THE country’s top representative to Taiwan on Wednesday said he did not receive any order from Manila to have a Filipina domestic worker deported over her social media post criticizing President Duterte and government’s response to novel coronavirus pandemic.
Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) chair Angelito Banayo said what labor attaché Fidel Macauyag has done when he talked to Elanel Ordidor, her broker, and employer over her social media post was a unilateral move on the latter’s part. He added Macauyag did not coordinate his move with MECO, the country’s de facto embassy in Taiwan.
Macauyag, in statement posted at the website of the Department of Labor and Employment on April 25, said he sought Ordidor’s deportation for her posts that “intended to cause hatred.”
Banayo said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel: “When I learned about the press statement issued in Manila, I immediately got in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to apologize for the wording of whatever statement it was that talks about deportation.”
“…Deportation is the sovereign privilege of the host country. nothing we can do about their decisions on deportation,” he added.
Banayo said Taiwan’s MOFA later released a statement which “invoked the fact that deportation is a sovereign right of the host country and that if there are any deportation proceedings, they will have to go through a mutual legal assistance agreement.”
“The labor attaché in Taichung apparently talked to the broker of her employer. Then the employer informed her broker that he wanted to dismiss or let go of her services. But I do not know the reason behind that,” Banayo said.
He said someone must have brought the issue to the attention of an official of the Department of Labor and Employment and that official talked to the labor attaché and asked him to look into the matter.
“The action done, of course is regrettable,” Banayo said.
“But there was never any request from Manila to deport her,” he said, adding Macauyag apologized to him for “his errors.”
The MOFA on Tuesday said 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.”
