Marcos sets stricter enforcement of rules for Chinese entering PH

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos answers questions from members of the media during a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at a hotel in Manila on April 15, 2024. (File photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said the entry of Chinese in the Philippines is still equal to others but there will a stricter enforcement of rules.

Marcos said that the same rules apply to everyone.

READ: DFA to tighten rules for Chinese seeking tourist visa

“Ang problema lang dahil maliwanag na maliwanag, lumalabas sa mga report na mayroon nang-aabuso nito, kaya babantayan natin ito,” said Marcos in an ambush interview in Cagayan de Oro.

(The problem here is that the reports clearly show that there is an abuse, so that’s why, we will guard it.)

“So, what we will do is to more strictly enforce,” he said.

“Whereas dati, hindi natin masyadong tinitingnan. Nakita natin (na) maraming nagiging problema dahil diyan nakakakuha sila ng mga peke na dokumento. Kung anu anong ginagawa. May mga illegal, mga scammer, mga may human trafficking,” he pointed out.

(Whereas before, we did not look at it that very well. We saw that the problems were growing because they were able to obtain fake documents. They are doing all sorts of things. Some are illegal. Some are scammers. There is human trafficking.)

For its part, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it is imposing an additional requirement for Chinese who are seeking tourist visas.

The Chinese are now required to present social security documents on top of government IDs, bank documents and employment certificates.