FVR, giving advice as his patriotic duty

Ramos also stressed that almost two weeks after the incident, the results of the Philippine investigation “should already have come out by this time.”

Speaking to Filipino journalists on the sidelines of the Second General Assembly of the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI), Ramos drew from lessons in the 1995 Flor Contemplacion crisis and recommended that a “neutral country or group do a second investigation” in case Taiwan rejects the results of an investigation by the Philippine authorities even if he said it’s “a very valid honest, according to law, upright, and credible investigation.”

Contemplacion was a Filipino domestic helper in Singapore convicted for the murder of a fellow OFW Delia Maga. Raging public sentiments accused the Ramos government of failing to convince the Singapore government to stop her hanging. It took a while for the strained diplomatic relations between Singapore and the Philippines to return to normal.

“What is necessary is for authorities to come out with their initial investigation right away and pinpoint if there was indeed a shooting by the Philippine Coast Guard. Let them come out with it. If the Taiwanese say we want a joint investigation and the Department of Justice says, ‘No,’ let the Philippines finish their probe first and then later on, because Taiwan here is the aggrieved party, let a neutral party do the investigation as maybe agreed to by the Taiwanese and the Philippine governments,” the former president said.

Ramos, a former military general, said it is important that “the government of the Philippines …not delay action on the investigation.”

“After all,” he said, “it’s not so complicated.” He added that it’s not like an investigation of a series of slaughter in the jungle where platoons of soldiers are involved.

Ramos noted that the incident, which happened where the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zones of the Philippines and Taiwan overlap, involved one vessel manned by the Philippine Coast Guard, which is under the Department of Transportation and Communication. The ship is owed by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

“No, those guards were there on patrol by orders of a superior officer. That superior officer must be taken also into the investigation to find out what were his orders,” Ramos said adding that’s the rule in the uniform services, which include the Coast Guard.

“You don’t you just shoot without asking for instruction from above unless your life is in danger,” he said.

The Coast Guard chief is Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena. The DOTC secretary is Joseph “Jun” Abaya, a former Philippine Navy officer and a graduate of the US Naval Academy.

The Philippines and Taiwan agreed on Monday to cooperate in each other’s investigation as the DOJ rejected a joint probe because of diplomatic complications.

The Philippines adopts a One-China policy that recognizes Beijing as the sole representative of the Chinese people and considers Taiwan a province.

Former diplomat and congressman Apolinario Lozada suggested that President Aquino tap Ramos as his personal emissary because of the latter’s stature as former president and connections in Taiwan.

FVR’s father, the late Narciso Ramos, a diplomat, was the first head of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan when the Philippines adopted the One-China policy in 1974.

Ramos said Taiwanese and Filipinos are the best of friends since 1946 when the Philippines provided sanctuary to more than 30,000 Chinese under Chiang Kai Shek who were driven out of the mainland by Communist forces. “They grew up and became prosperous. They are the parents of the present Taiwanese many of them are quite prosperous.”

Ramos said he has not been approached by Malacanang nor is he offering himself to be Aquino’s emissary to Taiwan. “I’m just giving out answers and advice through my writings in the Manila Bulletin. It’s a take it or leave it proposition.”

He said he feels it’s his duty to give out advice as an older Filipino, taxpaying citizen.

In the Lahad Datu,Sabah crisis last February where 30 Filipinos Filipinos were killed, Ramos advised the Aquino government to convene a national security council meeting. Aquino advised the former president to “write him a memo” on the issue.

Taiwan has suspended the hiring of Filipino workers and warned their citizens against going to the Filipinos. There are some 85, 000 Filipino workers in Taiwan and many are reporting hostilities against them.

Earlier Tuesday, President Benigno S. Aquino III said Philippine government officials are coordinating with their Taiwanese counterparts to resolve the issue regarding the reported harassment and assaults against Filipinos in Taiwan in the wake of the tension caused by the death of a Taiwanese fisherman last May 9 off Batanes group of islands.

In an interview after attending the 115th Founding Anniversary of the Philippine Navy held at the Commodore Posadas Wharf Headquarters, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Station Pascual Ledesma, Fort San Felipe in Cavite City, the Chief Executive said the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) representatives are holding dialogues with their counterparts to address the concerns of the Filipinos residing and working in Taiwan.

