TRIANGLE: There are indications that last week’s flare-up on the political ménage à trois (literally a “household of three”) among the Philippines, China and Taiwan is being tamped out with increasingly deft handling by Malacañang.

After unsteady first steps on the diplomatic tightrope, President Noynoy Aquino appears to have started to gain balance when he:

(1) Dispatched Vice President Jojo Binay to Beijing to plead for clemency for three Filipino drug mules on death row. On a mission as an official, Binay was able to secure a stay of execution of the doomed Filipinos.

(2) Sent former Senator Mar Roxas through the back channel to Taipei to explain the deportation of 14 undesirable aliens to China and discuss other common concerns. As a private citizen on a personal errand for the President, Roxas is expected to gain a measure of success, too.

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DIPLOMATIC NUANCE: We note the nuances of the President’s sending Binay and Roxas on complementary missions as two different faces of the same political coin.

The Vice President, a presidential adviser on overseas workers concerns, was on an official mission to a state with which the Philippines has full diplomatic relations. On the other hand, Roxas is a private citizen carrying a message from our President to the leader of a country with which we have severed diplomatic ties.

The careful distinction of their status recognizes and respects the one-China concept, to which the Philippines has subscribed since 1975 when it opened full relations with Beijing and closed its embassy in Taipei.

We could not have sent an official envoy to Taipei, even with extravagant explanations, without implying recognition and courting the ire of Beijing, one of the three parties in the ménage à trois.

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BINAY VS ROXAS: How the respective performances of Binay and Roxas will affect their standing in the Aquino political hierarchy and their ratings as heir apparent to the president is something else.

It is an open secret that Binay and Roxas compete not only for the favorable attention of Aquino but also for the administration’s party nomination for the presidency in 2016.

Initially gunning for the presidency in last year’s elections, Roxas gave in to Aquino and slid down to being the Liberal Party candidate for vice president. But Binay of PDP-Laban sneaked from behind and grabbed the vice presidency with a lead of some 700,000 votes.

Though Aquino professes closeness to Roxas, setting him up as his chief troubleshooter, talk persists that the Aquino-Binay ties dating back to Cory Aquino’s presidency are still as tight as ever.

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RECKLESS TALK: When Beijing allowed Binay to journey to China to plead for the doomed Filipinos – in contrast to its refusal to receive him on the massacre of Chinese hostage-tourists last August — that was hint enough of a softening in its hardline.

Binay came back with a stay in the execution of the doomed Filipinos with a possible review of the supposedly final death sentence.

The proverbial fly in the ointment is Amadeo Perez Jr., chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, who reportedly said days ago that Binay was sent to plead for the commutation of the OFWs’ death sentence.

In a delicate mission such as that one, it was reckless imprudence to divulge details – even if true — when the chances of success were slim. As it turned out, the death penalty was not reduced, but only postponed, according to applicable Chinese laws.

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AN APOLOGY?: One important step left is to order MECO chief Perez to stop talking out of turn on China issues and to take a crash course on diplomatic practices.

Perez should have realized that Beijing is not his area of assignment nor diplomacy his line of expertise.

Days ago, Perez reportedly told Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Timothy Yang: “I apologize for this unfortunate incident (the deportation).” If this quote reported in The China Post is true, he should be yanked out of Taipei right away.

Does he not know that Manila has no intention of apologizing for the deportation? He acts and speaks like he is deathly worried about displeasing Taipei, said to be a gold mine for MECO bosses, and losing millions in unrealized earnings.

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NOTED: Sorry for these footnotes, but somebody has to point them out.…

The amateurs in the President’s team should be told again and again that the Chief Executive is the sole spokesman of the country in foreign relations.

Unless authorized, all underlings of the President cannot spread speculations, enunciate new or imagined policies, or expand the scope and meanings of existing policy and presidential statements.

As for media, we should keep in mind that Donald Lee, head of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office in Manila, is not an ambassador to Manila and should not be addressed or described as “ambassador” or even “de facto ambassador.”

Similarly, TECO is not the Taiwanese “de facto embassy” nor is it a “consulate.” There is no such diplomatic establishment in Manila.

Same thing with Perez. As MECO head, he may be earning more than the average ambassador, but that does not confer on him the title of “ambassador.” Neither are Lee and Perez “envoys” as they are sometimes erroneously called.

We in media should be aware of these nuances so as not to exacerbate the delicate situation of at least three death convicts in China, as well as some 70,000 skilled Filipino workers and almost 20,000 domestic help in Taiwan.