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Security adviser Esperon concerned over number of Chinese in PHL


National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon has expressed concern over the increasing number of Chinese citizens in the country.

According to Joseph Morong's report on "24 Oras", Esperon said there could now be hundreds of thousands of Chinese in the Philippines.

"I'd especially be concerned about that. But because they're coming in, some of them are undocumented, not registered as workers," Esperon said.

"Have they contributed to the economy, have they become threats?" he added.

Not paying taxes

A task force of the Department of Finance found that more than 100,000 foreigners are in the country working for the Philippine offshore gaming operators.

Most of the POGO workers are Chinese and supposedly don't pay income tax which amounts to P2 billion a month.

"It was an initial master list but there are also double entries there. They've been cleaning that list," Finance Assistant Secretary Tony Lambino said.

"It's also difficult because the names are sometimes very similar. That's why Usec. Tiongko of the revenue operations group instructed also that birthdates be included," he added.

The findings of the joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Labor and the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights in February showed that 50 percent of the alien employment permits were given to the Chinese.

The number of Chinese workers and business establishments seemed to have increased drastically over the past months amid reports of Chinese activity in the West Philippine Sea, including harassment of Filipino fishers.

‘Just workers’

Malacañang found no reason to be concerned with the influx of Chinese in the country.

"Puro trabahador lang naman nakikita nila eh. But we cannot allow workers prolonging their story and working here without proper documentation," presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

Asked if there was any security concern, Panelo said, "I don't think so."

President Rodrigo Duterte in February said he cannot simply deport Chinese workers in the Philippines as he was looking out for some 300,000 Filipinos in China.

"'Yung mga Chinese dito, hayaan mo 'yan na dito magtrabaho, hayaan mo. Bakit? We have 300,000 Filipinos in China," the president said in a speech during a campaign rally of his political party PDP-Laban in Biñan City, Laguna.

"Kaya hindi ako maka-sabing, 'o umalis kayo dito, i-deport ka doon.' Eh kung biglang paalisin yon doon 300 [thousand] of them, just like in the Middle East?" he added. —NB, GMA News

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