THE Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office confirmed Monday the firefighting in Marawi City and other domestic concerns caused the delay in the granting of visa-free benefits to Filipino tourists.
In a statement, Teco representative Gary Song-Huann Lin gave assurances that as soon as the “relevant administrative and inter-agency procedures and the relevant mechanism including the security check have been in place, Taiwan will announce the implementation of the visa-free benefits.
“As a matter of fact, the Marawi siege is only one of the factors in regard to the progress of the visa-free initiatives,” Lin said.
However, when asked to elaborate what other “considering factors” and which exactly “security check” they were referring to, Teco refused to comment.
“As soon as the relevant administrative and inter-agency procedures and the relevant mechanisms including the security check-list [have been] in place, the Taiwanese government is expected to announce in September the actual date for the implementation for the visa-free travel,” Lin said.
Based from a report in Taiwan News, Lin was quoted as saying his government would not provide visa-free entry for the Philippine passport holders until the unrest in Marawi had settled.
The firefighting between the Philippine forces and the Maute group, organized bandits claiming to be members of Iraq and Syria Islamic State, had begun in May, after the latter attacked Marawi.
The fighting continues even one week before President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his second State of the Nation Address on July 24.
“We are reviewing the administrative and security procedures to ensure that people like Hapilon don’t enter Taiwan,” Lin said in a previous ambush interview.
Isnilon Hapilon, currently at large, is one of the masterminds of the attack in Marawi, burning down the entire city on the Day of Ramadan on May 26.
Hapilon, and some of his Abu Sayyaf units, have partnered with the Maute group to carry out the ISIS mandate.
The ISIS-inspired local rebel groups occupied the PhilHealth Office and Salam Hospital in Barangay Lilod.
They burned three buildings: the Marawi City Jail, LandBank Moncado Branch, and Senator Ninoy Aquino Foundation College.