“The Catholic Church in Asia Cares for the Migrants in Taiwan”

March 16-19, 2007 - Wencui Center

Taipei, Taiwan.

Situation of

Filipino migrant workers

in Taiwan

Prepared by:

Fr. Romeo Velos

Migrants Diocesan Coordinator

Archdiocese of Taipei

1. Introduction:

Today the Philippines has become one of the world's biggest exporters of workers, whose income now plays a central role in the country's economy. It is also the biggest labor-exporting country in Asia and is ranked second in the world after Mexico.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) says more than eight million Filipinos, about one tenth of the country's population of 86 million, are working overseas. According to government data, Filipinos are employed in 194 countries and territories around the world .

In the 11 months to November 2006 remittances sent home by overseas workers totaled $11.44 billion, about 10 percent of gross domestic product, according to data from the central bank. A recent Asian Development Bank report put the real figure (money not declared) in the $14 billion to $21 billion range -- which dwarfs the $2billion the country received last year in foreign direct investment. Forty-three percent of these overseas Filipino workers are on temporary contracts, 68 percent of which are placed in Asia.

Taiwan has become a major host country for Filipino migrants since the mid-1990s. In 1998 it was the second-most-popular destination for newly hired migrants from the Philippines, next to Saudi Arabia, and in 2004 it was the fifth major destination, after Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) decided to open up Taiwan's job market to foreign workers starting from October 1989. Although Taiwan and the Philippines do not have diplomatic relations, nevertheless economic and trade relations are still very close.  Both sides have, a number of times, held ministerial level economic cooperation conferences. Taiwan has helped the Philippines develop the industrial zone in Subic Bay. 

The amount that Taiwanese businesses have invested in the Philippines is more than US$745,700,000; so among foreign investors in the Philippines, Taiwan ranks number five (up to the end of 1988). Apart from commercial exchanges, the Philippines has remained an important place in Southeast Asia which Taiwanese tourists like to visit; each year about 200,000 Taiwanese travel to the Philippines, bringing a lot of tourist money into the Philippines.

After 1989, Taiwan began to respond to the requests by the major public construction projects and by six major enterprises and fifteen occupations, and began importing workers from the Philippines. In 1992, Taiwan was opened for the importation of household workers. 

In March of 1993, in addition to their office in Taipei, MECO (Manila Economic and Cultural Office) set up an office in Kaohsiung, and in September 1997 an office in Taichung.  MECO established a labor section--within this, the Philippine Labor Center (PLC) specializes in handling affairs connected with brokerage agencies, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) specializes in handling matters involving workers' welfare, including mediating in labor-management disputes.

Table 1

Number of foreign workers by category and nationality

As of November 2006

Source: Employment and Vocational Training Administration (EVTA), CLA

Table 1 shows that the majority of Filipino workers are employed in the factories. This is followed by the caretakers and nursing aides. A significant number of Filipino workers are employed in the construction.

TABLE 2

Filipinos workers in Taiwan and the undocumented (runaway, overstay, etc.)

A s of November 2006

Source: Employment and Vocational Training Administration (EVTA), CLA

Table 2 reveals that the highest number of undocumented Filipino workers was recorded in 2005. Some factors could attribute to the high rate of the number of undocumented Filipino workers. These could be the following: the shut down of some factories in Taiwan. Because of the cheap labor many factories were moved in Mainland China. Second, the limited number of years to work creates uncertainty on the capability of the workers to pay their debts. There is also the difficulty to transfer to another employer, followed by forced repatriation, poor working conditions and etc.

TABLE 3

Breakdown of Filipino Workers in Taiwan

As of November 2006

Source: Employment and Vocational Training Administration (EVTA), CLA

Table 3 indicates that the majority of Filipino workers are concentrated in Northern Taiwan. This is reflected by the big number of Filipino workers found in Taoyuan County.

The area of Taipei comes next while the Southern Taiwan has the less number of Filipino workers. The majority of Filipino workers choose Northern Taiwan especially in Taoyuan Country because of the presence of factories in this area.

TABLE 4

F oreign WORKERS IN TAIWAN ACCORDING TO SEX

As of November 2006

Source: Employment and Vocational Training Administration (EVTA), CLA

TABLE 5

FILIPINO WORKERS IN TAIWAN ACCORDING TO SEX

As of November 2006

Source: Employment and Vocational Training Administration (EVTA), CLA

Feminization of migration

Table 4 shows that among the foreign workers in Taiwan the women are the majority. So much so that in Table 5 those among the Filipino workers the women are twice as much the male workers.

Annual changes in the numbers of overseas Filipino workers have pointed to a growing trend toward feminization. Women constituted only 18 percent in the 1980 outflow of OFWs, but that percentage rose to 36 in 1987 and 69 in 2002.

