Taiwan solons see FVR visit as a PHL 'apology'
After failing to squeeze an apology from President Benigno Aquino III and his emissary Manuel Roxas II, Taiwan lawmakers see the visit of former President Fidel Ramos to Taipei as an expression of saying "sorry" for the deportation of 14 Taiwanese to mainland China last month. Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Lin Yu-fang said Ramos' visit to Taiwan from March 3 to 7 signifies that Manila has heard Taiwan's protests over the Feb. 2 incident and the lack of an apology from the Philippine government. "In a way, it is an expression that Philippines is sorry about the incident. Otherwise, Ramos would not come," Lin said in an interview posted on Taiwan's Central News Agency. During his visit, Ramos will play in a golf tournament, visit Hsinchu Science Park, and meet with the Hsinchu and Changhua county magistrates. The CNA report also cited a Philippine-based Taiwanese businessman close to Ramos as saying the former president might deliver a "goodwill statement" before leaving for Taipei. It said the supposed goodwill message is likely to express hopes that the deportation dispute will not affect the long-term friendship between the two countries. Taipei expressed its displeasure over the deportation by tightening the requirements on Filipino workers who want to work in Taiwan. [See: OFWs start feeling brunt of PHL-Taiwan deportation row] President Benigno Aquino III last month sent Roxas, a former senator and his runningmate in the May 2010 elections, to Taiwan to repair the frayed ties with Taipei. Roxas, who lost the vice presidential race, refused to issue the apology Taiwan had been trying to squeeze out of Philippine officials. However, Lin said the Philippines' pledge to conduct an investigation and discipline any official found to have mishandled the matter were signs that Manila was sensitive to Taiwan's anger over the deportation of its nationals to China. "It is better for Taiwan to have more friends, given Taiwan's weak status in the international community," Lin said in the CAN news report. On the other hand, Lin's fellow KMT legislator, Lo Shu-lei, did not agree. Whether or not the Philippines disciplines its officials is an issue for Manila to decide, but that Taiwan's sovereignty is an international issue, said Lo. If the Philippines does not issue an apology after insulting a country's sovereign status to such a degree, then there is not much left for Taiwan to further discuss on the matter, she said. "Taiwan has to remain tough on the Philippines. There is no room for compromise. The Philippines must apologize," Lo said. Freezing loan payments In a related development, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has called on recruitment agencies and lending companies to defer the collection of loan payments from OFWs bound for Taiwan, until the workers are deployed and have collected their first salary. POEA administrator Carlos Cao Jr. made the appeal in a release posted on the POEA website Thursday, taking into consideration the slow-down caused by the longer visa processing time to Taiwan. The POEA noted that prior to the deportation incident, visas to Taiwan took only four days to process. Now it will take several months. Taiwan-bound workers will have a tough time paying their financial obligations because of the situation they are caught in their desire to work in Taiwan, Cao said. “He urged companies to understand the plight of these workers and treat their situation with a little leniency," the release stated. Filipinos who are off to Taiwan pay their authorized recruiters a placement fee equivalent to a month’s salary on top of a broker’s fee. Some 25,357 workers were deployed to Taiwan as of September 2010, according to the POEA. Group wants Ledesma fired In a separate statement, a group of recruitment agencies, which deals mostly with OFWs for Taiwan, has called on the Court of Appeals (CA) to release its opinion on the culpability, or not, of Immigration officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma who supposedly ignored the writ of habeas corpus the court issued on behalf of the six Taiwanese deportees. The Pilipino Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan Inc. (PILMAT), claimed that Ledesma is culpable for disregarding a court order and should be punished for it, a development the group believes would be enough to appease Taiwan and possibly relax the restrictions now in place against Filipino workers. Sacking Ledesma for the incident would constitute an apology, PILMAT president Jackson Gan claimed. He also alleged that the Immigration chief was responsible for triggering the Philippines-Taiwan According to, the firing of Ledesma will likewise constitute an apology that would be acceptable to Taiwan, as he directly accused Ledesma of triggering the diplomatic quarrel that has come between Taiwan and the Philippines. Ledesma had earlier asked the CA to junk the habeas corpus it issued for the Taiwanese. He claimed that deporting the 14 Taiwanese to China was legal, as they were wanted in China for Internet and telecommunications fraud. (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/213308/bi-chief-asks-ca-to-junk-taiwanese-deportees39-habeas-corpus-plea) In December 2010, the National Bureau of Investigation arrested the Taiwanese and 10 Chinese nationals upon the request of Beijing for allegedly swindling out of their victims millions of dollars over the Internet and other forms of communication using mobile gadgets. — With Jerrie Abella/Paterno Esmaquel II/VS, GMA News