“At ang balita natin ay naglabas ang Prime Minister ng Taiwan at saka ‘yung kanilang Ministry of Foreign Affairs na dapat hindi imaltrato ang ating mga kababayan doon, at magkakaroon ng kaukulang parusa kung sino man ang mapatunayan na magmamaltrato sa ating mga kababayan—nagpapasalamat tayo doon,” he Aquino said.

The MECO has organized a team that will document reports of harassment and assaults against Filipinos in Taiwan and relay it to Taiwan’s foreign ministry.

The Philippine government is calling on the Taiwanese people not to harass the Filipinos there because they have nothing to do with the shooting death of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shi-chen.

President Aquino directed the NBI to conduct a thorough, exhaustive, impartial and expeditious investigation of the incident. The NBI has given this case the highest priority

He said he wants the issue regarding the Taiwanese fisherman’s death to be resolved first before initiating a dialogue with Taiwan and other countries to come up with a fisheries agreement

“Tapusin na muna natin itong kasalukuyang na isyu, merong mga unang dayalogo tungkol diyan. Pero ‘yung sa fisheries ay ating pinaaaral ang mga limitasyon natin,” he said.

“Yung guarding the national patrimony provisions of the Constitution will come into play. So, after we finish this issue, we will talk to every neighbor that we have to ensure peaceful and equally prosperous relations with everybody,” he said.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

MAKASSAR, Indonesia—Former President Fidel V. Ramos Monday called on rich countries to reduce their budget for deadly weapons and realign resources for public safety, including navigation in the disputed waters in the South China Sea.

“Clearly, an Asia-Pacific peace must also be built on an understanding among the most affluent, and the most powerful countries in our part of the world—notably the United States, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Australia-New Zealand, and the ASEAN 10 Bloc—to moderate the procurement of lethal weapons in favor of public safety, South China Sea/West Philippine Sea/East Asia, early warning systems, and search-rescue capabilities,” Ramos told the 2nd General Assembly of the Centrist Asia-Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI) at this port city of South Sulawesi.

CAPDI, an organization of political parties, people’s organizations, think tanks, interfaith organizations, business leaders, academe, eminent persons and media, tackled during the two-day meeting the promotion of peace and reconciliation and climate change in Asia.

Ramos, who is CAPDI’s honorary chairman, said he finds it senseless the United States having some 8,500 nuclear warheads and Russia more than 1,000 “ready to go” and other countries also having weapons of mass destructions when “you need only one to start World War III.”

Former Seychelles president James Mancham elaborated on Ramos’ call: “In a nuclear war, we will all perish.”

Instead of nuclear weapons, Mancham said, “we should promote trust.”

Ramos said, “An Asia Pacific peace will endure only if it is based on the balance of mutual benefit rather than on the balance of power…Let us not be competitive to dominate each other but to prosper together.”

Former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, CAPDI president, said as the balance of power shifts from West to East, the organization will strive to help prevent the outbreak of a new Cold War in the Asia Pacific “by encouraging the peaceful rise of every emerging great power; in the nations of the G-20 and in BRICS, and supporting popular movements that advocate peaceful coexistence among the East Asian states.”

Hun Sen

With the exception of Russia, members of BRICS—an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—are all newly industrialized countries with large, fast-growing economies.

Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen, also CAPDI honorary chairman, urged nations to “encourage a shared responsibility through government-to-government and party-to-party cooperation” to attain peace and reconciliation.

Participants signed the Makassar Declaration which recommended among others “the establishment of an inter-governmental working group to create instruments of common security, common stability, and common prosperity that would rule out the use of force in Asia-Pacific, which shall complement the ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.”

They included Ramon Ang, San Miguel Corp. president; Agung Laksono, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for People’s Welfare, and Nepal’s former prime minister Madhav Kumar.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

Photo by Mario Ignacio.

The figure is a big leap from the 92 Liberals who make up two-fifths of the district representatives in the present chamber. Aquino is chair of the Liberal Party.

The LP’s dominance in the House is in sharp contrast to its small force in the current Senate, which will practically remain the same when Congress opens in July.

Although Aquino’s Team PNoy coalition is assured of nine of its 12 senatorial candidates winning, in reality only one candidate, his namesake and nephew Bengino “Bam” Aquino IV, is a member of the LP.

Click here(VERA Files) for the complete story.

Filipino workers in Taipei. Photo from Want China Times.

Last Wednesday, President Aquino sent as his personal representative Amadeo R. Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office “to convey his and the Filipino people’s deep regret and apology to the family of Mr. Hung Shi-chen as well as to the people of Taiwan over the unfortunate and unintended loss of life.”

