No one is getting a “sorry” from the Philippines’ Special Envoy to China Ramon Tulfo even as he is currently in hot water for describing Filipino workers as lazy.
He actually seems pretty chill about it. Or at least he was in a tweet today where he says that he “will not apologize” for what he said during a TV interview on Thursday. The broadcaster even took the time to plug his column for The Manila Times tomorrow.
“Oh my, I kicked up a storm on my statement that Filipino workers in this country are lazy! TUCP (Trade Union Congress of the Philippines) wants me to apologize. Labor Secretary Bebot Bello, as can he (sic) expected, takes exception to my comment. Read my column at The Manila Times tomorrow why I will not apologize,” Tulfo wrote.
Oh my, I kicked up a storm on my statement that Filipino workers in this country are lazy! TUCP wants me to apologize. Labor Secretary Bebot Bello, as can he expected, takes exception to my comment. Read my column at The Manila Times tomorrow why I will not apologize.
— Ramon Tulfo (@RamonTulfoII) March 10, 2019
Tulfo is under fire for comparing Chinese and Filipino workers, calling the foreign nationals more hardworking and describing his own countrymen as lazy.
“You know why developers prefer Chinese workers? Hardworking. Filipino workers aren’t respectful anymore. When they go to a job site, that’s the only time they prepare their tools, whereas the Chinese are already prepared … [Filipinos] also keep on smoking and talking,” he said in Filipino about construction workers during an interview with CNN Philippines’ On the Record.
He appeared in an episode of the program that discussed the controversial influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines. During the interview, Tulfo also said that the Chinese are more efficient than Filipinos.
“What takes Chinese workers eight months to finish a certain project, it takes Filipinos a year,” he said.
Naturally, many Filipinos took offense with what he said. One of the first to react was Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, who said he “violently disagrees” with Tulfo.
“I violently disagree with his opinion on our Filipino workers. He should know that the most sought after workers in the world are the Filipinos. You go in any other country and they always give preference to Filipinos because Filipinos are very industrious, very efficient, and they are very good workers,” he said, according to CNN Philippines.
Labor group TUCP also slammed Tulfo for his comments.
“Coming from him as the country’s special envoy to China, these statements are uncalled for, unpatriotic and acts of betrayal to his countrymen. Particularly to Filipino workers who built and continues to build our economy and the economies of other countries, whether they work here or abroad,” TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said, according to ABS-CBN News.
“They (Filipinos) are the most sought-after type of workers compared to other nationalities because of their high quality of doing their work.”
Tulfo’s latest tweet comes two days after another controversial post where he calls Filipino workers “slowpokes.”
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?
— Ramon Tulfo (@RamonTulfoII) March 9, 2019
“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?” he said on Saturday.
Guess he had no problem fanning the flames even more.
