(Eagle News)–Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana fired back at Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua after he asked what the Philippine government would think if China thought Overseas Filipino Workers there were also spies.
Zhao had issued the remark after Lorenzana expressed concerns about the proximity of Chinese-manned Philippine offshore gaming operation (Pogo) sites to military and police camps, saying the Chinese could easily shift to spying.
“That’s the most preposterous statement I heard in a long while,” Lorenzana said.
According to Lorenzana, in the first place, Pogo workers were “not comparable” to OFWs who “go to China for specific work that’s legitimate there with Chinese visas.”
“They are more like the Chinese nationals working in construction projects here in the Philippines, as mutually agreed upon by both countries,” Lorenzana said.
Pogo workers, on the other hand, he said, “came over for a different purpose, e.g., likely tourism but eventually got visas to work in an activity at the Pogo centers operating gambling operations which is (sic) prohibited in China.”
According to the Defense secretary, besides “Filipinos are widely dispersed in China, working in homes and schools that are faraway from military camps.”
He said there are no “Pogo-like centers in China that can be operated purely by Filipinos near military camps.”
He said Pogos in the Philippines, however, are very near military camps and naval bases.
“Knowing that Chinese companies are mandated by the Chinese government to assist in intel collection for their government, it is not farfetched that individuals likewise could be compelled to do so,” Lorenzana said.
He said while “it could be just coincidental because these were the only facilities offered for Pogo operations, and I believe the Pogo workers are here just for work only,” he was “alarmed” the Pogo workers could be tapped for intel-gathering.
“That is why I support the relocation of the Pogo centers to eco zones that are not proximate to military camps,” he said.