Taiwan Foreign Minister David Lin refused to meet Perez, who was just received by Foreign Affairs Director-General Benjamin Ho.

Hung Shi Chen, was the 65-year old fisherman who was killed when the a member of the Philippine Coast Guard team that was manning the ship owned by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, fired upon what they considered as an intruding boat into Philippine territory about 10 a.m. of May 9, 2013.

This latest foreign relations problem shows that Malacañang has not learned from the 2010 Rizal Park hostage crisis.

There was a quotation in a news item by Agence France Presse attributed to PCG Spokesman Armand Balilo that “If somebody died, they (the family) deserve our sympathy but not an apology.”

Balilo said he was misquoted. He clarified that he was asked by a reporter who came late if there was an apology issued during the press conference and he replied in Taglish that what they issued was a statement of sympathy, not an apology.

There’s a whale of a difference in what Balilo said and the quote in the news item. Lost in translation?

It’s unfortunate that, that statement was what angered Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeo, who was quoted in Taipei Times a saying, “The Philippine government’s attitude is outrageous and unacceptable.”

It didn’t help at all that President Aquino, who was in the final stretch of the campaign for the PNoy Team senatorial ticket, didn’t make any move like send a highly- credible private representative to President Ma to explain what they were doing about the incident – if they were doing anything at all – in the seven days that outrage was building up in Taiwan.

Last Sunday, Taiwan upped the ante and issued a 72-hour ultimatum reiterating its demand for a formal apology, arrest those responsible for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman, and compensate the victim’s family.

Immediately, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Abigail Valte announced that Antonio Basilio,resident representative of the MECO in Taiwan, “has visited the family of the victim and extended condolences and offered his apologies.”

Basilio clarified that his apology was to the family and not the formal apology demanded by the Taiwan government from the Philippine government. Not surprisingly, it was not good enough for Taiwan as did not come from a high enough authority and lacked “sincerity”, President’s Ma’s spokeswoman said.

Aquino waited for the 72-hour ultimatum to expire and Taiwan ordered the suspension of the hiring of Filipino workers (about 2,500 monthly are added to the 85,000 Filipinos currently working in Taiwan), recalled their representative in Manila, Raymond L.S. Wang, and sent back to Manila Antonio Basilio.

Taiwan rejected Aquino’s much-delayed apology finding unacceptable the excuse that the loss of life was “unintended.”

Taiwan imposed more sanctions including a red travel alert urging Taiwanese not to visit the Philippines and the suspension of exchanges between high-level officials, as well as a halt to exchanges on trade and academic affairs.

Taiwan also wants to start talks on fisheries agreement between Taipei and Manila. This is problematic because government-to-government accord would violate the Philippines One-China policy.

All statements by Philippine officials claim that the Taiwanese fishing vessel intruded into Philippine waters. Taiwan, on the other hand, said the fishing vessel was within their Exclusive Economic Zone.

Both are correct because the maritime boundary between the Philippines and Taiwan in that area is less than the 200 nautical mile EEZ provided in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Separate investigations have started . It should answer a number of questions on the incident like why did the Taiwanese fishing vessel, which is just a third in size of the BFAR ship, sustain 40 to 50 bullet holes?

This is important because as lawyer Harry Roque said, UNCLOS prohibits the use of unnecessary use of force in dealing with illegal fishermen.” In fact,” he said, “ the UNCLOS provides that fishermen caught illegally fishing in a state’s exclusive economic zone should not even be detained or charged criminally The only leeway granted to a party state is to apprehend the vessel which, in turn, must be immediately released upon posting of bond.”

Chair, Center for International Law

The recent shooting by the Philippine Coast guard of a lone Taiwanese fisherman illustrates the kind of governmental response that we Filipinos deserve when we ourselves fall victims to an internationally wrongful act. Under international law, there is state responsibility for an internationally wrongful act where there is a breach of international law and when the breach is attributable to the state. Here, it appears that because the killing was because of a shot fired by a state organ, a member of the Philippine Coast Guard, that the killing may be attributed to the Philippines government. Acts of state organs, no matter how lowly their ranks, and even if they are ultra vires, are always attributed to a state.

Furthermore, there too appears to be a breach of international law since the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea prohibits the use of unnecessary use of force in dealing with illegal fishermen. In fact, the UNCLOS provides that fishermen caught illegally fishing in a states exclusive economic zone should not even be detained or charged criminally The only leeway granted to a party state is to apprehend the vessel which, in turn, must be immediately release upon posting of bond.

