Report: Taipei warns of more severe sanctions vs PHL workers

As the Philippines is still unwilling to apologize for the deportation of 14 Taiwanese citizens earlier this month, Taiwan officials warned on Tuesday that they will impose more severe sanctions against Filipinos seeking work there. According to a report on Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) on Tuesday, Council of Labor Affairs CLA) Chairman Wang Ju-shuan said "If the negotiations on the deportation row are not going as well as expected, then the CLA will take the most severe measures." Wang mentioned that the measures will include an across-the-board freeze on the hiring of Filipino worker, the report said. The moves would be accompanied by complementary measures to mitigate its impact on domestic employers, Wang said. Wang also stressed that concerted efforts of the Taiwanese government and people are required to safeguard the nation's dignity. Philippine labor officials estimate that there are some 80,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan. Former Senator Manuel Roxas II, as President Benigno Aquino III's special envoy, met with Taiwanese officials over the matter on Monday. However, Roxas refused to offer an apology, saying his mandate was to seek understanding and not to apologize. On the other hand, Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih said Taiwan's insistence that the Philippines apologizes for the deportation of 14 Taiwanese to China remains unchanged. Wu said he hoped the Philippine government would fully understand Taiwan's concerns over its sovereignty and its dignity. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has clearly expressed the government's stance, and "I'm just reaffirming that stance," Wu said. "The government will ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to insist on its firm and steadfast stance," Wu added. Wu said when Manila Economic and Cultural Office chairman Amadeo Perez Jr. met last Friday with Foreign Minister Timothy Yang, it was made clear that Taiwan's government hoped a special Philippine emissary sent by Manila "could make an official apology to convey maximum sincerity." Despite Roxas' refusal to issue an apology, the Taiwan foreign affairs ministry still arranged for him to meet with President Ma Ying-jeou according to diplomatic protocol. – VVP, GMA News