Filipino migrants have uncovered various “ghost” facilities of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in the US and Taiwan, as non-existent or long non-operational projects still appear in agency records.

In Taiwan, Filipino-American missionary priest Father Joy Tajonera exposed the absence of any government-run shelter or temporary sanctuary for abused Filipino migrants, contradicting DMW’s claim of allocating funds for such programs.

According to the DMW, the agency allots ₱5 million annually for migrant shelters in Taiwan it co-manages with non-government organizations. But Tajonera the shelter Bahay Ugnayan which he ran stopped getting support in 2022. The shelter had earlier received $2,500 monthly through the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) since 2004. The DMW was also found to have allocated ₱2.9 million for an alleged “MWO shelter” in Taipei—a supposedly government-run facility that is currrently closed. Filipino migrants themselves did not know that the said shelter exists, Tajonera said.

These funds and “ghost shelters” aside, more questions arise over how the DMW uses its resources, including its planned construction of an “OWWA Global Center” in Neihu District in Taipei. Migrants criticized the choice of location for its excessively expensive rental rates. A similar question was posed regarding the earlier OFW Global Center project at the United Center, Admiralty Building—one of Hong Kong’s priciest office spaces. The global centers were promoted as “training and rest facilities” for migrants. Migrants said the funds for these costly projects should have gone to direct services and assistance for distressed overseas workers.

In the US, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-USA Washington condemned the Department of Foreign Affairs’ ghost project which supposed established of a Philippine Consulate in Washington DC. Despite ₱83.7 million ($14 million) allocated for 2025 and ₱88.9 million for 2026, the consulate remains non-existent, and its funds unaccounted for.

The group said Filipinos in Washington have long demanded local consular services. Accessing basic services required Filipino migrants and immigrants to travel from Washington and nearby cities to the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco, California. The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) launched a petition in 2022 for a permanent consulate in Washington State. The San Francisco Philippine Consulate General announced in 2023 that one would be established. The state still has no consulate two years later.

Because of the absence and denial of services from the Philippine consulate and embassy, Filipino communities and organizations in the US took the initiative to provide protection and assistance, especially to Filipinos detained by ICE and their families. They now ask: where did the DFA’s Assistance to Nationals (ATN) funds go?

Bayan USA demands that the DFA release a full report on its 2025 and 2026 budgets and the timeline for opening the Washington consulate. The agency must also disclose the budget allocated for the ATN fund. The group further calls for the resignation and accountability of Bernice Santayana, ATN Officer of the San Francisco Philippine Consulate General, for her deliberate neglect of Filipino immigrants’ grievances, collusion with ICE, and disregard for the health and safety of detained Filipinos.