Senator Leila De Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Detained Sen. Leila de Lima on Tuesday accused the Duterte administration of turning the Philippines into a “Chinese satellite state” with the impending entry of a Chinese telco company into the country.
De Lima warned that the entry of China Telecom Corp. Ltd., China’s largest telecommunications company, posed a security threat to the Philippines’ information and communication infrastructure.
“Do we really want a country who has most interest in undermining our national security to have a major role in our public utilities, especially communications?” De Lima said in a statement.
“What will assure us that in the future, our national security and whole intelligence and defense systems won’t be compromised, if not under the complete control of a foreign government with national interests diametrically opposed to our own?” she asked.
De Lima pointed out that national security concerns were among the reasons why the $329-million national broadband network deal with China’s ZTE Corp. was scuttled, “aside from the corruption issues that plagued it.”
De Lima said the government also intended “to bury Filipinos in Chinese loans” as it embarked on a massive
infrastructure program.