The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed the nomination of former Philippine Cabinet secretary Silvestre Bello III as the new head of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), the country’s de facto embassy in Taiwan.
The nomination of Bello, a 78-year-old lawyer who served as secretary of labor and employment in 2016 under former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, was made by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Thursday last week.
The official nomination was expected to be announced after Marcos Jr’s inauguration yesterday, MOFA deputy spokesperson Tsuei Ching-lin (崔靜麟) said.
Photo: Screen grab from Facebook
Asked about the incoming MECO head, Michael Hsu (徐佩勇), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, said that Bello had close relations with the country’s executive branch, and extensive experience in politics and public service.
As secretary of labor, Bello visited Taiwan in 2019 for a round of labor meetings, he added.
About 150,000 Philippine migrant workers live in Taiwan, making the country the third-largest source of migrant workers to the nation, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam.
“Bello’s nomination is a perfect choice for MECO chair,” Hsu said, adding that he is looking forward to working closely with Bello to enhance bilateral ties.
“I believe he is the MECO chair with the highest public profile, having previously served as a department secretary,” Hsu said, adding that the previous highest-level MECO chairs were deputy ministers or deputy secretaries.
Bello would be replacing incumbent Wilfredo Fernandez.
Bello has been in politics since 1986, when he was appointed governor of Isabela province from April 1986 to February 1988.
He later held several Cabinet positions, including as secretary of justice from July 1991 to February 1992 under then-Philippine president Corazon Aquino; and then again as acting justice secretary under former president Fidel Ramos from February 1998 to June 1998.
From 2004 until 2010, he was Cabinet secretary under then-Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
RSS