The Philippines and Taiwan are ready to hold fresh talks as early as this month on restoring air links after a dispute lasting almost one year, Manila's representative to Taipei said in Manila yesterday.
Rodolfo Reyes, who heads the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the Philippines' de facto embassy in Taiwan, told reporters he had spoken to President Chen Shui-bian (
Reyes also said he had met with his Taiwanese counterpart in Manila and both sides had expressed willingness to prepare for new talks, possibly in July.
The Philippine side was ready to start negotiations next week, Reyes said.
Air links between Taiwan and the Philippines were cut in early October after Manila unilaterally scrapped a 1996 aviation pact. Subsequent negotiations have failed to settle the dispute.
Manila has accused Taiwan's Eva Air and China Airlines of abusing the pact by flying passengers to third countries and by stealing customers from debt-strapped Philippine Airlines (PAL).
The air links were resumed briefly in February with the signing of an interim agreement under which Manila said Taiwanese carriers were allowed to carry 4,800 passengers a week.
However, Taipei and Manila again severed direct air links on March 15 amid charges by both parties of unfair competition.
Reyes said the basis for resuming the negotiations would be the 1996 air agreement and that both sides would study "options" to amend the agreement to arrive at a compromise.
The options range from a compromise on the number of passengers that Taiwan airlines can carry from the Philippines each week to a "royalty" payment to PAL for passengers that Taiwan airlines carry to third country destinations, Reyes said.
Reyes also expressed optimism that Taiwan and the Phil-ippines may work towards lifting a three-month ban that Taipei imposed on recruitment of Filipino workers for major manufacturing and construction projects.
The Philippines has more than 115,000 registered overseas workers in Taiwan, most of them in the construction and manufacturing sector, said Reyes.
The severing of direct air links between Taiwan and the Philippines has resulted in a drastic fall in Taiwanese tourist arrivals in Manila and could also affect Taiwanese investment in the Philippines, Reyes said.
Last week, Eva Air laid off most of the staff at its Manila office because of the lengthy air dispute.
Only six of the original 40 Filipino employees in the office remain as a skeletal force to perform administrative work, an airline official said.
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