Filipino helpers found after search in Hong Kong fired, face being sent home
Aleli Perez Tibay and Imee Mahilum Pabuaya have so far refused to tell police where they were for two weeks, sources say
Two Filipino domestic helpers who were found by Hong Kong police after going missing for two weeks have been fired and face being sent back to their country, Philippine authorities have said.
While the search for Aleli Perez Tibay, 33, and Imee Mahilum Pabuaya, 24, was over, questions about their disappearance remained as they had refused to tell police where they were for the past two weeks, sources told the Post on Friday.
Some members of the public have questioned whether the pair should be held responsible for wasting the resources of emergency forces that mounted the search.
The secretary for the Philippines’ Department of Migrant Workers, Hans Leo Cacdac, told a press conference on Friday the only information his government had received was that the two women had got lost while hiking.
“This is what they have said, that’s their version of the events,” he said. “So we’ll continue to talk to them about the details of their disappearance. We will ask them to craft a statement, a sworn statement.”
In response to rumours the women had been trying to flee debts, Cacdac said he was not aware of such details.