President Ma Ying-jeou met with Philippine Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque and Philippine Senator Edgardo J. Angara at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of August 14, and welcomed the two on their visit to Taiwan.
The president remarked that Labor and Employment Secretary Roque is extremely familiar with the labor community in Taiwan, while Senator Angara is a noted and highly esteemed educator and legal expert in the Philippines. President Ma commented that the ROC (Taiwan) and the Philippines maintain extremely close relations. In addition to being in geographical proximity to each other, Taiwan is the Philippines' sixth largest trading partner, while the Philippines is the 14th largest trading partner of Taiwan. Even more important is the labor relationship between the two countries, as presently 70,000 Philippine nationals work in Taiwan. Given the high standard of education in the Philippines, Philippine laborers are quite qualified, he said. They speak English, thereby alleviating communication barriers in the workplace. Philippine laborers have made many contributions to the economic development and various construction projects here, for which the president expressed his deep appreciation.
President Ma also commented that Secretary Roque and Senator Angara are primarily making this trip to Taiwan to attend the Taiwan-Philippines Joint Labor Conference. Since 70,000 Philippine laborers work in Taiwan, the conference provides an avenue to further understand any problems facing the laborers and address issues concerning their interests. This is an extremely important matter for the two countries to tackle, he said, adding that he hopes that cooperation and interaction between the two countries will become even closer in order to enhance the wellbeing of the people of the two nations.
President Ma said that he made a trip to the Philippines in 1987 and visited Malacañang Palace in Manila where he met former President Corazon Aquino, at which time the two exchanged opinions. President Ma expressed his admiration for President Aquino for the important role she played in her nation's history. President Ma noted that former President Aquino passed away earlier this month and that he expressed the government's condolences through Taiwan's representative in the Philippines.
Secretary Roque and Senator Angara expressed their appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with them. They also extended their deep appreciation to Taiwan for caring for the Philippine laborers working here. At the same time, they expressed their hopes that in addition to labor affairs, other areas of cooperation and interaction beneficial to the development of the two countries can also be strengthened. The two furthermore expressed their concern about the disaster caused by a recent typhoon that devastated portions of southern Taiwan.