Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said over Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) the action would be taken if Hong Kong rejects the request of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
"If this will not be successful, the (DOLE) had said that it is prepared to elevate this issue to the ILO," he said.
However, Bunye said Filipino officials were continuing to negotiate with Hong Kong authorities for the possible deferment of the wage cut.
Earlier, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said he had convinced Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Che-hwa not to impose the levy on some 153,000 Filipino domestic helpers.
Reports said the wage cut will apply to foreign maids who would be hired starting April 1. Hong Kong announced Wednesday it would propose a new tax and impose a pay cut that could amount to as much as $HK 800 per month for the territory’s thousands of foreign domestic helpers.
Members of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK) and the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) marched in Hong Kong yesterday in an indignation rally against the decision of the Executive Council to impose a wage cut.
In a statement, UNIFIL-HK said the Philippine government should exert a "united effort" to convince Hong Kong not to impose the wage cut.
"Sluggish responses have no place now that our livelihood is at stake," read the statement.
Connie Bragas-Regalado, UNIFIL-HK president, said they are disgusted over the reported "grandstanding" of Philippine government officials over the issue.
"Unlike the seamless unity and determination they have shown in supporting the US war on Iraq and US terrorist-tagging, Malacañang showed no guts and united action to fight this pay cut. When will they start to act? When our wage is not enough anymore to feed us and our families?"
Regalado said UNIFIL-HK has urged the Philippine consulate in Hong Kong to continue backing the protest actions of migrant workers through diplomatic channels.
"Unlike the Philippine consulate and the Senate, we expected more from the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), DOLE and Malacañang than the useless tit-for-tat that they are exhibiting right now," she said.
"With our experience of the visit of (Labor) Secretary (Patricia) Sto. Tomas and (Foreign) Secretary Blas Ople here, it is no wonder that they cannot still firm up their stands and shape up until now."
Regalado said De Venecia has "misinformed the public" on the extent of the impact of the wage cut on Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong.
"While it is true that the currently employed 160,000 Filipinos will not have their wages reduced, what does he think will happen to them once they renew their contracts?" she said.
Regalado said President Arroyo is an "absentee president" who was "nowhere to be seen" while the Hong Kong government attacked the rights and jobs of Filipino workers.
"While we are waging a battle to save our livelihood, she was globetrotting and unabashedly announcing her support to the US-led war," she said.
"Where is your zeal for your people now that a wage cut is in the offing?"
The Arroyo administration would be remembered as having left thousands of Filipinos to suffer a "slow death" of violations of their rights by a cruel host government, she added. — With AFP report