Sadness. And fear.

When I opened my facebook account tonight, my heart sank after seeing the profile pages of my former colleagues from HKG. My former colleagues who've been to the Philippines and enjoyed their stay here. My former colleagues who told me that they'd love to come back and visit whenever they have a long weekend.

Now, they have black ribbons as their profile pictures. Some of them have lit candles. While others are just black squares. The photos may vary, but the meaning is the same.

They also have words of disgust for the country and how it handled the situation that killed 8 of their countrymen. I could feel their sadness, their anger and their frustration. And frankly, I feel it, too. And I feel it more because I'm here where it all happened.

I also read the profile of my close Filipina friend who's living in HKG. She said that the friendly stall owner at the market is no longer friendly to her. That people who know she's Filipina now look at her with disappointment and disgust. That she's now ashamed to talk to her Chinese friends, and how she'd just like to lock herself up in her flat and stay there for a long time.

So while there's a feeling of sadness for the people of Hong Kong, I also feel fear for the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos working there. I can imagine how easy it would be for HK nationals to pick on, berate and even physically harm the domestics camping out at Statue Square and the HSBC building on Sunday. Or how easy it will be for them to fire them because of this incident.

I hope the situation doesn't reach that level. The situation is sad and scary enough as it is.