Philippines–Taiwan relations

History

The Philippines officially recognized the government of the Republic of China in Taipei as the sole representative of China in the past. Formal diplomatic relations were ended with the establishment of formal relations with the government of the People's Republic of China in Beijing on June 9, 1975. During the time that the two countries had formal relations, the Philippines allowed Taiwan to direct and manage all the Chinese schools in the country. When formal diplomatic relationship ended, the Philippines decided to take over in managing the Chinese schools. As of now, Beijing has no intervention of local Chinese schools, except for bilaterial partnerships.

However, the two countries established representative offices as de facto embassies, with Taiwan informally represented by the Pacific Economic and Cultural Center in Manila and the Philippines by the Asian Exchange Center in Taipei. In December 1989, the Pacific Economic and Cultural Center was renamed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines and the Asian Exchange Center was renamed the Manila Economic and Cultural Office.

In early March 2011, the Philippines deported 15 Taiwanese drug pushers to Beijing, China. Taiwan protested against this action. The Philippine government sent Manuel Roxas II to talk with Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou. During the visit, Roxas mentioned that the Philippines "regret" their actions. But Taiwan maintained that the Philippines apologize for their action. The mission failed, so a second one was sent, headed again by Roxas. The mission, however, failed.

On May 9, 2013, relations between the Philippines and Taiwan was tested again following the aftermath of the Guang Da Xing No. 28 incident where a Philippine Coast Guard confronted a Taiwanese fishing vessel causing one fatality. Relations were again strained until on August 7, 2013, when the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation recommended homicide charges against eight Philippine Coast Guard personnel involved in the shooting and recommended sanctions against four others for allegedly trying to alter evidence. An official apology was made by a Philippine delegation to the victim's family the following day. Taiwan subsequently lifted the sanctions it imposed against the Philippines and issued a statement announcing that relations between the two countries have normalized.

In August 2016, Taiwan's new government, headed by Tsai Ing-wen since May 2016, announced its New Southbound Policy shall focus on relations with the Philippines. Among the focal points for the Taiwan-Philippines cooperations are trade and investment, agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, SMEs, ICT, climate change, education, and culture. The new policy was gladly accepted and approved by the new government of the Philippines, headed by Rodrigo Duterte since July 2016.

Bilateral relation

The strong Taiwanese economy, particularly in the manufacturing industries, attracts cheap manual labor from the Philippines. Most Filipinos working in Taiwan work as factory workers, domestic workers, construction workers, fishermen and professionals and they would send a large part of their earnings to their families in the Philippines. Many Taiwanese men have also chosen Filipino women as brides through arranged marriages. An estimated 7,000 Filipino women now live there with their Taiwanese husbands. Filipino laborers in Taiwan are usually vulnerable to exploitation by their employers, a situation common to unskilled migrant workers all over the world. The Taiwanese government has been receptive to the cases involving mistreatment of Filipino workers in Taiwan. Filipino migrant caretakers in Taiwan have to go through a broker system that collects most of their monthly earnings, demands long work hours without overtime pay, and offers no days off. Some caretakers have to work for 24 hours a day. Home caretakers typically receive monthly salaries much lower than the standard set by the government because they are not covered by Taiwan's Labor Standards Act.Labor Rights for the Filipino workers have been recently improved in a very substantial manners by the Taiwanese Government by pressuring their Taiwanese employers to offer increased wages to their Filipino employees. Nowadays, a high portion of Filipinos residing in Taiwan received higher amount of wages in comparison with their the local Taiwanese residents and the Taiwanese Government has been generously providing excellent quality education to all Filipino children residing in the country.he Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Philippines, separated by the Batanes and Luzon Strait, are two neighboring countries sharing geographic proximity and traditional friendship. Both countries also share similarities in freedom and democracy. Taiwan and the Philippines have long been maintaining close and substantive relations.

Taiwan-Philippines bilateral trade volume reached US$12 billion in 2013. In 2013, Taiwan's export to the Philippines totaled US$9.78 billion while Taiwan's import from the Philippines reached a total of US$2.2 billion. In 2014, the Philippines is the 8th largest export and the 25th largest import partner to Taiwan,whereas Taiwan is the 9th largest export and 3rd largest import partner for the Philippines. Meanwhile, Taiwan is also the 7th largest foreign investor in the Philippines for Taiwan in 2014.

On tourism, Taiwan is the 9th largest tourist source for the Philippines, whereas the Philippines is the 9th largest source of visitors for Taiwan in 2014.

In 2014,there are more than 100,000 Filipino workers and migrants in Taiwan. The annual remittance from Filipino workers in Taiwan has amounted to more than US$100 million.

The air-links between Taipei/Kaohsiung and Manila are daily operated by China Airlines, Eva Air, Philippine Airlines, and Cebu Pacific Air.

The mutual interactions and exchanges on other areas like culture, education, agriculture and aquaculture are vibrant.

Economic relation

The total Investment Amount between the Philippines and Taiwan reached up to US$1.1 billion. Taiwan is the 5th largest foreign investor in the Philippines.

In 2015, bilateral trade between the two sides amounted US$9.7 billion and in 2016, it was US$10.8 billion.

Others

There are about 77,933 Filipino workers in Taiwan, with 53,868 of them working in the manufacturing sector and 22,994 people working as caregivers. Philippine holidays such as Independence day and José Rizal's birthday are also celebrated by the Filipino community in Taiwan. Taiwanese tourist in the Philippines makes up 73,000 people, the 5th in foreign tourist arrivals in the Philippines)

Diplomatic incidents

On 9 May 2013, the Philippine Coast Guard opened fire in open seas between the two countries on a Taiwanese fishing boast, killing one fisherman . Following the incident, Taiwan imposed sanctions on the Philippines, including the freeze of Filipino hires since the Filipino authorities refused and ignored the request for an apology to the families of the victim. The Taiwanese Naval Forces had since conducted huge drills in waters between Taiwan and the Philippines.