PH urges China to safeguard the welfare of arrested Filipinos 

The Philippine government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), on Thursday urged Chinese authorities to protect the welfare of the 100 Filipinos who were arrested for allegedly working or living illegally in China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun earlier stated that they had taken action against more than 100 Filipinos suspected of working in the country illegally. The DFA confirmed the mass arrest.

“The Philippines respects China's sovereign right to enforce its immigration laws, as it does the right of every state to enforce its own laws on foreign nationals within its jurisdiction, in accordance with due process and established legal procedure,” the DFA said in a statement.

“At the same time, we call on Chinese authorities to safeguard the welfare of the arrested Filipinos and to promptly notify our Foreign Service Posts of their arrest and detention, consistent with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the 2013 Philippines-China Consular Agreement,” the agency added.

The DFA is currently coordinating with the Philippine Embassy in Beijing and the Consulates-General to get more details, including the circumstances of the arrest and the exact number of Filipino detainees.

The agency is also verifying if due process was observed.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro earlier slammed China’s arrest of Filipinos, calling it extortion.

“We strongly condemn both the attempt by China to interfere in our law enforcement processes and the blatant blackmail against Filipinos,” Teodoro said. —LDF, GMA News