TAIPEI/MANILA: Taiwan’s leader yesterday called for calm and promised to protect Filipinos on the island amid widespread anger at the Philippines over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman.

Anti-Manila sentiments mounted after a 65-year-old fisherman was shot dead last week by Philippine coastguards who said his vessel intruded into Philippine waters.

Taiwanese media have reported an attack on a Filipino, tourists canceling planned visits to the Philippines and some supermarkets removing food from the Philippines from their shelves.

“We will continue negotiating the issue with the Philippines and I hope everyone can calmly and peacefully resolve the issue to avoid hurting bilateral ties,” Ma said while meeting a group of international scholars.

Ma said he has instructed relevant Taiwanese units to protect some 87,000 Filipinos living and working on the island to ensure they are not harmed.

Taiwan’s ETTV cable news channel reported that a Filipino was allegedly attacked by four Taiwanese wielding iron bars as he went to work in southern Taiwan. He was treated at hospital for a facial injury.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister David Lin also urged calm at a press conference aimed at seeking more international support for the diplomatically isolated island in the lingering dispute.

“We consider the Filipino people as our friends... We call on our people to treat them well, and our government will continue to provide a friendly environment for them,” he said.

Only 23 countries have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The Philippines officially recognizes Beijing over Taipei but maintains trade ties with the island.

Taiwan has rejected Manila’s claims that the incident took place in Philippine waters and that it was “unintended,” while President Ma described the incident as “cold-blooded murder.”

“If (Philippine) civil servants used automatic weapons to fire at unarmed and provocative fishing boats, this was not carrying out their job duties. This is cold-blooded murder,” Ma said.

Taiwan has recalled its envoy, banned the hiring of new Philippine workers and staged a military drill in waters off the northern Philippines earlier this week. A personal envoy for Philippine President Benigno Aquino was forced to return home on Thursday after Taipei rejected an apology he conveyed for the president.

Taipei has repeatedly pressed Manila to issue a formal government apology, to compensate the fisherman’s family, and to apprehend the killer. The Philippine envoy to Taiwan yesterday advised thousands of Filipino workers there to eat at home and avoid the streets while emotions run high on the island over the shooting death of a fisherman by the Philippine coast guard.

Philippine representative Amadeo Perez said after returning to Manila from Taipei late Thursday that his government has verified at least one attack, in which a Filipino was beaten with a bat.

“He was brought to a hospital and police are investigating. We are documenting the cases,” he said.

Taiwan has frozen the hiring of Filipino workers, cut trade exchanges and discouraged travel to the Philippines because of the fisherman’s death. Its government brushed aside an apology from the Philippine president as insufficient.

Taipei is demanding compensation, investigation, punishment and negotiations on a fishing agreement. Perez said that there additional demands, which he did not specify before reporting to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.

“At this time, Taiwanese people are emotional and tension is high,” Perez said. “We advised Filipinos there not to leave home as much as possible. Eat your meals at home, and just commute directly between home and work for now.”

Nearly 87,000 Filipinos work in Taiwan, a fraction of the roughly 10 million who work abroad to escape poverty and unemployment at home.

Perez said he may recommend the repatriation of Filipinos if the need arises. “We will not abandon our people,” he added.

The Taiwanese government has asked Taiwanese to behave correctly with Filipinos.

Filipino workers in Taiwan who were interviewed by Manila radio stations complained that some shops refused to sell them goods and restaurants would not serve them. They did not give their names for fear of reprisals. A Taiwanese company that employs Filipinos printed a memo advising them to avoid fishing villages.

The circumstances behind the May 9 shooting of the fishermen remain in dispute, though the Philippines acknowledges that its coast guard personnel opened fire on a Taiwanese boat. Manila says the action was taken in self-defense to prevent the Taiwanese from ramming the coast guard vessel, but Taiwanese fishermen deny the ramming claim.

Both countries are investigating the incident. Fourteen Taiwanese police investigators are in Manila, and Philippine investigators will ask Taiwanese authorities for permission to inspect the fishing boat and interview the crew.

The hiring freeze has brought anxiety to Filipinos waiting to take up jobs in Taiwan.

“We are appealing. We hope there will be a solution to this because we are just trying to work for our family,” said Zette Monleon, a factory worker who could not leave on her return trip to Taiwan because she was asked for additional documents, which could take weeks.

Trade between the Philippines and Taiwan is about $ 11 billion, with a surplus of $ 6.7 billion in Taiwan’s favor.