Inside Philippine politics & beyond

Chinese workers in the Philippines—a very difficult and sensitive subject to write

Share:
LinkedIn0
Pinterest0

By Raïssa Robles

I started research in June on how many Chinese from the mainland were coming to the Philippines to work legally and illegally.

There were no publicly available records on the subject.

I contacted sources in the ethnic Chinese community. Some had estimates but no hard figures.

So I set aside the story for a while.

In the first week of August, I decided to submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request on the subject with the Bureau of Immigration. I asked Immigration for data that it had already released to someone else using the FOI request.

I thought, since the data had already been compiled and released, I would get it in days. Instead, it took nearly four weeks.

And even when I got it, the data were skimpy and left much to be desired.

When I wrote back asking for clarification of the data, there was no reply from Immigration.

I also wrote a letter to the Department of Labor and Employment for data on how many Chinese nationals had been granted Alien Employment Permits. The data were more complete and detailed.

Problem was, the DOLE data did not jive with the Immigration data.

The breakthrough came in late November when the Senate Committee on Labor and Employment decided to conduct a probe on the surge of Chinese nationals to Manila.

This underscores how valuable the Senate is as an institution and how important it is to elect independent-minded senators who will look after the national good.

The story was not complete, however, with just the data. I needed people to talk to me about how they felt about the influx of Chinese nationals.

At any other time, the issue is a sensitive one. The Philippines has always had a policy of restricting the number of Chinese nationals working in the country.

The issue today is even made more sensitive by the conflict in the South China Sea.

I would therefore like to thank those who trusted me with their stories. Some asked not to be named. Others agreed to let me name them: Kaisa co-founder Teresita Ang-See, historian Michael Charlston “Xiao” Chua, economist Professor and forming economic planning Secretary Solita Monsod, writer and businessman Wilson Lee-Flores and lawyer Oscar Franklin Tan.

There were more stories than could be printed. Unfortunately, there was not enough space for all.

Still, I think the two pieces convey most of what I found out.

The main story tries to dissect the numbers that the government of President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to disclose.

Chinese workers ‘flood’ the Philippines, yet Duterte’s officials ‘don’t know’ how many there are

 

 

Chinese workers ‘flood’ the Philippines, yet Duterte’s officials ‘don’t know’ how many there are

Why is this important? Because the country’s population—especially that of Metro Manila – would have also increased by this much. They are using the country’s public transport system, and other services.

It also makes us wonder—if over a hundred thousand Chinese nationals are working in the country with “tourist” visas, are they paying income taxes? Are they registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue? Or is the Philippine government giving all of them a free pass while it goes after alleged Filipino tax evaders?

♦   ♦   ♦   ♦

My second story tries to explore the tensions among Filipinos on this issue, as well as the tension between Filipinos of Chinese descent and the newly-arrived mainland workers and migrants.

What do Filipinos have against Chinese Filipinos? Meet the Tsinoys

One thing I found striking: most of those Filipinos I interviewed about the recent influx were careful to explain that their beef was with the new arrivals, not with the Filipino—Chinese.

♦   ♦   ♦   ♦

In the end, the quarrel is not between Filipinos and the Chinese from the mainland.

It is between Filipinos and the Duterte government, which has opened wide the country’s borders to a flood of foreign workers.

Comments

  1. I read a thread in FB where a former contractor talked about some Filipino Chinese construction companies bringing in workers from China to work on condos in Binondo, in MOA and being paid 40 thousand a month with free lodging, food and transport. This, against Filipino workers who were being given 18 thousand with 9 thousand overtime. No perks like the Chinese. This was supposedly in 2015. He says the rates now are something like 50-60 thousand, with same arrangements. He claims the chinese work better and faster. He also said it started in 2015 with the construction of the Metropolitan Hospital. Airfare is paid by the local filipino chinese contractors and the workers are on tourist visas.I wonder if that still holds true if ever it was. I am sure that if Filipinos were paid same rates and perks as the chinese imports are, many Filipinos working abroad would want to come home.

