The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) says the department did not receive any complaint regarding the significant number of Chinese students in Cagayan. FILE PHOTO / CHED FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has not received any complaints about a university in Cagayan with a significant number of Chinese students.
CHEd Commissioner Prospero De Vera made the statement amid worries about the reported surge of Chinese students’ presence in the area, given that there are now two Filipino military stations in Cagayan where American troops have been given access.
De Vera confirmed that there is “a significant number of Chinese students enrolled” in St. Paul University in Tugegarao City.
He also noted that the university has been given authority to accept foreign students by the Bureau of Immigration.
“CHEd has not received complaints as to violation of St. Paul University of this Joint Memorandum,” De Vera said, referring to the memorandum issued by the Executive Order No. 285, Series and its Implementing Rules and Regulations and Joint Memorandum Order No. 01, s. 2017 of the Inter-Agency Committee on Foreign Students.
“In case of complaint or reports of violation, CHEd will forward the same to this inter-agency committee for its appropriate action,” he also said.
Security expert Chester Cabalza, who was a native to Cagayan revealed some of the mainland Chinese students in Cagayan were reportedly shelling out P2 million to obtain their degrees with others not even bothering to attend their classes.
READ: Some Chinese students in Cagayan allegedly pay P2 million to get degrees
“There may be a greater objective to their presence in the province amid the increasing geopolitical tensions,” Cabalza told INQUIRER.net on Wednesday, adding that the province “is seen as a strategic bullseye of the hegemonic rivalry between the US and China.”
De Vera said of the security concerns: “We leave the matter to the expertise of our security agencies to investigate and recommend appropriate actions.”
De Vera also said that aside from the said university, there are no Chinese students enrolled in local public colleges and universities in Cagayan province.
In April 2023, Marcos allowed the United States access to four more Philippine military bases under the Enhance Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca), which allows Washington to store equipment and their troops there.
Two of the newly approved 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.