No retaliation from Taiwanese employers over travel ban

MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded by the travel ban on Taiwan can be assured they face no retaliation from their Taiwanese employers when they return to work.

This assurance was given by Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) chief Lito Banayo in an interview with radio dzBB yesterday, following the lifting of travel restrictions to and from Taiwan.

Banayo said OFWs who failed to return to their jobs in Taiwan as a result of the travel ban imposed by the Philippine government last Feb. 11 can rely on the strong relationship the MECO has fostered with the Taiwanese government.

He offered as proof the Taiwanese Ministry of Labor’s call on employers to extend the contracts of OFWs who missed their flights back to Taiwan due to the
 temporary travel ban.

The MECO chief welcomed Malacañang’s decision to lift the ban last Friday, saying it should not have been imposed in the first place. 

Banayo assured the safety of Filipinos in Taiwan, noting that no new case of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported in recent days. 

The MECO chief said three of the 18 confirmed cases in Taiwan have already recovered, while the rest are on their way to recovery.

The Taiwanese government earlier criticized the Philippines for its decision to impose the travel ban, stressing its independence from China.

There were reports that Taiwan considered revoking the free-visa policy granted to Filipinos in retaliation for the ban.

‘No sane reason’ for ban – Locsin

For Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Sec. Teodoro Locsin Jr., there was no “sane reason” for the Philippines to impose the travel ban on Taiwan in the first place.

At the time the ban was imposed, countries such as Singapore and Japan had more confirmed COVID-19 cases than Taiwan.

“There was never any sane reason to ban it,” he said in a post on Twitter, hours after the government announced a lifting of the travel restriction on Taiwan. 

Earlier, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Disease (IATF) recommended the lifting of the ban during a meeting in Malacañang Thursday night. 

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said his instruction to all ports of entry to welcome travelers from Taiwan took effect as early as Friday.

Morente said he gave the instruction to open travel to and from Taiwan as soon as he received the order from the Office of the President to lift the ban.

“Hence, travel may now be made by any foreign national to Taiwan from the Philippines and vice-versa,” he said. 

Morente added that the diplomatic corps, regardless of nationality, are also covered in the lifting of the travel ban.

BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said all flights between Taiwan and the Philippines were free to resume yesterday.

“Travel restrictions have been lifted, hence we can say travel to and from Taiwan is back to normal,” Sandoval said.

The Department of Health (DOH) had announced last Monday that Taiwan was included in the ban previously imposed on China and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III had cited World Health Organization (WHO) data on COVID-19, which had Taiwan lumped together with China, as the reason for government’s public health and safety decision.

At present, the BI is still implementing a travel ban on foreign nationals coming from China, Hong Kong and Macau. Only Filipinos and permanent resident visa holders are allowed to enter the country from these areas.

In another development, Sandoval said the BI has yet to impose a travel ban on Singapore, which has the biggest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia with 67.

“Changes in policy is subject to the recommendations of the DOH,” she said.

PAL, CEB flightsresume this week

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the country’s largest budget airline Cebu Pacific (CEB) are set to resume flights between Manila and Taiwan as early as Monday.

CEB announced it will resume its flights beginning Monday night with 5J 310 (Manila-Taipei) departing at 10:40 p.m.

Other scheduled CEB flights that would push through (until further notice) are 5J 311 (Taipei-Manila) on Tuesday at 1:45 a.m.; 5J 312 at 7:05 a.m. and 5J 310 at 10:40 p.m. (Manila-Taipei) on Friday; and 5J 311 at 1:45 a.m. and 5J 313 at 10:45 a.m. (Taipei-Manila) also on Friday.

Passengers booked on these flights who have not availed of a refund or travel fund will depart as scheduled.

The flight status for Cebu Pacific can be checked through the website, https://book.cebupacificair.com/Manage/Retrieve/. 

PAL said it would resume its flights to and from Taiwan on Friday, Feb. 21.

Congress leaders laud lifting

Several leaders of Congress lauded the move to exclude Taiwan from the travel ban imposed on China.

Reps. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City, Frederick Siao of Iligan City and Bienvenido Abante Jr. of Manila all believed that Taiwan should never have been covered by the travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 threat.

“The travel ban on Taiwan where we have 160,000 OFWs had no basis. The World Health Organization report of countries with reported infections did not include Taiwan as of last Wednesday, Feb. 12,” Rodriguez said.

Siao agreed, saying: “Taiwan’s health care system is much more advanced than the Philippines’. Their COVID-19 situation is well-contained.”

For his part, Abante cited that the WHO advisory did not suggest banning travels to and from Taiwan. “Singapore has more issues on nCoV (novel coronavirus) but it’s not covered by the ban,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said measures to combat COVID-19 should not be politicized, such as in the case of the travel ban imposed on Taiwan.

“It appears to me that politics had its way in Taiwan’s case. I don’t know where that advisory came from – whether from WHO or advisers of the administration,” Drilon said.

For Sen. Panfilo Lacson, there was no health reason to be considered in the case of Taiwan as he welcomed the lifting of the travel ban.

“It’s a good move, because there was really no other believable reason for the travel ban other than geopolitics,” Lacson said in Filipino.

“Look, we have 154,000 workers in Taiwan; there are only 18 reported coronavirus cases in Taiwan among its 23 million people,” he said, adding that it was a good development that President Duterte listened to rational advice. – With Richmond Mercurio, Janvic Mateo, Robertzon Ramirez, Edu Punay, Cecille Suerte Felipe