A Philippine-Taiwanese couple have said that they have been unable to send their three children to school since coming to Taiwan in 2014, as they cannot afford the DNA tests required for naturalization.
The children of the Miaoli County family spend their days with their Philippine mother, identified only as Mary, at their home in Gongguan Township (公館), while their father, surnamed Chung (鍾), works as a day laborer, township education officials said.
The eldest — a 13-year-old girl — likely has developmental problems, they said.
Photo: Peng Chien-li, Taipei Times
Township officials and local police visited the family and said that they would help them find course material for the children to bring them up to speed at school once they are naturalized.
A local school said it had been unaware of the family’s circumstances, adding that it would work with the office to help the children.
Chung said that he is an only child and his parents had been pressuring him to get married and have children.
In 2003, his parents introduced him to a Chinese woman and the two got married, but they did not get along well and Chung eventually left her to work in the Philippines, he said.
There, he met Mary and they had two girls and a boy, Chung said, adding that they returned home to take care of his mother, who had fallen ill.
After his mother passed away in April last year, Chung tracked down his Chinese wife and completed divorce proceedings, he said.
He has registered his marriage with Mary in Taiwan, but as their children were born in the Philippines prior to the registration, they have to take DNA tests to obtain Republic of China citizenship, Chung said.
A DNA test costs NT$10,000, which is impossible for him to raise on his unstable income, Chung said.
He can earn NT$1,700 a day when there is work, but there is no way of knowing when the next job will come, he said.
At the time of writing, Chung was away on a job in Kaohsiung and Mary was home with the children.
The children spend most of their time playing with the family’s two dogs, but the older sister is afraid of strangers, and runs into her room and cries when a stranger visits, Mary said.
She speaks to the children in English, the Philippines’ official language, as she has not learned Mandarin, she said, adding that their son likes to chat with visitors.
Asked if he wants to go to school, the boy answered: “Yes, I really want to go. I want to be an engineer.”
Pulling out a smartphone, he said: “It was broken, but I fixed it.”
Township Representative Chou Feng-chia (周逢甲) said that he learned about the family’s situation during a visit to disadvantaged families ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, after which he reported it to the township office.
Hopefully the family can complete the immigration process as soon as possible so that the children can start school, he said.
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