de facto... whether that's true or not (and unethical...)... for me if you can't get your licence validated by CAAP you're not legally allowed to fly anyway... and licence validation requires getting a Licence Verification from the CAA of your 'mother' licence and passing a sim check with a CAAP approved check pilot.
Just out of interest Jaz, I work for an A320 competitor just down the road... are you saying they still take expats but only on local pay?... defeats the purpose of being a contract pilot... unless you're looking for the flying time. Actually as a side-issue (and I'm not having a dig at Ceb Pac)... I heard the use of expats is not because of expansion but because everyone keeps leaving to go to other airlines... for reason of he scheduling... but as you say if you have a Fil passport, looking for a first job or quick command tc not a bad place to start.