Arroyo vows to keep up fight against maids' pay cut

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo promised a crowd of 5,000 flag-waving Filipinos in Hong Kong yesterday that her government has not given up on its fight to overturn the $400 pay cut imposed on foreign domestic helpers in April.

Mrs Arroyo arrived yesterday morning on a charter flight from Tokyo, staying barely three hours to deliver a 30-minute rousing speech to her compatriots, whom she hailed as 'model Filipinos'.

Hong Kong cut the minimum pay of foreign domestic helpers by $400, to $3,270, in April, and imposed the equivalent of a $400 monthly levy on employers from October. About 70 per cent of the 200,000 overseas domestic helpers in Hong Kong come from the Philippines.

'I am the only one of seven heads of state exporting labour to Hong Kong who persistently fought for the interest of our workers. We united to lead a campaign on the pay cut issue,' Mrs Arroyo said.

She said a High Court judicial review in Hong Kong was proceeding and a date had been fixed.

'Please rest assured that I will not let up in conveying to the Hong Kong authorities my determination and continued fight to uphold the interest of our overseas Filipino workers,' she said, much to the delight of the crowd at the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kowloon Bay.