Lawmaker: China conducting ‘creeping invasion’ of Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — China is involved in a “creeping invasion” of the Philippines through massive real estate acquisition using laundered money, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said yesterday.

Barbers issued the statement after the House committee on dangerous drugs which he heads found out that one of the fugitive Chinese drug lords managed to own and operate a gasoline station and bought more than four hectares of land in Pampanga, allegedly through Filipino dummies.

He was referring to Filipino-Chinese national Willy Ong, believed to be behind the shipment of 560 kilos of shabu worth P3.6 billion in Mexico, Pampanga last September.

The Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the National Bureau of Investigation are “all facing a blank wall” in tracking down Ong, who has a company named Empire 999 registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Barbers urged the government, particularly its intelligence and law enforcement agencies, to dig deeper into reports on involvement of some Chinese nationals in real estate binges in the Philippines using dirty money.

“Mr. Ong, based on documents we have on hand, has a UMID ID card and a drivers’ license issued by the Land Transportation Office and used an address in Nueva Ecija. But the NBI and the PNP, despite weeks of search, could not locate him in his given address,” Barbers said.

“We have been receiving reports that the buying spree of these Chinese nationals like Ong is not just limited to Pampanga, and they’re using fake credentials. They get government-issued IDs, register their businesses at SEC, DTI and LGUs, using their Filipino dummies,” he added.

He said Ong’s case is not an isolated one, as there are reports of similar activities involving Chinese particularly in Palawan, Bulacan, Zambales and Davao.