MANILA – Malacañang expressed alarm on foreign workers being abused in the country following the death of a handcuffed Chinese national in Las Piñas City last week.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said foreign nationals, especially Chinese workers, should report their abusive employers to the authorities.
“The Palace is concerned with the growing reports that foreign workers in the country are being subjected to coercion, illegal detention and other violations of law even by their own countrymen while in the Philippines,” Panelo said.
“We need to put a stop to these illegal acts. We will not allow nor tolerate any kind of abuse inflicted on any foreigner whether sojourning or working in this country, whether done by their fellow nationals or by our own citizens,” he added.
A 27-year-old Chinese Yang Kang fell to his death from the sixth floor of his office building in Pamplona Dos, Las Piñas City after allegedly being held prisoner by his employer.
Closed-circuit television footage showed the Chinese was clambering out of the sixth-floor window. He could be seen peering out before detaching its grills and climbing out for his attempted escape.
“We express alarm on the death of a handcuffed Chinese national who reportedly died after escaping from a sixth-floor window and falling from the building,” Panelo said. “No one is exempted from the strict enforcement of our laws of the land.”
Panelo added the Palace ordered the Philippine National Police to investigate into the incident, track down the victim’s supervisor and to treat the case with dispatch./PN
