Zubiri: Wrong for Chinese Embassy to tag tourist blacklisting statement 'misinformation'

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday said he was surprised by the Chinese Embassy's statement calling the report on tourism blacklisting as "misinformation."

Zubiri stood by his statement that Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian mentioned the word "blacklisting" during their meeting last Monday but he reiterated that they might be "lost in translation."

"I was shocked by the turnaround. I was shocked by the statement of the Embassy and it’s regrettable because we had several witnesses," Zubiri said in a virtual interview with reporters.

"Maybe mali po sa pagsabi na misinformation. I think it should’ve just been a clarification... 'Misinformation' lumalabas na para akong Marites na nagbibigay ng maling information or fake news. 'Di naman fake news 'yon, daming nakinig sa kanya buti sana kung kaming dalawa lang," he added.

(Maybe it's wrong to call it misinformation. I think it should've just been a clarification...'Misinformation' seems like I am giving wrong information or fake news. That is not fake news because there are other people who heard him, it's not just the two of us.)

Zubiri said Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Robin Padilla, as well as the other Senate staff present during the meeting can testify that the word "blacklisting" was used several times by the Chinese envoy.

"The fault lies with the ambassador. He mentioned blacklisting. Siguro nagkamali ang ambassador. Pero we stand by our statement na binanggit ng ambassador ang word na blacklisting several times (Maybe the ambassador made a mistake. But we stand by our statement that the ambassador mentioned the word blacklisting several times),"  he said.

"Maybe... we were misinformed by the ambassador possibly. Kaya may witnesses eh. Tatatlo kaming senador nandun di naman siguro ako gagawa ng kwento (There were witnesses. I won't be making up stories, there were three of us senators there)," he added.

Further, the Senate chief said he even asked Huang if he can share the information at the Senate hearing on POGO's costs and benefits on Tuesday.

Although he was surprised by the Chinese Embassy's statement, Zubiri said he will not be seeking an apology but he asked the Chinese envoy to issue a categorical statement on the blacklisting of countries that continue to host offshore gaming operations.

At a Senate hearing, Zubiri quoted Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian as saying that the country was now on a blacklist because of Philippine offshore gaming operations.

“Ambassador Huang said that the Philippines now is part of a blacklist of tourist sites because they do not know if a tourist will be joining POGO operations and they don't know if their nationals who go to the Philippines will be safe from illegal activities being done by the triad, by the syndicates operating POGOs,” Zubiri said during the Senate ways and means committee hearing on POGOs.

“They may be kidnapped, mistaken for POGO operators. That’s the reason why there’s been a significant drop in Chinese tourists. By the way, they are the largest number of tourists pre-pandemic,” he added.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who was also present in the meeting on Monday, said that he had a "different appreciation" of Huang's statement on POGO.

"Baka ang appreciation namin iba, pero definitely, ang aming pagkakaintindi ang POGO makaaapekto sa turismo natin na manggaling sa China. That's for sure," Gatchalian said in an interview with reporters.

"Whether it's a restriction, a total blacklist, doon kami [magkaiba] ng appreciation pero pareho kami na itong POGO makakaapekto yan sa dami ng turista na manggagaling sa China," he added.

In a Viber message to reporters, the Chinese Embassy has  denied placing the Philippines on a blacklist for tourist destinations, calling the report a “misinformation.”

“The report of ‘tourist blacklist’ is misinformation. China has not placed the Philippines on its blacklist for tourism,” the Chinese embassy said.

Huang paid a courtesy call to Zubiri at the Senate on Monday where both officials discussed further strengthening of the relationship between China and the Philippines, practical cooperation on renewable energy, electrical cars, E-commerce, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, as well as cracking down on POGO-related crimes, among others.—AOL, GMA News