The lesson learned is how our own government should espouse the claim of its national, even if there is only one solitary victim. Not only did the highest echelon of the Taiwanese government demand for an apology, it also demanded compensation and even threatened the Philippines with both military and economic reprisals, even if both are prohibited by international law. This is in stark contrast with the current practice of the Philippine government. Only recently, 200 of our nationals became sitting ducks to Malaysia’s illegal resort to excessive force. Our response was to threaten our nationals with domestic prosecution.

Because we committed an internationally wrongful act, we have the obligation under international law to apologize and provide compensation to the victim. This though is the full extent of our liability. Taiwan’s demand that in addition, we enter into a fishing agreement with it is bereft of legal merit. Taiwan is not an independent state and should not expect to be treated as such. Any fishing agreement involving overlapping areas of our exclusive economic zone should be with the People Republic of China. This is consistent with the international communities’ recognition of the so-called one-China policy; that is, Taiwan forms part of the People’s Republic of China and is not a republic on its own.

This latest experience should also teach our policy makers to act with dispatch where it is our government that incurs international responsibility. Since the shooting was at the behest of a state organ, the Philippine Coast Guard, the investigation should not have lasted as long as it did. It only entails requiring the Master of the coast guard vessel to report what transpired that led to the shooting. Absent evidence that it was in self-defense, the Philippines should have apologized with dispatch and should not have waited for any formal demand to do so. Our failure to act with dispatch consistent with our international obligation gave Taiwan the opportunity to exploit the incident to promote its own interest.

No. 1

It must be ego-shattering for the three re-electionists – Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero, and Alan Cayetano –whose desire for the number one slot is not a secret to the public.

Other pluses about Monday’s polls are the re-election of Antonio Trillanes IV and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
Trillanes because despite limited TV ads due to limited resources, he was able to make it to number nine, an improvement over his number 11 ranking in the 2007 elections.

His victory in this election proved that his 2007 win, when he was under detention, was no fluke. If the 2007 votes for him were “acts of protest” against Arroyo, last Monday’s votes were for his willingness to take on even the powerful and his strong stand on issues that he thinks work against the interest of the Filipino people.

The re-election of Pimentel is made more meaningful by the non-inclusion of Juan Miguel Zubiri, who stole from him five years of his first term.

Grace winning a slot in the Magic 12 was expected especially with her impressive surge in the last three weeks of the campaign. It was her going over Loren Legarda, who had led since the very beginning that stunned even those who voted for her. In fact , in Pulse Asia’s May 10-11 survey, although she was ranked 2-7, she was still behind Legarda, Chiz Escudero and Alan Cayetano.

Grace’s not -so- secret weapon, mom Susan Roces.

What’s admirable about Grace campaign was how she wisely used her formidable political asset – her father, the late FPJ – to project herself- unassuming,honest, competent.

Add to that the support of her mother,movie queen Susan Roces. After Susan’s TV endorsement those of the Iglesia ni Cristo and even Kris Aquino were just icing on the cake.

Grace admitted that most of the votes for her were “vindication votes” -from people who felt that what was stolen from her father in 2004 should be given to her.

In a morning ANC TV interview, social scientist Randy David remarked that FPJ must be smiling from he is now. Grace shared the joke among FPJ’s friends that by now, “tumatagay na yun.”

Antonio Basilio

By Ellen Tordesillas,VERA Files

Philippine Representative in Taiwan Antonio Basilio said Sunday his apology to the family of the fisherman who was killed Thursday by a member of the Philippine Coast Guard in an incident in the disputed waters off Northern Philippines is not the government’s formal apology being demanded by Taiwan.

In an interview, Basilio, resident Representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, said together with Taiwan’s Foreign Minister David Lin, he visited Saturday the family of Hung Shih-cheng, the 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman who was killed after a Coast Guard personnel fired upon the fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 in waters both claimed by the Philippines and Taiwan as part of their 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones.

Asked if his apology can be considered the Aquino government’s apology to Taiwan, Basilio replied, “The apology was to the family. It’s different from the Philippine government apology to the Taiwan government. “

Basilio said the the government’s formal apology being demanded by Taiwan will be decided after the investigation is completed which is expected within this week.

Taiwan media reported that the office of President Ma Ying-jeo issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Aquino government “to arrest those responsible for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman, issue a formal apology and compensate the victim’s family.”

