Filtered By: Pinoyabroad
Pinoy Abroad

Valte: Emissary won’t affect one-China policy


Malacañang on Sunday allayed fears that sending an emissary to Taiwan to smooth out the political ripples from the deportation of 14 Taiwanese to mainland China violates the one-China policy and may spur a dispute with Beijing. “Hindi naman po. Kasi it’s a trade issue… A tourism issue as well. Mabuti ma-explain ang nangyari given ang sitwasyon na maraming Pilipino na nagtatrabaho sa Taiwan (No, it won’t. This is a trade issue. A tourism issue as well. It’s best to explain what happened, given the situation that many Filipinos are working in Taiwan)," Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said on government-run radio dzRB Sunday, when asked if sending the emissary will violate the one-China Policy. But Valte did not name the emissary as of Sunday. “Wala pang official advice sa atin kung sino ang magiging emisaryo hinggil sa issue na ito (We haven’t gotten any official advise on who will be the emissary in relation to this issue)," she said. She hinted, however, the emissary may not be from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Under the one-China Policy, the Philippines keeps diplomatic ties with mainland China and not with Taiwan, which China considers as its province. But the Philippines maintains trade ties with Taiwan. Finding ways to help Taiwan-bound OFWs Right now, government is exploring ways to help Taiwan-bound Filipinos cope with the restrictions Taipei imposed by extending the process of going to Taiwan up to four months as a way of showing its displeasure over how Philippines supposedly handled the deportation of its nationals. Some 80,000 Filipinos are working in Taiwan, most of them employed in electronics factories, while some 20,000 work as caregivers. The dispute between the Philippines and Taiwan stemmed from the arrest of 24 foreigners on Dec. 27, including 14 Taiwanese as requested by Beijing saying they were being charged with fraud. Despite attempts by Taiwan officials and lawyers who maintained that the 14 were Taiwanese citizens and should be shipped to Taiwan, all 24 were deported to mainland China on Feb. 2. Consequently, Taiwan recalled its de facto ambassador to the Philippines, Donald Lee, following what Taipei claimed as the “inhumane" deportation of its “citizens" to mainland China. It also extended the screening process for overseas Filipino workers from about 2two weeks to four months, and withdrew the “privilege" — given to Filipinos with visas to the United States, Japan, and European Union member countries — to enter Taiwan without having a Taipei-issued visa. Meanwhile, Valte said that Malacañang is exploring ways to help Taiwan-bound Filipinos cope with the restrictions, but did not elaborate. She said the Palace may be open to suggestions, including tapping the Social Security System (SSS) to help Taiwan-bound Filipinos meet the requirements for going to Taiwan. “Wala pa naman tayong nagiging paguusap with SSS, nguni’t madali naman ma-open natin ang discussion na ito sa kanila (We still haven’t had talks with SSS, but it would be easy for us to open such discussions with them)," she said. “Titingnan natin kung ano pa ang pwedeng magawa ng SSS para in the meantime mas bumilis ang maging serbisyo sa kailangang kumuha dahil sa mga additional requirements (We’ll see what else can SSS do in the meantime to hasten the service with what needs to be secured as a result of additional requirements,) the deputy spokesperson said. "At tulad ng sinabi natin kahapon, umaasa tayo na makapunta na at makabalik ang emisaryo at mas maging maayos ang sitwasyon (And as what we’ve said yesterday, we hope that the emissary could go and come back already and to smooth the situation out)," she added. — VS, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT