The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed a preliminary investigation by the Philippine government that questioned the legality of deporting 14 Taiwanese suspects to China last month, a move that had sparked a diplomatic row between Taipei and Manila.
What the investigation found wrong with the Philippine government’s handling of the case was “as expected,” MOFA Deputy Spokesman Steve Shia (夏季昌) said, adding that the ministry was still waiting for a formal investigation and an apology for the deportation.
In December, the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested the 14 Taiwanese along with 10 Chinese in two separate areas: one in Bel Air Village in Makati City, and another one in Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City, and deported the suspects to China.
Photo: CNA
The suspects were arrested in connection with a -multimillion--dollar crime ring that used the Internet and telecommunications devices to swindle Chinese nationals.
During the raids, automated teller machine cards, laptops, printers, cellphones, telephone and computer cables, routers, adapters, radios and a satellite transceiver were confiscated.
“We have already pointed out long ago the mistakes [the Philippine authorities] made in the case,” Shia said, in response to Philippine media reports about four separate resolutions on the case dated Feb. 21 and issued by an investigation prosecutor of the Philippine Department of Justice.
According to Philippine media, Investigating Prosecutor Gerard Gaerlan, assigned by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to handle the preliminary investigation of the case, recommended the dismissal of the criminal case against the 24 foreigners filed by the NBI and the Chinese embassy.
Gaerlan said there was no sufficient evidence to file charges against them for fraud or violation of the Access Devices Regulations Act of 1998 or Republic Act No. 8484 (R.A. 8484).
In his findings, Gaerlan said that the seized items “cannot immediately be classified as access devices defined under R.A. 8484 since the items were ordinary equipment used for ordinary activities.”
“Thus, failure to show any proof that these seized items were used in committing prohibited acts -under R.A. 8484 means that there is not enough evidence to establish probable cause against the respondents, since the mere possession of these items is not prohibited by the said law,” he added.
Gaerlan ruled that the arrest of nine of the 14 deported Taiwanese was unlawful because the warrant used by the NBI to search their rented apartment in Makati City was invalid as it indicated not the particular place to be searched, but only the whole street where numerous houses are found.
“In view of the fact that the place indicated in the subject search warrant failed to specify a definite place to be searched, the same became a general warrant, which is strictly prohibited by the Constitution,” Gaerlan said.
In his resolution on those who were arrested in the Makati raid, Gaerlan cited the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine and said that the arrests of the suspects in Makati were unlawful because the search warrant against them “was null and void from the very beginning.”
Meanwhile, visiting former Philippine president Fidel Ramos said yesterday that Taiwan and the Philippines should work together to enhance bilateral relations and should not let their cordial relations deteriorate.
Ramos, who arrived in Taiwan on Thursday for a five-day visit, was responding to questions about his views on the diplomatic row between Taipei and Manila over the deportation.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a golf tournament in Changhua County, Ramos said the incident should not be allowed to affect the friendly ties between the two sides.
The Philippines maintains close relations with Taiwan and other neighboring countries, he said. There are many Taiwanese running businesses in the Philippines, and there are a lot of Filipinos working in Taiwan, he said, adding that the two countries should work to upgrade bilateral ties and try to live harmoniously.
Taiwan, the Philippines and China are all influenced by Confucian culture, Ramos said, adding that if all three could cooperate, they could achieve prosperity.
Ramos said on Thursday that his visit was not about resolving the diplomatic row between Taipei and Manila, but rather was focused on sports and trade.
GREAT POWER COMPETITION: Beijing views its military cooperation with Russia as a means to push back against the joint power of the US and its allies, an expert said A recent Sino-Russian joint air patrol conducted over the waters off Alaska was designed to counter the US military in the Pacific and demonstrated improved interoperability between Beijing’s and Moscow’s forces, a national security expert said. National Defense University associate professor Chen Yu-chen (陳育正) made the comment in an article published on Wednesday on the Web site of the Journal of the Chinese Communist Studies Institute. China and Russia sent four strategic bombers to patrol the waters of the northern Pacific and Bering Strait near Alaska in late June, one month after the two nations sent a combined flotilla of four warships
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
TAIWANESE INNOVATION: The ‘Seawool’ fabric generates about NT$200m a year, with the bulk of it sourced by clothing brands operating in Europe and the US Growing up on Taiwan’s west coast where mollusk farming is popular, Eddie Wang saw discarded oyster shells transformed from waste to function — a memory that inspired him to create a unique and environmentally friendly fabric called “Seawool.” Wang remembered that residents of his seaside hometown of Yunlin County used discarded oyster shells that littered the streets during the harvest as insulation for their homes. “They burned the shells and painted the residue on the walls. The houses then became warm in the winter and cool in the summer,” the 42-year-old said at his factory in Tainan. “So I was
‘LEADERS’: The report highlighted C.C. Wei’s management at TSMC, Lisa Su’s decisionmaking at AMD and the ‘rock star’ status of Nvidia’s Huang Time magazine on Thursday announced its list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI), which included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) and AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰). The list is divided into four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Wei and Huang were named in the Leaders category. Other notable figures in the Leaders category included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Su was listed in the Innovators category. Time highlighted Wei’s
RSS