Thu, Sep 09, 1999 page2

• Foreign workers pack their bags

  MAILIAO AFTERMATH Hundreds of Filipino laborers want to go home, while officials struggle to house those wanting to stay after a Sunday night brawl

  • BY STAFF WRITER
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  More than 500 Filipino workers have opted to end their contracts and return to the Philippines, following the worst clash between foreign workers in Taiwan history.

  One source, who declined to be named, told the Taipei Times that 129 Filipinos had already processed their paperwork and were scheduled to depart for Manila on a China Airlines flight late yesterday. Last night, reports showed there were 200 more waiting for flights today.

  Raul Concepcion of the Manila Economic and Trade Office (MECO), told the Taipei Times yesterday that reports that over 1,000 laborers had packed their bags were unfounded. "531 workers who have come from Mailiao have decided to go home," he said. "They are scheduled to be repatriated," he added.

  

  Filipino workers wave from a bus en route to CKS International Airport to board a Manila-bound flight. The laborers opted to end their work contracts and return home in the wake of a clash on Sunday night with Thai workers at a factory in Mailiao, Yunlin County, during which 20 people were injured.

  PHOTO: YANG YEN-HUI, LIBERTY TIMES

  The departure of the first group came just days after at least 20 people were injured during an eight-hour brawl Sunday night between 200 to 300 Thai and Filipino workers at Formosa Plastics Group's (FPG) Sixth Naphtha Cracker site in Mailiao. Tensions between the two groups at the site continued to boil over Monday and into Tuesday.

  "We hope to return to the Philippines as soon as possible," an unnamed Filipino worker told state-run television at CKS International Airport. He said he "would like to work in Taiwan" but was scared by Sunday's brawl.

  Hundreds of Filipino workers at the site had vowed not to stay "under the same roof" with their Thai counterparts, and threatened to start another brawl if proper housing was not provided. Officials from Samsung Engineering and Construction Co (one of sub-contractors on the Mailiao project) and FPG responded on Tuesday by arranging accommodation for 3,000 Filipinos in two temples in Mailiao township.

  But that relocation triggered friction with local residents, who were unnerved by the sight of Filipino workers wandering the township's streets Tuesday night, and feared the foreigners would instigate more unrest. Some Mailiao residents went to the township chief and demanded the Filipinos be sent somewhere else.

  Those workers who had decided they wanted to leave Taiwan were sent to an FPG affiliate -- the Formosa Chemical and Fiber plant in Changhua County -- where they were to await flight arrangements and cash settlements.

  But more disputes then arose, this time between those who wanted to go home and Samsung staff, over the amount of compensation due, since not all those departing had fulfilled their contracts. Most of the Filipinos' contracts are close to expiring, with only a few still having time on their one-year commitment, according to Samsung staff.

  But Eliot S. Cojuangcos, a MECO labor representative, told the Taipei Times that many of the workers later decided to stay. "They kept changing their decision when their names were called," he said.

  Meanwhile, Sunday night's clash and the continuing tensions between the rival groups of workers has attracted the attention of both their governments back home.

  Philippine President Joseph Estrada has ordered labor officials to determine if there is an urgent need to repatriate Filipinos at the Mailiao site.

  "I have already ordered Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma to intercede and find out what can be done to help Filipino workers, especially those who were injured in the clash," Estrada told a Manila radio station.

  Thailand has asked Taiwan to show leniency to any of its citizens involved in the brawl, officials said in Bangkok. "This clash should not be taken too seriously and we hope no further action will be taken against the Thai workers," said Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Don Pramudwinai. "It would be better if the workers just received a probation to help heal the wounds," said Don.

  "If they fire all these Thai workers, they would have to find new workers and train them and that could have a big impact on the project," he added.

  Taiwanese authorities investigating the clashes could deport those workers held responsible for the brawls. They could also decide to reduce the number of foreigners employed by Formosa Plastics.
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