Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) The Philippines might send a special envoy to Taiwan to try to resolve the diplomatic row between the two countries over the deportation of 14 Taiwanese suspects to China, the Philippines representative to Taiwan told CNA Thursday.
"There is an ongoing discussion about sending a special envoy to deal with the incident, " said Antonio Basilio, managing director of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) -- the Philippines' representative office in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties.
A tense dispute between the two countries erupted Feb. 2 after the Philippines deported 14 Taiwanese and 10 Chinese fraud suspects to China in spite of demands from Taipei that the Taiwanese nationals be sent back to Taiwan.
Basilio's comments came hours after Philippines President Benigno Aquino said in an interview with a Philippine media outlet that he might send an emissary to Taiwan to discuss the issue.
The envoy will likely be a high-ranking ex-representative or ex-president, Basilio said, adding that a number of candidates are being considered.
Former President Fidel Ramos, who is scheduled to visit Taiwan in early March, could be one of the candidates, Basilio said, adding that once confirmed, Ramos' visit to Taiwan could be expedited.
The move appeared to be an attempt to ease the tension, escalated by Taiwan's punitive measures, including recalling its representative in Manila and tightening its screening regulations for Philippine nationals seeking to work in Taiwan.
The diplomat urged both sides to "tone down the rhetoric" and move forward, adding that the Philippines is ready to cooperate with Taiwan to establish a mechanism to fight transnational crime in the future and to explore the feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement and a visa-waiver program.
Taiwan and the Philippines are hopeful of speeding up the pace of a mutual legal assistance agreement based on current discussions of a memorandum of understanding on combating transnational crime in addition to existing agreements on the prevention of money laundering and drug trafficking.
The current dispute "certainly got the attention of the policymakers in the Philippines, " Basilio said, adding that the incident might actually end up speeding up bilateral exchanges on various fronts. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J