Ex-Immigration chief: ASEAN unified visa may let in spies

Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez on Wednesday opposed the proposed ASEAN unified visa system, saying this could lead to unabated entry of Chinese spies into the country.

The proposed visa system would be similar to the Schengen visa that allows the person to entry in all European Union member countries.

“This will allow Chinese tourists, who are actually spies, to get ASEAN visas in Chinese client states like Cambodia and Laos. Even the liberal visa granted by Thailand to Chinese citizens...[can be used] to come to the Philippines and they will automatically be admitted under the ASEAN visa scheme,” said Rodriguez, who served as Immigration chief during the presidency of Joseph Estrada from 1998 to 2001.

Tourism chief Christina Frasco said that the proposed visa would “be able to unify the ASEAN as a destination in terms of the strength of its natural assets, its unparalleled warmth and hospitality as a people, and as a culture, and in terms of the quality of experiences that we are able to offer.”

“This will be more dangerous to our national security than our present visa issuance process,” Rodriguez added.

ASEAN groups the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Brunei, while there has been an agreement "in principle" to accept Timor-Leste since 2022.

As it is, Rodriguez said, Chinese spies are able to enter the country as tourists, students and businessmen.

“Many of them are actually spies of Beijing, several of whom have been caught red-handed by the authorities near military installations and sensitive government offices, including the Commission on Elections,” he said.

Rodriguez was referring to the Chinese citizen with supposed "spying" equipment who was nabbed by authorities near the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila before the elections.

During the same sting operation, authorities also found an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catcher that can gather sensitive data and information like text messages, mobile numbers, and calls from mobile phones near it.

“Others are scammers, illegal gambling operators, illegal POGO [Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators], human traffickers, drug smugglers, and criminally-minded nationals of China. They are a plague in our society. We cannot have more of them here through a system that facilitates their easy entry in our country,” Rodriguez added.

Rodriguez then urged Frasco and other tourism stakeholders to find ways in boosting the tourism sector without compromising national security.

GMA News Online has reached out to the Chinese Embassy for comment. — BM, GMA Integrated News