In a sign of easing tensions, President Benigno Aquino III’s expression of gratitude to Taiwan when it urged its citizens not to harm Filipinos was received well by the Taiwanese leaders, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
An overseas Filipino worker in Taiwan had to say she is Indonesian while another Filipino worker could only go to work riding a company truck to be safe from irate Taiwanese.
President Aquino on Tuesday announced a $1.8-billion military upgrade to help defend the country’s maritime territory against “bullies,” amid an ever-worsening dispute with China.
Faced with territorial disputes and worries of external and internal threats, President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday claimed that the Philippines can fight back and defend itself within its bounds.
The Philippines has formally protested the “provocative and illegal” presence of Chinese government ships around a shoal within the Philippine continental shelf in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), asserting exclusive rights to use resources within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Local budget carrier Zest Airways has suspended its daily chartered flights between Kalibo, Aklan, and Taipei amid the ongoing bitter tensions between the Philippines and Taiwan.
At least 52 Chinese and Taiwanese tourists were turned over to the Bureau of Immigration here early Tuesday after their presence in a resort in Vigan City in Ilocos Sur raised suspicions.
Vice President Jejomar Binay has called on Taiwan to assure the protection of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) there amid reports of attacks against Philippine nationals, an apparent backlash following the shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman earlier this month.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago warned on Sunday that injuries sustained by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Taiwanese attackers could be considered “an act of aggression” that could serve as basis for the fold-up of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taipei.
Hotels and resorts on Boracay Island have been reeling from the cancellation of bookings of Taiwanese tourists amid the diplomatic row following the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by Filipino coast guards, according to travel operators.
The United States is optimistic that the Philippines and Taiwan will eventually thresh out their current spat over the shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman within the Philippine territorial waters last week, an incident that has prompted an angry Taipei to impose sanctions against Manila.
Sixteen Taiwan-based exhibitors pulled out of the 9th International Food Expo (IFEX) in Pasay City on Thursday amid bilateral tension between the Philippines and Taiwan over the death of a fisherman.
