Filipinos face entertaining test

PHILIPPINE musicians and entertainers wanting to work in Hong Kong will have to pass a skills and music proficiency test in a bid to stop abuse by foreign prostitution rackets.

The new test, called the 'Artists Accreditation and Welfare System', is being introduced by the Philippine authorities to stop the rackets from exploiting young girls by hiring them as 'entertainers'.

'There has always been a black mark against girls who go as entertainers to places like Hong Kong and Japan,' Philippines Overseas Employment Administration director Lorna Fakardo said.

Ms Fakardo said the prospective entertainers working overseas would have to pass both a skills and a written exam on topics such as Philippine culture and values in order to get an Artists' Record Book, which will log all overseas bookings and performances, and without which an artist will not be allowed to leave the Philippines.

'We will give them training, if needed, and then they will be examined by a professional entertainer from the National Commission for Culture and Arts and the Alliance of Committed Artists in Performing Arts,' Ms Fakardo said.

'Overseas, we will call upon non-government organisations and church groups to monitor the musicians. If they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, or in the place they are supposed to be doing it in, then we will blacklist the club.