Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) head Silvestre Bello III has dismissed reports that Taiwan has temporarily suspended the visa-free privilege for Filipinos.
Interviewed on Dobol B TV, Bello said he immediately sought clarification from Taiwanese representative to the Philippines Michael Pei-Yung Hsu about the report.
Bello quoted the Taiwanese officials as telling him it was possibly just a case of misunderstanding.
It appeared that the confusion from a September 5 notice posted by Taiwan’s Bureau of Consular Affairs that said it will resume visa waivers for the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several mostly European countries starting September 12.
The notice, however, also stated that it is “temporarily suspending” visa-free entry to Chile, Dominican Republic, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Philippines, and Russia.
Bello said Michael Pei-Yung Hsu described the report as “false rumor.”
“He said please clarify that, that’s false rumor, it’s not true. That’s what he told me last night,” Bello said.