Handful of Filipinos allegedly face verbal bullying while in NAT queue

A handful of Filipino nationals have allegedly been verbally harassed while queuing for the three-day mandatory nucleic acid test (NAT), a mandate that created dissent on social media platforms.

Last week, the government announced that all Filipino passport holders, whether a Macau ID holder or not, should undergo a three-day NAT – a decision that came after its assessment that 9.5% of the total 1,795 Covid-19 cases are Filipinos. 

Those who have shifted to Macau passports from Philippine passports also received a text message from the government, notifying them of the mandatory testing requirements for three days.

Many expressed their concerns over social media, noting that the move is discriminatory as it only targets a small percentage of the total number of cases. 

On Friday, the next day after the announcement, health authorities reiterated that the move was not discriminatory or racist, nor were they profiling the community. Rather, the decision was based on statistics showing that one-fourth of Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks hail from the Philippines.

Official data shows that from July 11 to 22 (the partial lockdown), there were 83 cases in total, implying that 20 cases are Philippine passport holders. 

However, the mandate seemed to have caused the alleged bullying encountered by some Filipinos.

Eloida Alvarez was one such person who described her experience to the Times. 

Alvarez, who has been a nurse in the public hospital for about two decades, queued for a NAT with her two children.

On the first day of the mandate, while queueing up at the NAT station, two older individuals allegedly cussed at them “because we are Filipinos.”

“They were staring at us for a while until the couple just cussed at us twice,” she recounted. 

According to Alvarez, her sons were surprised at the actions of the couple as this was followed by another hostile local in the queue. 

“She looked at me from head to toe and I just said I didn’t care if she was angry,” she noted, adding that her words infuriated the woman.

Alvarez and her children hold a Macau passport but were required to undergo the NAT as they received a text message from the government noting they were part of the key group. 

Meanwhile, another Filipino non-resident worker expressed that while in the queue with two of her friends, they were allegedly laughed at while being termed, “Filipan.”

“Filipan” is the Cantonese word for Filipino. 

“I felt like that way they pinpointed us as Filipinos and tagging us as having a ‘high infection rate’ was very discriminatory. I think there could have been a better way to phrase it,” said Gabrielle, who refused to provide her last name. 

“I immediately had other people laughing at me just because I was in line at the NAT station. It was insulting to have these people look at you and judge you, then laugh at you. They knew we were Filipinos,” she added.

Health authorities justified the three-day NAT as part of their objective to “discover the hidden origins of infections.”

According to the government, Filipino nationals are employed in different sectors, and are more likely to gather.

Filipinos are not the first group that have been singled out for mass testing.

Back in October 2021, certain occupational and racial groups of individuals – identified as ‘key groups’ by the Health Bureau (SSM) – had been ordered to take four NATs in eight days.
At the time, this series of tests concerned workers in construction, laundry and security services, as well as non-resident workers from Nepal and Vietnam. 

During that time, the Nepalese community also expressed that many nationals felt discriminated against at work following the directive.

Meanwhile, another non-resident worker who refused to be identified, expressed that the fact that 25% of the community cases are Filipinos has hindered him from returning to work – sad news for the worker, as he has been on unpaid leave due to the partial lockdown. 

The Filipino national, who has been working at a hotel in the peninsula, said, “Our boss issued a memo to not give work schedules to us Filipinos because of the fact that 25% of community cases are of my nationality.”

“Due to this circumstance, my unpaid leave will be extended to the end of the month.”

Filipinos are no longer listed as a key group, and the mass testing requirements for the group ended yesterday.