LET us not dance around and pretend that all’s well in the media front, that these things that we are hearing and seeing in various platforms are normal news gathering and crafting of informed opinion. There is a propaganda war going on, and with information now being dished out via the Internet by the minute, the people just do not know who to believe.
It is sad that with the deterioration of the situation in the South China Sea where the Philippines and China are locked in an incendiary territorial dispute with no end in sight, almost every national event or issue is being categorized as being pro-China or pro-US, as if Philippine society is imprisoned in a zero-sum box that is colored either white or black.
‘It’s about time to view issues and events objectively, not clouded by bias and obfuscation that are inherent in a propaganda war.’
These issues are always linked by many to the West Philippine Sea – the influx of Chinese students now studying in universities in Cagayan province; the controversy involving Bamban, Mayor Alice Guo; and the task of the Bureau of Immigration in processing student visas. In every issue, you can expect lawmakers to take the high moral ground in aid of their reelection, even to the point of twisting facts.
A congressman said over 16,000 students were visas issued by the BI in Cagayan, all for Chinese students. The BI After reviewing its records, said 1,516 Chinese were granted student visas in Cagayan and all were endorsed by a university. As of April, the BI noted that only 485 are enrolled, with only 96 on site with student visas. In 2023, the BI issued 24,189 student visas to various nationalities, including 16,190 to Chinese, nationwide. Most of them are in the National Capital Region.
Another congressman asked Malacañang to repeal former President Joseph Estrada’s Executive Order 285 which empowers the BI to convert tourist visas into student visas, saying this has been a source of corruption in the bureau. Another congressman asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to impose stricter visa controls on Chinese nationals, whether they are students or POGO workers.
The country must “be on the lookout for Trojan horses among them,” said Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, forgetting perhaps that he was Immigration commissioner when EO 285 was issued by Estrada, and his advice could have been used by Erap in issuing this executive order.
Under EO 285, an inter-agency committee on foreign students was created, chaired by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), with the DFA, NBI, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, and Department of Education Rodriguez should have known CHED is on top of the program for foreign students and accredits schools participating in it. The accredited schools, not individual students, apply for visas. The member-agencies are responsible for vetting these student-applicants, issuing clearances, etc. The BI’s participation is almost just ministerial and administrative, reduced to recording and monitoring, after all the vetting is done by the aforesaid agencies. To say that BI personnel are involved in graft using their power given by EO 285 is far-fetched.
It’s about time to view issues and events objectively, not clouded by bias and obfuscation that are inherent in a propaganda war.
