Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/28/2020
By: Joseph Yeh

Angelito T. Banayo, chairman and resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural

Office. CNA file photo.

Taipei, April 28 (CNA) The Philippines top envoy to Taiwan said Monday he has not received instructions from President Rodrigo Duterte to arrange the deportation of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Taiwan to Manila for allegedly libeling the president online.

In a phone interview with CNA, Angelito T. Banayo, chairman and resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), said he would have received the instructions had they been issued but had not received any such directives to date.

He also noted that deporting anybody from Taiwan is the sovereign right of the host government and is "not within the prerogative of a foreign government like the Philippines," which MECO represents in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.

"So the question of deportation is something that only the Taiwanese government can decide upon," he said.    [FULL  STORY]