JV Ejercito to China: Respect PH claims in West PH Sea before imposing tourism blacklist
October 12, 2022
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on
Wednesday urged the government of the People’s Republic of China to recognize
the country’s maritime claims in the West Philippine Sea before imposing a
tourism blacklist against the Philippines.
This was in response to a recent statement by
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, saying that he was informed by Chinese
Ambassador Huang Xilia that the country had been blacklisted for accommodating
Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
“Before threatening the Philippines with a ban
on Chinese tourists, China should first respect our territorial integrity.
Ibalik niyo muna ang West Philippine Sea,” he said in a statement.
Zubiri made his revelation during the joint
hearing of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and Committee on Public Order
and Dangerous Drugs on the proliferation of POGO activities in the country.
In 2019, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson
Geng Shuang welcomed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s move to
suspend all POGO applications and asked the Philippine government to ban all
online gambling operations.
“Ambassador Huang said that the Philippines
now is part of a blacklist of tourist sites because they do not know if the
tourists going there will be joining POGO operations,” Zubiri said.
However, the Chinese Embassy in Manila denied
this, calling Zubiri’s revelation “misinformation.”
For his part, Ejercito lauded recent efforts by the
Philippine National Police to bring down POGO-related incidents and reiterated
his call for heightened security measures against criminal activities linked to
online gambling.
