Filipino man searching for long-lost Taiwanese father

菲律賓男子尋找失散多年的台灣父親

Filipino Chou Eh-chen is searching for his long-lost Taiwanese father Chou Ming-jen


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Filipino man is trying to find the whereabouts of his long-lost Taiwanese father who he has not seen or heard from for 26 years.

Chou Eh-chen, 27, is currently searching for his Taiwanese father, who he last saw when he was a little over one year old in 1994. Eh-chen's father, Chou Ming-jen (周明仁), was born in Taiwan's Pingtung County on Dec. 30, 1966, which would make him 54 years old.

Eh-chen is not sure how his father, a Taiwanese farm owner, met his mother, Caytana N. Ilao, but he knows that they were married on March 12, 1993, in Manila. The couple's marriage license appears to list his father's residence in Taiwan as Hsin Long (Xinglong Village?) in Pingtung County's Hsin Yen (Xingyuan?) Township.

His father's parents are listed as Chou Show-hsiung (father) and Lin Yu-yeh (mother). Eh-chen's mother was born on August 19, 1970, in Nasugbu in the Philippine province of Batangas.

The couple moved to Ming-jen's farm in Taiwan in June of 1993, where Eh-chen was born on Nov. 23, 1993. However, he said that his parents frequently argued and his mother eventually decided to leave Taiwan and return to the Philippines with the help of nuns on Dec. 23, 1994.

Eh-chen said that he never heard from his father again after his mother took him back with her to the Philippines. He is not yet married and currently resides in Valenzuela City in Metro Manila.

He says that his mother became seriously ill last year, forcing him to leave his job as an account officer to take care of her full time. Unfortunately, she passed away in September of last year, and he has struggled to find employment since amid the pandemic.

He told Taiwan News that since his mother passed away, he is hoping to meet his father and get to know him more.

If you have any information about the whereabouts of Chou Ming-jen (周明仁), please contact Chou Eh-chen via his Facebook page or his WhatsApp/Viber account 63961-604-6376.