Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Why is there a surge in the presence of Chinese nationals in areas near all the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites and other major seaports and airports in the Philippines? 

Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, wants this question answered by local authorities. 

Barbers says the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Bureau of Immigration (BI) are the are the lead agencies that should be held responsible and accountable for the continuing and suspicious arrival and presence of Chinese nationals.  

“Dapat lang siguro na alamin natin at imbestigahan ang BI kung ilang Chinese nationals na ba talaga ang nasa loob ng ating bansa, ano ang nature ng hawak nilang mga travel documents, at kung saan saang parte ng ating bansa sila naka-deploy,” he said. 

(I think the BI must study and investigate how many Chinese nationals are really in the country, the nature of their travel documents, and which areas of the country they've been deployed to.) 

“At itong mga DFA officials natin sa China, nagsasagawa ba sila ng due diligence sa pag-apruba ng visa ng mga Chinese nationals na pumupunta sa ating bansa? Dapat din siguro alamin natin sa kanila kung an status ng mga Chinese nationals na binigyan nila ng visa, ang bilang ng mga pumunta dito at bumalik sa China, at ilan pa ang numero ng mga naiwan pa dito,” he added. 

(And as for our DFA officials in China, do they carry out due diligence in approving visas to Chinese nationals who come here to our country? I think they we should find out from the status of Chinese nationals that they gave visas to, the number of those who returned to China, and the number of those who stayed behind here.) 

Barbers said goverrnment agencies are aware that there exists a “Chinese mafia” engaged in the procurement and processing of fake documents. These include fake birth certificates coming from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), fake passports emanating from the DFA, drivers license issued by the Land Transportation Authority, fake gun license coming from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Firearms and Explosives Office, among others. 

As per information reaching Barbers' office, the "fake Filipino nationals" who can’t even utter a single Filipino word use their local enablers in a buying huge tracts of lands near EDCA sites, and major air and sea ports. They then put up a large number of warehouses and other business establishments. 

“One can see those warehouses sprouting like mushrooms in Central Luzon, particularly in Pampanga and Bulacan, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and nearby towns in the region. Now they are slowly but surely creeping in Cagayan near where the two EDCA sites are located,” he said.    

Five Philippine military installations were designated in 2016 as EDCA sites by Philippines and United States (US). These are Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu, and Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro. 

The four latest additional EDCA sites, as announced by the US Defense Department, are the following: Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta. Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Aquino in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Islands in Palawan; and Lal-Lo Airport in Cagayan.