"I'm concerned. Aren't you?"
"I'm concerned. Aren't you?"
Santa Banana, if you are not alarmed with what thousands of mainland Chinese are doing to our country, either in the guise of being workers of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, committing crimes like kidnapping, torture and extortion against their fellow Chinese, I am!
In a recent killing incident at a hotpot restaurant, the police found a People’s Liberation Army ID in the possession of the suspects. That only shows that many of the Chinese who come to the Philippines as tourists also belong to the PLA. In fact, many POGO workers are noted to be of the same age of PLA recruits, between the ages of 20 and 30.
My gulay, coupled with this alarming development are reports of the entry to the Philippines of criminals whose passports have been canceled by the Chinese government together with criminal syndicates said to be behind all crimes committed by the Chinese on their fellow nationals.
There are also reports of millions of dollars entering the country by the Chinese for laundering purposes. This means that the Chinese who have been allowed by the Bureau of Immigration to enter the country are engaged in international crimes.
I am alarmed with what Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that he found it difficult to know who are behind it all because Chinese crime syndicates are involved.
The questions to ask are many. Will the Duterte government still continue with its policy in attracting Chinese tourists to come in through the visa upon arrival scheme? Will President Duterte continue to allow the POGOs in the wake of all the crimes being committed? And first and foremost, what’s Duterte doing to stop Chinese criminals and syndicates from making the Philippines their playground?
In connection with the discovery of PLA IDs in the possession of the Chinese suspects, I am reminded of the many Japanese halo-halo vendors who came to the Philippines before the invasion of Japan. In fact, they were actually intelligence officers. My gulay, is this what the PLA members are doing here?
Some senators want to assess the impact of the POGOs, legal and illegal, on our country. What should be done with them in the wake of all that is happening?
They may be contributing billions of pesos to the economy, but is it worth it?
It’s even worse when we consider reports that criminal syndicates and cartels from China are now behind the entry of illegal drugs—and the corruption of Customs officials.
Lest I am misunderstood, I am not promoting Sinophobia. But as a Filipino who loves his country, I am concerned about what the Chinese are doing here.
* * *
Can President Duterte abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement on his own?
This question should be answered by the resolution filed by both Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.
I am not a foreign affairs expert, but logic dictates that if the VFA was ratified by the Senate, the Senate should also have a say on its abrogation. It takes effect 180 days from the day the Department of Foreign Affairs sent the letter to Washington.
The problem with Duterte’s abrogation of the VFA is that if he can do it alone, what is stopping him from also abrogating the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the US?
I have written much about what can happen to the Philippines in the wake of the abrogation of the VFA. Duterte may claim that we should not depend on the US in the event of invasion or disasters, but the fact is that we cannot do it alone!
The biggest beneficiary of all this is China.
* * *
In connection with the COVID-19 scare, the President should take a lesson from China itself. China ordered the lockdown of some 60 million in the hardest-hit provinces.
The lockdown meant that the shutdown of public transport, closing of entertainment places. The streets became empty.
We have not yet reached that stage, but we must be prepared to act drastically.
This is why I have been calling for a massive information campaign.
* * *
The views expressed by former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban in the case of the quo warranto petition of Solicitor-General Jose Calida insofar as ABS-CBN is concerned is interesting.
According to Panganiban, quo warranto can only be effective if the violation attributed to the Lopez-owned network were committed prior to the grant of the franchise. He cites the Sereno case, where former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno failed to submit her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth before her appointment as Chief Justice.
In ABS-CBN’s case the alleged violations were committed after the grant of its franchise.
What happens now, I wonder.
The first president and CEO, Gabby Lopez, was an American citizen and then became a dual citizen afterward. That’s a violation of the Constitution, which states clearly that television networks must be 100-percent owned and managed by Filipinos.
