Young Taiwanese express support for OFWs amid furor

MANILA, Philippines - A group of young Taiwanese marched to busy Chungsan North Road in Taipei on Sunday and carried signs expressing solidarity with Filipino workers in Taiwan who became subjects of  outrage following the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman.

The street is where some members from the Filipino community of migrant workers gather on their Sunday time off and hear Holy Mass at the local parish St. Christopher's Church.

"I'm Taiwanese supporting Filipino workers" and "Taiwanese bless Filipino workers" were just some of the messages written on the colorful handmade posters carried by the youngsters.

Lyn Maruzzo Labang, a Filipino working as a caregiver in Taipei, publicly posted the photo taken by Peter Wan, a local, on her Facebook account that night. The post gained over 4,600 shares as of Monday afternoon.

"Sana matapos na po ang gulo," Labang said in an online interview with Philstar.com

In sharing the photo, Labang hoped to help ease the growing tension between the two countries over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman last May 9 by Filipino authorities.

"This alone proves that not all Taiwanese are irrational. A lot of them still respect our OFW brothers and sisters. A lot of them still recognize the Filipinos' good quality of work," she said.

She referred to recent news of some Taiwanese hurting Filipinos, refusing the latter to buy goods from stores, raiding their residences and other forms of harassment that caused sentiments of both sides to go sour.

Though Labang said a local she recently encountered has a negative opinion on the Philippines over the incident, she thinks most Taiwanese  continue to respect Filipinos.

"There are just some incidents (when) they would bluntly say: 'Philippines, pu hao!' or Philippines is not good. Other than that, I don't have personal experiences on violent attacks," she added.

"I had never personally experienced harassment from Taiwan people here since the escalation of tension ... The vendors in the market and other elderly in the park and sports center where I frequently visit still smile at me. They treat me well even knowing that I am a Filipina," Labang said.

Many Filipinos and Taiwanese hope that the crisis would be over and return to when they could live and work "without the fear of losing our lives," Labang said.

"May we join hands to win this battle against two governments ... Thank you to all Taiwan nationals who support the whole Filipino community in Taiwan, and who will support us all the way," she added.