Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Thursday, April 25 urged the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to provide evidence amid allegations that some of the Chinese students in the Cagayan Region are acting as spies.
Escudero said it would be unfair if the accusations against these Chinese nationals remain baseless, unless proven otherwise.
“Sa ngayon ay wala pa tayong dapat ipangamba maliban na lamang kung may sapat na katibayan o ebidensya (For now, we have nothing to be concerned about unless there is sufficient proof that they are spies),” the senator said in a media interview.
Until proven otherwise, Escudero said the accusations against these Chinese nationals remain baseless, unfair and should not cause undue alarm, even in the light of the ongoing territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea.
“Pero kung ang mga basehan lamang ay dahil may base ang Tsina sa West Philippine Sea (WPS), na may isyu tayo ngayon sa kanila kaya malamang espiya ang mga estudyanteng Chinese nationals sa Cagayan kaya dapat ipagbawalang ang mga iyan, hindi naman siguro dapat ganun (But if the basis is due to the fact China has bases in the WPS, and we have issues against them that’s why they might be spies and should therefore be banned, I don’t think that should be the case),” he said.
In the event the Senate investigates this controversy, BI officials should be the first agency summoned as their role is to shed light on the matter and check whether any lapses occurred.
“Ang uunahin dapat nating ipatatawag ay ang Immigration. Bakit nila pinapasok kung talagang walang patunay na ang mga Chinese na iyan ay mag aaaral dito at nag-apply na lamang (ng student visa) nang dumating na sa bansa (We need to first ask the Immigration. Why did they allow the entry of these Chinese nationals if they have nothing to show they intend to study here and are just applying for a student visa when they arrived in the country)?” Escudero asked.
“Kung talagang may duda na mga espiya ang mga iyan ay bakit hindi ginawa ng Bureau of Immigration ang kanilang trabaho? Katulad lamang iyan ng naging problema sa POGO (If they have doubts that they are spies, then why didn’t the BI do their job right? It’s the same problem that we had about the presence of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators),” he pointed out.
“Reklamo sila ng reklamo dahil ang dami raw Chinese sa POGO. Ang tanong ko, paano ba iyan nakapasok dito? Bakit pinayagan ng BI at sino ba ang kumita d’yan kung saka-sakali (They keep on complaining why there are so many Chinese nationals in POGO. My question is, how did they enter here? Why did the BI allowed it and who earned from that)?” he asked.