Premier Jiang Yi-huah instructed law enforcement agencies to protect the safety of Filipinos in Taiwan, who include both laborers and students, during today's public security meeting.
The premier commended the National Police Agency (NPA) for taking several security and preventive measures to protect Filipinos working, studying or residing in Taiwan since the Guang Da Xing No. 28 fishing boat incident, in which a Taiwanese fisherman was fatally shot by a Philippine official vessel. In addition to calling on the citizens of the two nations to remain rational about the case and refrain from venting rage on innocent people or harming them, Jiang instructed the Council of Labor Affairs, Ministry of Education and National Immigration Agency not to discriminate against Filipinos on the grounds of this diplomatic dispute.
"Relevant agencies should work together until this incident is settled peacefully and safeguard foreign nationals' rights and interests in Taiwan," he said.
Premier Jiang also reiterated the government's firm stance on the case, noting the government has adopted various sanctions against the Philippines, including protection exercises in fishing waters south of Taiwan, and that a mutual investigation into the incident by officials of the two countries is underway.
At the meeting, Premier Jiang and other officials were also briefed on issues such as fire and crime fighting as well as crackdown on illegal firearms. The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) reported that the first four months of the year saw a drop in crime cases, including theft and fraud, and rise in the crime resolution rate. Premier Jiang affirmed these developments and commended law enforcement agencies for quickly cracking a string of high-profile cases recently to consolidate the general public's confidence in the nation's public security. He expressed hope that various agencies keep up the good performance in solving and preventing crimes.
As for firefighting, the National Fire Agency (NFA) reported that the number of fires as well as the amount of lives and property lost to fires fell in the year's first four months, with Taichung City and New Taipei City claiming the greatest decreases in fatalities: nine and six, respectively. Premier Jiang affirmed this development but requested that those cities and counties whose fire mortality figures increased step up their efforts at fire prevention promotion and analyze fire-prone building types and their causes of fire.
"Our firefighting performance is getting better year by year, but we absolutely must not let down our guard as a result," noted Premier Jiang. "The MOI should keep offering guidance and assistance to local governments in implementing various fire prevention measures to lower the number of deaths from fire."
To avert another outbreak of a large fire such as those in the Beimen Branch of Tainan's Sinying Hospital and in Xinpu Township, Hsinchu County, the NFA should implement the policies it drew up in its report today, which would further safeguard lives and property, Jiang said.
After being briefed on illegal arms crackdowns, the premier said that illicit firearms in Taiwan are all smuggled in from abroad, with the principal source being the Philippines, and the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), Customs Administration (CA) and NPA should strengthen intelligence cooperation to facilitate investigations.
He also expressed hope that the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs would take advantage of the mutual legal assistance channel Taiwan inked with the Philippines in April, making gun smuggling prevention a top priority after the resolution of the Guang Da Xing No. 28 case in order to cut off smuggling of weaponry from the Philippines.
Through the combined efforts of the coast guard, police, customs officials, investigators and military police, the number of criminal cases involving firearm possession decreased by about 70 percent from 2003 to 2012. This is a substantial gain which reflects the efforts of public security officials to crack down on weapons possession and increase public safety, the premier stated.