The Ball Is in Taiwan’s Court

What if all the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) presently based in Taiwan were to head back home en masse?

The 70 or 80 thousand OFWs would be rendered temporarily jobless, perhaps, but the greater harm would be on the Taiwanese economy.

Unlike the Middle East or Hong Kong, where the majority of OFWs are domestic helpers, the Filipinos based in Taiwan are mostly employed in the manufacturing sector.

It goes without saying that the island’s economy is heavily dependent on that sector which employs tens of thousands of Pinoys. As such, it is imperative that Taiwan take proper care of its guest workers, and make sure that they are safe and secure at all times.

Recent news reports say that a handful of OFWs have been attacked by Taiwanese, enraged at the killing of one of their fishermen who had intruded on Philippine waters.

OFWs have also been denied service at restaurants where they used to be welcome. Even a delegation from the Philippines was not allowed to book into a hotel where they already had confirmed reservations.

The Philippine Coast Guard took responsibility for the unfortunate death of the fisherman, but it must be made clear that the incident would not have occurred had there been no incursion into the country’s waters.

There is a near universal law that states that a landowner has every right to defend himself and his property against any intruders, including inflicting maximum harm if necessary.

This law applies to countries, both to its land and its seas as well. Whether accidental or intentional, when one enters a territory that belongs to another, the owner has every right to do what needs to be done to repel the invader.

To repeat, the killing of the fisherman was unfortunate, even tragic. But it was not done as an aggressive act by the Philippines upon Taiwan.

The Philippines has had long and friendly ties with Taiwan, even when global realities forced the country to adhere to the One China policy. Manila has even gone so far as to recognize a de facto embassy of the island of Taiwan in the country, although masked by safe diplomatic language.

Taiwan should recognize the incident for what it was—an incident. It should not mar Philippine-Taiwan relations.

President Benigno Aquino 3rd has already apologized for the incident. Not once, but twice. The Philippines has reached out to the family of the victim.

The Taiwanese government should do its share. It should remind its people that none of the Filipinos working in their island had anything to do with the incident.

As such, it should be viewed for what it truly is, a minor political crisis between friends.

Let Taiwan be reminded that friendship is always a two-way street. Their government’s inaction on the churlish behavior of some of its nationals does not sit well with the Filipino people.

Tens of thousands of Filipinos are helping keep the Taiwanese economy afloat. But if they prefer to cripple their own economy by conveniently forgetting how to treat foreign guest workers, then so be it.

The Philippines’ steadily growing economy should be able to absorb most of the OFWs who return because they are no longer welcome in the Chinese province of Taiwan.