MikeLigalig.com

 Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:26:00 12/15/2008
Filed Under: Migration, Labor, Government


Close this TAIPEI, Taiwan—The number of Filipinos who were laid off from the Taiwanese export industry, which is reeling from the global recession, has risen to around 2,000, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco) here said.

Antonio Basilio, Meco managing director and resident representative, said his office recently processed documents from around 800 Filipinos who were fired from their jobs in 49 firms in the manufacturing and export sectors.

Last month, 1,263 Filipinos were rendered jobless in Taiwan and were sent back home to Manila, according to Meco.

There are about 90,000 OFWs in Taiwan. Some 60,000 work in the manufacturing sector, while 23,000 are in household services. The rest are employed in the agricultural and fisheries sectors.

With 90 percent of its products from the electronics and semiconductor sectors exported to the United States and Europe, Taiwan is one of the countries in Asia severely hit by the global economic slump.

Workers, most of them foreigners, have felt the effects of the recession as Taiwanese factories and plants either cut back on working hours or shut down because of the reduced demand from traditional markets.

Rodolfo Sabulao, Meco director for labor affairs, said Filipino workers in the electronics and garment sectors were the most vulnerable.

However, workers from the Philippines and other countries are not as vulnerable as their Taiwanese counterparts, who demand higher pay, he said.

“If worst comes to worst, the Taiwanese are the first to be let go. So far, there are 149,000 Taiwanese who have been laid off,” Sabulao said.

Furthermore, hiring continues to outpace the number of retrenched workers, according to Meco.

In November alone, more than 1,700 Filipinos were hired by Taiwanese firms, Sabulao said.

As of the first quarter of 2008, Basilio said job orders from Taiwan grew 26 percent, exceeding the labor department’s target of 10 percent. But the state of the world economy has since worsened.

Compared with OFWs in the export industry, Filipinos who work as domestic workers and caregivers are “insulated” from the recession so far, according to Sabulao.

As long as both parents of a nuclear family are employed, OFWs will retain their jobs, he said. “So far, we don’t have displacement [domestic workers and caregivers] here.”


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