  2. cathay pacific has a direct flight from davao to hongkong. another opportunities for chinese bussiness

    • direct flight from hongkong to dabaw, illegal chinese workers masquerading as tourists are certainly having a ball in the year of the pig, and dabaw is being made a pigsty! ang babuyan ang sambayana, he, he, he. and to think the whole of mindanaw is under martial law.

      chinese benefits big from martial law, wala silang kakumpetensya. chinese dito, chinese duon, and dabaw is sprouting chinese. the problem with illegals is that they just dont stay in dabaw and in mindanaw. they go where business is good, establishing businesses in luzon and in visayas and often without paying dues, no insurance, no benefits for workers, no concern for the environment, etc. and if they do shoddy work, wala tayong habol. they’ll disappear from scene only to reappear elsewhere and doing the same thing again, making money na naman and without paying dues.

      and if they deal in smuggled chinese goods, manufacture illegal drugs, and undermine our economy, lalong babagsak ang bansa natin. this type of chinese business is not good for our economy. and if chinese business is indeed good as duterte said it is, why then is our people slugged with heavy taxes? paying perhaps to compensate for the slack in the wake of the chinese onslaught?

      with not enough new and contributing members as millions of illegals work under the radar and not paying dues, sss is already selling investment properties as condos, in dire need of money na. wont be long before sss is bankrupt, dead and out of existence. paying for higher pension it cannot afford, thanks to duterte. it was shocking sss contributors hailing the higher pension, thinking they’ll have higher pension too when they grow old, kaso, mamamatay ang golden goose nila, bled out of money and forced out of commitments before the present crop of contributors could grow old and into old age pension.

      2019 is the year of the pig, and pigs eat anything and everything and our economy is going to be devoured by pigs from china mainland. he, he, he. oink, oink.

      • They are actually linked to the chinese companies who were under the “BUILD BUILD BUILD program”. Technically. they can bring SOME “experts” over this is stated in most of their lending agreement. They brought with them thousands of mainlanders when they built those “hightech” substandard debt trap rails in africa. They are actually doing the same here. If you plan to dig deep on this issue you might as well try to investigate on those construction sites operated by those chinese affiliated companies under in the build build build program. There you might see some chinese machines operators and some construction workers but these people rarely leaves the site so. . . Ive heard rumors too, but i haven’t really “seen them mainlanders”

  3. Palace makes light of Duterte ‘confession’

    MOLESTING THE MAID

    By: Julie M. Aurelio, Marlon Ramos 05:32 AM December 31, 2018

    https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1068059/palace-makes-light-of-duterte-confession

    Extract:

    Mr. Duterte recalled that he told the priest how he went to the room of the family’s maid, and proceeded to lift the blanket covering the sleeping woman so he could touch her private parts.

    He promptly left the room when the woman awoke, Mr. Duterte said, adding that he then went to the bathroom to do “the usual.” He later returned to the maid’s room and touched her again, this time inserting his finger into her private part.

    As his penance, the priest told him to recite five Our Father’s and five Hail Mary’s, “because you will go to hell,” the President recounted.

    “That’s how it is … It’s true. It’s true. All of the children went through it,” the President said, as if to pass off the incident as a rite of passage among adolescents.

    Is this just a simple molestation or a case of aggravated rape…considering the woman was asleep?

      • at 73yrs, duterte is no longer minor and ought to know better. and unless his story is collaborated, the supposed fingered steps up to confirm the story, his sisters and other kasambahay confirming as well, I say, duterte is telling fibs again and making up stories. just like he made up story about trillanes’ bank account in singapore.

        a rape cannot be a rape is there is no victim, no one come forward, no blotter, no polis record, and we only have unreliable duterte’s words for it. entertaining farmers and basking in their laughter, taking it as approval for high rating, duterte did.

        the farmers ought to know they paid highly for the stupid jokes, rice tarrification bill, train law, etc, the man responsible for the higher prices of living these days was there sa harap nila mismo, telling them jokes. high price the farmers paid just so duterte can entertain them. their families, their children’s children, their relatives will all pay for all the president’s jokes. the president’s salary is taken from taxpayers money, from their blood sweat and tears. keep laughing farmers, you pay for it. happy?

  4. CHINESE WORKERS GRABBING JOBS MEANT FOR FILIPINOS? LABOR CHIEF REACTS

    There is “no rampant” practice of jobs for Filipinos ending up being given to foreign nationals, the Philippines’ labor secretary said, as concerns over the alleged flooding of chinese workers in the country rise.

    Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the government has formed an inter-agency body that will look into the concerns being raised about the online gambling industry in the country, which has attracted thousands of chinese workers and caused a spike in the prices of real estate properties in some parts of Metro Manila

    But Bello said that aside from chinese working for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, which requires fluency in the chinese language, the other jobs that end up being given to foreigners are those Filipinos cannot perform

    Bello said a third of some 115,000 alien employment permits issued by the Philippine government from 2015 to 2017 went to chinese nationals

    The Bureau of Immigration said there was a spike in the number of chinese workers in the country in 2017, setting a record of about 22,599 of them holding working visas (more)

    https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/27/18/chinese-workers-grabbing-jobs-for filipinos-labor-chief-reacts

    • CHINESE WORKERS GRABBING JOBS MEANT FOR FILIPINOS? LABOR CHIEF REACTS

      There is “no rampant” practice of jobs for Filipinos ending up being given to foreign nationals, the Philippines’ labor secretary said, as concerns over the alleged flooding of chinese workers in the country rise.

      Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the government has formed an inter-agency body that will look into the concerns being raised about the online gambling industry in the country, which has attracted thousands of chinese workers and caused a spike in the prices of real estate properties in some parts of Metro Manila

      But Bello said that aside from chinese working for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, which requires fluency in the chinese language, the other jobs that end up being given to foreigners are those Filipinos cannot perform

      Bello said a third of some 115,000 alien employment permits issued by the Philippine government from 2015 to 2017 went to chinese nationals

      The Bureau of Immigration said there was a spike in the number of chinese workers in the country in 2017, setting a record of about 22,599 of them holding working visas (more)

      https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/27/18/chinese-workers-grabbing-jobs-for- filipinos-labor-chief-reacts

        • kalahari, as labor chief of the philippines and not of china, it’s bello’s job to ensure pinoys are not disadvantaged in our country’s job market. also, bello should not just relinquish his mandate to the chines and let them have the most say of who can be employed and who cannot..

          off shooting now, what alarms me talaga is the 20 billions worth of huawei’s cctv to be installed in metro manila and other places as part kuno of the build build build program signed between duterte and chinese presiden xi jinping. we should not just presumed it will be our kababayans installing huawei’s cctvs, and then sitting behind the desks and monitoring them.

          with the way things are going, most likely it will chinese workers installing huawei’s cctvs when we have many pinoys who are installations experts and can do the job.

          and who knows? maybe it will be chinese workers as well sitting behind the desks monitoring the cctvs and watching the movement of all and sundry. zero jobs then for our own pinoy IT experts, no jobs for them in surveillance too.

          perma kasi ng perma si duterte and rarely asked questions, maybe because he does not understand the ins and out of the contract. or it’s beneath him to ask question dahil magmumukhang tanga siya sa harap ng chinese president na si xi jinping, he, he,he.

        • sabi, cctvs are supposed to keep us all safe and secure, but who is going to keep us safe and secure from the prying chinese? it will be very easy for the chinese to dampot anyone they do not like and worse, the person can be taken to chinese garrison in west phil sea, to be interrogated there and then maybe tortured and killed, the body dumped at sea, unbeknownst to their families and friends back home in pinas.

          with huawei’s cctvs, methink, china mainland has the over riding power and can turn on and off the cctvs anytime. and we can be held hostage indefinitely at china’s pleasure.

          it’s no wonder po, other nations have security concerns and are ditching huawei’s cctvs.

      • poor bello, is he the one at naia airport handling out freebies to ofws returning home for christmas? I’m guessing that was supposed to shut up ofws, keep them from complaining about the high cost of living ngayon, so ever thankful sila for the freebies (limos) given, so glowingly praising of the govt tuloy . and have forgotten mayhap why they went overseas to work.

        anyhow, a lot of pinoys speak chinese and they should be the ones holding gaming jobs, not the overseas chinese. there are pinoys of chinese decent who are fluent in both tagalog and chinese, born and breed in our country, have studied in local chinese run schools and doing chinese calculus, etc.

        all over our country, there are numerous chinese schools that teach reading and writing in chinese, their students and grads and the students and grads before them should be able to meet the demand of online gaming. maliban lang kung they are being discriminated against, online gaming chinese operators preferring to hire overseas chinese

        the local chinoys, may mga lolo’lola sila, aunts and uncles, sisters and brothers, mga relatives who are just as fluent in chinese, they can all be tapped to work on online gaming. give them 1st priority and the opportunity to hold down jobs.

        and why is bello presuming kaagad onlinge gamers are chinese? there are pinoys who are just as addicted to gambling as the chinese, as well as japanese, malaysians, singaporeans, americans, arabs, etc. they all gamble online, not just the chinese.

        give locals the jobs.

