PHL may send emissary to Taiwan to settle row

(Updated 4:43 p.m.) The Philippine government might send an emissary to Taiwan to explain its decision to deport 14 Taiwanese nationals suspected of fraud to China. "Presently, MECO (Manila Econolic and Cultural Office) is handling the issue. I might be sending an emissary to discuss with them particular issues and to explain why we decided the way we decided," said President Benigno Aquino III in an interview Thursday. The 14 Taiwanese nationals were suspected of committing credit card fraud to the People's Republic of China. They were arrested last year along with 10 Chinese nationals on charges of cross-border fraud. Aquino, however, did not categorically say if an apology from the Philippines is warranted over the deportation, which angered Taipei enough to order the recall of its de facto ambassador in the country. Earlier in the day, Aquino's spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, said the government will not apologize to Taiwan, maintaining that the deportation was done in accordance with the Philippines' national interest. "The evidence is in China, the crime was committed in China, so it was in our best interest, in our national interest to deport them to China," Lacierda said at a press briefing in Malacañang.
Special representative Donald C.T. Lee of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) had demanded an apology from the Aquino administration for deporting the 14 to mainland China instead of Taiwan last Feb. 2 despite their protests. Lacierda, however, maintained that the Philippine government did the right thing in deporting the 14 Taiwanese nationals to China. "We respect their decision. We understand where they are coming from, [but] we have maintained our position that the reason why we have deported them to the People's Republic of China was because we do not wish to be haven of international crime syndicates here in the Philippines," he said. He added that MECO had been asked to make representations with the Taiwanese government. "We hope that this will not escalate to further strains on the relationship between MECO and TECO," Lacierda said. Lacierda admitted that the incident will certainly affect the 80,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan, "but I hope that [Taiwan] will recognize the fact that what we did and the actions we have taken was in accordance with our national interest." "We do not wish our country to be a haven of an international crime syndicate and these Taiwanese nationals have been …there were evidence in China that they were part of an international crime syndicate," he added. - KBK, GMA News