POLO Taipei Labor Attaché Cesar Chavez Jr. (Screengrab from Laging Handa briefing)
MANILA – Some 40,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are expected to leave for Taiwan as it reopened its doors to migrant workers, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Taipei reported on Thursday.
In a Laging Handa briefing, Labor Attaché Cesar Chavez Jr. said these include 15,000 newly-hired workers and 25,000 returning workers (balik-manggagawa).
“The demand is in manufacturing because Taiwanese employers prefer our OFWs in semiconductors, computers and electronics, manufacturing,” Chavez said.
He also reported that as of December 20, there are 160,000 Filipinos in Taiwan, including those married to Taiwanese nationals and those with permanent residency.
Of the number, 142,000 are OFWs where 85 percent or 115,000 are in the manufacturing sector.
“Most of them are in factories of semiconductor, chips, computers, electronics. We dominated that sector, majority are Filipinos,” the labor attaché said.
“The other OFWs or around 26,000 are caretakers and domestic workers in Taiwan,” he added.
Chavez said workers who are entering the host territory have to undergo quarantine for 21 days.
“They will have 14 days at the government facility quarantine and additional seven days which they call self-health management…but the Taiwan government and the employers are obligated under the law to pay the salary of their workers during the quarantine period and all the expenses related to the quarantine, foods, and accommodation for 21-days are also shouldered by the employer and Taiwan government,” he added.
The island reopened to migrant workers on February 15. (PNA)
