HONG KONG - Stranded Hong Kong-based overseas Filipino workers and Hong Kong permanent residents who are Philippine passport holders have appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) travel ban as uncertainties have started to take a hit on their work and stay status in Hong Kong.

An emotional Jefrey Camaya, a father of two, who flew to the Iloilo, Philippines, during the weekend, was disappointed to find out that his flight from Clark to Hong Kong had been cancelled at 5 a.m. yesterday, following the expansion of Duterte's travel ban.

"Ang panawagan ko lang kay President Duterte na please look into it. Bigyan ng consideration ang OFW, ang HK residents. Please look into it na kailangan namin mag-work," said Camaya as he turned teary, adding he was starting to miss his family.

(My appeal to President Duterte is to please look into it. Give consideration for overseas Filipino workers and Hong Kong residents. Please look into because we also need to work.)

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

Camaya's wife and three children are based in Hong Kong. He said his employer has already told him that they "need to find a way to get back home". He said it's not true that just because he is a permanent resident in Hong Kong, he can easily find a job anytime.

"Ang problema yung bills [to pay] ngayong buwan na to, yung month na babayaran namin ngayon. Sinong magbibigay nun? Gobyerno ba? Gobyerno ng HK? Ang hirap e," said Camaya.

(The problem is the bill this month. Who will pay for that? Is it the government? Government of Hong Kong? It's so difficult.)

Jona Paredes, a domestic worker in Hong Kong, travelled all the way from La Union to Manila from 12 a.m. to 9 a.m. only to find out several hours later that her international flight to the former British colony would not push through after the ban. Paredes said she had spent 15 hours at the airport and left Manila at around 2 a.m. on February 3.

She said she met somebody from Laoag who offered her some money so she could go home upon learning about her ordeal.

"Yung pera ko, maigi na lang may nagbigay ng pamasahe sa akin. Yung pera ko konti na lang yung deperensiya kaso kailangan ng dagdag. Maigi may nakasabay ako pinamasahian niya ako ng pandagdag pamasahe dito," said Paredes.

(My money...it's good that someone gave me money for my fare.)

She said they were at the boarding gate when 10 minutes before their flight, they were told that their check-in had been put on hold. Then they were told there was a flight delay and announced it three times and would update at 5 p.m. Finally, they were reportedly told there had been some problems with the Philippine government.

They were then told to head back to the immigration area where they were told their flight had finally been cancelled. So, their record at the immigration was "void".

They were told to approach the Cebu Pacific office to see whether they could rebook or refund their flights.

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

"Pero sa kalaunan din na naghintay na kami after 5 hours nang paghihintay, isa lang naman pala ang option. Refund din, walang rebook kasi hindi nila alam kung kailan daw mag-o-open ulit yung flight ng papunta diyan sa HK," said Paredes.

(But after waiting for 5 hours, there was really only one option. It was to refund. No rebooking because they don't know when the flights will be opened going back to Hong Kong.)

Paredes said she is grateful that her employers have been very understanding and would always remind her that her health and safety were most important. She said they discussed options to get her back to Hong Kong and even Singapore was on the table, but it was after she told them that she might encounter problems should she decide to go to Singapore and it may make matters worse.

They all agreed and were willing to wait for her return without any conditions and because she was told they love her like a family. She will have to look for some ways to make ends meet while she is in the Philippines.

"Yung wish ko sana assistance kahit magkano ...pero ang pinaka-wish ko talaga is makabalik ng HK kasi dun talaga ang aking trabaho," said Paredes.

(My wish is that there would be some kind of assistance, but my utmost wish is to really come back to Hong Kong because that is where my work is)

For "Linda", a Filipino expat based in Hong Kong for five years, the situation is already a double whammy. She said, if nothing changes in a week, she would be forced to stay in Manila and would need to spend a lot of her own money to buy equipment just to keep up with her work in Hong Kong from Manila.

She is fortunate that she didn't end up going to the airport after receiving a cancellation email from Philippine Airlines.

"I work as a designer for the tourism industry. I've been working in Hong Kong for five years and my work has been impacted by the protests. So, I am anxious to do what I can for our ongoing projects even if business is shut down for now and everyone is working from home," said Linda.

