Ople: Taiwan wage hike will benefit OFWs by 2023

Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said Saturday that thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will benefit from the recent wage order issued by Taiwan's Ministry of Labor.

The wage order mandates Taiwan's minimum monthly and hourly wages to rise by 4.55% and 4.76%, effective January 1, 2023.

This will raise the monthly minimum wage from NT$ 25,250 (P46,860.40) to NT$ 26,400 (P48,994.70), and the basic hourly rate from NT$168 (P311.78) to NT$176 (P326.63) once implemented.

"We welcome this development as this would greatly benefit our kababayans working in Taiwan, most especially those in the manufacturing sector," Ople said.

As of July 2022, there are 147,853 Filipino workers in Taiwan. Of that number, 121,756 are factory workers expected to benefit directly from the new wage structure.

The DMW estimates another 20,000 OFWs in this job category will be hired by December.

120 OFWs repatriated from Macau

Meanwhile, a total of 120 OFWs were repatriated from Macau, with most of them having already finished their respective contracts of employment, while others came home with medical conditions.

The OFWs, who arrived on Friday via chartered flight, were processed for either transit flights or overland trips to their home provinces.

"Ten OFWs in need of medical attention were immediately given assistance by airport and medical teams from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), an attached agency of the DMW," the department said.

"These included patients suffering from renal failure, depression, stroke and other health conditions. They were assisted and provided medical referrals by the receiving OWWA teams."

The flight also carried the remains of three OFWs.

Two of them died due to health conditions (acute myocardial infarction and hypertension), while another passed away due to a work-related accident. —Sherylin Untalan/LBG/VBL, GMA News