If the Aquino government Manila fails to respond to their demands within 72 hours, which commenced “12 a.m. on May 12,” Taiwan will freeze Philippine worker applications, recall its representative in Manila and ask the Philippine representative to return to Manila to help in the investigation, reports said.

Basilio said, “we will try to reasonably comply” with Taiwan’s demands . He said both the Philippines and Taiwan have agreed to cooperate in each other’s investigations.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail F. Valte said, “The investigation has commenced with the arrival of the commander of MCS 3001 and that he, together with the crew, have been relieved of their duties.”

“The Philippine Coast Guard, together with other agencies, assures everyone that this investigation will be conducted in an impartial, transparent and expeditious manner, “ she said.

Last Friday, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said, “If somebody died, they (the family) deserve our sympathy but not an apology.”

“The Philippine government’s attitude is outrageous and unacceptable,” Taipei Times quoted Ma as having said.

It also said Ma has come under pressure from the public and lawmakers across party lines to take a tougher stand on the incident.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin Hau said the Taipei city government would retract its invitation to the Philippines to attend the Dragon Boat Festival next month.

Hua also said Taipei will suspend all exchanges with Manila and Quezon City — both sister cities of Taipei — as well as the city government’s plan to donate two ambulances to the Philippines.

Despite the absence of official diplomatic ties due to the Philippines’ one-China policy, economic relations with Taiwan remains robust. About 83,000 Filipinos work in Taiwan. Bilateral trade between Taiwan and the Philippines amounted to $6.17 billion in 2011 with Taiwan as the country’s sixth top trading partner.

Taiwan and the Philippines are both claimants to islands in the Spratlys in the South China Sea ( referred to by the Philippines as West Philippine Sea) together with China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
Taipei Times

The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday gave the Philippines 72 hours to arrest those responsible for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman, issue a formal apology and compensate the victim’s family.

If Manila failed to respond to these demands within 72 hours, the government will freeze Philippine worker applications, recall the Republic of China (ROC) representative in Manila and ask the Philippine representative to return to Manila to help in the investigation, Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) told a news conference last night following a national security meeting presided over by Ma.

The 72-hour deadline started from “12am on May 12,” Lee said.

The meeting, attended by top officials including Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) and Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), lasted about two hours from 7pm to 9pm in the Presidential Office.

The incident took place on Thursday, when a Philippine Coast Guard vessel opened fire on the Pingtung-based fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 in waters 164 nautical miles (304km) southeast of Taiwan’s southernmost tip, killing 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成).

The boat was fishing in waters in which the exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines overlap.

“The Philippine government’s attitude is outrageous and unacceptable,” Ma said earlier yesterday while inspecting a coastguard drill at Taichung Harbor.

He also instructed the Coast Guard Administration to dispatch ships to the exclusive economic zone and increase patrols over territorial waters to protect Taiwanese fishermen.

“The Philippines shot at an unarmed fishing boat. This violates international safety regulations. Firing 40 to 50 shots at the boat is brutal and cold-blooded,” the president said.

The Ma administration has come under pressure from the public and lawmakers across party lines to take a tougher stand on the incident.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday also urged the Ma administration to initiate action against Manila, such as suspending all exchanges with the Philippines and banning the recruitment of Filipino workers.

He also proposed sending naval ships and extending their patrol scope beyond the exclusive economic zone to better protect Taiwanese fishermen.

“Only by doing this can we better protect our fishermen’s rights and defend our national dignity. We should take a hardline approach in handling this incident,” he said at Taipei City Hall.

Hau added that the Taipei City Government would retract its invitation to the Philippines to attend the Dragon Boat Festival next month.

“The Taipei City Government stands behind Taiwanese fishermen. Unless the Philippine government brings the killers to justice and compensates [the victim’s family], we will stop inviting the [Philippines’] dragon boat team to this year’s festival,” he said.

Taipei will also suspend all exchanges with Manila and Quezon City — both sister cities of Taipei — as well as the city government’s plan to donate two ambulances to the Philippines.

The Philippines has sent dragon boat teams to compete in the city’s annual dragon boat race for the past two years. Taipei City’s Department of Sports said it would cancel this year’s invitation tomorrow.

New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) also condemned the shooting and said that the city would suspend exchanges with Manila until the Philippine government offers an apology, compensate the victim’s family and apprehends the perpetrators.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/05/12/2003562050

A crew member of a Taiwanese trawler was killed Thursday morning after being fired upon by a Philippine Navy ship in the disputed area of the South China Sea, media reports in Taipei and Beijing said.

