Philippines bowed to Taiwan and will announce a public Apology for the Shootout in Balintang Channel

Warships presence of Taiwan Republic of China would be doubled for fire drill as enemy inside the Philippine territory particularly in the Balintang Channel, near Babuyan Island if the Philippines will not ask public apology. Map from Google

Philippines says sorry to Taiwan

TAIPEI (UPDATED) - The Philippines on Wednesday apologised to Taiwan over the shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by coastguards last week that sparked public outrage and tensions between Taipei and Manila.

Taiwan foreign minister David Lin told reporters that "the Philippines has voiced deep regret and apology for the incident" after a closed-door meeting with Antonio Basilio, the de facto Philippine ambassador to Taipei.

The Philippine government will send a special envoy to Taiwan to convey his apologies and condolences to the family of 65-year-old fisherman Hung Shih-cheng, who was shot dead on Thursday, Basilio said.

"Chairman (Amadeo) Perez will repeat his deep regret and apology from the people of the Philippines to the people of Taiwan and the family of Mr. Hung for the grief and suffering from his death," Basilio said.

Perez Jr. is chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) that represents the Philippines' interest in Taiwan.

Taiwan had demanded an apology by midnight Tuesday (1600 GMT), saying that otherwise it would conduct a naval drill in waters near the Philippines. It had also threatened to freeze the sending of Philippine workers to the island.

The two sides also agreed to jointly launch an investigation into the incident, that has sparked outrage in Taiwan.

On Monday, hundreds of angry fishermen burned Philippine flags and hurled eggs at Manila's de facto embassy in Taipei.

"The Philippines has made some positive reactions towards our demand," Lin said when asked if his government would still consider sanctions against Manila, adding that the pledges from the Philippine government would need to be further evaluated.

ABS-CBN News

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Taiwan - China Threatens to Halt Filipino Hiring Over Fisherman’s Death

Taiwanese Fishermen shoot dead by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) found poaching in Balintang Channel, Basco Batanes, the Philippines. Should the Philippines will ask apology for killing the poachers inside the Philippines waters during their operation? This Balintng Channel is not a contested area because this is the Philippine Water within or in the middle of the Philippines Islands and not in any boundaries. China and Taiwan are used to poached and fish inside the Philippines  because the Philippines is a weak country who do not have capability to guard its waters. China and Taiwan were used to abused the Weak Philippines and now demanding for apology for the death of the Taiwanese poachers inside the Philippines Waters. If you are the owner of the house, and you found the thieves inside stealing your assets and attempted to kill you so you fight back and killed the thieves, are you going to ask apology? . Map from Google

Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou threatened to recall his representative to the Philippines and freeze labor applications if its neighbor fails to respond within 72 hours to requests for an apology and an investigation into the shooting of a fisherman last week.

Ma issued "four solemn requests" after a Philippines patrol boat shot the fisherman dead on May 9, including compensation, commencement of talks over fishing rights and punishment of the perpetrators, the presidential office said in a statement on its Website last night.

Taiwan fishing vessel Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was hit by at least 32 bullets, killing a 65-year-old crew member, 164 nautical miles (304 km) southeast of Taiwan's southern tip in waters north of the Philippines. The Philippine Coast Guard will investigate the incident, its commander, Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena, said May 10.

Failure to respond within the time line, which commenced May 12, will result in Taiwan protesting by halting applications by Filipino workers, recalling Taiwan's representative to the Philippines and sending the Philippines' representative back to deal with the case, according to the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net; Bruce Grant at bruceg@bloomberg.net; Dick Schumacher at dschumacher@bloomberg.net

Bloomberg

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19% up ↑ Philippines now Saskatchewan Canada’ stop source of immigrants

According to the federal census, there are now 68,780 immigrants in Saskatchewan, with almost 27,000 coming to the province between 2006 and 2011. (CBC)

2011 federal census shows big increase in newcomers

Saskatchewan's immigrant surge is being reflected in the latest data from the federal census — with a big wave of people from the Philippines accounting for much of it.

According to the latest set of 2011 data released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday, there are 68,780 Saskatchewan residents who were born in other countries, compared to 48,160 in 2006 when the previous survey was taken.

In other words, more than 39 per cent of Saskatchewan's immigrants arrived between 2006 to 2011.

Thanks to the surge, 6.8 per cent of Saskatchewan's population is foreign-born, compared to 5.5 per cent in 2006.

Immigrants still represent a smaller proportion of the population in Saskatchewan compared to the rest of Canada (20.6 per cent), but it's a big jump compared with previous censuses.

The rise of Saskatchewan's Filipino population arguably represents the most dramatic change in the report.

In 2006, people from the Philippines accounted for 2,455 of Saskatchewan's visible minority immigrants.

In 2011, the figure had jumped to 12,775 — a 420 per cent increase.

For the first time ever, the Philippines have become Saskatchewan's most important source of newcomers, replacing the United Kingdom (7,370).

Tagalog, spoken in the Philippines, has become the most common non-official language spoken by immigrants at home.

In recent years, the provincial government has been involved in recruiting skilled workers from the Philippines, particularly in the health care field.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan's aboriginal population to continues to grow and now accounts for 15.6 per cent of the total.

That compares with about 14.8 per cent of the population in 2006.

CBC News

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