MECO & Tony
For more than a decade, when you needed assistance or information from Taipei, you would always remember Antonio Basilio. Tony was synonymous with MECO (Manila Economic Cultural Office) in Taipei. In a sense he was always present and omniscient as far as the visiting delegations and VIPs from Manila were concerned.
Tony has served our country with distinction throughout his postings in London, Geneva, Beijing, Jeddah and Washington DC. His career with MECO alone spans a period of 15 years and it would be fair to say that there are few people in the Philippines who know and understand Taiwan as well as he does.
During his tenure, as MECO resident representative, people to people exchanges and the scope of relations were broadened over the years as reflected by the 26 MOUs he signed and participated in negotiations including in the areas of trade and investments, agriculture and fisheries, science and technology, health, anti-drug and anti-money laundering, mutual legal assistance among others – all while delicately keeping within the confines of our “One-China Policy.”
As the head of MECO, he was conferred the award of “Outstanding Foreign Representative Office” by the prestigious General Chamber of Commerce of the ROC. In 2008, MECO achieved ISO 9001 certification and as far as I can recall, MECO is the only mission/ embassy of the Philippines which succeeded in attaining ISO certification.
Furthermore, in 2015, Tony initiated the development of an electronic visa system, which gave MECO the capability to issue an online electronic visa 24x7, in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration in Manila. This was the culmination of his effort to improve the customer experience for visa application, which he shortened from three days to 24 hours when he first arrived to issuing them on the same day even while enhancing security features.
Tony was also popular with the Filipino community in Taiwan for enhancing MECO’s outreach to them. He spearheaded the federation of the many Filipino community organizations into a central coordinating body and helped establish the Ugnayan Center in Taipei where OFWs can socialize or learn new skills. One of his quiet achievements was in successfully appealing the commutation of the death penalty imposed on an unfortunate Filipina convicted of murder to imprisonment.
But it is in the area of managing conflicts and in resolving complex issues that he excelled as a diplomat for the Philippines. His time in Taiwan was the most turbulent period in the history of Philippine-Taiwan relations. Incidents such as the shooting death of a fisherman in Batan island; the repatriation of 14 Taiwanese citizens to China on charges of committing cybercrimes against mainland Chinese citizens in 2011. More recently the 2013 Balintang Channel incident where a Taiwanese fishing boat was fired upon by a pursuing Philippine Coast Guard vessel resulting in the death of the boat’s captain. In this last particular incident, sanctions were imposed and all exchanges were brought to a standstill. It was his experience and network of contacts (particularly his personal rapport with the Taiwanese foreign minister) that allowed for a mutually agreeable solution to be reached, ending the protracted negotiations thus restoring relations.
Clearly as a diplomat, he should be rated outstanding, meaning he exceeded the requirements of the job at all times and deserves to be acknowledged. Ironically, it was Taiwan that conferred on him the Order of Brilliant Star, Grand Cordon, Taiwan’s highest civilian decoration. Since its inception in 1941, he is only the seventh recipient of the decoration for those who served as diplomats/representatives to Taiwan. Among foreign nationals conferred were Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, Prime Minster Yoshiro Mori of Japan and US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Despite his accomplishments, Tony has remained humble and unassuming in demeanor. He is a role model, which should be emulated by the young foreign service officers of today.