Caution needed on eVisa program

Have we not learned anything from the Alice Guo caper?

The former Bamban, Tarlac mayor and probable Chinese spy was found to have faked Filipino citizenship to be able to run for office, and ended up building a Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) empire that was later found to be behind a host of criminal activities.

Guo’s case opened a can of worms in the Pogo industry, with civil registrars found to be selling Philippine documents to illegal Chinese workers and nationals so they could avail themselves of the rights and privileges reserved for Filipino citizens. The Bureau of Immigration (BI) was also found to have facilitated the entry of illegal aliens who wound up working or running Pogo hubs where, labor statistics showed, 82.3 percent of 118,239 workers in 2024 were Chinese nationals.

After several raids indicated that most Pogo hubs were engaged in trafficking, kidnapping, unlawful detention, and the torture of workers forced to perform scam operations, President Marcos last year issued a blanket ban on the industry followed by the mass deportation of its workers. But barely has this ban been fully implemented—with illegal Chinese nationals arrested recently—when the government all but preempted it with an electronic visa (eVisa) program for Chinese nationals.

Upcoming chairmanship

The Philippine embassy in Beijing this week said that the eVisa policy for Chinese nationals will be rolled out in November in an effort to lure more tourists and traders into the country. The resumption of the program comes almost two years after the Department of Foreign Affairs temporarily suspended applications in China in November 2023 after the Justice Department called for stricter visa regulations to curb the influx of illegal online gaming workers to the country.

An eVisa will allow “more convenient” online applications for Chinese applicants who intend to visit the Philippines for only 14 days for tourism or business purposes.

The move, seen as part of the country’s efforts to improve bilateral ties with China because of Manila’s upcoming chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, should also entice more tourists from China, Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said. DOT data showed that China has consistently ranked among the Philippines’ top five sources of foreign visitors, with 675,663 arrivals in 2016 peaking at 1.7 million in 2019.

But the DOT has noted a 22.06 percent decline in arrivals from China: only 300,000 Chinese tourists in 2024, and 203,923 as of September this year.

Record of bad faith

For sure, the expected boost in tourism revenue because of the eVisa is welcome, but caution should be the operative word, given the record of bad faith among our visitors from China who have conveniently flouted immigration and labor laws, no thanks to complicit Philippine government personnel. Recall the pastillas scam—with grease money rolled like milk candy—and how Chinese tourists seamlessly morphed into illegal workers, most of whom were absorbed into scam operations in Pogo hubs.

Obtaining fake Filipino citizenship comes next, with the latest case involving mining executive Joseph Sy, whose citizenship records are being reviewed by immigration amid allegations that he misrepresented himself as a Filipino.

Almost a year after they should have left the country in the wake of the Pogo ban, more illegal Chinese nationals and fake Filipinos are being arrested by immigration authorities, the latest in Butuan City on Oct. 9. With their ample resources, how easy it is for them to blend in and evade the law!

China’s duplicity

The continuing aggression of Chinese warships and coast guard vessels is also another issue to consider before implementing the lenient eVisa program. With military installations and entire islands built by China on Philippine features despite an arbitral ruling confirming our country’s sovereignty over them, how confident are we that the provisions of the new visa policy will be respected as such, and not abused for military espionage and surveillance purposes?

Such a long record of China’s duplicity should lead government agencies to first strengthen the weak joints in its structures and processes that unscrupulous personnel have misused to connive with illegal aliens. With the indictment of Philippine Statistics Authority’s former personnel for the alleged issuance of fake documents to Chinese nationals from 2016 to 2023, more stringent measures are supposedly put in place, requiring personal appearance in some cases to prevent misrepresentation.

Is the BI as vigilant and proactive, being gatekeepers that should be our first line of defense against undesirable outsiders?

While it may be ideal to operate on the basis of good faith, let us acknowledge how previous missteps have resulted in catastrophe, and be on guard accordingly. We all know where good intentions can sometimes lead.