FILIPINO maids have been warned by their consulate in Hong Kong to prepare for an ''uncertain future''.
Their fate after 1997 hinges on a verbal assurance given by China to the Philippine President, Fidel Ramos, last year that all domestic helpers would be allowed to stay in Hong Kong, regardless of the change in sovereignty.
But Philippine Consulate labour attache, Virginia Son, fears the assurance is not enough to guarantee the future of the more than 100,000 domestic workers.
''It is not clear under what enactment or legislation the Filipino maids will be allowed to stay in Hong Kong after 1997,'' she said.
''If the terms are changed then all these maids would have to go back to the Philippines or find somewhere else to go.
''This is what we fear and we must prepare ourselves.'' Mrs Son said the consulate had launched a reintegration programme as a vital first step.
The programme would provide training in other skills, such as computer literacy, to help maids find work if they were forced to return home, she said.