Most women are employed in service occupations such as housemaid, caregiver, and entertainer. Domestic work accounted for one-third of overseas female deployment in 2002, despite the fact that most Filipina migrants were educated and skilled workers. Female overseas contract workers presently are 60 ﹪ of all overseas contract workers; and most engage in household work, i.e., household workers comprise 92 percent of all female overseas contract workers.

Nevertheless the data at the same time shows that these female migrant workers scattered throughout the world in fact are far more likely than male migrant workers to be injured. 

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has pointed out that the possibility of female workers encountering serious problems overseas--no matter whether it is being subjected to abuse (including sexual abuse and rape) or having health problems, or whether it is problems connected with the work situation, the contract, or welfare/benefits, etc.--quite unexpectedly is five times greater than for male workers; moreover the real figures are perhaps even greater than the official statistics indicate.

TABLE 5

Marital status of Filipino Workers IN TAIWAN

a s of November 2006

Source: Employment and Vocational Training Administration (EVTA), CLA

Some demographic characteristics of Filipina migrant workers deviate from the profiles of male migrants. The majority of migrant women are in their late twenties and early thirties, younger than their male counterparts, who are mostly in their thirties and forties.

Official statistics survey showed that the majority of Filipina migrants were single (56 percent) while 37 percent were married. In contrast, a much larger proportion of male migrants were married (71 percent), and only 27 percent were single.

The differences suggest that the decisions to migrate are embedded in the gender roles and ideologies in the Philippine family. Also, migrant women tend to face greater difficulties than their male counterparts in building or maintaining a family during their overseas journey.

1. Problems encountered by Filipino overseas workers before departure in the Philippines and after arrival in Taiwan:

Problems before departure:

• Illegal recruitment

This practice of illegal recruitment is still very rampant which means promising work in Taiwan but asking exorbitant placement fees from possible victims especially in the provinces. Most of the times even if the agency is already caught, it can still manage to secure new permits from the government agency.

• Rampant fake documents

The Filipino workers have to shell out huge sums of money to pay for placement fees and other documentary costs to be able to be sent to their work place abroad. Many documents are not authentic and therefore fake yet manage to pass undetected by the Immigration authorities.

• Excessive placement fees

Some labor agencies in Manila charge total service fees of from US$1,425 to US$2,135, bringing up the monthly service charge to an average of US$212 a month. The problem is the worker agrees to such exorbitant fees, and worse, does not report it to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency that grills them on the total amount they spend to obtain employment in Taiwan.

The difficult economic situation in the Philippines drives the workers to “kapit sa patalim” (a Filipino idiom that literally means “to grab the blade of a knife” to ward off a perceived greater danger). They end up in deep debt for the three-year period of their employment in Taiwan.

• Side agreements or contracts

Besides their employment contract, which is authenticated by each country's government agency authorized to do so, most are forced and made to sign side agreements before departure. The workers have no option otherwise they will miss their opportunity to work abroad.

These agreements include payment “…of brokers' and placement fees in excess of the prescribed amount, advance collection of brokers fees which under the law are supposed to be paid by the workers on a monthly basis or every three months at the most and no day-offs for a certain period, usually 12 months.

Problems after arrival:

• Brokerage system/ Overcharging

The practice of overcharging brokerage is caused in part by employers who receive commissions from manpower agencies. The figure of the ‘broker' is problematic in the sense that it is the source of abuses towards migrant workers since this person obliges the immigrant to accept his services at a very high cost.

•  Mandatory medical check ups

Upon arrival , the workers will have to undergo mandatory medical check-up three days negating the results of the check-ups that they had to go through in the Philippines that they had to pay dearly. Failure to pass means a ticket back home.

•  Contract substitution

The workers are subjected to additional side agreements that they have to sign in their new work place especially for factory workers. 

•  Unpaid Salaries and overtime/ Taxes refund

Workers are given no days for rest, and industrial labourers find themselves uncompensated for overtime.

•  Confiscation of Passport and ARC (Alien Residence Certificate)

The majority of workers especially those who work in the homes do not hold their documents but are in the hands of their brokers or employers to prevent them from escaping or running away.

•  Forced savings

This is practice which could be positive at the first instance but in reality a measure to prevent the workers to run away and escape and to control them.

•  Illegal / Run away/Change name

These are workers who cannot transfer to another employer, those who are in debts and those who experience abuse in the work place. They choose to runaway because according to them, they get a better pay, freedom and they are not under the manipulation and exploitation of the brokers.

•  No day off

This is the demand of many household employers that their domestic helpers not have any day off. They work during the week and they would like someone to watch over their houses. On weekends, they naturally would like to rest and need their helpers around. Some household employers demand that this clause be stipulated in the contract that is sent by the Taiwan labor agent to the Philippine counterpart. Work contracts that typically require a day off for every seven days of work are changed to comply with the wishes of the employer, some of whom agree to have their worker have a day off only on the sixth month or only after a year.

