PHL, Taiwan receptive to mutual assistance deals

Despite refusing to say sorry for deporting 14 Taiwanese to mainland China, the Philippine government is willing to establish mutual assistance and cooperation agreements with Taiwan in mending the strained relations between Manila and Taipei. At a briefing in Malacañang, former Senator Manuel Roxas II told reporters that among the concerns he laid down before Taiwan officials were the creation of a mechanism of cooperation, mutual legal assistance and mutual assistance in dealing with transnational crimes. “In order to operationalize the Philippines’ desire for mending the disrepair in our relations, we expressed openness to establishing these mechanisms," he said. Roxas also expressed the Philippine government’s openness to talks on the feasibility of starting negotiations for closer economic ties through an economic partnership agreement. Taiwan officials were open to such initiatives, said President Benigno Aquino III’s special envoy to Taipei, adding, however, that they still insisted on an apology from the Philippine government. “Consistently, their bedrock demand was that of an apology which we could not and did not give," he said. Future relations between the two countries will no doubt move forward in a positive way with an apology from the Philippines over the deportation problem, said Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou.
Mission accomplished Still, Roxas believed he was able to accomplish his mission as presidential emissary, because relations between the two countries did not deteriorate during his two-day trip to Taipei. He flew to Taiwan on Monday and returned to Manila late Tuesday. “We faithfully complied with our mission and accomplished the following objectives: first, putting in place a mechanism for the repair and reconciliation process to begin and to open up lines of communication," he said. “The relations with Taiwan have not worsened… [T]here are initiatives in place which are being considered," Roxas said In his sojourn to Taipei, Roxas also conveyed to Taiwan officials the Philippine side on the deportation of the 14 Taiwanese and Manila’s concern for the welfare of overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan, their safety in the midst of the brewing controversy. After nearly 12 hours of non-stop negotiations, the talks resulted in progress in some areas and stalemate in other issues. It was then that Roxas and his counterparts decided to have a break, with the Philippine negotiator flying back to Manila for further consultations with President Aquino. “We were able to express and receive openness from the Taiwanese side on the welfare of our OFWs there, and there were expressions of sincere and heartfelt desire to repair the damage caused by the regrettable incident, and [we] agreed to seek ways to resolve this matter until our time-honored relations with Taiwan is fully normalized," Roxas said. The Manila Economic and Cultural Office and it counterpart, the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office, will handle future talks, he said. — VS/JV, GMA News