The designer said they should have been allowed to travel outbound and been made to sign a waiver knowing the risks, for example, saying they understand how Filipino airplane staff are exposed to danger if flights continue, then give them the option of doing a transfer.

"Because other countries are still ok operating with the risk. We all have to make our choices for the life we ended up making,' said Linda. "My life is not over but it's still painful and it's a terrible vulnerable feeling to be in a precarious situation where I am not given a choice. I worked really hard to be worthy of my job. I don't want to be in this situation where I am in danger of losing it," she added.

Mrs. Smith, a Filipino and Hong Kong resident who works for a furniture solutions company, said she and her British husband were supposed to fly out via Cathay Pacific on February 2 when they were told at the check in counter that she won't be able to fly with her husband because of the ban.

She said she is lucky she is able to work from home, but if it takes longer than a few days, she'll be more concerned how she can get back to work.

"I find this very frustrating and extremely inconvenient. I feel this travel ban for outgoing Filipinos was careless and not thought out carefully," said Mrs. Smith. "We should at least have a choice to sign a waiver that we choose to go back to where we reside despite the 'risks'."

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

The situation was equally frustrating for "Jane", a Hong Kong-based regional marketing executive for a global company handling the Asia Pacific market. Jane was in Manila to spend her Chinese New Year holidays when she was among the hundreds who were also caught off guard by the President Duterte's announcement.

"They should have announced it and have a grace period so we wouldn't have had to go to the airport and process everything and we could have planned ahead," said Jane.

"The immediate effectivity was to just cause chaos. I was in the airport for 10 hours. I'm just quite disappointed that no one is speaking on our behalf, on behalf of the OFWs and they're just basically...oh we'll give you P10,000. That won't solve it."

What made matters worse was around 34 people, who were her co-passengers whom she had spoken with, were unable to locate their baggage after having spent 10 hours waiting at the airport. They were supposed to leave for Hong Kong at around 3pm on February 2 when they were also told their flight was cancelled.

They were told that their baggages had been sent to Hong Kong. She said Cebu Pacific personnel had asked them to leave their contact details and promised to update them as soon as their baggage arrived from Hong Kong.

In a text message to ABS-CBN News, Cebu Pacific Spokesperson Charo Logarta said that because of the confusion from the government's directives, some of the luggage were mistakenly not removed from the plane. She said that passengers would be getting back their baggage on February 4.

For another special administrative region affected, Macau-based hotel housekeeper Jayson Ocenar, an OFW there of four years, said his baby of 1 year and five months, along with his in-laws and relatives were supposed to stay with them for two months after arriving in Macau on January 12.

But when things got worse in China, he decided to book their flight on February 2, but it got cancelled. He tried to rebook it on February 4, but got cancelled.

He said they visited the Philippine Consulate in Macau on February 3 and met Filipinos with the same concern. He said some were tourists and visiting their families in Macau. He estimated that around 100 Filipinos were there, including children. And one Filipino had been given a visa extension for one month as the visa was supposed to expire yesterday. He said they have written a request letter for repatriation for the stranded tourists, which include his relatives.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based OFWs who are affected by the 2019 n-CoV travel ban with visas expiring soon or those who have been terminated, are encouraged to report to the Hong Kong immigration department about their status.

"There were instances that their flights are cancelled...ma-OS (overstay) sila. (Ang) Advice namin, they should go to immigration for extension of their visa and coordinate with their airline," said Assistant Labour Attache and Officer-In-Charge Antonio Villafuerte in a phone interview with ABS-CBN News on February 4.

"Ngayon, kung may problema po sa immigration, that's the time na punta sila ng Assistance to Nationals (sa Consulate) because it will become an immigration case already," he added.

Villafuerte said they are scheduled to meet with the Hong Kong Labor Department and the Immigration Department, together with the Philippine Consulate, on Tuesday (February 4) to discuss issues affecting Filipino workers over the current situation on affected Filipino workers in Hong Kong and those in the Philippines.

Filipinos with emergency concerns are advised to call the Consulate's hotline at +852 9155 4023. For matters concerning the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), nationals are advised to call +852 5529 1880 and +852 6323 9324, respectively. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Immigration can be reached at their 24-hour hotline at (852) 2824 6111.