•  Long hours of work

Many Filipino workers employed in Taiwanese factories are being made to work 16-hour days. Many domestic helpers and caregivers are forced to work even without food and rest.

•  Illegal hiring/ Illegal work/employer

This is the violation of the original contract which is the condition of employment. Women employed as caregivers for the elderly and infirm are often tasked with housecleaning as well.

•  Injuries/Abuse/ Sexual harassment/Rape

These are cases related to workplace injuries and cases of sexual abuse. It is not uncommon to hear of employers and brokers collaborating to get rid of an injured or abused migrant worker by sending him or her home for reasons like “the job situation changed” or “the worker was unsuited to the position.”

There are few prosecutions when domestic workers have been victims of sexual abuse. Many people in those situations are strictly controlled and have no access to avenues of complaint. The governmental agencies tasked to care for them often lack bilingual staff to take care of matters of communication and translation.

•  Poor working condition/Safety

T he workers are provided poor living conditions with poor ventilation and facilities so much so that they sleep in dormitories like sardines. Many domestic helpers do not have even a decent room to sleep or keep their belongings. They are forced to sleep with their patients.

•  Forced Repatriation

Many workers are sent home once their employers do not want them anymore or if they do not follow their wishes. This practice is being used to silence them and to control them.

•  Language barrier

Another factor impacting negatively on the health of foreign migrant workers is their failure to communicate due to language barriers.

•  Non transfer

This policy prevents workers from changing jobs or employers, and others that limit them to a single 2-year term (with option for one-year extension). This is hardly time enough to pay down the exorbitant charges levied by labour brokers through whom most jobs are arranged. Many who come to Taiwan spend their first year paying off the debts they incurred in order to get here.

•  False accusations/set up/trap

Many workers are falsely accused by their employers as a ploy to get rid of them. Since the workers do not have private rooms their things could be easily used as a set up for false accusations.

•  Abandonment

by their employers. The workers are always on the side of the employers in times of dispute.

• Lack of concrete programs when it comes to the reintegration of migrants on the part of the sending countries.

1. Suggestion for a better pastoral ministry of migrants:

• A more visible, active role and concrete response from Church authorities regarding migrant issues.

• Pastoral ministry for the non catholic foreign workers

• Sensitisation - The sensitisation of the Taiwan society and the local Churches of departure and of arrival.

• Our response should not be reactive (most of the times late) but instead proactive.

• To come up with a unified stand regarding migrant issues like the issue of brokerage system; the direct employment system to end agency-fee exploitation; the issue of setting up a regulation to enforce time off for foreign workers and to work for the right of migrant workers to switch employers freely

• Integration of migrants - raising the awareness of especially the contribution of the migrants to Taiwan society and the plight of migrants especially their needs, welfare and protection . This is also to evangelize our society in order to help the integration of migrants

• Networking - Working through networks with the organised groups of civil society in Taiwan that help migrants, with the use of the mass media.
• Migrants as evangelizers - The role of migrants as subjects of evangelisation especially the evangelising function of Catholic emigrants.
  

1. Conclusion

It seems that there will be no chance of changing as to the outlook for the foreign workers in Taiwan in the next few years. Migrants will continue to be victims in their plight to search for greener pasture here. There are a lot of stories told or untold in the front pages as to the abuses and violence they go through. Taiwan society is very slow in appreciating their presence and contribution especially when it comes to legislations for their protection.

The Catholic Church is also very slow in responding to the needs and for the protection of migrants. The number of abuses has worsened even if the legalization of the foreign workers in Taiwan in 1992 began. The workers are being literally squeezed by the government of their earnings. The minimum wage is not at all minimum after deducting the legalized deduction of monthly service fees.

The challenge of the ministry to migrants is to enable the local Church to play an active role of leadership in this ministry. In Taiwan, many of the initiatives for the cause of migrants come from NGOs and religious communities.

How do we respond to the growing number of non-catholic migrants in our midst? This ministry is not a private of a single group but a community concern. For this reason, it cannot be delegated to some persons in charge detached from the general interest of the local community. The ministry to migrants should institute also support groups to assist migrant families.

In responding to the needs of all migrants, including non-Catholics, communities in Taiwan and in Asia as a whole should seek the cooperation of other Christian communities and other religions in a dialogue to promote the dignity of persons and the unity of the human family.

There is a need of networks and cooperation with lay, ecclesial, and civil associations both at national and international level to raise the voice in defense of the migrants' rights.

Therefore, cooperation between the different agencies working for migration as well as cooperation between the different resources becomes necessary for a continued advocacy to promote human rights and respect of the dignity of every migrant.