Keeping our friends

IN A previous column, I had written about the reaction of overseas Filipino workers and the association of recruiters to Taiwan bewailing the retaliatory action taken by Taiwanese officials following the deportation of 14 Taiwanese nationals to Beijing in connection with an alleged swindle.

Reacting to threats of deportation and the suspension of the processing of workers’ visas, the workers and recruiters urged the Philippine government to “apologize” to Taiwan, given the miffed reaction of Taiwanese officials, including their president.

Admirably, P-Noy refused to apologize, saying the action was entirely within the purview of the Philippine government. But he did send his “personal representative,” former Sen. Mar Roxas, to Taipei to explain the Philippine action to Taiwanese leaders. We all know what became of that mission, although a just-concluded second mission has had happier results.

Of course, treading a balance between two warring states—the much bigger and more powerful China and the smaller but certainly still-influential Taiwan—is a risky enterprise for any country. But the Philippines finds itself in an especially precarious position, given that it is held hostage by the fate of approximately 90,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan, as well as constrained by the need to maintain favorable relations with China, the superpower in our part of the world.

Observers were right. Taiwan reacted in the way it did, and threatened sanctions on the Philippines, only because they found a country it could bully. A political observer also notes that the controversy came at a politically crucial time in Taiwan, coinciding with national elections, and officials were eager to prove their nationalistic credentials.

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DR. JAMES Dy, whom I had written about in yesterday’s column, says he is “only” a private citizen, but given his concerns about the fate of nearly 100,000 documented and undocumented workers in Taiwan “who are bread winners and providers for their families’ livelihood,” he felt constrained to step into the impasse and try to smooth out ruffled feelings on both the Taiwanese and Filipino sides.

The intervention that Dy embarked on arises out of a previous experience helping a Filipino domestic worker, Armia Alcaraz, who in 2009 was meted out the death penalty in Taiwan. Together with Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas, who sits as a board member of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the Philippines’ de facto embassy in Taipei, he was able to negotiate the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment.

Arenas remembers with a shudder the clanging of a series of steel doors as they left the prison after their visit with Armia. “We wanted to give her some money for her personal needs but the warden said any money must be left at his office, and they would simply deduct from the amount the cost of food and necessities that Armia would avail of,” Arenas recalls. All this was done “below the radar,” with no publicity or inter-government dealings, just an accommodation between friends of long standing.

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RIGHT now, Arenas says she is planning to produce a movie on the plight of Armia. “I tell you,” she declares, “anyone who sees that movie will be dissuaded from committing any crime while abroad.”

But overall, she says, OFWs in Taiwan are relatively better off than workers in other countries. “They receive higher wages and we receive few stories of abuse or deception from our workers.” One reason could be, she says, that Filipinos in Taiwan work mostly as factory workers or as professionals, with just a few employed in domestic work, which is acknowledged as a line of work where employees are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Dy (who is often mistaken for a medical doctor because he carries the honorific of “Doctor” before his name and he is connected with a hospital) says the actions taken by the Aquino administration after the dust-up with Taiwan have also eased the tension a lot.

He issued a statement saying: “It is also a welcome development that our government has appointed new officials to man the Department of Foreign Affairs, in the person of Secretary Albert del Rosario, and the appointment of recently retired AFP Chief of Staff Ricardo David, Jr. as the new chief of the Bureau of Immigration… The new appointments usher a positive note to avoid the repetition of the unfortunate incident and hopefully minimize the resentment of (the) Taiwan government and bridge the gap between the two countries.”

While it is good that concerned individuals stepped into what appeared to be an almost-impossible situation, the impasse with Taiwan managed to provide the Philippines a measure of dignity and sent the message that we are no pushovers, even if our workers are used as pawns in the negotiations. Still, our diplomats and immigration officials should be made aware that we don’t need to make enemies or antagonize friends unnecessarily. Given our widespread army of OFWs, we need as much as possible to keep “winning friends and influencing people.”

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THIS Sunday, March 20, solo moms (never married, once married, widowed and “tita mommys”) are invited to attend “Happy Even After,” a workshop for everyone raising children on their own.

The workshop takes place from 2 to 5 p.m. at Powerbooks Greenbelt 4. Among the speakers are lawyer Raquel Aspiras who specializes in Family Law, beauty and fitness experts, and  single moms who have “been there, done that.”

Reservations are required, and those interested are urged to call or text 0927-3079608 for a slot. Registration fee of P200 covers refreshments, giveaways and a donation to the AFP HERO Foundation.