DUTERTE’S CHINA PROBLEM
Philippine president craves investment but big jump in Chinese workers, legal and illegal, is causing strains.
The lobby of the Bureau of Immigration headquarters in Manila was bursting with scores of young Chinese seeking visas to work in the Philippines. Dozens more were being held in a cordoned-off area on the second floor. The detainees — mostly from mainland China — were among 276 suspected of working illegally in the online gambling industry at a site near the Makati business district. They were arrested last month in one of the biggest raids in the Philippine capital, and were facing deportation.
The raid was part of a crackdown on undocumented Chinese workers, as President Rodrigo Duterte’s government scrambles to contain a side effect of his economic pivot to China.
The number of Chinese nationals arriving in the country has nearly tripled since Duterte came to power in 2016. They have filled hotel rooms and office towers previously intended for US call centres, snapped up condominiums and boosted retail sales. But despite the economic benefits, there has been a mounting backlash from local residents who fear Chinese workers are taking jobs, evading taxes and committing crimes.
“I’m afraid mafias have entered the country,” Senate labour committee chair Joel Villanueva said on Feb 21 during a congressional inquiry into what has become a major political issue ahead of midterm elections in May.
While cracking down on illegal activity by Chinese could appease local critics, it could also mar relations with President Xi Jinping. There is also concern that harsher treatment of the immigrants could backfire on the roughly 30,000 Filipinos working in China. That number excludes the more than 200,000 in Macau and Hong Kong, where many work as maids.
Duterte has been tiptoeing around the issue. In November, he said illegal Chinese workers should be deported but cautioned authorities to “be careful” in handling such cases. Last month, he called for tolerance, saying, “Let them work here.”
Lucio Blanco Pitlo, a lecturer in the Chinese programme at Ateneo de Manila University, said the problem has been “overplayed and politicised” and warned of consequences.
“The issue has adverse implications on Duterte’s efforts to cultivate friendlier ties with China to corner more investments,” Pitlo said. It could also hurt the 8-trillion-peso (US$154 billion) “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure programme, partly funded by Beijing, he added.
When he assumed the presidency in June 2016, Duterte sought to earn Beijing’s trust, which had been eroded by predecessor Benigno Aquino’s hardline approach on the South China Sea territorial dispute. Duterte shrugged off Manila’s arbitration victory against China and declared a “separation” from the US during his first visit to Beijing in October of that year.
In return, Beijing pledged to bankroll Duterte’s infrastructure projects, import more Philippine fruits and lift a travel warning on the country. Manila, meanwhile, offered Chinese visitors visas on arrival.
China quickly became the largest source of tourists for the Philippines, dislodging South Korea. Last year, the Philippines welcomed a record 1.26 million Chinese visitors, nearly triple the number in 2015.
Duterte’s government went further in September 2016, offering licences that allow companies to set up internet-based casinos for overseas gamblers. China-linked companies bagged many of the 54 “Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator” licences. The operators brought with them dozens of companies providing information technology support and call centre services manned by Mandarin-speaking mainlanders.
On a visit to China the following month, Duterte secured a $24-billion investment deal from Chinese institutions, including grants for projects that allow Chinese companies to bring in their own workers. Two Beijing-funded bridges crossing the Pasig River in Manila are examples.
From 2016 to 2018, around 335,800 working visas and special work permits were issued to Chinese, representing over half of all permits issued to foreigners. More than half of them were for online gaming-related jobs, and the rest for sectors including construction, information and communications.
“The influx of Chinese workers is a direct consequence of the growth of the Philippine offshore gaming,” immigration chief Jaime Morente said. Online gaming industry revenue ballooned to 7.35 billion pesos last year from 657 million in 2016.
But many Chinese tourists who entered the Philippines ended up overstaying to find jobs. Others bribed immigration officials to get working visas. Opposition Senator Franklin Drilon, a former labour secretary, said last year that around 400,000 Chinese workers — including those without documents — were in the country.
The immigration bureau came under pressure to take action, due to political considerations as well as reports of abuse, such as the case of an undocumented Chinese chef beating a local waitress in May 2018.
In January, the bureau announced it would no longer issue special work permits for blue-collar jobs, such as construction workers, waiters, cashiers and janitors.
The Federation of Free Workers, a local labour group, has urged the government to “focus on protecting our jobs from being taken by illegal aliens”. The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines reminded the government that “all jobs including skills and professions must be given to Filipino workers and professionals” unless there is no one available in the local labour market.
Jobless Filipinos made up 5.1% of the working-age population last year, a marginal improvement from the 5.5% rate in 2016.
The Chinese influx is straining the social fabric in other ways. Filipinos’ trust in China has improved under Duterte, but it remains low compared with countries such as the US, Japan, and Malaysia, based on a poll by Social Weather Stations in September.
Police say the number of Chinese involved in crimes — as suspects or victims — tripled to 398 last year, accounting for around 40% of all cases involving foreign nationals.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez also said he wants to keep closer tabs on online casino workers, citing “the national security implications of their large presence in the country”.
But Gary Alejano, a congressman and Senate candidate for the opposition in the May elections, has doubts about the current crackdown. “It’s like confiscating a few kilos of shabu (methamphetamine) and allowing tonnes to come in,” he said, referring to the 6.4 billion pesos worth of illegal drugs from China that slipped past customs last year.
Alejano, a former military officer, believes additional Chinese workers will enter the country as infrastructure construction gets moving. China is sponsoring dams, roads and railways. “The government has even started conditioning the minds of the people,” he said. “They are saying that we lack enough manpower.”
Duterte last month said infrastructure projects were delayed partly because many skilled workers “are no longer here in the Philippines but have gone to the Middle East” — a top destination for Filipino construction workers.
Meanwhile, a 33-year old Chinese worker at a telecom company in Manila appealed for understanding.
“The Chinese and Philippine governments have a good relationship right now, and they have a lot of cooperation, so many Chinese want to do business here,” he said. “The legal workers increase, and so do the illegals.
“I believe Chinese people want to work here legally but they don’t know the process, maybe because of the language [barrier].”
“The influx of Chinese workers is a direct consequence of the growth of the Philippine offshore gaming” JAIME MORENTE Immigration Bureau chief