Manila Opens Largest OFW Global Center in Taipei

The Philippines has opened its largest Overseas Filipino Worker service center in Taipei, a one-stop hub for government services, welfare assistance and training, with two more centers planned for Taichung and Kaohsiung. About 191,000 Filipino migrant workers live in Taiwan, including more than 61,000 in the greater Taipei area.

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The Philippine government has opened its largest overseas Filipino worker service center worldwide, the OFW Global Center-Taipei, located in the same Neihu District building as the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the Philippines' de facto embassy in Taiwan. It is the third such facility after Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

The center is designed as a one-stop hub where Filipino workers can access government services, welfare assistance and training without returning to the Philippines. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan said planned activities include Mandarin classes, financial literacy programs, computer and artificial intelligence training, and courses on content creation and entrepreneurship. "Skills are the best protection for migrant workers. You can never take away skills," she said.

Caunan also highlighted the emotional toll of working away from families, saying the center will provide counseling and social interaction to help address homesickness. Workers can simply walk in, she said: "Just walk in and make sure that you make yourself comfortable in our cafe."

Taipei-based caregivers welcomed the facility. Geraldine G. Domingo, who has worked in Taiwan for 12 years, said the center means "everything is here already, what a Filipino overseas worker needs," while Judith Vidal Mendoza, an eight-year veteran, said faster document processing would reduce time workers must take away from their jobs.

OWWA hopes to establish similar centers in Taichung and Kaohsiung over the next two years, with feasibility studies under way. "We don't want our OFWs in Kaohsiung to travel all the way to Taipei just to experience this," Caunan said. Taiwan's Ministry of Labor counted about 191,000 Filipino migrant workers in the country as of the end of August, including more than 61,000 in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan.