Taiwan hints at relaxing retaliatory measures vs OFWs

After more than a week of threatening to get back at the Philippines over deportation row, Taiwanese authorities have hinted they may "relax" some retaliatory measures they have taken against Filipino workers. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang said the ministry would "make an overall assessment" of its policies and their implementation regarding regulations over foreign workers' applications. Chang said Taiwan's related government agencies "are currently studying the possibility" of carrying out a Philippine request to go around one of the retaliatory measures, Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) reported Monday evening. He was referring to a requirement that Philippine citizens submit their Social Security System Card as part of their applications to work in Taiwan. The new rule was effectively "a technical freeze on Filipino workers" as Manila stopped issuing the card a long time ago, the Taiwan International Workers Association and other groups supporting workers' rights said last Sunday. But the CNA report cited a ministry official who requested anonymity that the Philippines had asked Taiwan to accept other forms of social security documents for Filipino workers as a solution to the SSS card problem. Taiwan had adopted retaliatory moves against the Philippines for the deportation of 14 Taiwanese to Mainland China last Feb. 2. In a bid to show its displeasure, Taiwan tightened the requirements on Filipino workers wishing to work in Taiwan. President Benigno Aquino III sent former Senator Manuel Roxas II to Taiwan last week to iron out the kinks but refused to give the apology Taiwan had demanded. The Philippines follows the One-China Policy, where it maintains diplomatic ties with Mainland China, which considers Taiwan a province. However, the Philippines also maintains economic ties with Taiwan. Other punitive measures Taiwan enforced after the Feb. 2 deportation included lengthening the process for screening applications by Filipino nationals seeking to work in Taiwan to four months, from no more than 12 days. That move was also seen as a temporary freeze on hiring new Filipino workers, the CNA report said. Some 77,000 Filipino migrant workers work in Taiwan, accounting for 20 percent of the total number of foreign workers there. — LBG, GMA News