Manila Economic and Cultural Office Philippine Representative Office in Taiwan
Aiming to provide a broader reach to the Filipino people residing in Taiwan and for Taiwanese nationals interested in the Philippines, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) employs the use of several online platforms to cater to the needs of both Filipino and Taiwanese clients. These online platforms include both its website and mobile application.
MECO strongly advise online users to read the Terms of Service carefully before availing of the online services available on its website and mobile application. Your access and use of MECO’s online services are dependent to your agreement and compliance with the following Terms. These Terms are applicable to all visitors, interested users and others who already accessed or availed of MECO’s online services.
Copying and downloading content, information and other materials from MECO’s website and mobile application are allowed for personal and non-commercial purposes only. Under this license, a user is prohibited to do the following:
Upon termination of your access to these materials, you are obliged to delete any downloaded materials in your possession whether in electronic or printed format.
MECO’s online platforms offer the following services, namely, online visa transactions, passport appointment system and passport releasing verification.
Online visa transactions provide an option for Taiwanese nationals to apply for an electronic travel authorization in order to visit the Philippines for a maximum period of 30 days.
On the other hand, Filipinos in Taiwan can apply or renew their passports by setting an appointment. MECO encourages Filipino migrants in Taiwan to set an online appointment for faster transaction and processing.
Lastly, Filipinos who applied or renewed their passports may check the availability of their passports online by entering particular details about their identity.
MECO’s online services collect varieties of personal information depending on the type of transaction being availed.
For online visa portal, Taiwanese nationals need to provide information about their identity, personal history, details from government-issued IDs, civil status, employment record, address, purpose of entry and itinerary in the Philippines.
On the other hand, passport appointment system requires more detailed information for Filipino migrants in Taiwan since passport serves as one of their official government-issued IDs. It is obligatory for applicants to provide details about their identity and personal history, contact details, civil status, educational background, organizational affiliations, citizenship and its basis, employment information, and their preferred appointment location and schedule.
In order to check passport availability after application, passport claimants only need to input their surname and old passport number.
Information collected from applicants are treated with utmost confidentiality. MECO assures applicants that their personal information are protected and utilized for their respective purposes only.
The Office also adheres to a strict protocol about the procedures of storing and transferring user’s personal information. We maintain a secured database which serves as the online repository for every applicant’s data. Hash encryptions, specifically passwords, are employed to protect sensitive personal information. In addition, retrieval of information submitted by an applicant via the mobile application is protected with CORS (Cross Origin Resource Sharing) restrictions which ensure applicants that no outside sources can infiltrate and capture the operations of the mobile application. Through these mechanisms, MECO guarantees applicants that the submitted information to the mobile application and website is accessible by our concerned personnel only.
MECO utilizes social media for the promotion of its official webpage and mobile application. However, our service may contain links to third-party websites or services that are not owned or controlled by MECO.
MECO has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for the content, privacy policy, or practice of any third party web sites or services. MECO is also not responsible or liable, either directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such web sites or services.
MECO, along with its suppliers, reserves the right not to be liable for any damages (such as but not limited to damages for the loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption) arising out of the use or inability to use the materials on MECO's website. This provision applies even if MECO or a MECO authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage.
In case of situations wherein some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages, these limitations may not apply to the user.
MECO may terminate or suspend your access to our online services immediately if you violate any of these Terms. Termination of access will proceed without prior notice or liability.
The Office may also terminate or suspend your account immediately if you breach any of these Terms. Termination will also occur without any prior notice or liability.
Upon termination of your access or account, your right to use our online services will immediately cease.
On the other hand, if a user wishes to terminate his/her account even without committing any breach of these Terms, he/she may simply discontinue availing the online services available in the website and mobile application.
All provisions of the Terms which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination such as but not limited to ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.
These Terms are formulated in alignment to the provisions of Google’s new Privacy/Data Policy and in compliance to the principles of the EU-US Privacy Shield. The implementation of these Terms shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of Taiwan, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.
Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be considered a waiver of those rights. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable by a court, the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in effect. These Terms constitute the entire agreement between us regarding our online services, and supersede and replace any prior agreements we might have between us regarding our online services.
MECO also reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time. We will try to send a notification if there is a substantial revision of the Terms 30 days prior to the implementation of the new Terms. It is also upon the sole discretion of MECO to determine the criteria of what constitutes a substantial revision.
By continuing to access or use our online services after those revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the new Terms, please stop using the online services of MECO.
If you have any questions and clarifications about these Terms, you may reach us via sending an email to socmed@meco.org.tw.