Manila seeks removal of S'pore envoy

Manila seeks removal of S'pore envoy

MANILA (Reuter): The Philippines sought the removal of
Singapore's ambassador to Manila because he was pushy,
insensitive and underestimated the national anger at the hanging
of a Filipina maid, officials said yesterday.

President Fidel Ramos said he personally asked Singaporean
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to remove ambassador Tan Sheng Chye
for failing to accurately inform his government of the depth of
Filipino anguish over the execution of Flor Contemplacion.

He said he also sent Goh a pile of Manila newspaper clippings
and video tapes "which provide the flavor. . . of the emotion,
the passion, the excitement and even the outrage of Filipinos
from all walks of life".

Tan left Manila for Singapore on Tuesday evening. Singapore
agreed earlier Tuesday to a Philippine government request to
withdraw its ambassador from Manila.

Goh gave his agreement in a telephone conversation with Ramos.

"Singapore, in deference to the wish of President Ramos, has
accordingly asked Ambassador Tan Seng Chye to return to
Singapore. Ambassador Tan Seng Chye arrived in Singapore this
evening," a statement from Singapore's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said.

"President Ramos and Prime Minister Goh agreed that the
Philippines and Singapore should try to maintain their bilateral
relations on an even keel," the statement said.

The statement also said the two countries agreed that their
foreign ministers would work out arrangements for medical experts
from both countries to re-examine the remains of Filipina maid
Delia Maga, who was murdered in Singapore in 1991.

Contemplacion's execution last month plunged relations between
the two countries into a crisis and prompted a threat by Manila
to severe diplomatic ties.

Filipino protesters burned thousands of Singaporean flags in
street demonstrations, Manila newspapers slammed Singapore's
judicial system accusing it of being ruthless and brutal, and
communist rebels threatened attacks on Singaporean offices and
nationals.

Singapore rejected Philippine appeals and hanged
Contemplacion, a mother of four, for the murder of another
Filipina maid and a three-year-old Singaporean boy in 1991.
She had confessed to the killings but Filipinos believe she was
innocent and was tortured into admitting the crime.

"Many in the government believe that if there had been an
ambassador before, other than him, who had been properly
reporting on the sentiments and emotions here, it wouldn't have
come to this," a senior Foreign Office official said.

"He (Tan) tended to be very arrogant and pushy, and he
completely misinterpreted the feelings of the people.

"We are trying to find a way to get out of this rough patch,"
Foreign Secretary Roberto Romulo told reporters, referring to the
strained relations between the two countries.

"At this point, they are beginning to get slightly sensitive
to the feelings here."

A Philippine inquiry panel which exhumed Maga's remains said
she might have been killed by a man and Contemplacion could be
innocent. Singapore rejected the findings.

Ramos told his weekly news conference he was still studying
demands by political and citizens' groups that he fire Romulo and
Labor Secretary Nieves Confesor for allegedly not doing enough to
save Contemplacion from the gallows.

"Let me just say I shall pray and meditate over all of these
during the Holy Week," he said, referring to the Easter holidays
in this Roman Catholic country beginning today.

"Let's just wait."