A Taiwan-Philippines free-trade agreement (FTA) is crucial to securing Taiwan as a lucrative job market for overseas Filipino workers, Representative to Manila Donald Lee (李傳通) said in an recent interview with Philippine-based news outlet Malaya.
Lee said the Philippines, like most other ASEAN countries, is reluctant to sign an FTA with Taiwan for political reasons ahead of a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taipei and Beijing.
Once an ECFA is signed, however, many Taiwanese factories would relocate to China and Filipino workers would lose their jobs in Taiwan, he said.
“To tap the enormous benefits arising from an ECFA, and so as not to be left behind, the Philippines should seriously consider signing an FTA with Taiwan. If the Philippines does not take swift action, Taiwan locaters [employment agents] that should have settled in the Philippines would turn to mainland China due to [the] ECFA,” he was quoted saying.
Lee said another repercussion of delaying a Taiwan-Philippines FTA would be many of the Filipino workers in Taiwan would lose their jobs because many Taiwanese factories would move to China.
“We want to protect the working opportunities for Filipinos in Taiwan,” Lee said in the interview. “[They] contribute a lot to the Taiwanese economy and we hope that more OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] can work in Taiwan.”
The report said there are 100,000 Filipino workers registered in Taiwan, each earning about 25,000 pesos (US$540) a month, which translates to 600 million pesos a year.
Both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan declined to comment on Lee’s remarks.
While the foreign ministry has said the imminent ECFA with Beijing has given the countries’ representatives more leverage in negotiating FTAs with other countries, the Democratic Progressive Party has argued the government has not presented any proof to back its claims.
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