THURSDAY / FEBRUARY 28' 2019

WWw'INQUIRERNET

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ly JoYIG Yee The situation of Filipinos in There aren't that many Fil- Indebted to China, thd
rnd DJ Yap China is not the same as that of

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,abor groups and a lawmaker
rn Wednesday lambasted the
)uterte administration for
kowtowing" to China after its
Lnbassador "bullied" the gov-
rnment into not taking action
gainst Chinese illegally work-
ng in the Philippines.
The .Sentro ng mga
_, the Chinese illegally working in
the Philippines, Villarin said in a
statement, noting that the Fil-
ipinos in China are legitimately
working there.
"The Philippines has been
sending its skilled workers all
around the world and has done
so following all the legal. pro-
cesses of foreign employment "
Villarinsaid.
OO
ipinos in China, but Mr. Duterte
could have added the Filipino
populaiion in Hong Kong,
Macau and Taiwan, or had in
mind the number of Filipino
Rather than standing up for our workers China planned to hire
sovereign rights, Panelo seems td und€r an agreement signed in
Boao lastyear.
stand down when conffonted by Most recent data available
China's ambassador. lt is downright from the Philippine Overs€as
Employment Administration
pathetic for Malacaffang to kowtow showed that when the Duterte
Duterte administration refused
to even protest the Chinese mil-
itarization of the region and,
during the term of former Sen.
Alan Peter Cayetano as foreign
secretary even defended Chi-
na's interests against criticism
in the.Philippines.
Position ofweakness
The Federation of
Workers (FFW) on Wednesday
Fr€e

Iagkakaisa at Progresibong ':Chinese nationals illegally to Beijing's wishes all the time administration took office in said the administration had no
[anggagawa (Sentro) said Am- entering and working in the zo16, only 9,166 Filipinos were one to blame but itself for how
assador Zhao lianhua's threat bf Philippines have no rights for
it-for-tat deportations of Fil- their continued stay, having \'i-
/ Tomvilarin working in China.
That figure was 39.6 percent
China was now treating it. as it
was the President himself who
)inos lr'orking in China was not olated Philippine laws," he said. higher than 6,500 in 2015, when "started from a position/ of
Akbayan Representative
nly display ofhis govemment's
a ViUarin said Zhao's words the Philippines was challenging weakness." I
rrogance" but also showed hoi,v about mutual-deportations, as China's claim to nearly all ofthe "lzhaol is reacting to the en-
xe Asian economic powerhouse quoted by President Duterte's we will also do the same. That's The supposed exchange be- South China Sea in the UN- couraging signals he got from
egarded the Philippines. spokesperson Salvador Panelo, tit for tat," Panelo said. tween Panelo and Zhao fol- backed Permanent Court of Ar- President Duterte himself,"
"The ambassador is acting smacked of "political btackmail lowed Mr. Duterte's controver- bitration in The Hague. FFW vice president Julius
ke a bully in issuing tlreats to and bullying that should merit a Kowtowing to Beijing sial suggestion that the govern- The tribunal ruled in favor Cainglet said.
arm Filipinos in China. [We] be- diplomatic protest from the De- Villarin expressed disap- ment allow Chinese illegally of the Philippines, but the Presi- "The problem is that the
eve that this latest exdmple of partment of Foreign Affairs pointment with Panelo's han- working in the Philippines to dent set tlle ruling aside in ex- President exposed his vulnera-
ullying by the Chinese ambas- (DF.A)." dling of the mafter. stay and keep theirjobs tq avoid change for aid, loans and invest- bility by viftually promising he
rdor is the result of President On Tuesdat Panelo told re- "Ratler th'dn standing up for a diplomatic controversy that ments from China. won't touch the undocumented
uterte's mendicancy toward porters that he had dinner with irur sovereign rights, Panelo might lead to the expulsion of China was only too happy to Chinese migrant workers here,';
hina," Sentro secretary general Zhao recently and that the Chi- s€ems to stand ddwn when con- Filipinos from China. oblige Mr. Duterte, and pledged he added.
tsua Mata told reporters. nese diplomat had told him Chi- fronted by China's ambassador. It to help finance his
$z+ billion For Partido Manggagawa
na would "do the same" if the is downright pathetic for Mala- Not that many ambitious infrastructure pro- chair Rene Magtubo, a diplo-
Not the same situation Philippines deported Chinese caiang to kowtow to Beijing's Speaking at a PDP-Laban gram. matic protest should be filed by
Akbayan Reir. Tom Villarin workers without due process. wishes all the time," the partylist campaign rally in Bifran City, But it seized seven Philip- the DFAagainst Zhao, whose ac-
ristled at Zhao's "threat" to de- "That is what the Chinese lawmaker said Laguna province, on Sundat pine-claimed reefs in tlle Sprafly tion, he said, bordered on "in-
ort Filipinos from China if ambassador told me during the "Sub6ervience has never Mr. Duterte said: "The Chinese archipelago in the middle of the terference" in the affairs of a
ruthorities summar- dinner, that if this government been that clearly defined by here, just let them work here. South China Sea, and developed sovereign co,untry thatwas only
Y out undocumented , will just deport Chinese not in such acts of MalacaRang," he Just let them. Why? We have them into artificial islands that it trying to implement its employ-
:kbrs. i accordance with the law, then added. 3'oo,ooo Filipinos in China." later built into military outposts. ment laws. INQ
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