BY RAYMOND AFRICA and ASHZEL HACHERO
SENATE deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros yesterday filed a resolution urging the Committee on National Defense to conduct an inquiry into policy, public safety, and national security implications of foreigners using fake documents to pose as Filipinos, amid reports of a spike in Chinese enrollees in higher education institutions using questionable credentials.
This as an inter-agency panel is set to meet today amid the controversy generated by the alleged influx of Chinese students.
The Inter-Agency Committee on Foreign Students have as members the Bureau of Immigration, Department of Foreign Affairs, PNP, NBI, and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.
Hontiveros, in Senate Resolution No. 1001, said that in the past months, “concerns have been raised regarding the sudden and dramatic influx of foreign nationals into the country, some using falsified or unlawfully-obtained documents to pose as Filipinos.”
“While the Philippine educational system has always sought to elevate the standards of its educational institutions and is cognizant of the importance of a diverse student population to facilitate global discourse and rich cultural dialogues, alarm has been raised by findings that there is a remarkable spike of Chinese enrollees in higher education institutions using questionable entry documents,” she also said.
She said that a separate investigation by the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, which she chairs, revealed that foreigners were using falsified documents such as birth certificates to obtain Philippine passports.
She cited a case in Thailand on April 5 when the Philippine embassy in Bangkok reported the arrest of four Chinese posing as Filipinos using Philippine passports, birth certificates issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority, and Philippine Postal Identity cards.
“The Philippines is not for sale. Nobody should treat our national identity like goods to buy or sell,” she said.
The AFP is also investigating the reported influx of foreign students enrolling in higher education institutions in Cagayan province.
Hontiveros said Cagayan Rep. Joseph Lara said he received reports from his constituents that agents of fixers charge foreign “students” P1 million to enter the province, with 80 percent allegedly going to an agent or fixer, while 20 percent to the school involved.
Meanwhile, Immigration spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said today’s meeting is meant to “harmonize data, clarify on the role of each agency, and a way forward.”
On Monday, Sandoval said the majority of Chinese students in the country are actually in Metro Manila, and not in Cagayan province.
She said over 9,000 Chinese were issued student visas in different schools in Metro Manila allowing them a longer stay in the country compared to a tourist visa.
On Friday, the immigration bureau said 1,516 Chinese nationals were issued student visas in Cagayan in 2023 but only 400 of them are on-site since the school they are enrolled in is implementing distance learning mode.
Student visas are renewed yearly but the government has the power not to authorize its renewal if the students have failing grades or other violations in their stay in the country.
