Tulfo: No apologies, Filipino workers are lazy, slowpoke

Special envoy to China Ramon "Mon" Tulfo Jr. is not going to make an apology for saying that Filipino workers are lazy and slowpoke.

“To the Filipino construction workers: Why should I apologize to you for telling the truth that you’re basically lazy and a slowpoke? Does the truth hurt?” Tulfo tweeted on Saturday.

He earlier described Filipino workers as inefficient compared with the ‘well-disciplined’ Chinese workers, pointing out that the influx of foreign workers in the country was due to employers’ preference.

“Alam mo bakit nila preferred, ‘yung mga developers, ‘yung Chinese workers? Masipag,” Tulfo said.

‘Yung Pinoy workers…‘pag pupunta sa job site, tsaka lang doon sila magpe-prepare ng kanilang tools, whereas ‘yung mga Chinese preparado na,” he added.

He said that a developer told him that what takes for Filipino workers a year to finish a certain project will only take Chinese workers eight months.

On Friday, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) president Raymond Mendoza said Tulfo’s remarks are unpatriotic and acts of betrayal to his compatriots, particularly to Filipino workers.

“Filipino workers are not what Special Envoy Ramon Tulfo has said,” Mendoza said in a statement.

“They are the most sought-after type of workers compared to other nationalities because of their high quality of doing their work and because of their ingenuity, diligence, creativity and hard work they put into every tasks they are into,” he added.

Mendoza also said that Tulfo should apologize for his "inflammatory" and "insensitive" statement. —Joviland Rita/LBG, GMA News