Filipino helper’s case erupts into Taiwan-Philippines sovereignty dispute

Taipei protests after Philippine official refers to the island as part of China

Row stems from call for deportation of domestic worker accused of posting videos online critical of Rodrigo Duterte

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Philippine authorities claim the woman posted videos online critical of President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: AP

Published: 5:00pm, 30 Apr 2020Updated: 5:00pm, 30 Apr 2020

Taiwan has demanded the Philippines stop referring to the island as a part of China, as tensions again flare between Taipei and Manila in a sovereignty row over a Filipino domestic helper.

Taipei lodged a protest with Manila on Thursday after Philippine presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Taiwan was part of China while commenting on the helper’s deportation case.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the Republic of China in Taiwan “is a sovereign independent country, which is never a part of China. The People’s Republic of China [Beijing] has never a day ruled Taiwan.”

The tensions stemmed from the handling of allegations of libel against Elanel Egot Ordidor who works as a helper in Taiwan’s southwestern county of Yunlin.

On Saturday, the Philippine Department of Labour and Employment accused Ordidor of “cyber libel” for allegedly sharing videos on Facebook criticising Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his online supporters over their actions during the coronavirus epidemic in the Philippines.

Fidel Macauyag, the Philippines’ labour attaché on the island, said representatives from the Philippine Overseas Labour Office in Taiwan’s central city of Taichung met Ordidor at her workplace on April 20 “to enlighten her that her actions amounted to a crime for which she might be prosecuted both in Taiwan and the Philippines”.

“We are constrained to act for the deportation of a Filipina working as a caregiver in Taiwan for the crime of cyber libel for wilful posting of nasty and malevolent materials against President Duterte on Facebook, intended to cause hatred amidst the global health crisis brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Macauyag said on Saturday.

He said labour office “coordinated with her broker and employer on her deportation” due to the gravity of her offence under Philippine law.