Philippines to expel thousands of Chinese nationals amid immigration scandal
- Under fire immigration chief says almost 2,800 Chinese have overstayed visas – some due to the coronavirus – and are now being ordered to leave
- News follows scandal in which corrupt immigration officials accepted bribes worth an estimated US$826 million from Chinese to enter the Philippines
Immigration commissioner Jaime Morente on Tuesday said that since the beginning of the year, 2,736 Chinese nationals who had been granted visas upon arrival failed to leave on time, and he was now ordering them to go. The visa-upon-arrival programme – launched three years ago to lure Chinese tourists and accounts for five per cent of arrivals from China – remains suspended due to the pandemic, he said.
However, Morente did not set a deadline for their departure; nor did he explain how his understaffed bureau would implement the order.
The news comes just a day after the Ombudsman suspended 44 immigration officials accused of taking bribes in return for helping Chinese enter the country, and follows a recent admission by the bureau that relaxed procedures have let in four million Chinese since 2017.
Also on Tuesday, opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan filed a resolution to investigate the national security implications of the influx of Chinese nationals, which he said included the entry of 28,000 people, some as young as 35, on questionable “retirement visas”.
Duterte backs immigration chief amid probe on illegal workers
03:13
Hundreds stranded at Manila airport as Philippines returns to Covid-19 lockdown
A senate investigation conducted by opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros last week revealed the scam could have been worth up to 40 billion pesos (US$826 million), with Chinese paying from 10,000 pesos (US$206) to 12,000 pesos as a “service fee”, prompting the senator to call the bureau “a one-stop shop of corruption”.
Hontiveros said she was staggered by the bureau’s revelation that around four million Chinese nationals had entered the country since 2017. That, she said, was “comparable to more than the entire population of Quezon City”, Metro Manila’s biggest city of 2.9 million people.
Philippine immigration scam for Chinese travellers ‘involved 9 in 10 staff’
However, the bureau has not said whether that figure includes tourists. Immigration and labour officials claim that Chinese nationals on the visa on arrival scheme have ended up staying on to work.
Duterte supporters have previously criticised Hontiveros’ investigations, claiming they are an attempt to smear the president. However, on Monday Ombudsman Samuel Martires – a Duterte appointee – appeared to acknowledge the scale of the problem when he ordered 44 immigration officials linked to the pastillas scam to be suspended without pay for six months.
Last month, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed a criminal complaint with the Ombudsman against 19 immigration officials and staff who had “conspired, confederated, mutually helped and aided one another in directly and indirectly requesting and receiving money, gifts, and other benefits, including sexual favours from trafficked foreign women”.
The NBI said at the time: “These [staff] allow foreign nationals to enter the country despite the absence of the necessary documents as required by prevailing immigration rules and regulations in exchange for so-called pastillas money.”
Chinese workers in Philippines deported as Beijing cracks down on online crimes
Senator Pangilinan said “by itself, the presence of foreigners is not cause for worry”, but there was a concern that so many Chinese in the country could represent an “orchestrated soft invasion”.
Pangilinan asked the Senate defence committee to investigate the national security implications of the influx.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
