Group wants Phl-Taiwan relations restored

MANILA, Philippines - A party-list group has sought to restore good relations with Taiwan for the sake of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

In a statement the other day, OFW Family Club Rep. Roy Señeres said day the government should take steps to mend economic and political relations with Taiwan, which hit a snag following the killing of a suspected Taiwanese poacher off Batanes last month.

Señeres noted there are some 80,000 Filipinos in Taiwan and about a thousand others were affected when Taiwan stopped the processing of work permits of OFWs since May 15 to protest the incident.

“Every day that passes, more and more Filipinos are returning from their three-year contracts after failing to get a renewal permit for them to be re-hired again by their Taiwanese employers,” he said in a statement.

Señeres said around 6,000 newly hired OFWs to Taiwan were affected by the freeze order.

Job orders intended for Filipinos were given to labor market competitors like Vietnam and Indonesia, he added.