The Manila Economic and Cultural Office has apologized for a misleading article on its website regarding Taiwan’s push for visa-waiver status in the Philippines, the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs said June 26.
MECO Representative Antonio Basilio has expressed his apologies, and the article was removed from the website June 25, according to James Chou, deputy director-general of the MOFA Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
The article by a Philippine Daily Inquirer reporter quoted an unidentified MECO official as saying that the Philippines had already rejected Taiwan’s request for visa-waiver treatment for ROC passport holders to prevent drug trafficking and smuggling from Taiwan.
Basilio said the media report is inaccurate and does not represent the position of MECO or the Philippine government, according to Chou. Communication between the two sides on Taiwan’s visa request is proceeding without obstacle, he added.
“The Philippine government has informed us that drug trafficking and smuggling are not related to the visa issue, so MOFA has no comment on the article, which only expresses the views of an individual reporter,” Chou said.
“Working to obtain visa waivers has been the ministry’s consistent policy, and the Philippines is an important focus of this effort because of its geographical proximity to Taiwan,” Chou said. “Since the subject was broached last year, communication between the two sides has been extremely good.
“The issue involves a number of Philippine government agencies, however, so coordination efforts are currently under way with all relevant departments,” he said.
MECO said in a statement that it is working in cooperation with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines on studying a range of visa arrangements and entry procedures to increase convenience for Taiwan businesspeople and benefit Philippine citizens visiting Taiwan.
It also said it would examine the contents of articles posted on the website to ensure that similar misunderstandings do not occur in the future. (SB-THN)