S'pore, RP leaders meet to normalize ties ofter hanging
S'pore, RP leaders meet to normalize ties ofter hanging
MANILA (AFP): The Singaporean and Philippine leaders met here yesterday in an attempt to revive bilateral ties darkened for two years by the hanging of a Filipina maid.
"I'm here to make up for lost time," Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told a joint news conference with President Fidel Ramos, referring to the execution of the maid which ignited nationwide anger and a freeze on Singaporean investment in the Philippines.
Flor Contemplacion was sent to the gallows on March 17, 1995 for the killings of a fellow Filipina and a Singaporean boy.
There were huge protests in the Philippines in which Singaporean flags were set on fire.
There were protests by left-wing groups against Goh's visit.
Ramos said the Philippines was "highly pleased that, over these past months, we have not only mended the tear in the fabric of our friendship -- we have also nurtured a new climate of mutual trust between our two countries. "
Goh's three-day official visit "signifies a new climate of mutual confidence in our bilateral relations. We can look forward to a more dynamic partnership with Singapore," Ramos said.
The two leaders discussed setting up a bilateral "action plan" which Ramos said would serve as a blueprint for cooperation in economic and diplomatic affairs. It will be reviewed after six months.
They also discussed, and reaffirmed a decision to vote for the admission of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next month. ASEAN currently groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The two leaders witnessed the signing of several agreements involving a private joint venture steel mill, the setting up of a S$3.4 million funded polytechnic, and a joint study on an urban renewal strategy for Manila Bay.
Goh said Singapore, one of the largest employers of overseas Filipino workers and the Philippines' third largest trading partner, would ensure that Filipino workers are treated "fairly" and said his government would "move quickly to address" similar "isolated" incidents in the future.
Ramos said that following the Flor Contemplacion case, the two countries were now observing mutually agreed mechanisms on cases involving Filipino workers in the city-state.
Bilateral trade between Singapore and the Philippines rose 21 percent from a year earlier to US$3.72 billion, according to Singapore's trade ministry. Singapore investments exceeded US$480 million at the end of 1996.
Goh said he sensed there was now "a spring in the step of the Filipinos" having achieved modest economic growth during the five years of Ramos rule, and said that this new-found confidence was "very important" in the decision-making of foreign investors.
"The Filipino people want to make up for lost time. They've lost many years and they know that if they lose the opportunity again, then go down to the dumps in the next five years, it will be very difficult for the country to go up again."
"You now have come up from the bottom. You're making very good progress," he said. "I don't think Filipinos would want to throw away that growth."
Ramos, for his part said foreign investors could rest assured that the reforms under his administration would endure even after he ends his term next year.
"The policy environment is there, embedded in the law. No president can change it," he added.
Ramos will today accompany Goh to the former U.S. Clark air base north of Manila which has been turned into an economic zone. Goh is to leave late today.