BI resumes stamping of Chinese passports

MANILA,Philippines — After more than seven years, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has resumed the stamping of Chinese passports despite the nine-dash-line map on it, which delineates Beijing’s claims in the West Philippine Sea.   

In a statement issued yesterday, Commissioner Jaime Morente said he issued a memorandum dated Oct. 28 ordering immigration officers to affix arrival and departure stamps next to Philippine visas on Chinese passports.

The change in policy complies with a foreign service circular recently issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) “instructing its Philippine consular offices to affix the Philippine visa on the pages of Chinese passports where the nine-dash-line map is drawn,” he said.

Due to the sea row, the BI stopped stamping Chinese passports in 2012 after the DFA decided to place Philippine visas of Chinese nationals on a separate sheet of paper.

Morente said they have “adjusted their own procedures to conform” with the DFA’s circular as he emphasized that the previous stamping on a separate paper “has been proven to be problematic” as they could be easily lost and misplaced by the holders. 

BI records show that 4,524,240 Chinese have entered the Philippines from January 2013 to December last year.

The BI said the number of Chinese citizens going to the Philippines continued to increase over the past six years: 421,363 in 2013; 384,931 in 2014; 510,290 in 2015; 736,960 in 2016; 1,095,188 in 2017; and 1,375,508 in 2018.