Philippines envoy leads fence-mending mission

Amadeo Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) — a non-profit organization in charge of Philippine-Taiwan affairs in the absence of official diplomatic ties, confirmed the appointment in a meeting with Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang.

Taiwan reacted strongly to the Philippines' Feb. 2 deportation of 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China, saying that the country had ignored Taiwan's jurisdiction rights. It also took punitive action against Manila, including tightening the process for screening applications by Filipino nationals seeking to work in Taiwan.

“President (Benigno) Aquino has appointed his trusted former Senator Manuel Roxas as his special envoy, who is very popular among Taiwanese in the Philippines ... to iron out the relationship between the Philippines and Taiwan,” Perez, who arrived in Taipei that same day, told reporters before his 90-minute closed-door meeting with Yang.

The veteran diplomat said after the meeting that Roxas' delegation is scheduled to have a discussion with Yang and “hopefully” to meet with President Ma Ying-jeou.

“On behalf of the MECO, I would like to express our regret to the Taiwanese people for this unfortunate incident,” he said.

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