16,000 possible jobs lost due to row with Taiwan

MANILA, Philippines - Some 16,000 jobs that would have been filled by Filipino workers have been lost in Taiwan due to soured relations between Manila and Taipei following the killing by the Coast Guard of a suspected Taiwanese poacher two months ago.

Former Pangasinan congressman Amadeo Perez, who heads the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), confirmed the statement of Rep. Roy Señeres of party-list group OFW Family that Taiwanese employers have decided not to renew the contract of 10,00 Filipino workers and have sent them home. MECO is the Philippine representative office in Taiwan. It is an economic and cultural post because the country observes a one-China policy.

Perez said employers in Taiwan have been sending home Filipino workers since the killing incident in waters that the Coast Guard claimed were part of Philippine territory.

He said aside from the 10,000 workers who have been sent home and who would no longer be rehired, some 6,000 new recruits have failed to fly to Taiwan. “Our counterpart TECO (Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office) has refused to issue them visas,” he said in a television interview. He added that the government is doing its best to normalize relations between the two countries. Asked what the government would do to help the displaced workers, Perez said, “I don’t know, that is not part of our job.”

In a related development, the militant party-list group Bayan Muna urged Malacañang to release the report of the National Bureau of Investigation on the killing of the Taiwanese poacher.

It said the disclosure of the report could ease tension between Manila and Taipei, and spare workers from further sanctions. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has confirmed that the NBI has recommended that some Coast Guard and fishery personnel be held liable for the incident.