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Will the Filipino community in Hong Kong accept her explanation?
“According to a report by the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong executive councilor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee’s article on Facebook and her blog criticized international media for only reporting about wrongdoings of employers of domestic workers,” reports ABS-CBNnews.com.
The lawmaker was said to have “pointed out the need to focus also on the issue of ‘Filipino maids being turned into sexual resources for male foreigners.'”
Reacting to the said reference, Emman Villanueva, spokesman of the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body, pointed out that “Ip’s statement was very racist ‘as it is directed to a particular nationality.'”
For her part, Ip has refused to apologize. She said that her statements were “based on complaints she received about maids from friends in the expatriate community.”
Ip went on to blame the graphic artist (who was not named in the report) for the “misleading’ photo used with the story bearing the headline, “Lots of Filipino maids provide sex services to foreign men?”
The article posted on Ip’s Facebook page and blog has been removed.
Photo: MorgueFile
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