2 more Pinoys in Taiwan attacked with baseball bat

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) chair Amadeo Perez confirmed Monday that there were two more cases of baseball bat attacks perpetrated by Taiwanese against Filipinos over the weekend.

In a radio interview, Perez said that two more unidentified Filipinos were hit on the head and body with a baseball bat by Taiwanese gang members, besides the attack on Danilo Taperla last Friday.

"No one was killed, but three were beaten up so far," Perez said.

The MECO official added an incident involving Taiwanese gang of teenagers in motorcycles raided a dormitory occupied by Filipinos, whom they also attacked and injured.

Perez said that these attacks took place in the southern part of Taiwan, especially in the urban areas  of Taichung and Kaohsiung.

Both cities, he said, also have high levels of gang violence that was recently directed to Filipinos living and working in the area.

Perez also denied reports that Filipino employees experience harassment from Taiwanese colleagues

He said that Taiwan police, moreover, had been working  to prevent  such cases against Filipinos from further escalating.

Public furor over Philippine forces' shooting of a local fisherman earlier this month led to some attacks and protests that stirred  tensions between the two countries.

Asked if the agency is ready to repatriate the 80,000 Filipinos in Taiwan, Perez said that they are ready to evacuate them once similar scenarios prove widespread.

"We are ready, (but) that is the worst scenario, if our countrymen should be evacuated," he added.