China's gifts to Phl: gambling, drugs, and landgrabbing

History tells us that Spain gifted the Philippines with the Christian faith, along with its discovery of the islands for the Western World. The US gifted us with democracy, freedom, human rights, and modern education. Japan brought devastation and death to one million Filipinos as well as sexual slavery of our women. They are trying to make up for it but I am not convinced.

China's gifts to us are illegal gambling, prohibited drugs, and land grabbing of our national territories and Exclusive Economic Zones. The series of Senate and House investigations revealed that there has been a massive penetration by Chinese nationals during the previous China-friendly administration into our national domain. There was laxity among Immigration officials that facilitated the entry of questionable characters. Well, everything will soon be revealed and disclosed by both the Senate and the House.

Even the DOLE was reported to have issued unprecedented numbers of alien employment permits to Chinese who grabbed work that could easily be done by Filipino workers. All these made it possible for China to send thousands of characters who were later arrested for illegal gambling, drug trafficking, and illegally buying lands. There are many agencies and public officials who might have been pressured, corrupted, or threatened by syndicates operating multi-billion illegal operations in the country.

Some Chinese nationals were able to obtain fake Philippine citizenship via the highly-controversial and questionable late registration schemes. Because the Philippine Statistics Authority appears to have been remiss in the performance of their functions, many Chinese were able to get Filipino citizenship under highly-questionable circumstances. Such citizenship was used to run for public office, and when these people were already elected officials, they became the protector of illegal POGO operations which were conducted within the immediate vicinity of municipal buildings and other government offices.

The series of raids by PAOCTF revealed so many worms inside Pandora's boxes in Bamban, Tarlac, and Porac, Pampanga. There was evidence of torture and illegal abduction and kidnappings. There were reports of prostitution and other nefarious activities all linking Chinese nationals who were allowed to operate without being stopped by police officials. Hundreds of titles to private lands were discovered to be in the names of Chinese nationals despite the very clear prohibition under our Constitution and our laws. Warehouses owned and or leased by the Chinese had been raided and big stocks of illegal drugs were found and confiscated.

The continuing defiance by China of internal law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas or UNCLOS in the West Philippine Sea is the most blatant, the most arrogant, and the most high-handed series of slaps to our faces as a sovereign nation and free people. They are militarizing the West Philippine Sea under the guise of their highly-questionable Nine-Dash Line, which was rejected by the international arbitrators. They are building airstrips, airports and seaports inside our national territory and Exclusive Economic Zones. They harass and terrorize our fisherfolks and bombard our vessels with water cannons.

Compared to Spain, America, and Japan, China is the worst country with diplomatic relations with us. This bully nation is apparently operating under a credo of might is right rather than right is might. I have Chinese blood and so does my wife. But I denounce in strongest terms these despicable, reprehensible and abominable acts of the Chinese people and Chinese government against the Philippines.

It is time that we consider sending home the ambassador of Xi Jinping to Beijing and recalling all our diplomats from that country. If China is still a friend, then what is the definition of an enemy?