Taiwan OFW targeted over social media posts keeps job — migrant workers' advocate
MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 8:35 p.m.) — Elanel Ordidor, also known as also known as Linn Silawan, will keep her job and will stay in Taiwan, the diector of a migrant support group said Wednesday.
Ordidor had been targeted by labor attaché Fidel Macauyag for social media posts that the Department of Labor and Employment described in a ress release as "nasty and malevolent materials against President Duterte."
It also said that the Philippine Overseas Labor Office "coordinated with her broker and employer on her deportation on the basis of the gravity of Ordidor’s offense under Philippine law."
In a Facebook post, Lennon Ying-Dah Wong, director of SPA Shelter-Free Help for Migrant Workers in Taiwan, said a mediation meeting by the the director of labor of the Yunlin County government resulted in Ordidor getting to keep her job.
Citing an update from the county's director of labor, Wong said Ordidor's "employer will continue to hire her, and she won't be fired, nor will they be brought to [the Manila Economic and Cultural Office] or deported.
"As long as Linn does not violate the laws in Taiwan, she will not be deported," Wong also said, adding that the labor department has asked the police to ensure Ordidor's safety.
"Linn has now returned to her employer's home to continue her work and the emergency is temporarily lifted," he also said.
SPA—Serve the People Association—works with Migrante International-Taiwan Chapter and Asosiasi Tenaga Kerja Indonesia-Taiwan to provide assistance and shelter to distressed migrant workers.
Wong noted that because MECO and the POLO "has the power to suspend any agency from recruiting migrant workers from the Philippines, so the brokers often prefer to cooperate with MECO/POLO."
A Focus Taiwan report on the mediation meeting corroborated Wong's statements, citing Yunlin County Labor Affairs Department Director-General Chang Shih-chung as saying Ordidor would not be deported.
"During the talks, Chang said the woman's employer and broker said they had no intention of terminating her contract or seeking her deportation to Manila through the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), the Philippines de facto embassy in Taiwan," the Focus Taiwan report also said.
MECO: Labor attaché's move vs Taiwan OFW unilateral, regrettable
There was no request by Manila to have OFW Elanel Ordidor deported from Taiwan, the Philippines' representative there said on Wednesday.
Angelito Banayo, chair of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, confirmed, however, that labor attaché Macauyag had talked to Ordidor, her employer and employment broker over her social media posts critical of the government.
"The labor attaché in Taichung... apparently talked to the broker of the employer of Ms. Ordidor," Banayo said in an intervew on the ABS-CBN News Channel, adding that Macauyag got to talk with Ordidor.
"And then the employer informed the broker that he wanted to dismiss or let off the services of Ms. Ordidor. I do not know the reason behind that," Banayo said.
DOLE, in an April 25 press release, said the POLO had "coordinated with her broker and employer" to have Ordidor deported.
"Someone must have brought the attention to a labor official in the Philippines and the labor official talked to the labor attaché in Taichung and asked him to look into this and the action, of course, done is something that is regrettable," Banayo also said, saying he has apologized to Taiwan's foreign affairs ministry over reports that the Philippines had tried to have Ordidor deported.
He said that someone in the Department of Labor and Employment had made a mistake in how the press release on the issue was written and that he wrote Taiwan's foreign affairs ministry and "apologized for the wording of whatever statement that was."
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that migrant workers in Taiwan have freedom of speech, Taiwan News reported Tuesday.
"Taiwan is a sovereign, independent country where foreign workers enjoy 'citizen treatment,' and their rights and interests are protected by relevant laws and regulations, including freedom of speech, which should be respected by governments of all countries," Taiwan's MOFA reportedly said.
It has also been quoted as saying that "no person or institution, in this case, has the right to pressure her, her employer, or broker, nor shall she be deported without consultations held between both governments."
Ordidor, who also goes by Linn Silawan, had been critical of the government's reponse to the COVID-19 pandemic, Banayo said, and some Filipino social media users in Taiwan had taken offense. He stressed that Macauyag's actions were "unilateral" and had not been coordinated with MECO, the agency that maintains de facto relations with Taipei.
In a separate interview on the ABS-CBN News Channel, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace is leaving the matter "to the jurisdiction of Taiwanese authorities, which forms part of China."
He stressed that Ordidor's case is up to the authorities of "Taiwan and China. Taiwan is part of China."
The Philippines does not have formal relations with Taiwan and recognizes the People's Republic of China as the legitimate government of China. The MECO, according to its website, is "the duly designated instrumentality to promote and protect Philippine interests in Taiwan, [and] has been authorized and conferred with authority to perform functions usually carried out by Philippine foreign missions but of a non-political, non-security nature."
The government's "One China" policy previously led to the sudden expansion in early February of a travel ban on arrivals from the People's Republic of China and its special administrative regions to include those from Taiwan.
The travel ban was criticized by the Taiwanese government which said the measure was based on "wrong information" since Taiwan is not under the People's Republic of China.
The government lifted the ban on arrivals from Taiwan days later "by reason of the strict measures they are undertaking, as well as the protocols they are implementing to address the COVID-19." — Jonathan de Santos
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