        • jobs the filipinos cannot perform is myth. filipinos can do all kinds of jobs.

          and I think, bello is the problem. he is not doing a good job of recruiting the right pinoys for the right job, he is not good in job matching. of course you dont hire a manicurist as head honcho of pagibig fund! or hire a tindera to perform brain surgery in st luke’s hospital.

          bello should level the playing field and advertise for chinese speaking pinoys, the respond might surprise him.

    • If China gets hold of the Hanjin Subic shipyard they will bring with them 4K+ Chinese labor easing out equal amount of Filipino labor.

  6. Merry Xmas and Happy New (PRESIDENT) Year to all in 2019

    I got links.

    First, for travelers, pahiya na naman ang NAIA PH. .. palitan na lang pangalan nyan into Macapagal airport. Apparently the US Homeland Security distributed leaflets and put up big signs in different American airports about the unsafe condition and security of travelers from the the NAIA PH.

    The advisory reads: “Passengers are advised that the Secretary of Homeland Security has determined that Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) in Manila, Republic of the Philippines, does not maintain and carry out effective aviation security measures.”
    According to Facebook users, this sign has been distributed to various airports all over the United States.
    https://www.wheninmanila.com/look-us-homeland-deems-ninoy-aquino-international-airport-unsafe-in-travel-advisory/?fbclid=IwAR2nyO4cRdT3MGpaO1OvpBTcaiYFUtzDP1RIubEQKfjtIa6tVx-4xeVWai0

    2.
    POTUS has passed some restrictions/curbing on allowing many Chinese students to study in the US. for some reasons of potential spying , stealing/passing of technical and sensitive information, and at the same time giving American students some relief in their own country for student training/ opportunities, and loans.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272324/trump-administration-restricts-chinese-students-michael-cutler

    3.
    Last, is the link naming the PH as one of the /makers of fake NATIVE AMERICAN jewelries being sold in the US and other markets as original native trinkets.
    Another feather in our cap? ( sarcasm on)

    https://relay-nationalgeographic-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/2018/03/native-american-indian-art-fake-forgery-hopi-zuni0?usqp=mq331AQECAFYAQ==&amp_js_v=0.1#referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%1$s

    I just realized that also War on Drugs is a twin of War on Terror (ist), never ending ,never resolved . no solution. No silver lining, pero sa Tondo meron daw, according to Ms. Universe.

    See you next time, chatmates ko, lol. That song is cute. TC.

    AkismeT , be nice. Thanks.

    • good read, netty, thanks for the links po. uhm, our australian born miss universe catriona gray maybe this time be kinder to fellow expat sister patricia fox, aussie missionary who got expelled from pinas. a word from miss u and sister fox could return to pinas, her home for many decades, back to helping farmers who were being shot and killed from harvesting crops. sr fox was deported and soon enough the killing of poor farmers escalated.

    • illegal, undocumented chinese workers in their thousands now millions coming into pinas are economic terrorists. while military and kapolisan are busy with local npa, the chinese are busy busy busy bleeding our nation, taking the money and running away with it all the way back to china. they come, they plunder, they pay no taxes and yet uses our infrastructures without contributing for their upkeep. and duterte is okay with that; methink, part yan of the hazy and stupid kamot ulo deal he signed with xi jinping in november 2018, further reinforcing chinese pollution in our country.

      and for their pamasko, the davawenyos are happy to pila ng pila outside digong’s home in dabaw, waiting for handouts and short reliefs worth a measly meal instead of jobs that could sustain them a lifetime, jobs that that illegal chinese workers have taken away.

      kilometers ang haba ng pila of those seeking handouts, waiting for freebies and limos form digong, pila sila sa init ng araw. beggars in their own country. thanks to digong’s indifference to the plight of his own people, the dabawenyos themselves. the chinese get richer, the locals get poorer and digong is happy as a pig in the mud. hala praises pa rin ang dabawenyos, so good they received handouts from digong, one day one eat, okay lang. basta may libreng handout.

      dabaw aside, illegal chinese workers have infiltrated our country na, economic terrorists galore.

