This Memorandum of Understanding entered into by and between:
the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, her-
einafter referred to as TECO, represented by its Representative,
Chan Hsien-Ching; and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office,
hereinafter referred to as MECO, represented by its Chairperson
and President, Eva Estrada Kalaw;

WITNESSTH THAT:

Whereas, it is desire of TECO and MECO to immediately implement
a special hiring facility which will enable employers in the R.O
.C. to hire Filipino workers without the intervention of the ma-
npower agencies from both parties;

Whereas, both parties, in the spirit of mutual understanding and
cooperation, shall ensure the proper documentation and facilita-
te the hiring of qualified workers;
Whereas, both parties herein are committed to adopt measures to
advance workers' interest as well as that of employers;

NOW THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the foregoing premis-
es, and in order to effectively implement the special hiring fa-
cility, both parties agree on the following points:
1.The special hiring facility shall be on a trial basis;
2.There shall be no discrimination between the special hiring
facility and existing hiring system through the manpower agen-
cies;
3.The special hiring facility shall be regarded as a second opt-
ion for employers and is not intended to replace altogether
other options of hiring through manpower agencies;
4.The schedule of expenses of workers hired through the special
hiring facility shall be mutually agreed by both parties with-
out prejudice to the welfare of the workers and relevant laws
and rules of both sides;
5.The special hiring facility shall be implemented through a pr-
ocess of regular and continuing consultations between appropr-
iate authorities of both sides with the end view of coming out
with a mutually acceptable system, procedures and mechanism;
6.This Memorandum of Understanding shall be effective from the
date of signing by both parties thereto, and shall have an ef-
fective period of one year. Either party may at any time give
written notice to the other of its intent to terminate this
Memorandum of Understanding.
Signed in Taipei, in duplicate in the Chinese and English lan-
guages, both text being equally authentic, on this 3rd day of
the ninth month of the 88th year of the Republic of China, co-
rresponding to the 3rd day of September, 1999. In case of any
divergence of interpretation, the English text shall prevail.

For Taipei Economic and Cultural
Office in the Philippines
CHAN HSIEN-CHING
Representative

For Manila Economic and
Cultural Office in Taipei
EVA ESTRADA KALAW
Chairperson and President

Witnesssed:

CHAN HOU-SHENG
Chairman
Council of Labor Affairs
Executive Yuan
Republic of China

BIENVENIDOE. LAGUESMA
Secretary
Department of Labor and Employment
Republic of the Philippines