Category: china

for the record: duterte dilly-dallied #veerus

RIGHTEOUS RAGE
Antonio Contreras

…  the timeline of events is a clear indictment of government’s culpability. As early as February 1, the Philippines saw the first death because of Covid-19, which was also the very first death recorded outside mainland China. Calls were made for a travel ban to and from the Chinese mainland, but President Rodrigo Duterte belittled the threat and his hesitation was mainly due to the belief that such a move might anger Beijing. It is on record that the Chinese Embassy here was at the time busy protesting against any form of travel ban.

It was only on February 14, two weeks after the first death was recorded, that the President reluctantly declared a travel ban. There is evidence, however, that that directive was not enforced completely, as flights from mainland China continued. On February 21, the Department of Health recommended the declaration of a public health emergency. It is, however, notable that the recommendation was dated February 16. Such declaration was only publicly promulgated and entered into force on March 6, 19 days after it was recommended. And it was only on March 12, a full month and 12 days after the first death, that President Duterte declared the total lockdown of Metro Manila, effective March 15.

In short, we practically wasted at least a full month to adequately and meaningfully respond. Some defenders of the government take pride in the fact that we are the first developing country to have issued a total lockdown, as if that should be a source of comfort. But clearly sidelined is the glaring fact that much time had been wasted in not being able to prepare a comprehensive plan. What we heard were the constant warnings that our medical system was not ready without taking the necessary steps to make it ready, procure the testing kits and personal protective equipment, and ready a deployment plan of medical personnel, both active and volunteers. It is unconscionable that it is only now that sports arenas and convention halls are being readied to become mass quarantine areas.

Apologists of the government deflect criticisms by arguing that even other countries like the United States were caught flat-footed. It is ironic that these people fail to cite the experience of South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore that showed adequate preparedness, while they cite the US, a country that they love to trash. These are the people who cheered wildly as our President wasted much precious time attacking oligarchs and ABS-CBN Corp., and gave priority to the cancellation of the Visiting Forces Agreement simply because the US canceled the visa of a political ally.

No, this is not the time to forget this dereliction of duty, the sheer myopic blunders. We need to constantly remind those in government of their failures to make them aware of the enormous debt they owe the people. They ask us for sacrifices. Our convenience and comforts are put on hold. Some of us have even lost our livelihoods. They cannot ask us to just move on and heal as one without making them suffer the constant reminders of what their foot dragging, lack of foresight and subservience to China have caused.

And if there is one thing that we should never forget, it should be the culpability of the government of the People’s Republic of China, particularly its leader Xi Jinping and the propaganda machinery of the Chinese Communist Party. We should not allow them to get away with what has become a passive kind of unintended genocide. They may not have planned it, but their sheer fixation on their party’s interest above anything else is now poised to kill hundreds of thousands if not millions. We should not allow them to inflict on us what they inflicted on their own citizens. We should not allow them to distort, massage and manipulate information and the truth. We should not allow them to buy their redemption and our silence through their donations and help. We should seek for reparations, not aid.

wow! the chinese are the victims here? #onlinegambling #POGO

sharing cito beltran’s philstar column  (and comments to) “This speaks for itself” :  an official statement / press release from the “Chinese Embassy.”  flabbergasted.

Remarks by Chinese embassy spokesperson on issues of Chinese Citizens concerning gambling in the Philippines

The Chinese Embassy has taken note of recent remarks by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) vice president Jose Tria that Chinese working in Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) will be transferred to “self-contained” communities or hubs. The Chinese Embassy expresses its grave concern over such potential move by PAGCOR, which may infringe on the basic legal rights of the Chinese citizens concerned, and strongly urges the Philippine government to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the Philippines.

II. The Chinese Government always requires Chinese citizens overseas to abide by local laws and regulations and not to work illegally in foreign countries. The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has repeatedly issued consular reminders in this regard, and has on many occasions clearly stated the position to relevant departments of the Philippines.

III. According to the Chinese laws and regulations, any form of gambling by Chinese citizens, including online-gambling,  gambling overseas, opening casinos overseas to attract citizens of China as primary customers, is illegal. The casinos and offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and other forms of gambling entities in the Philippines target Chinese citizens as their primary customers. A large number of Chinese citizens have been illegally recruited and hired in the Philippine gambling industry. In many cases, the employers of Philippine casinos, POGOs and other forms of gambling entities do not apply necessary legal work permits for their Chinese employees. Some Chinese citizens are even lured into and cheated to work illegally with only tourist visas.

IV. The fact that the Philippine casinos and POGOs and other forms of gambling entities are targeting Chinese customers has severely affected the Chinese side in the following aspects:

First, huge amount of Chinese funds has illegally flown out of China and illegally into the Philippines, involving crimes such as cross-border money laundering through underground banking, which undermines China’s financial supervision and financial security. A conservative estimate shows that gambling-related funds flowing illegally out China and into the Philippines amounts to hundreds of millions of Chinese Yuan (Renminbi) every year. There are analysts who believe that part of the illegal gambling funds has flown into local real estate markets and and other sectors in the Philippines.

Second, the fact that a large number of Chinese citizens are lured into illegal gambling has resulted in an increase of crimes and social problems in China. In particular, some gambling crimes and telecom frauds are closely connected, which has caused huge losses to the victims and their families.

Third, many of the Chinese citizens working illegally in Philippine casinos or POGOs and other forms of gambling entities are subjected to what media described as “modern slavery” due to severe limitation of their personal freedom. Their passports are taken away or confiscated by the Philippine employers. They are confined to live and work in certain designated places and some of them have been subjected to extortion, physical abuse and torture as well as other ill-treatments. At the same time, dozens of kidnappings and torture cases of Chinese citizens who gamble or work illegally in gambling entities in the Philippines have taken place. Some Chinese citizens were physically tortured, injured or even murdered.

V. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the crackdown on cross-border gambling activities. The Ministry of Public Security of China has taken many actions and will  carry out more special operations aimed at preventing and combating the cross-border gambling. China will focus on investigating and cracking some major cases, including those of organizing gambling overseas and opening online gaming, and will destroy networks of criminal organizations involved in recruiting gamblers from China by overseas casinos and using the Internet to open casinos in China. China will also crack down on “underground banks” and online payment platforms that provide a financial settlement for cross-border gambling and other crimes, and wipe out domestic network operators and companies that provide technical support for such crimes.

VI. The Judicial Interpretation of the Relevant Laws on the Application of Online-gambling Crimes jointly issued by China’s Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate clearly stipulates that Chinese citizens gambling overseas, opening casinos to attract Chinese citizens as primary customers may constitute gambling crimes. Criminal liability can be pursued in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Law of China. The Chinese Embassy solemnly warned that relevant Chinese companies or individuals in the Philippines immediately stop relevant illegal activities, otherwise they will be punished in accordance with Chinese law.

VII. The Chinese side hopes and urges relevant departments of the Philippine Government to pay more attention to China’s position and concerns and take concrete and effective measures to prevent and punish the Philippine casinos, POGOs and other forms of gambling entities for their illegal employment of Chinese citizens and crack down on related crimes that hurt the Chinese citizens.

The Chinese side also urges relevant departments of the Philippine Government to strengthen law enforcement cooperation with China to jointly combating gambling-related crimes such as money-laundering, illegal employment, kidnapping, extortion, torture, murder etc so as to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens, and to promote China-Philippine friendship and cooperation.

COMMENTS

elevateddiscourse • a day ago • edited
I’ve a suggestion for the Chinese ambassador. Why don’t you talk to your government and make sure that they prevent online access by Chinese mainlanders to these gaming sites? If there can be no demand for online gaming sites, then these online gaming sites will die a natural death. In turn, there will be no demand for Chinese workers in these gaming enterprises, and money outflow from China will be minimized. The beauty of this suggestion is that everything will be under the full control of the Chinese government, with no dependence on the Philippine government.

asul123 • a day ago
China has a point. And it should exercise the same decorum with regards the WPS.

TGM _ERICK • 2 days ago • edited
OMG it seems that we Filipinos are abetors of crimes and
even worse some are criminal themselves. Hahaha
We are so unlike the Chinese leaders. They are si protective of the citizens. Here our leaders just so they could get back to power, THey wOuld even go to the sxtent of maligning their political enemies. Our cpredident was a victim of such.

Gem-Ver 1: “Very Serious Marine Casualty”

Inquirer editorial

… The report did say that the Filipino fishermen failed to have a lookout, employed an unlicensed chief engine officer, carried persons onboard in excess of the authorized capacity and had an expired license from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

But it also said the boat Gem-Ver 1 displayed anchor lights and white flashing light in compliance with maritime regulations.

Also, the weather was “fair with starry skies on a first quarter moon” and “visibility was slightly clear and the sea state was calm”; thus, it would have been impossible for the Chinese vessel not to see the Philippine boat.

Contrary to the President’s characterization, the PCG-MIA [Philippine Coast Guard-Maritime Industry Authority] report described the sinking of the Gem-Ver 1 as a “Very Serious Marine Casualty due to the total loss of ship.”

And while it did not say whether the “bumping” of Gem-Ver 1 by the Chinese trawler was deliberate, it noted that “the fact that the other fishing vessel hit the anchored fishing banca is an indication that they did not perform necessary actions prescribed in Rule 18 (a) to prevent the incident” — referring to rules under the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.

The Chinese vessel, according to the report, “was found to have failed to take appropriate action to avoid the risk of collision and to render assistance to a vessel in distress.”

The second part is the crux of the matter, and what most sticks in the craw: that the Chinese left the Filipino fishermen in distress — but not before it circled back, apparently to check whether the Filipino boat had indeed gone under.

“By maneuvering back and stopping approximately 50 meters away from FBca ‘GEM-VER’ with her fishing lights open, the other vessel can be considered to have direct knowledge of the distress situation,” said the report. But, according to the fishermen, the Chinese vessel then turned off its lights and fled the scene.

… In a statement, the Chinese Embassy identified the Chinese trawler as the Yuemaobinyu 42212 of Guandong province. In that same statement, it peddled the lie, since retracted, that the Chinese vessel left the scene out of fear that it would be “besieged” by seven or eight other Filipino boats in the area (there were none). …

our side, our version of events, for the record.

China, Duterte, and Philippine democracy

Katrina S.S.

No, I don’t think Duterte is scared of China.

I think that he and his men entered into agreements with China, they signed on for projects and the Belt and Road Initiative, and now cannot even take a stand against whatever aggression our fishermen experience from the Chinese in West Philippines Sea. Government (i.e., the Philippines) is so deep in China deals that it has become difficult to even speak. Utang na loob is one of the more effective forms of silencing for Filipinos after all, and China — cunning as it is — doesn’t even need to invoke it; they just know someone like Duterte would feel so indebted there would be no way he would be able to take a stand.

Government propagandists call it “diplomacy.” But let’s assess this situation for what it is: Duterte put all his eggs in the China basket, and now he can’t even find his balls.

Here’s the ironic part though: China has realized that it doesn’t matter that they hold Duterte by the balls. It doesn’t matter because it doesn’t mean they can do all that they want with and in the Philippines. What it’s up against is the rest of us. And Philippine democracy — no matter how it’s been discredited and put into question by the success of Duterte propaganda — still has its balls intact.

Read on…