Rich Pinoys have an explaining to do on Chinese influx

By Batas Mauricio

HERE’S a question by Engr. Ferris Tangco III: Has the China invasion of the Philippines begun, as shown by a compound in Ilocos Norte which is alleged to be filled with warehouse materials  belonging to, and which contains flags of, the People’s Republic of China (PROC)?

Or, as one other question from Engr. Tangco intoned, was the compound merely given to China by the Marcoses, who have been in undisputed power in Ilocos Norte for several decades now? Tangco’s Twitter post featured four photographs depicting two satellite discs, and flags of the PROC inside that Ilocos Norte compound.

Let’s hope the Marcoses can explain this, as Engr. Tangco’s Twitter post directly mentioned them. Or, perhaps, the provincial government of Ilocos Norte, and even the Ilocos Norte Philippine National Police, can help clarify the matter. Are we permitting the flags of other countries, especially the flags of China, to publicly fly, in the full view of all the public, in our provinces, cities, and municipalities?

If we think about this seriously enough, we can indeed say that China’s invasion and occupation of the Philippines are already happening and taking place, unimpeded. One proof of this are the thousands and thousands of Chinese men and women who are now literally spread out in Metro Manila’s commercial centers (particularly along Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City and Paranaque City, and even in nearby suburbs), residing at high rise condominium units in the metropolis and the provinces in its peripheries.

This is also shown by the presence of a military station belonging to China at the open seas located west of the Philippines, whose name among many Filipinos early on was South China Sea, but which came to be called later as the West Philippine Sea by the government of then President Noynoy Aquino soon after it filed a case against China before the international arbitral tribunal.

No one can deny any longer the truth: there is a rampaging flood of Chinese entrants into the different cities and municipalities in the Philippines, who have come not merely as tourists but as residents and workers out to earn a living here. In all these, I am convinced that rich Filipino businessmen must be made to explain why they seem to have anticipated, and even prepared to profit from, the influx of these Chinese immigrants.

For quite some time now, I have been repeatedly asking one nagging question: why have the rich Filipino-Chinese in our  midst been trying to outdo one another in putting up expensive and expansive condominium projects in many places (in Metro Manila and  even in far-flung cities of the country) when it cannot be denied, then as now, that majority of our countrymen could ill-afford to buy whatever were built by them?

I have been harping on the fact that, even then, it was already very clear that those who were pushing all they’ve got to put up condominium projects had Filipinos in mind as the buyers of their product, but foreigners who have the capacity to buy with their wallets or bank accounts filled with dollars. I have been asking for an explanation on this construction boom repeatedly, but no one was listening (or wanted to listen), no one wanted to act, one way or the other.

At this point, we should now come up with the truth: there is a need for an inspection and investigation of all condominium projects in the country by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, Bureau of Immigration, Philippine National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to find out who have purchased units from them or who have been occupying those units since then. I am willing to bet that this investigation would yield a treasure trove of foreign sounding names, especially Chinese names, as the buyers and the occupants of the posh residential units.

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com, mmauriciojr111@gmail.com