A Taiwanese national flag flutters near the Taipei 101 building at the National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 7, 2023. —File photo from the Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines — Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Joel Villanueva said the Philippine government should prepare for the possibility that China would invade Taiwan, which would affect close to 300,000 Filipinos in the self-governing island.
Speaking to reporters in a press conference on Wednesday, Gatchalian is not ruling out the possibility that China would be emboldened to invade Taiwan, citing similar patterns done by Russia to Ukraine.
He also said the Philippine government must prepare for any eventuality because close to 300,000 Filipinos are in Taiwan.
READ: Brawner to PH soldiers: Plan for action in case of Taiwan invasion
“We have about 300,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan, which should be our first concern. That’s important if ever an invasion happens, and I think it will happen because it happened to Ukraine, then China will be emboldened to do it to Taiwan as well,” he said in Filipino.
He stressed that the first concern should be repatriating Filipinos from Taiwan.
“I did not get any information, but Ukraine might be a template. So, if another country invaded Ukraine, others might be emboldened to do it as well. This is true not only in China but also in other countries. However, in this case, China wants to gain power over Taiwan. In my personal analysis, I think China will be emboldened to do it because it already happened to Ukraine,” he said.
In line with this, Gatchalian said that Philippine authorities should begin mapping the whereabouts of the nearly 300,000 Filipinos in Taiwan so that they could quickly be repatriated should something erupt.
On Tuesday, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. told troops at the Northern Luzon Command to “prepare for any eventuality” such as the invasion of Taiwan, in the face of growing regional tensions over China’s aggression.
READ: China launches military drills around Taiwan
In a separate statement issued Wednesday, Sen. Joel Villanueva agreed with Brawner, emphasizing that it is better to “prepare than to repair.”
Villanueva said the safety and security of Filipinos should always be the government’s top priority.
He called on the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers to always “be ready and proactive in protecting Filipinos in Taiwan.”
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, meanwhile, said the AFP should clarify why the Philippines is concerned with the China-Taiwan issue, noting the need to focus solely on the “rescuing of the Filipinos in Taiwan” if a period of armed hostilities breaks.