Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) yesterday sent a letter to former Philippine senator Manuel Roxas II saying the government had lifted all the recent restrictions imposed on Filipinos seeking employment in Taiwan, effective immediately.
Roxas visited Taiwan twice in his capacity as the emissary of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to resolve the diplomatic row between the two nations that arose from the deportation by the -Philippines of 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China on Feb. 2
Last Wednesday, the ministry announced relaxations to its visa application requirements for Filipino workers, which was one of the measures adopted by Taipei on Feb. 8 in retaliation for the refusal by Manila to offer an apology for the deportation. Later, Manila removed two officials from the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, which was regarded by Taipei as a form of apology.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The move by Manila included the replacement of former chief of the Bureau of Immigration Ronaldo Ledesma with Ricardo David Jr, former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief, in addition to the removal of Faizal Hussin from his post as head of the bureau’s Intelligence Division.
However, Philippine presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the appointment of the former armed forces chief was not meant to appease Taiwan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday removed additional measures that extend the process of screening Philippine work visa applications from the previous 12 days to up to four months and restored the ability for certain Philippine tourists to apply for a visa online.
“To express our good faith in response to your visits and the most recent measures taken by your government, we are lifting the restrictions on visa applications for all Philippine workers, effective immediately, and will resume the method used to process their work permits prior to Feb. 7,” Yang wrote in the letter to Roxas.
In a statement released yesterday, the ministry said the punishment of the two immigration officials “met the expectations of Taiwan.”
The Council of Labor Affairs said it would adopt measures to effectively lift the ban on migrant workers from the Philippines, effective immediately.
The council said it had been instructed by the ministry to once again open the nation’s doors to Philippine workers.
Another measure which has been abolished was requiring that Philippine citizens submit their social security system card as part of their application to work in Taiwan, a move that amounted to freeze a on hiring Philippine workers, because Manila stopped issuing the card a long time ago.
The initial measures had been met by criticism from several migrant and international worker associations, who said that Philippine migrant workers and their employers were innocent and that punishing them for Manila’s actions was unreasonable and a violation of their rights.
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