China eyes hiring thousands of Pinoy household service workers

China may soon replace Saudi Arabia as the prime destination for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as it is targeting hiring household workers from the country, GMA News' Ivan Mayrina reported on 24 Oras on Tuesday.

The report said the economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines had asked for a meeting with Philippine labor officials last month to discuss the possibility of hiring Filipino household service workers.

"Ang China, there is a new rising class ng mga may pera na mga households na ngangailangan ng household workers, and ang hinahanap nila, ang preference nila Pilipino," said Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say.

Say said Chinese households prefer Filipinos because they are "religious" and "very neat."

"When it comes to faith in God, parang nagta-translate into the way they (Filipino workers) work. And they are good speakers," Say said.

Citing government data, the report said of the almost 600,000 Filipino workers who were deployed abroad last year, 47 percent were household service workers.

It added there are at least 5,000 Filipinos working as household service workers in China, albeit illegally.

The report said monthly salary for a household service worker in China is $1,000 or P50,000, although Filipinos only receive the minimum $400 — something Philippine labor officials will try to iron out when they meet with the Chinese delegation on September 20.

The meeting will also tackle other benefits and protection for OFWs in case an formal agreement was reached, the report added.

The report also said once China started hiring Filipinos, the number of OFWs could balloon from 2,112,331 in 2016 to more or less 3 million this year. It said China is aiming to hire 100,000 foreign workers every month.

Say credited this development to "improving relationships" between the Philippines and China, which are embroiled in a territorial dispute involving portions of the vast South China Sea.

Filipino workers interviewed by GMA News were generally favorable to working in China. —KBK, GMA News