The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) on Tuesday said it “warmly welcomes” Taiwan’s plan to set up its first cross-border recruitment center in the Philippines to enable Taiwanese employers to directly hire Philippine migrant workers.
“This initiative reflects the growing partnership between the Philippines and Taiwan and marks an important step toward more ethical, transparent and worker-centered recruitment,” office Chairwoman and Resident Representative Corazon Avecilla-Padiernos said in a statement.
MECO serves as the Philippines’ de facto embassy in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Ministry of Labor on Friday last week said that the new center is to open in the first quarter of this year and circumvent the labor brokerage system that has been used to date.
NEW SYSTEM
Under the new system, expenses for flight tickets, health checkups and visas for migrant workers would in principle be paid by Taiwanese employers rather than workers, Workforce Development Agency Director-General Lydia Huang (黃齡玉) said.
Padiernos highlighted the direct hiring mechanism and the shift of key costs to Taiwanese employers, saying that the measures could “significantly reduce the financial burden on Filipino workers and help address abusive brokerage practices.”
Most migrant workers in Taiwan are recruited through brokers, and many workers pay pre-employment expenses to brokers in their home countries.
Brokers in Taiwan are then permitted to charge them monthly service fees capped at NT$1,800 in the first year after arrival, NT$1,700 in the second year and NT$1,500 from the third year onward.
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
The office would work closely with the Philippine Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Department of Migrant Workers, as well as agencies in Taiwan, “to help ensure that the new system genuinely protects the rights and welfare of Filipino workers, while also responding to Taiwan’s legitimate labor needs,” Padiernos said.
Although the recruitment center has yet to open, Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Friday last week said that the ministry has a special task force in place to take applications for workers from Taiwanese employers starting today.
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