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Senate panel to recommend scrapping of Visa-Upon-Arrival for Chinese nationals
Senate panel to recommend scrapping of Visa-Upon-Arrival for Chinese nationals
The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality will recommend the scrapping of the Visa-Upon-Arrival (VUA) scheme in its committee report, in order to stop the special treatment of Chinese nationals who engage in various crimes from entering the Philippines.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, who led the Senate panel’s investigation into the so-called “pastillas scam” or bribery scheme at the Bureau of Immigration (BI), made the assurance after the Senate Foreign Relations panel was told that the VUA for Chinese nationals was merely suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hontiveros said scrapping the VUA scheme altogether would not only help the government strengthen its COVID-19 protocols, but also prevent the entry of foreign criminals into the country, most of whom are said to be engaged in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO)-linked prostitution and other crimes.
“It is true that VUA is currently suspended. In our previous hearings, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said that when we will write our committee report, we will recommend to scrap the VUA in order to stop the special treatment of Chinese nationals and to prevent undesirable aliens, who engage in various crimes, from entering the country,” Hontiveros said.
Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III agreed to the proposition, noting that since it is merely suspended, the VUA program “can be revived at any time.
Pimentel also said that while the scheme was originally helpful in promoting the country’s tourism, China did not reciprocate with the same visa scheme for Filipinos.
“If there was no reciprocity of the program then this means this was not requested of us,” Pimentel said.
However, Pimentel noted that only the Department of Justice (DOJ) has the power to cancel the VUA policy since it was enforced as a department order by the agency.
Hontiveros said this is why the Senate women’s panel will recommend the termination of the VUA policy in its committee report on the investigation into the prostitution, kidnappings and other crimes tied to the POGO industry.