Solidarity Statement from Partido ng Manggagawa (Labor Party-Philippines) to the Hong Kong Protest Against Racist Demonstration

The Partido ng Manggagawa as the political party of the working class in the Philippines extends its hand of solidarity to the Hong Kong progressive workers and youth protest against the racist demonstration. The progressive workers and youth counter-demonstration communicates a message of unity and solidarity among peoples of different cultures and nationalities while the racist rally of councilor Paul Tse highlights the propaganda of discrimination and hate between locals and foreigners.

The workers in the Philippines support the anti-racist counter-demonstration not simply to assist our fellow Filipinos working in Hong Kong who are vulnerable and victim to discrimination and abuse. We back the counter-demonstration because we believe in working class unity that in a place like Hong Kong necessarily means solidarity among workers of different nationalities.

There are an estimated 150,000 Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong, most of who are domestic helpers and they comprise a third of such workers in this city. They obviously share the same conditions and interests as other migrant workers such as from Indonesia and Vietnam but also from mainland China, despite the differences in countries of origins, languages and cultures.

Contrary to the lies and propaganda of Paul Tse, migrant workers also share the same concerns and demands as local Hong Kong workers and youth. Because of their common destiny as waged labor, the interests and plight of locals and migrants are bound together. The colors of our skin may be different and we may speak diverse dialects but we are all workers who suffer from the exploitation and oppression of employers.

In fact it is capitalists and their agents like Paul Tse who benefit from splitting the ranks of workers and putting a Chinese wall between local and migrant labor. Only by uniting can workers advance its interests while disunity weakens our cause. Improving the wages and working conditions of migrants will ultimately lead to the betterment of local workers. And vice versa.

As can be seen from the track record of Paul Tse, he is not only a rabid racist but an anti-labor legislator. He was the only one who voted last year against a minimum wage in Hong Kong. Clearly he is not a superman as he advertises himself. But moreover he is not a defender of Hong Kong locals, a majority of whom are workers, as he claims. He is simply a protector of capitalist interests. In pursuit of this agenda, he wants to pit local against migrant workers. In this way, the ranks of the workers will weaken and our demands cannot be advanced by a united labor movement.

The Partido ng Manggagawa calls on our brother and sister migrant workers or OFWs as they called in the Philippines, to join and participate in the anti-racist counter demonstration on August 21.

Workers of the world unite! Manggagawa ng buong mundo, magkaisa!