Four Seasons pests
PAMPANGA Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband Mike on Monday were hounded in their tony Four Seasons hotel in Hong Kong by Bayan militants based in the Chinese territory.
It was not clear how the Filipino activists had discovered where the Arroyos were staying, but about 20 showed up by the driveway of the luxury hotel in the Central district around 8:30 a.m. Monday, according to reports from Hong Kong.
The hotel security tried to shoo the placard-waving group, but decided to allow the protesters to chant and work out their hatred for half an hour when they moved to the sidewalk until they peacefully dispersed.
The Filipino militants are based at the nearby St. John’s Cathedral, using the Anglican Church’s ministry work for domestic workers as springboard to advance their left-wing causes.
One of the organizers was identified as Cynthia Tellez, the same St. John’s-based social worker who, way back in 1988, organized a picket of Filipina maids timed with the visit of then President Corazon Aquino to protest—this is true—the presence of the American bases in the Philippines.
The consul in charge of dealing with the Tellez group at that time, because of her gender and remarkable patience, was Elizabeth Buensuceso, now the ambassador to Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
Even Hong Kong-based Filipino journalist Juanito Concepcion, who has a soft spot for maids, tried to get into the groove. He managed to invite Tellez to dinner at the Ned Kelly’s jazz bar but recoiled after smelling that the female organizer had links with the National Democratic Front.