MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is looking into the “national security implications” of the reported surge of Chinese students in Cagayan, its spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said on Wednesday.
“We are looking at the national security implications to this,” Padilla said in a public briefing.
She added: “We are conducting our internal investigation on the veracity of these reports.”
Padilla also said they are coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration and the Philippine National Police with regards to the issue.
“This is going to be a cooperation between all of the different agencies,” she also said.
Chester Cabalza, a University of the Philippines professor and a native of Cagayan, said some of the mainland Chinese students in Cagayan are reportedly shelling out P2 million to obtain their degrees, while others not even bothering to attend their classes.
“There may be a greater objective to their presence in the province amid the increasing geopolitical tensions,” Cabalza told INQUIRER.net in a text message.
READ: Some Chinese students in Cagayan allegedly pay P2 million to get degrees
Two of the newly-approved Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) sites are located in Cagayan which is relatively near Taiwan, a self-ruled island regarded by China as a renegade province subject to reunification.
These new Edca sites irked Beijing, stressing that the agreement was made so that Washington could “encircle and contain China” which would drag the Philippines into “the Taiwan question,” a claim that was rejected by Manila.