Foreign student body asked to be more concerned with national security

The Inter-agency Committee on Foreign Students (IACFS). which is chaired by the Commission on Higher Education CHED). has been asked to be more concerned about national security.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco made this call in a statement where he noted that “it is high time that the inter-agency be active in matters of national security by including security assessment as a regular agenda in meetings.”

With this in mind, Tansingco said he has already requested CHED to have a high-level meeting among the IACFS members and the BI to clarify the role of each agency in permitting foreigners to study in the country.

Tansingco said the IACFS is set to convene on Monday, May 13.

The commissioner explained there have been concerns over the number of Chinese nationals studying in Tuguegarao in Cagayan province.

These concerns are also being looked into by the Senate and House of Representatives.

Tansingco revealed that BI records showed that a total of 1,516 Chinese nationals have been granted student visas in Cagayan, all endorsed by a major Philippine university.

However, Tansingco learned from reports that, as of April, only 485 are currently enrolled with only 96 onsite with student visas.

“We have requested the highlevel meeting to reiterate our previous requests for immediate joint inspections, and for it to become a regular conduct by the IACFS given new developments in national security concerns,” he said.

Meanwhile, the commissioner said the BI has provided data on student distribution to members of the inter-agency for mapping to be utilized by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) in their investigations against suspicious activities of foreign nationals.

“We will be supporting security assessments of NBI and NICA by providing the initial data that can be used for investigations,” said the BI chief.

The commissioner noted that, in 2023, it issued a total of 24,189 student visas to various nationalities including to 16,190 Chinese nationals who are mostly in the National Capital Region.