The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) Taichung extension office is to start downsizing its operations from today due to difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, MECO Chairman and Resident Representative Angelito Banayo said yesterday.
Only labor-related services by the Philippine Overseas Workers Welfare Administration would remain available in the Taichung branch, Banayo said.
Consular and notarial services, and overseas absentee voting would be available at the MECO’s Taipei and Kaohsiung offices, he added.
MECO chose to downsize the Taichung office despite the high number of documents and applications it handles due to geographical considerations, he said, urging the Philippine community in Taiwan to understand the reason for the move.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been notified of the downsizing, he added.
Arthur Abiera, head of the Taichung office, was scheduled to return to MECO’s headquarters in Manila yesterday to assume the post of executive director for Manila operations, Banayo said, adding that other staff at the Taichung office would be moved to the Taipei or Kaohsiung branch offices.
Passport renewal services would be offered in Taipei and Kaohsiung, he said.
Capacity for handling passport applications in Taipei would be raised to 100 passports per day, up from the current 50 to 70 passports per day, while the Kaohsiung office would be capable of handling about 80 applications per day, up from the current 40 passports per day, Banayo said.
MECO is a private entity that receives no funding from the Philippine government, although it functions as a de facto embassy in the absence of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the Philippines.
Visa applications at the Taichung branch have decreased due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, depriving the office of a large percentage of its operational income, Banayo said.
MECO Administrative Service Director Gerry de Belen said that the Taichung office received the last batch of consular and notarial applications on Monday, while it continued issuing passports and other documents until yesterday.
Those who have applied for passports at the Taichung office, but have not to collected them yet would have to claim them at the Taipei office, he added.
To collect their passports at the Kaohsiung office, applicants would have to request this via telephone at the Taipei office, De Belen said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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