Lawmaker bucks ASEAN visa plan, cites national security concerns

A CONGRESSMAN on Wednesday opposed the Philippines’ endorsement of a plan to have a unified visa system for the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN), raising concerns about foreign spy infiltration.

In a statement, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez urged Tourism Secretary Ma. Esperanza Christina G. Frasco to withdraw her agency’s endorsement of the planned visa system, telling her to consider the consequences to national security.

“This will be more dangerous to our national security than our present visa issuance process,” he said. “[It] will allow Chinese tourists who are actually spies to get ASEAN visas.”

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

The Tourism department last week backed a proposal making travel among ASEAN members more seamless during a forum held in Thailand. Ms. Frasco said the visa proposal could be patterned after the Schengen visa system of the European Union.

“We are all for boosting our tourism sector and our economy by having more tourist arrivals but given our experience and our raging dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea, we don’t want to just accept Chinese tourists,” Mr. Rodriguez said.

“They should undergo rigorous evaluation by our embassy and consulates in China,” he added.

Philippine authorities have arrested several Chinese nationals since the start of the year for espionage, including surveillance near military facilities, the presidential palace and the Commission on Elections headquarters in Manila.

The arrests came amid rising tensions between the Philippines and China due to their sea dispute.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea based on a 1940s nine-dash line map that overlaps with the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. It has deployed coast guard and maritime militia fleets in disputed waters where confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels have occurred.

Mr. Rodriguez alleged that Chinese spies have entered the Philippines by posing as tourists, students or 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,” he added. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio