The Philippines is not yet ready to reciprocate Taipei’s offer of free visa charges for Filipinos going to Taiwan, according to the chief of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco).

“We are still studying it, we’re planning something but I can’t say it right now,” said Angelito Banayo, head of Meco, at the sidelines of the Taiwan Expo 2017 at the Mall of Asia Arena last Friday.

“We have conducted studies,” he said, “but I have to present that to our board of directors on how we can do some reciprocal measures. The idea is to get more frequent visitors to the Philippines, businessmen, especially.”

He said 200,000 Taiwanese visited the country, and almost the same number of Filipinos went to Taiwan last year.

Asked how much Meco would lose if the visa-free policy is allowed to take effect, Banayo said: “It’s quite huge.”

It was gathered that Meco derived its salary for their employees from the income generated by

visa fees because the government has not set aside a separate budget for them.

Meco is the Philippines’s representative office in Taiwan. Its counterpart in Manila is the

Taiwan Economic Cooperation Office (Teco), headed by Dr. Gary Song-huann Lin.

Banayo said those entitled to free visa are Taiwanese holding Schengen, the United States and Australian visas. “But the rest would still have to pay”.

Last week Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) announced, for the second time, that Filipinos intending to travel to Taiwan will no longer need a visa as part of Taipei’s efforts to promote its New Southbound policy.

Mofa made the same announcement in June but it postponed the implementation of the visa-free scheme for Filipinos.

“After we open up the visa-free arrangements, in view of equal mutual benefits, we also hope they will make visa-free arrangements with Taiwan,” Hsu Kong-yung, the spokesman of Taiwan’s Executive Cabinet, said at a news briefing in Taipei on September 28.

Taiwan’s plan to grant Filipinos visa-free entry was supposed to take effect in June but was deferred due to the need to “complete relevant administrative procedures and interagency coordination”.

Nationals from the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Indonesia,

Myanmar, Cambodia and

Lao PDR who wish to visit Taiwan for tourism or a short visit are advised to apply for free travel-authorization certificate, the Teco web site said.

Those who will apply for a travel-authorization certificate to Taiwan must meet the three following conditions: the applicant’s passport must have remaining validity of at least six months starting from the date of arrival in Taiwan; the applicant must possess an onward/return air, or ferry ticket; and the applicant has never been employed as a blue-collar worker in Taiwan.

As additional requirements, one of the following conditions must also be met:

■ The applicant possesses at least one of the following documents issued by Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, any of the Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, or the United States: Valid resident or permanent-resident card; valid entry visa (may be electronic visa, which should be printed out); resident card or visa that has expired less than 10 years prior to the date of arrival in Taiwan.

■ The applicant possesses a visa or resident card issued by Taiwan over the last 10 years and has had no evidence of past immigration irregularities or violations in Taiwan. However, holders of Taiwan visas bearing a remark of “FL” (foreign labor) or “X” (others) and resident cards with the purpose of “Foreign Labor” are not eligible for a Taiwan Travel Authorization Certificate.

Under the new edict, the Taiwanese government has relaxed its visa rules for individuals from the 10 member-states of the Asean, including India.

However, Teco’s spokesman, Peter C.Y. Pan, told the BusinessMirror last Saturday night they are still waiting for Mofa to announce the exact date of the implementation of the new policy.

“Mofa kept announcing that Taiwan will allow visa-free entry into the Philippines, but they have yet to decide the exact date,” Pan said at the dinner celebration of the Taiwan Expo 2017 held in Pasay City. Lin, the host of the event, said, “Taiwan will be waiving more than P400 million in fees once they start implementing the visa-free entry of Filipinos.”

“The total [collection] last year is P420 million. But that is not our real concern. What is important is how we strengthen our friendship and mutual understanding, which is the core value of our new southbound policy. Taiwan is one of the Philippines closest neighbors. We are naturally good friends,” he added.

According to Lin, the Philippines is one of Taiwan’s top trading partners. Bilateral trade between the Philippines and Taiwan amounted to $10.8 billion. “Last year 182,000 Filipinos visited Taiwan, which is an increase of 75 percent over 2016, and we have 200 flights a month between us,” he said. “This is the best time to strengthen our relations. Taiwan is supporting President Duterte’s 10-point agenda and its national development plans. Our Southbound policy coincides with the Philippines’s National Development Plans,” Lin added.