Recruiters mull one-stop authentication center for Taiwan-bound workers

MANILA, Philippines - Local recruiters yesterday pushed for the creation of a one-stop center for Taiwan-bound workers to prevent massive drop in deployment of Filipino workers.

Jackson Gan, Pilipino Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan (PILMAT) said with the new hiring policy imposed by Taiwan, the country would not be able to facilitate the deployment of 5,000 Filipino workers to Taiwan in the next month. He said over 5,000 OFWs are scheduled to depart this month and March, but may not be able to do so due to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) which serves as the de facto embassy for the Republic of China (Taiwan).

But Gan said the problem could be addressed if the government would set up a one-stop center that would facilitate the authentication of documents now needed for visa application for Taiwan.

Last week, Gan reported that the Taiwan embassy rejected all visa applications filed by members of PILMAT and issued a new set of requirements which will lengthen the processing of visas to at least two to four months.

“ While employers are expecting the arrival of new workers to join the more than 80,000 factory workers in electronic and manufacturing plants, we need to wait much longer to put these workers on line due to the new restrictions.” Gan said.

Gan asked the Department of Labor and Employment to coordinate with the DFA, NBI, NSO, SSS, Comelec and Philhealth in setting up a one-stop shop where the required documents can be procured and authenticated in a shorter span of time instead of the usual five to seven working days at the DFA.

He said the center would also benefit new applicants for Taiwan and will facilitate the issuance of the authenticated documents saving them money since all the documents needed by the TECO can be issued by the one stop center.