aiwan welcomes new immigration chief, relaxes visa rules for OFWs

MANILA, Philippines –  Taiwan welcomed President Aquino’s appointment of a new Immigration chief and announced a relaxation of visa requirements for Filipino workers.

The development came on the heels of the deportation of a Taiwanese national involved in electronic fraud to Taiwan.

Aquino’s former running mate and political adviser Manuel Roxas II has also been invited to return to Taipei for another round of talks on the diplomatic row sparked by Manila’s deportation of 14 Taiwanese nationals accused of fraud to China.

Taipei earlier ordered restrictions on visa requirements for Filipino workers after the deportation of the 14. The Philippines invoked its one-China policy to justify the deportation.

Former Armed Forces chief Ricardo David Jr. replaced Bureau of Immigration officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma.

The Department of Justice also removed Faizal Hussin from his post as head of the BI Intelligence Division and appointed lawyer Maria Antoinette Bucasas Mangrobang as replacement.

“With these changes, the Philippine government has shown goodwill and regret,” Taiwan Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang said on Wednesday in Focus Taiwan News Channel.

On March 9, Taipei said it would no longer require Social Security System cards from Filipino visa applicants.

“The Republic of China government announces the immediate relaxation of some visa application requirements for Filipino workers,” he said.

Yang said Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) chairman Amadeo Perez Jr. sent him a letter on Tuesday reassuring Taipei that Manila was taking steps to resolve the row over the deportation of the 14 Taiwanese.

But Taiwan said its other retaliatory measure – longer screening process for visa application from 12 days to four months – remains.

Aquino earlier sent Roxas on a mission to placate Taiwan and relayed the Philippines message of “deep regrets” for the deportation. But Taiwan rebuffed Roxas and said it would only accept a public apology.

Roxas’ 2 Taiwan trip

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said Roxas has received an invitation to go back to Taiwan and that President Aquino has authorized the trip.

“We are happy to receive the invitation from Taiwan to continue on to Phase 2 of our consultations and bridge building efforts,” Roxas said in a statement.

“This is in line with what we negotiated and agreed upon during my visit there two weeks ago to include recent negotiations by phone. I briefed the President on this and the new invitation as well as on the status of the other ongoing efforts. President (Aquino) gave his go-ahead for me to proceed thereon,” Roxas, who is in Singapore with the President, said in a text message.

“As in my past mission, (the President’s) primary instructions and concern were the welfare and safekeeping of our 90,000 OFWs there,” Roxas said.

MECO chairman Perez said Roxas’ visit would be on March 13 to 14. Roxas is going to Taiwan as a private negotiator because he does not have any official position in the Philippine government.

Manila does not have diplomatic relations with Taipei due to its one-China policy.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, meanwhile, said David’s appointment was not meant to appease Taipei regarding the deportation row, as the former AFP chief was already being considered for the position even before the controversy erupted.

But Lacierda said in a press briefing yesterday that the Philippine government was grateful for the development.

“(It’s a) bonus in the sense that they have regarded the decision as a form of apology and if they took the appointment of General David as a form of apology, we will not argue with them on that,” Lacierda said.

“Certainly, we welcome the decision of the Taiwan government to relax their restrictions,” he said.

Lacierda said Taiwan’s invitation for Roxas to go back to Taipei was “an indication on the part of the Taiwan government to further normalize the relations between the Philippines and Taiwan and this is to the credit of former senator Mar Roxas for his efforts.”

Lacierda added it was good that Taipei would want to put behind the deportation incident and “we view that as a step in the right direction.”

On March 8, a Taiwanese was deported, this time to Taiwan, for his involvement in electronic fraud after being arrested last Dec. 22 in Quezon City.

But Lacierda said this did not mean that the Philippine government made a mistake of deporting the 14 Taiwanese to Beijing.

“To the best of my knowledge, I think the identification of the Taiwanese national who was deported was very clear. So there was no issue at this point. We are not tying the two together, it’s just that the deportation of Taiwanese (on March 8) was quite clear on his real nationality,” Lacierda said.

He added that the Aquino government would let the investigation in the Senate and the case filed before the Court of Appeals to proceed to determine if lapses had been committed in the deportation of the 14 Taiwanese.

“These were the things that we mentioned to the Taiwanese authorities when former senator Mar Roxas was there. But their concerns are being addressed by these two bodies which are looking into it,” Lacierda said.

He said he could not answer whether the deportation of the Taiwanese to Taiwan this time appeased Taipei.

Lacierda said Roxas’ trip to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province, would not affect the Philippines’ relations with China.

“China recognizes that we have economic and cultural relations with Taiwan. That’s the reason why we have a MECO and a TECO (Taipei Economic and Cultural Office) dealing with each other. That is clear and they understand why we have to do this,” Lacierda said. -–Pia Lee-Brago (The Philippine Star) with Aurea Calica, Rudy Santos