    • tnt, tago ng tago, many undocumented pinoys working overseas, when caught they’re deported back to pinas. the same should be applied to undocumented chinese working in pinas; when caught, they should be deported back to china.

      those caught not obeying immigration laws are punished and deported. to be on the safe side, people should have the correct visa with them when traveling overseas: tourist visa for tourists and workers visa for those working overseas.

      and if tourists decide to stay and work, they should update their visa from tourist to worker, pay the difference, observe the labor laws of our country and not engage in criminal activities.

  9. happy christmas to one and all, lalo na to raissa and family, at happy new year po sa atong tanan! ania kami ning gabii sa among panaygon! I went caroling while passenger sa bus and in broad daylight! ania kami is supposed to be sung at night. who cares? it’s the silly season, and the bus driver joined in the singing, few passengers as well. and no one told me to shut up. hugs all around, some people are smelly, phew! well, I may have gotten few head lice from all that hugging, but head lice are easy to get rid of. but the goodwill sticks.

    have a bull of a christmas! and bullish new year! no paputok from me, just loud music enough to wake up the dead! ahhhhh!

    uhm, to the school bully that got dismissed from ateneo, you have been dealt with by a bigger bully, the righteous one, the whole sambayanan combined. product of your family? maybe your dad bullied your mam, bullied the kasambahay too, his co-workers as well, etc. not good example yan to follow. at your age, maybe it’s hard for you to predict the consequences of your action. how could an action that made you feel good and on top of the world one moment could possibly bring you a nasty aftershock the next?

    and you’ve been indeed given a nasty aster shock, but nothing you cannot handle, e? tae kwon do has prepared you well. so bow now to sensie and accept your loss, the getting of wisdom.

    yah, you’ve been told that if you and your family signed an undertaking that you wont pull off the same trick of harming anyone again, not cross the line ever again, another school may accept you, on condition, right?

    ah, the silly season got me, made me say the most inappropriate things at times.

  10. For December 25 Year 2018 – Merry Christmas To Raissa & Alan and Everyone Here.
    Enjoy the Holidays and Be Safe.
    Thanks to all your sharing too.

    leona

  12. Raissa, congratulations on the Forbes magazine coverage of your “Chinese Invasion” article in the SCMP.
    A very happy Christmas to yourself and Alan

  13. Just to believe when I see it, imagine there is: A monument of Limahong can be seen at the wharf in Barangay Lucap in Alaminos, Pangasinan. He was not a Chinese worker but a wanted criminal Chinese PIRATE who fled China and entered Luzon province. He became a menace here during the early Spanish Regime.

    Maybe Limahong was the first 海盜船黑珍珠的傑克船長
    Hǎidàochuán hēi zhēnzhū de jiékè chuánzhǎng [Captain
    Jack of the Black ship Pearl ].

    Now, we might be back into a flood of Chinese workers here who might be or might not be pirates, seeking work, working and earning from work here. With this Administration so close to CHINA today, we are into an unannounced ‘Border influx’ of NEW CHINESE blood in our midst. This piece of our Host discovers a problem – Chinese Workers in the Philippines.

    BI a gov’t agency not reliable. Dept of Labor DOLE is a source of data on Chinese workers. Senate body investigating this problem.

    How will gov’t track Chinese workers here, legit or illegit? One maybe will be identification system: SS membership; GSIS membership; Residence Certificate; Driver’s License; Senior Card membership; Passport; BIR Tax I.D.s; Alien Certificate at Bureau of Immig with entry/exit documents, etc. Philippines may not be thinking of building and building a SEA WALL on this as what US is trying to do – a border wall.

    Are these Chinese just ‘workers’ or ‘spy-workers’ here? No idea. Is our gov’t sleeping on this potential problem that they are pirates or spies? No idea. Will this problem affect our peace and order here? No idea. Are our businesses like private companies EMPLOYING them without valid working permits? No idea. Should they be employed at all to work here? No idea.

    Remember, they are coming in hundred and into thousands. And will be into millions soon if we do not deal with this with an IDEA. Will this country really be a province of China soon? No idea.

    In the meantime, Ma’m Raissa Robles is trying to alert us all and specially the gov’t on this issue. If still we are lukewarm to deal with it, we really will have lost any IDEA how to find a solution.

    Find an idea soon. We will have piracy of Chinese workers in great numbers beyond our control.

    Remember LIMAHONG. The Spanish Gov’t here long time ago had an idea.

