Manila: The Philippines will review its visa policy on Chinese nationals visiting the country amid an influx of visitors from that country.
“We surely welcome them as tourists. But if they wish to work here, they should comply with all legal requirements such as securing alien employment certificate or AEC and work visas, and they should pay income taxes,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.
Chinese comprise the biggest number of foreigners holding Alien Employment Permits (AEP) in the Philippines.
Official records of the Department of Labour place the number of Chinese employed in the Philippines as of September 2018, at 115,000 although Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon disputes this figure saying that in Metro Manila alone, there are an estimated 400,000 Chinese workers.
A great number of these are employed in the booming Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (which conduct their business without official documents.
Most of these Chinese workers had taken advantage of the country’s Visa Upon Arrival Programme (VUA) for Chinese nationals.
Guevarra said due to the possible abuses, the government would be reviewing its policy on granting VUA to Chinese nationals.
Last July 31, Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr pointed to the necessity of ending the VUA policy.
“We need to put an end to visas upon arrival; all visas should be issued by consular offices after vetting. We must take extra care in outsourcing any part of the visa application process, picking only the most reputable worldwide,” Locsin said in a Tweet.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon for his part, said the unregulated influx of Chinese to the Philippines is already a national security concern.
“The is also a concern that Chinese nationals who are coming over, could be something else, other than what their visa limits them to do, so that is something we should also take into account,” Esperon said.
Esperon also made the remark following reports that Chinese tourists who visited a military base were caught taking pictures of a restricted area.
The Palawan News reported that two groups of Chinese nationals were seen taking pictures of the military’s Tide Pole naval facility in Puerto Princesa City.
Immigrations Commissioner Jaime Morente said that of the 2,351 aliens of various nationalities were denied entry in the different ports of the country, Chinese nationals topped the list with 1,129, followed by 106 Indians, 87 Americans, 52 Taiwanese, and 67 Koreans.
