Hong Kong - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arrived Sunday in Hong Kong for a three-day visit and was immediately met by a noisy protest demonstration of people demanding her resignation. She was greeted by more than 400 protesters outside her hotel in the Wan Chai district shortly after her arrival, with demonstrators accusing her of human rights violations and corruption.
They also accused the Arroyo administration of failing to protect the rights of Filipino migrant workers.
There are about 100,000 Filipinos working in Hong Kong, with about 95 per cent working as drivers or domestic servants.
The Manila leader was slated to attend the 11th Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong running March 31 to April 3 and she is to be one of the keynote speakers.
Earlier Sunday, Arroyo said she hoped to attract more investments to the country while attending the conference.
In a statement before departing for Hong Kong, Arroyo said she would meet with business leaders "to encourage them to continue to make strong investments in the Philippines."
"At a time when the Philippine economy is at its strongest in over 30 years, it is imperative that we stay focused on continuing to strengthen our economy through aggressive outreach to investors and to enhance our cooperation with governments in the region like Hong Kong," she said.
Arroyo added that her trip was part of efforts to boost the Philippine economy amid an economic slowdown in the United States, a historic spike in oil prices and a "near-crippling spike" in rice prices.
"Our trip to Hong Kong is another action we are taking to continue to bolster our economy through more investments and to confer with vital business and government leaders on cooperative steps we can take to cushion ourselves in Asia against these global issues," she said.
Aside from meeting with business leaders, Arroyo will also meet with tens of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong.
"We are also taking the opportunity to meet with our precious OFWs and introduce a series of programs we are taking to mitigate the strengthening of the peso against the dollar," she said.
The Philippine peso has strengthened to an average of 41 to the US dollar from 50 last year. The appreciation has been hurting Philippine exports and OFWs, two key drivers of the local economy.
