Taiwan eases up on OFWs

MANILA, Philippines—Taiwan has agreed to lift the restrictions it had imposed on Filipinos applying for work visas, following a second visit to the island nation by former Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, the personal emissary and chief troubleshooter of President Benigno Aquino III.

Roxas told reporters Tuesday the Philippine side was able to assuage Taiwanese authorities’ hurt feelings over the deportation by Manila of 14 suspected Taiwanese criminals to China in February.

“(We) didn’t apologize … there was just a deeper understanding. As I said before, we were putting forward an understanding and not an apology,” said Roxas in a news briefing in Malacañang.

In Taiwan, the government-owned Central News Agency (CNA) quoted Foreign Minister Timothy Yang as saying the restrictions on Filipino workers had been lifted.

“From today on, the requirements imposed on Philippine workers applying for entry visas are returned to the previous ones,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“The Philippines has repeatedly displayed its good will and apology by punishing the officials responsible,” it said, referring to the removal of two immigration officials.

Yang met Sunday with Roxas. On Monday, Roxas had an audience with Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou.

“I’m pleased to see your government respond to our call with concrete action,” the CNA quoted Ma telling Roxas.

Ma was apparently referring to the replacement of the immigration chief and the ruling by a Philippine state prosecutor that some of the 14 Taiwanese suspects had been illegally arrested.

Ma said the Philippines’ moves “have not only seen that justice has been served but have also helped minimize the dispute’s adverse impact on Taipei-Manila relations.”

Taiwan had demanded that Manila apologize for the deportation of the Taiwanese to China where they were wanted for allegedly swindling mainland Chinese to the tune of $20 million in an online scam.

Asked at a news conference whether Roxas apologized during their latest meeting, the CNA quoted Yang as replying that there were “many ways to express regret and apology.”

Yang said Taiwan recognized Manila’s “genuine sincerity in wanting to resolve the row” and that the relief of the immigration chief “was of great significance and a way of saying sorry,” according to CNA.

According to CNA, President Ma described the row as “being mainly about jurisdiction rights over criminal cases and the protection of the human rights of the accused rather than about national sovereignty.”

On Tuesday, Roxas said in Malacañang, “What happened already happened but, nevertheless, we would do everything for it to never happen again.”

Roxas said his discussions with the Taiwanese included a plan to come up with a legal aid mechanism under the Manila and Taiwan economic cooperation offices to handle issues of “conflicting claims of jurisdiction,” such as what happened to the deported Taiwanese.

Roxas said the Taiwanese side welcomed the appointment of a new immigration commissioner, retired Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Ricardo David.

“They were quite happy. They received this as a very positive development because, in their view, they were aggrieved (by the deportation),” Roxas said.

Roxas, however, said David’s appointment was not part of a quid pro quo arrangement with the Taiwanese.

“That was just them—we didn’t offer that in the formal negotiations,” he said. With an Agence France-Presse report