The online Taiwan News said the incident took place at 10 a.m. “about halfway between the southern tip of Taiwan and the Philippines’ main island of Luzon, in an area where territorial rights overlap.”

The report identified the fatality as Hung Shih-cheng, 65, father of the captain of the vessel Kuang Ta Hsing 28 registered in Pingtung County.

The other crew members included Hung’s son-in-law and an Indonesian citizen, reports said.

Tsai Jih-yao, deputy director-general of the Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture, said the fishing trawler, which was fishing for tuna, was so severely damaged it lost engine power.

No official statement has been issued by the Philippine government.

Sought for comment, officials of the Navy, Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said they have not received any such report, a news account in Taiwan said.

“If warships were involved in such an event, we would be the first one to receive the news,” the report quoted an Armed Forces of the Philippines officer as saying.

The report also quoted a Philippine official as saying, “The incident happened in waters far away from the shore. We don’t have any ship over there.”

According to Taiwan News, the Taiwanese government has asked its representative in Manila and the Philippine representative in Taipei to provide more details.

The Philippines, which adheres to the One-China Policy, has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the two countries maintain economic and cultural offices in Manila and Taipei which serve as de facto embassies.

A Xinhua report said the spokesman for the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Yang Yi, strongly condemned the killing describing it as “barbaric.”

“We are in deep mourning over the fisherman’s death and express condolence over the shooting,” Yang said.

The fishermen’s organization in Pingtung urged Taiwan government to protest to Manila and demand compensation. They said the ship had been effectively destroyed, with its engines and nets completely destroyed, Taiwan News said.

Taiwan, like China, claims the whole of the South China Sea where the Spratlys consisting of some 160 islands are located. Some of the islands are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. Taiwan occupies the biggest island, Itu Aba.

Thursday’s encounter happened two days after the Philippines warned China against trespassing its maritime borders after it was reported that China was sending a flotilla, including 30 fishing vessels, to the Spratly Islands.

Taiwan News said another fishing ship was on its way from the Pingtung County harbor of Tungkang to provide assistance to the trawler, which is located 180 nautical miles southeast of Erluanbi, the southernmost tip of the island of Taiwan and still had a crew of three on board. The Coast Guard was reportedly also sending a ship to help out, reports said.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

Voters registration

Comelec Commissioner Sixto Brillantes, Jr. said Resolution 9688 was to prevent vote buying and vote selling which have intensified with the computerization of the elections. He said they released it only Tuesday “so that no one would know about it.. because if they know about it, everyone would withdraw.”

Brillantes, who was a much sought-after election lawyer (President Aquino and former Maguindanao Governer Andal Ampatuan Sr., were his clients) before he joined his elections must be joking. Or could it be that he precisely knew that by now the silly money ban is useless.

PWD list-up

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of PWDs and the country’s Magna Carta for PWDs guarantee the right of PWDs to to vote and stand for election to public office as part of their participation in public and political life.

VERA Files, a member of Fully Abled Nation-, a project spearheaded by The Asia Foundation with support from the Australian Agency for International Development, which aims to increase the participation of PWDs elections and other democratic processes- said there are 362,113 PWD registered voters.

Sign language

Here are some which persons without disabilities can help to make voting less difficult for PWDs:

-Is the polling place elevated? If elevated, is there a ramp for wheel-chaired bound PWDs to reach the ground level? Does the ramp have rails on each side? Is the ramp sturdy and non-slippery?

-If without a ramp, what provisions are there for wheelchair-bound PWDs?

-For large polling places, are there parking spaces specially designated for PWDs?

-For voting centers with PWDs, are the polling places of precincts at the ground floor?

-For clustered precincts with PWDs, is there a waiting area established specifically for PWDs? Is there a Special Board of Election Inspectors and support staff assigned to the polling center?

- Is there an express lane dedicated to PWDs? Is there a sign inside the polling place indicating the location of this express lane and who could avail of it?

-Do the tables and desks to be used for voting have sufficient leg-space for wheel-chair bound PWDs? Are the toilet facilities suitable for wheelchair-bound PWDs in terms of adequacy of turning spaces?

-Are there sufficient signages for PWDs from point of entry to connecting destination?

-Are there sufficient communication devices for deaf/mute PWDs such as paper and pen, interpreters, large prints and guides?

Let’s make every vote count. Including that of our PWD countrymen.