TAIWAN will open 800,000 job opportunities within the year for foreign workers, with Filipinos among the preferred picks, an official of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) said yesterday.
In deference to its One China policy, the Philippines does not have diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Bilateral ties are handled by MECO in Taipei and the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Manila.
MECO Labor Officer Cesar Chavez Jr. said Taipei is looking to hire more foreign workers, particularly in the service industry and electronics sectors, in the coming months.
“The target is they would announce this December their demand for 800,000 workers,” Chavez told television network GMA7 in an interview, adding that Taiwanese employers have expressed inclination to hire Filipino workers.
Chavez said Taiwan is also looking to hire Filipino English teachers, and is offering monthly salaries of NT$72,000, or around P130,000 for passers of the licensure examination for teachers, and NT$40,000, or around P70,000 for non-passers.
There are around 200,000 Filipinos living and working in Taiwan, a democracy of more than 23 million people.
In the same interview, MECO chair Silvestre Bello III assured the safety of Filipinos in Taiwan amid the continuing tension in the Taiwan Strait and the upcoming presidential elections in January next year.
Bello said Taiwanese authorities have assured him that the situation is peaceful, and that Filipinos would be cared for in case the tension with mainland China worsens to a military conflict.
He also said Taiwanese authorities have said that Filipinos can seek refuge in bomb shelters constructed by the government in case of war.
“They told me that Filipinos are entitled to get inside these shelters at any given time,” he said, adding: “This is to convince us that they are prepared for any eventuality. They are also concerned about the safety of our countrymen who are working here.”
Beijing has been objecting to any international support to Taipei, which it considers as a renegade province and wants to bring back to its fold, even with the use of force.
Taipei has persistently rejected Beijing’s claim and insisted its readiness to defend its territory.
Earlier, the issue of Filipino workers in Taiwan hogged the headlines after Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian’s said that if the Philippines cared for its nationals, it should oppose Taiwan’s drive for independence rather than giving the United States access to additional military facilities under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
Three of the four new EDCA sites are located at Northern Luzon close to Taiwan, namely the Lal-lo Airport and Camilo Osias Naval Base in Cagayan, and Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Upi Gamu, Isabela.
The fourth site is in Balabac, Palawan, near the disputed South China Sea where Beijing has constructed military facilities on artificial islands it has built.
President Marcos Jr. has earlier said the four additional EDCA sites would not be used for offensive actions.
The Chinese embassy later said Huang’s remarks about Filipinos in Taiwan were misquoted, misinterpreted, or were taken out of context.
