A Mindanaoan legislator on Thursday urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to thwart the e-visa (electronic visa) plan of the Philippine embassy in Beijing for Chinese nationals visiting the Philippines.
“I am strongly opposed to this plan of our ambassador, Jaime FlorCruz. The President should tell Mr. FlorCruz to scrap it,” Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said.
“The presence of Chinese nationals in our country endangers our communities and our national security. Many of them are spies and criminals engaged in kidnapping-for-ransom, illegal gambling and other illicit activities. Proof of this is the recent arrest of Chinese spies and lawbreakers,” he added.
Rodriguez said arrested spies were caught surveilling critical establishments and agencies, including military camps and even the Commission on Elections.
In announcing the plan, FlorCruz said it would make the visa application process “more convenient” for Chinese nationals visiting the Philippines.
Rodriguez said what the country needs “is a stringent process that will require personal appearance and thorough vetting of visa applicants and their records and papers to prevent the entry of Chinese spies and criminals in our country.”
He said FlorCruz’s plan “is contrary to the national policy President BBM (Bongbong Marcos) is pursuing in the face of continuing Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea.”
“The President is fighting tooth and nail for national sovereignty, denouncing in the strongest terms every act of aggression by China. Mr. FlorCruz’s plan undermines such stance and can be seen as weakness on the part of the President and our country,” he said.
Rodriguez urged the ambassador to “promote and speak more forcefully for our national interest instead of devising plans for convenience for the Chinese.”
“He is often silent on instances of Chinese bullying of our fishermen in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
The Mindanao lawmaker also urged the government to look for thousands of Chinese POGO (Philippine offshore gaming operations) stragglers and criminals still roaming urban areas and even the countryside.
He noted that only this week, the authorities arrested 12 Chinese nationals in Tacloban City for working without permits and visas.
Rodriguez also cited the statement of former Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission Executive Director Gilbert Cruz, before he was replaced, that up to 10,000 Chinese POGO workers remained in the country.
“The concerned agencies should continue to look for them. They may be continuing to pursue their illegal activities, like spying and illicit gambling. They should be immediately deported once arrested,” Rodriguez said.
