TRIBUNE: MAR ROXAS' UNENVIABLE TASK
MANILA, FEBRUARY 23, 2011 (TRIBUNE) C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz - I hope former Sen. Mar Roxas' trip to Taiwan as P-Noy's personal emissary to explain, as Malacañang puts it, the controversial deportation of 14 Taiwanese nationals to the People's Republic of China (PRC) will assuage Taiwan.
At least, that will put this issue to rest and reinstate, if not enhance our friendly relations with the island state. It is an unenviable task. After all, it comes right after his political adversary, Vice-President Jojo Binay's success in staying the execution of the three Filipinos on death row in China. It also comes in the face of the Taiwanese authorities' very public statements and initiatives expressing displeasure about the said incident. In fact, they have gone out of their way, as it were, to really put us on the defensive just a little short of cutting our ties altogether. They have their resident representative in Manila for "consultations," slowed down the issuance of visas for Filipinos and, on the eve of Roxas' departure, upped the ante altogether by issuing what maybe considered a very serious, almost undiplomatic, harangue demanding an official apology from the Philippine government.
Said Taiwan Premier Wu Deng-yih: "When envoy Roxas arrives in Taiwan, he must display sincerity and make a formal apology on behalf of the Philippine government. If the envoy cannot represent the Philippine government and make a formal apology to our government, we will consider it lacking in sincerity..." Prior to Deng-yih's outburst, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Timothy Yang issued a similar blunt statement as he reportedly gave the cold shoulder by arriving late to greet our very own resident representative in Taipei, Meco Chairman Ambassador Amadito Perez and socialite Rosemarie Arenas who sits in the Meco Board, when they visited him last Friday. Yang reportedly said Perez's "apology" is not enough as he is not a government official and cannot speak for the government. He proceeded to insist that Manila take "...Taiwan seriously and positively..." Tough talk indeed.
So, given this very tense atmosphere what can we expect from Roxas' mission? Well, again, I hope he will be given the courtesy befitting a special presidential envoy, allowed to explain the situation and be reciprocated with a sober not shrill gesture of amity. For if truth be told, he cannot really offer an "official apology," he can only explain and appeal for Taiwan's understanding.
He is not a government official and, as his partymate Sen. Frank Drilon noted, referring to Perez's earlier apology, he cannot bind the government to anything. Taiwan knows we adhere to a One China policy and left it at that. We have maintained very close relations and have, in fact, expanded our ties to cover a myriad of areas and endeavors. We have received reports that Taiwan's very strong public pronouncements stemmed from the fact that the main opposition party has taken this incident as a kind of litmus test on Taiwan's stance vis-a-vis the PRC and, of course, its relations with other countries such as the Philippines. We are caught up in that local battle and have to suffer the consequences of what the opposition has been accusing the administration of — "weakness" and unsteady handling of its relations with other countries. In any event, this visit should give the parties sufficient cover and, yes, time to take pause and focus on the many areas of cooperation which have been in place for years on end. It will truly be a pity if we descend into the abyss, so to speak, as a result of this very unfortunate incident. Well,
Roxas must be aware of all of these and must have taken the necessary measures to turn this nightmarish development into a positive undertaking. We certainly wish he will succeed.
That said, I hope P-Noy gets to the bottom of this controversial deportation. We have been receiving reports that contrary to the declarations of BID OIC Ronald Ledesma, the agency did not give this matter that much study. The decision to deport was half baked and done with undue haste. Apparently, Ledesma even disregarded the representations and documents submitted by Ambassador Perez regarding that the 14 deportees were actually Taiwanese nationals and they even issued entry visas to them. Reports also indicate that the BID also disregarded the requests and offer of documentation of the Taiwanese resident representative in Manila to bolster their claim that these nationals be deported to Taiwan. Why, the BID did not even wait for the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) on the urgent petition for the issuance of the writ of habeas corpus filed by the lawyer of the Taiwanese. The BID's only explanation was the CA decision was received only after the deportation has taken place. All said, the BID and necessarily the DoJ have a lot of explaining to do regarding this incident. Insisting that they were only following the One China policy trivializes the issue and opens us to even more problems than we already have.
Three cheers for Donaire:
Congratulations to Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire Jr. for his spectacular second round TKO victory over reigning WBC and WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel. The well regarded Montiel has been considered the nemesis and "conqueror of Filipino boxers" having defeated all of our countrymen — Roy Doliguez, Z Gorres, Ciso Morales and Gerry Peñalosa — who got in the way of his bagging and defending his crown for sometime now. This pride of Mexico has lorded it over in this weight class that the odds were slightly in his favor before the fight even as he was short, so to speak, in almost all categories, i.e., height, reach, etc., of Donaire.The end for Montiel came in a flash just 25 seconds after the bell rang in the second round as Donaire battered him with a strong left hook and followed it up with a blow on the chin as Montiel was on his way down. When the champion got up and was pronounced fit for battle Donaire rushed to him and delivered two telling blows to the head prompting the referee to finally stop the fight. With this victory, Donaire is now on the way to follow the footsteps of his idol and the country's pride — Sarangani Rep.Manny Pacquiao. Given his focus, his determination and his strong faith in the Almighty I have no reason to doubt that Donaire will be a force to reckon with for sometime in this tough but, as shown by Pacquiao, lucrative and glamorous world of boxing. Mabuhay!
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