The plans of many domestic workers - not to mention employers and agencies - were given an unexpected shake-up after the government on Sunday banned Philippine Airlines from operating flights between Manila and Hong Kong, one day before a policy shift was to reopen the city's doors to helpers vaccinated overseas.
Mike Cheung Chung-wai, president of the Overseas Employment Centre, said he was surprised to find out about the sudden flight suspension. Philippine Airlines is one of a handful of carriers shuttling domestic workers between Manila and Hong Kong, and the unexpected ban comes at a particularly inopportune time.
Employers had hoped that thousands of foreign domestic helpers would take advantage of the arrangement in the coming months, but the process - already hampered by a limited number of quarantine hotel rooms - is likely to be complicated early on by the Philippine Airlines ban.