Taipei mulls action over Manila’s travel ban decision
MANILA: Taiwan warned it would take retaliatory measures against the decision of the Philippines to include the island nation in its expanded travel ban list due to the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, a top government official disclosed on Thursday.
Angelito Banayo, the head of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office ( MECO) in Taipei, said one of the possible retaliatory measures being studied by Taiwan is the cancellation of its visa-free policy granted to Filipinos.
“There are many possible retaliatory measures. One possible measure is to cancel the visa-free entry of Filipinos to Taiwan,” Bayano told radio DZMM in an interview in a mix of Filipino and English.
The cancellation, Banayo said, is being considered following the order of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen for the cabinet to prepare a list of possible retaliatory measures to against the Philippines following its decision to include Taipei in its expanded travel ban list to help prevent the spread of the dreaded COVID-19.
Banayo heads the MECO based in Taipei which serves as the Philippine “embassy” there because of the Philippines is one of the many countries in the world that maintain a “one-china” policy.
The Taiwan counterpart based in Metro Manila is called the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office ( TECO) which protested the travel ban as it urged the Philippines to correct the “factual error,” pointing out that Taiwan is an independent state and has never been part of the People’s Republic of China.
According to Banayo, Taiwan also plays host to more than 160,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWS) deployed in its factories as well as domestic helpers and caregivers.
He said Taiwan implemented the visa-free policy for Filipinos which allowed their stay for 14 days. He added Taipei extended such policy until July 2020 as “a display of Taiwan’s amenity with the Filipinos.”
In Malacanang Palace, Salvador Panelo, the presidential spokesman, defended the government decision, pointing out that “politics” was not the main reason but rather to protect the health of 120 million Filipinos at risk due to the dreaded ailment.