Philippines fears for workers in Taiwan amid row

An S70-C helicopter flies over officers and crew on a Kidd-class destroyer during exercises off the southern city of Kaohsiung,Taiwan Thursday, May 16, 2013. Taiwan staged a previously scheduled military exercise in the Bashi Strait Thursday, after the United States on Wednesday expressed concern about increasing tensions between the Philippines and Taiwan, following the shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by Philippines coast guard personnel. AP

MANILA, Philippines  — The Philippine envoy to Taiwan is advising thousands of Filipino workers there to eat at home and avoid the streets as emotions run high on the island over the shooting death of a fisherman by the Philippine coast guard.

Philippine envoy Amadeo Perez said Thursday after returning from Taipei that the government has verified at least one attack, in which a Filipino was beaten with a bat. Perez says Taiwanese police are investigating.

Taiwan has frozen the hiring of Filipino workers, cut trade exchanges and discouraged travel to the Philippines after its government brushed aside an apology from the Philippine president as insufficient. Nearly 87,000 Filipinos work in Taiwan, a fraction of about 10 million who work abroad to escape poverty and unemployment at home.

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