Koreans top list of tourists, foreign students in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - The Bureau of Immigration-District Office of Cebu (BID-Cebu) has issued a total of 5,065 Special Study Permit (SSP) for foreign students studying here.

BID-Cebu alien control officer Casimiro Madarang III said these figures represent from January to June of this year.

SSP is a kind of visa issued to foreigners who intend to study in the Philippines on a short term basis or short-term courses, like studying a language.

Based on records issued by Madarang, of the 5,065 foreign nationals issued with SSP, 4,473 of these were Korean nationals, followed by Japanese nationals (284), Thailanders (46), Chinese (31), Taiwanese (28), Indonesians (25) and Indians (25).

Others nationals that were issued SSP were Iranians, Vietnamese, Americans, Yemenis, Nigerians, Russians, Kenyans and Nepalese, among others.

Madarang said that Koreans still ranks the highest in terms of tourist arrivals in Cebu for the said period. Madarang added that Korean nationals opt to study here because of the Filipinos’ good command in English, aside from the fact that it is a lot cheaper to study language here than in their own country.   (FREEMAN NEWS)