Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong. Photo: Asia Times
Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong. Photo: Asia Times

Dozens of Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong have taken to social media to appeal for help in getting their passports back after pawning them with an unlicensed money-lending company that was raided by police on Thursday.

The OFC company’s offices on Des Voeux Road in Central and Wan Chai in Hong Kong and Kowloon’s Sham Shui Po were raided, sunwebhk.com reported. It was not clear how many Filipinos had lost their passports and if all those held in the OFC’s three offices were all seized.

Consul Paul Saret, head of the assistance to nationals (ATN) section, said if the police seize passports in connection with a suspected offense, the passports will be kept as evidence, which is what happened in at least two recent cases involving unlicensed loan sharks.

The consulate, in accordance with standard operational procedures, will cancel the passport and require the holder to apply for a replacement at the main passport office of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila.

He advised those who believe their passports were seized in the raid on the OFC offices to report to the ATN immediately so they can verify the information, and get advice on what to do next.

Some of the borrowers reported that staff members at OFC had given assurances that they could still get their passports back from the police if they paid their outstanding loans.

One Filipina said she had been working in Hong Kong for only eight months and was scared she would be sacked if her employer found out about the loan. Another worried that her visa would be revoked because she no longer has the passport in which it was stamped.

Join the Conversation

1200 Comments

  1. What i don’t understood is if truth be told how you are not really much more smartly-liked than you may be right now. You’re very intelligent. You realize therefore significantly in the case of this subject, produced me for my part believe it from a lot of various angles. Its like women and men aren’t fascinated except it?¦s one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs excellent. All the time care for it up!

  2. Thanks a lot for sharing this with all folks you really recognize what you are speaking about! Bookmarked. Kindly additionally visit my site =). We can have a hyperlink exchange arrangement among us!

  3. Hello there, just become aware of your blog through Google, and located that it is truly informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels. I will appreciate when you proceed this in future. A lot of folks shall be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!

  4. Thanks a lot for giving everyone an extraordinarily spectacular opportunity to read critical reviews from this site. It can be so good and also jam-packed with a good time for me personally and my office friends to visit your site at the very least 3 times in a week to study the fresh guides you have got. And lastly, I’m also certainly fulfilled concerning the unbelievable things served by you. Selected two areas in this article are unquestionably the finest we have ever had.

  5. Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My blog is in the very same niche as yours and my users would really benefit from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Thanks!

  6. An impressive share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!

  7. Thank you, I have just been searching for information about this topic for a while and yours is the best I’ve discovered so far. But, what concerning the bottom line? Are you positive about the supply?