
unjustified imposition on domestic helpers goes against
those principles. It certainly does not look good for
the Hong Kong government to make the lowliest-paid
workers bear the brunt of the sacrifice during bad
economic times," he added.
Drilon said any
measure that would restrict the admission of the
continued presence of foreign domestic helpers in Hong
Kong would in effect be considered undue restriction on
the free flow of services.
"This imposition
of the Hong Kong authorities would convey the wrong
signal to the world that Hong Kong has now shifted its
economic philosophy by including its lowest-paid workers as
additional sources of revenues when times are hard,"
Drilon said.
The Hong Kong
government has said it will cut the minimum wage
for foreign domestic helpers by 11 percent, or
HK$400, to HK$3,270 beginning April 1. The cut would
bring the wage rate for foreign domestic helpers to the
1992 level.
The decision was announced by
Donald Tsang, chief secretary for administration, when he
met with members of the Legislative Council. The
decision will affect some 240,000 foreign domestic helpers,
of whom 153,000 are Filipinos.
At the same
time, Drilon reiterated his suggestion that Filipino
domestic workers and the Philippine government should
avail themselves of judicial remedies before the Hong
Kong courts.
Drilon said the wage cut was also
discriminatory to women, who comprise 95 percent of
Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong.
Tsang
said the move, along with other revenue-generating
measures, was necessary to address the government's
budget deficit, as well as ease the impact of the
economic slowdown on the Hong Kong middle class.
Tsang
announced that beginning October 1, a levy of HK$9,600
would be imposed on employers hiring foreign domestic
helpers. The amount will be paid in four equal
installments. Employers applying for foreign maids would
have to pay the first installment, which is not
refundable if they failed to get a new applicant within
four months.
In 1999, the Hong Kong government
slashed by 5 percent the HK$3,860 minimum wage for
foreign domestic helpers.
(Asia Pulse/PNA)
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