Taiwan authorities decided on May 12 to dispatch a fleet to conduct regular patrol in waters to the south of the island to guard fishing boats following the shooting-death of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine side at sea.(Photo Source: huanqiu.com)

 
The Philippines is ready to evacuate Filipinos working in Taiwan in case tensions further escalate between Taipei and Manila, according to media reports Monday.

Amadeo Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) that handles affairs related to Taiwan, said a task force has been created to address the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman two weeks ago by the Philippine coast guard under the instruction from Philippine President Benigno Aquino.

The possible evacuation plan came after at least two Filipino workers were attacked and injured in Taiwan amid mounting public anger, the Manila-based ANC news network reported

Abigail Valte, a deputy spokesperson for Aquino also confirmed to Bloomberg that "should the need arise, we are prepared to evacuate."

The Philippines may consider directing more citizens to South Korea, Malaysia and the Middle East if they are evacuated from Taiwan, Valte said.

"Manila's talk of evacuating workers in Taiwan showed that it has few choices when faced with Taiwan's tough stance," said Zhuang Guotu, dean of the Research School of Southeast Asian Studies at Xiamen University.

Taiwan on Wednesday announced a second wave of sanctions targeting Manila after it rejected its "insincere" apology and decided to freeze applications by Filipinos to work on the island.

"But the Philippines might also believe the loss of its workers being evacuated would be smaller than the impact on Taiwan's economy as most Filipinos work in Taiwan in the manufacturing sector of high-tech companies," Zhuang said.

The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment records showed that out of 85,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan, 72 percent of them are in the manufacturing sector, 26 percent are in social services and two percent in the fishing sector, the Philippine Star newspaper said.

Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou said Friday he had instructed Taiwanese security forces to protect the Filipinos living and working on the island to ensure they are not harmed.

The evacuation reports came as Taipei and Manila still have not reached an agreement for a joint investigation into the killing after a team of Taiwanese investigators returned to the island Saturday from Manila.

Taiwan has demanded a formal apology from Aquino, but Perez said this would violate his country's one-China policy.

Ji Qiufeng, professor of international relations at China's Nanjing University, told the Global Times that Manila is using this excuse to shift the focus away from the killing.

"They want to use some differences between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan and provoke a dispute on the issue (of the killing of the fisherman)", Ji said. He said both the mainland and Taiwan should respond carefully, suggesting that under some circumstances, the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits might be able to play a role.

As the row showed little sign of easing, the position of the US has also been drawing attention.

A petition filed Wednesday on We the People website operated by the White House to urge the Obama administration to prevent Taiwanese people from being attacked by the Philippines has received over 100,000 signatures by Monday.

Washington has so far stopped short of condemning the Philippines over the killing of the fisherman.

Agencies contributed to this story