Contingency plans in place

(TRIBUNE) The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said contingency plans are in place for the 150,000 overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan should war erupt between the United States and China.

“We have a contingency plan that has been in place for some time. We know where they are, we have records,” DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Eduardo de Vega said, as he allayed fears for their safety in the island nation.

The DFA, he said, will always believe in diplomacy.

Beijing, on Friday, issued a slew of warnings against the military cooperation of the Philippines with the US, stressing that it will “eventually backfire.”

“Our region’s peace and stability hinges on trust, solidarity, and cooperation and requires that we, as members of this region, take our security firmly in our own hands,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin had said.

“We would like to once again remind the relevant country in the region that pandering to forces outside the region will not bring greater security, but will cause tensions, put regional peace and stability at risk, and eventually backfire,” he added.

Wang cited particularly the locations of the additional sites stipulated in the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between Manila and Washington, to which American forces will have access.

Judging by their locations, China said, the “intention behind those sites is more than obvious.”

The four EDCA new sites are at Camilo Osias Naval Base in Sta. Ana town and Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo town, both in Cagayan province; Camp Melchor de la Cruz in Gamu, Isabela province; and Balabac, the southernmost island of Palawan province.

Part of Huang’s job

De Vega said Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian was only doing his job when he issued his alleged threat about overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan.

In a chance interview, he said Huang being China’s representative in the country is expected to advance Beijing’s interest.

“Any diplomat will say things to advance their country’s interest. I don’t think he meant, nobody means they are going to harm our workers,” De Vega said.

He made the statement after Senator Risa Hontiveros on Sunday called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to ask Beijing to recall its representative in the country following his “disgraceful” statement.

“The Palace should tell Beijing to recall their representative in Manila as soon as possible. He has no business being a diplomat if he is unable to engage with us in a respectful and dignified manner,” she said.

“He, along with his country’s ships and artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea, should pack up and leave,” she added.

Huang said the Philippines should “unequivocally oppose” Taiwan’s independence if it “genuinely cares” about the 150,000 OFWs on the self-ruled island.

“The Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence rather than stoking the fire by offering the US access to military bases near the Taiwan Strait if you care genuinely about the 150,000 OFWs,” he said.

On Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in Manila defended Huang, saying the latter was only “misquoted.”

“It is appreciated that there was extensive coverage of Ambassador Huang Xilian’s speech at the 8th Manila Forum,” the embassy told Daily Tribune.

“Unfortunately, some misquoted or misinterpreted Ambassador Huang’s remarks or simply took part of the ambassador’s words out of context,” it added.

Precautionary measure

As this developed, senators on Monday urged the government to provide a contingency plan for the OFWs in Taiwan as a precautionary measure in case the geopolitical tension between Beijing and Taipei worsened further.

Senator Francis Tolentino suggested a simulation of the evacuation of the more than 150,000 OFWs from Taiwan should be part of the country’s Balikatan Exercise with the US.

“I advise the head of the Balikatan Exercise — Philippine side — to include in their practice next year how to evacuate (OFWs) using ships from Taiwan to Cagayan or Batanes in case, for contingency,” Tolentino said in an interview.

He said sea evacuation was the most feasible way to quickly repatriate the OFWs following a report by The Washington Post that the self-ruled island is “highly vulnerable” to air attack by China’s People’s Liberation Army-Air Force and “is unlikely to thwart Chinese military air superiority in a cross-strait conflict.”

The vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on National Defense also said the participation of commercial vessels in the evacuation simulation should be considered to hasten the OFWs’ repatriation.

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero echoed the same sentiment, adding the government should have contingency plans for every country that hosts Filipinos.

“That should be a given for every country where we have OFWs. Being prepared for any contingency is what our embassies and consulates should do,” Escudero said in a statement.

‘Proactive’

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva underscored that the national government’s policies must remain proactive, particularly when dealing with OFWs’ safety and security.

“We expect the Department of Migrant Workers, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of National Defense, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to act now and come up with a contingency or a safety and security plan which includes repatriation, relocation and reintegration to prepare our OFWs in case of any eventuality, natural or otherwise,” Villanueva said.

“We have included repatriation and reintegration programs in the DMW act, which we principally authored and sponsored, to ensure readiness and quick response to such contingencies,” he added.

He said the safety of OFWs should be the country’s top priority not only in Taiwan but everywhere there is a Filipino abroad.

“The government needs to assure us that all agencies concerned are doing everything they can to ensure that the rights of all OFWs, not only those in Taiwan but all our kababayans abroad are well protected and their welfare is their top priority,” he said.

Senator Jinggoy Estrada said the government must exhaust all means to ensure the safety of OFWs in Taiwan and elsewhere.

“It would be prudent on the part of the government to always have contingency plans for Filipinos living and working not only in Taiwan but anywhere in the world if evacuation is needed,” Estrada said in a statement.

China considers Taiwan, an ally of the United States, as part of its territory, to be retaken one day — by force, if necessary.