MECO aids Pinoys in Taiwan

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos affected by the strong quake in Taiwan last week will get financial and other assistance from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office.

MECO Chairman Silvestre Bello visited Hualien, the quake’s epicenter, and distributed relief packs and cash assistance to hundreds of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Bello said President Marcos instructed him to extend all needed assistance to the quake-affected Filipinos. About 1,400 Filipinos are staying in Hualien.

Last Friday, Bello met with Filipino communities from various parts of Taiwan and distributed T$150,000 in assistance for emergency use of the OFW organizations there.

He also handed T$10,000 cash assistance to each of the four Filipinos who sustained minor injuries due to the quake.

According to Bello, MECO is continuously monitoring the situation of Filipinos in Taiwan especially in areas badly hit by the strong earthquake.

Higher dollar remittance

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) sees a higher dollar remittance in 2024 with the projected bigger number of Filipino workers to be deployed to European countries.

Migrant Workers Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne Caunan said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas recorded P37 billion in remittances in 2023 – the highest so far. But because of the growing demand for Filipino workers from various European countries, this figure is expected to get even higher this year.

“Out of the $37 billion, $3.8 billion can be attributed to Europe – both land-based and sea-based European remittances,” she said.

“We can see that deployment to Europe, given the engagements we are having, definitely will increase. So from $3.8 billion in 2023, we are expecting an increasing trend in 2024,” Caunan added.

In 2023, about 2,000 OFWs were deployed to the Czech Republic. This year, it allotted 10,500 visas for OFWs. Hungary, on the other hand, hired 4,000 OFWs for the past 10 years, but for 2024, it is looking to recruit over 6,000 workers from the Philippines.

Caunan said the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is now negotiating with the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Finland, Denmark and Portugal for the hiring of more OFWs.

“They are impressed with the performances of our workers, their mentality, and their attitude. These are the usual reasons given to us why they want to hire more OFWs,” she noted in a recent press conference.

Caunan said demand is particularly high for health workers, domestic workers, caregivers, barista, housekeepers and those in tourism-related jobs.

“The European market is opening up more than ever. We welcome this openness of the European market to talk about enhancing the protection of OFWs,” DMW officer-in-charge Hans Cacdac said.

With the huge demand for OFWs, the DMW is exerting efforts to establish bilateral labor agreements and sustainable recruitment frameworks, he added.

“We are welcoming the increased cooperation with our European counterparts towards having safe, ethical, transparent and fair labor mobility,” Cacdac said.

He cautioned the general public against falling prey to illegal recruiters who are out to victimize aspiring OFWs. These recruiters, he said, are usually offering jobs in Europe because those are among the most enticing to Filipino workers.