A PHILIPPINE senator called on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday to come up with hard proof to support allegations that spies have been embedded themselves among Chinese students enrolled in the Cagayan region.
“If the only basis for these (allegations) is because China has a base in the West Philippine Sea, that we have an issue with them right now which is why there are Chinese spies in Cagayan, it probably shouldn’t be like that,” Senator Francis Joseph “Chiz” G. Escudero, said in a statement in Filipino.
Senators have sought probes into the uptick of Chinese students in the region, some of whom supposedly hold fake credentials and are potential risks to national security.
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian also said he would file a resolution on Thursday that seeks an inquiry on foreign students’ paying as much as P2 million to get college degrees in Cagayan.
Immigration Commissioner Norman G. Tansingco has said 1,516 Chinese nationals in Cagayan had been given student visas.
More than 400 Chinese nationals are physically attending schools in the province, while others are enrolled in distance learning.
“If there is really doubt that there are spies, why won’t the Bureau of Immigration do their job?” Mr. Escudero said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez