Senators grilled on Monday the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) for accepting Chinese and other foreign retirees as young as 35 years old.
PRA General Manager Bienvenido Chy said foreign retirees currently in the country are aged 35 and above.
"We start from 35 and up," Chy said when asked during the Senate committee hearing of the Department of Tourism's (DOT) proposed 2021 budget.
Senator Richard Gordon was alarmed with the revelation of the PRA official, even as he once served as DOT chief. The PRA is a DOT-attached agency.
"What answer is that? Can you be clear? You mean to tell me if any body comes in at 30 years old, hindi pwede, kailangan 35 years old, is that correct?" he asked.
"Yes, sir, actually our retirees start at 35 years old," Chy repeated.
"The reason for 35 years of age is that, in Korea, the retiree will retire in the age of 35. And these are retirees who would come for, who would avail of this program," he explained to senators.
Based on the PRA's presentation, nationals from mainland China comprise most of the foreign retirees at 27,678 of the total 70,020, while Korean nationals came second at 14,144. Other nationalities that followed were Indians (6,120), Taiwanese (4,851), Japanese (4,016), and Americans (3,704), among others.
"This has been the practice, this has been passed upon by the Board of Trustees and we are just continuing the program," Chy said.
But Senator Nancy Binay raised concern that Chinese nationals comprise most of the foreign retirees, saying they could still be working in Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs).
"Kasi kung ang mga demographics nila 35 years old, eh the probablity of them working eh napakataas (Because if their demographics is 35 years old and above, then the probability of them working is very high). I don't know kung nomo-monitor niyo, talaga bang hindi nage-engage ito at nagtatrabaho sa Pilipinas at talagang retired na sila (if you can actually monitor that they are really not engaged in POGOs and are no longer working and are all retired)," she pointed out.
Senator Joel Villanueva also shared Binay's concern, recalling that the government already found thousands of Chinese nationals illegally working in the country using tourist visas.
Gordon also floated the possibility that the Chinese retirees could have been taking advantage of their retirement visa to "go back and forth". He said this should also be a national security concern.
"That, to me, is dangerous. I'm disturbed by it," he said.
"We won't just monitor it. We're gonna correct it. Because 35 is just too young. Not to cast aspersions upon our neighbor, but would they allow us to retire at 35 there? I don't think they would even allow us to retire in China," he continued later.
Gordon also questioned Chy's competence to lead the PRA, advising DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat to consider his background in the Bureau of Immigration (BI). Chy was a former chief of the BI's legal division.
"You don't put anybody there just because he came from immigration. He knows all the laws, he knows all the ins and outs, kung paano malulusutan ang immigration (how to breeze through immigration)," the senator told Puyat, recalling the "pastillas scheme" at the BI.
"That you have somebody in a very strategic position that doesn't know how to answer questions and is already doing, I think, damage to our country."
He said Chy, despite just inheriting the policy, should have been "savvy enough to know and check kung anong ginagawa ng mga 35-year-old na ito (what these 35-year-old are doing here)."
Chy assured the senators that the PRA will act on the their concern and immediately take it up in their meetings. He also committed to the Senate finance subcommittee to submit the profile of the foreign retirees.