While the rules on overseas employment in the Philippines states that the cost of placement fee should only be equivalent to a workers one-month salary, Filipinos who wish to work in Taiwan need to pay a lot more.

The placement fee that is currently being charged to Taiwan-bound workers range from Php90, 000 to Php150, 000 even if the monthly salary is only Php22,000. This is because the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) still needs to shoulder a broker’s fee for a Taiwanese-based recruiter. Some of the amount goes to the Filipino recruiter and the OFW also needs to shoulder the airfare.

 Many would resort to lending just to produce the money needed to land a job in Taiwan and would spend then most of his income to pay this debt. With the aim to make things easier for OFWs in Taiwan, President Aquino proposes a reform that would lower the placement fee to only the worker’s one-month salary.

This news was reported by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), Amadeo R. Perez Jr. The Philippine President believed that this policy if approved would be beneficial for both parties because it would encourage more Filipinos to apply to job openings in the productive electronics manufacturing industry in Taiwan.

Apparently, the new method that would significantly reduce the amount of placement fee in Taiwan is being finalized before it could be approved by the Labor Department.

Perez said that the reform that would lower the placement fee in Taiwan was made possible after the agreement of Filipino recruiters and the Taiwanese brokers.

“This is voluntary on the part of our Filipino recruiters,” Perez said.

Under the reform, the Taiwanese brokers would still receive a fee but at a lower rate and it would be deducted from the reduced board and lodging fee charged by the employer to the OFW.

An OFW is Taiwan is currently paying P4,500 a month for board and lodging but under the soon to be implemented reform, the fee would be reduced to Php3500. The discounted amount would go to the broker’s fee so it would be the Taiwanese employer that would shoulder the broker’s fee.