    One historical idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limahong

    • I cannot help it but this is OOT

      – Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe, police escort killed in Albay

      This is not a merry Christmas. Politicians and other innocents are now targets for killings. We condemn all this. Hired killers on this are on the loose. Improve our peace and order.

      There will be more of this killing messages: No one can campaign safely ’til May 2019. Candidates Be Ware.

      Diyos ko! What’s happening?

      https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1065487/break-ako-bicol-rep-rodel-batocabe-shot-to-death

      • illegal chinese workers coming to work in to pinas, not all are workers po. some are fugitives from china, killers and criminals who would not normally pass immigration, they would not have clearance to travel po lalo na those that committed crime the past 3yrs. one would need clearance to travel, making sure they’re not carrying things like bazookas and weapons of mass destruction including gas like sarin, or carrying huge amount of money proceeds of crime and whatnots.

        also, those with dangerous diseases like drug resistance TB, those who are HIV positive, etc, are not permitted to our shores unless they’ve been treated, free of diseases, or being treated still with view to regular review and surveillance by our own doctors. once they’re deemed cured and free from diseases would then be allowed to mix freely with locals.

        our embassies in china would have done preliminary health checks and x-rays, recommending clearances and surveillance where appropriate.

        but let us not forget there are illegal routes to our country and that is to come by speedboat from west phil sea in the middle of the night. still, they can be picked up by our coast guards if they’re not busy texting, checking instagrams, doing selfies, playing games and being glued to their smartphones 24/7, he, he, he.

        • immigration have intel and once they know where illegal chinese workers are, they’ll mount a raid, capture and deport them illegals. pero, silly and stupid gabinete ni digong said, we have to be careful dahil baka mapag-initan kuno ang mga ofws natin in china, bullied at makulong.

          duh, all nations deport illegals, happens all the time. and if we go softly softly for fear of reprisals, that’s not being best and brightest.

        • reminder lang po ito, those celebrating christmas and have booked restaurants and venues, be aware that you could well be served by illegal wait staff, maybe even by those that have diseases like TB and hep b, etc. highly contagious ang mga ito. if in doubt, ask to see health certificates or work clearance etc. be careful though dahil masyadong tricky ang mga illegals. they could well drop on the floor and say tinulak mo raw sila, kahit hindi, at kakasuhan ka ng assault! pay up or else.

          businesses should ensure their patrons health and welfare are not put at risk. and hire only staff that have valid documents and papers.

  14. @ARC,when I said that citizens must unite to fight this govt, I mean like minded people who are sick and tired of the hullabaloo of this admin and its representatives.The good ones we know already for they are the few fighters that need the peoples support. Never mind the 16 million idiots who are still blindfolded.

    I know its hard and people are tired, hungry and angry, that alone can’t topple a govt with likewise abusive military and police.

    Since Immigration can’t build a wall ala Trump it is also impossible to ask them for the list nor block the influx of the illegal migrants.
    It is also true that they are draining the resources of the country which should be enjoyed first by the citizens. With good integration among the populace they become potential voters of the undesirables, this govt. What with the threat of expulsion, manufactured crime cases and monies they could do anything influencing their actions and decisions.

    I don’t know what to say anymore but revolt, fight like the yellow vest wearing protesters in France , in Canada, in Hungary . It is time.

    ed

  15. This is a national disgrace. So many Filipinos need a good job, yet thousands or Chinese “tourists” are allowed in that are nothing but illegal workers. They pay no tax, yet run businesses, which employ mostly only other Chinese, so little or no benefit to the local community.
    How will the Philippines even ensure they all go home? An impossible task as they will just disappear into the localities to carry on illegal doings.
    Everyone knows the Philippines has a drug problem and it has been shown the majority of drugs are coming from China. It seems illogical at best, stupid at most, to continue to turn a blind eye to so many who are sabotaging the country’s economy in one way or another.

    • How will the Philippines even ensure they all go home? john asked. easy peasy. bureau of immig should raid suspected establishments. and those caught working illegally are detained in detention facilities like the barely used rehab centers, barely used dahil apparently, there is not enough adiks as most are killed. might as well use rehab centers as a detention centers.

      once deported, detainees are not allowed to return to pinas within 3yrs as stipulated by IOM, international office of migration.

      hard for illegals to just disappear kung nasa detention center sila, highly guarded yang detention center.