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SENATOR Richard Gordon exploded during the Department of Tourism (DOT) budget hearing after discovering that the majority of foreign retirees in the Philippines were from mainland China.
Data provided by the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) showed that there were 27,678 mainland Chinese who had availed themselves of the Special Resident Retiree Visa (SRRV) in the Philippines; followed by the South Koreans with 14,144; Indians 6,120; 4,851 Taiwanese; Japanese 4,016; Americans 3,704; Hong Kong Chinese 1,870; British 1,595; Germans 792; Australians 752; and other nationalities 4,498. PRA is an agency attached to the DOT.
“That’s dangerous!” Gordon exclaimed, after learning that the minimum age for mainland Chinese retirees was 35, and that the minimum requirement for retirement here is an investment of $ 50,000, enough to buy a condo unit. “35 [years old] is too young! “he exclaimed and underlined:” 27,000 [people] is equivalent to 27 [military] regiments. “
He pointed out that before World War II, there were Japanese sleepers in the Philippines who had posed as construction workers. “This is now a national security issue,” he said, referring to Manila’s soft diplomatic policy toward Beijing.
The lawmaker has criticized Chinese vessels fishing illegally in Philippine waters and the growing number of illegal Chinese workers in the POGOs, whom he accused of spying for Beijing.
Before Gordon’s outburst, Senator Nancy Binay, chair of the Senate Tourism Committee, had expressed concern for the vast majority of retirees from mainland China. “Do you have the budget to monitor that these retirees are not working illegally at POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators)?” asked PRA Vice President and CEO / General Manager Welcome K. Chy.
But Chy couldn’t explain why the Chinese retirees were very young, emphasizing that SRRV’s policy was already in place when he was appointed to his post. This further enraged Gordon and he said, “That’s not an excuse!” Chy, former head of the Legal Division of the Immigration Office, is a close friend of President Duterte.
Gordon emphasized that retirees are typically “in their 50s and 60s” and strongly suggested that Chy “woo” more retirees from Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Australia and the United States. The PRA’s budget is financed by the collection of fees and deposits paid by retirees, as well as the interest on those bank deposits.
Maria Anthonette Velasco-Allones, director of operations for the Tourism Promotions Board, had promised Ballistic Gordon that they would share information about potential foreign retiree markets with the PRA so that the PRA could renew its retirement policy. TPB is the marketing arm of the DOT.
Bayanihan Aids 2
Previously, several senators, including Binay, minority leader Franklin Drilon, Joel Villanueva, and Imee Marcos, had expressed disappointment that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had not yet provided funds under the Bayanihan Act 2 to any government agency, despite the expiration of the law before the end of the year.
The Senate had been instrumental in allocating P10 billion in stimulus funds for the tourism sector, despite House lawmakers insisting that these be channeled into infrastructure. Senators had asked DOT for an update on the P6 billion working capital funds to be channeled through SB Corp. for micro, small and medium tourism businesses, the P3 billion social improvement funds through the Department of Labor and Employment, and tourism infrastructure funds of 1,000 million pesos that will be distributed through the Department of Public Works and Roads.
The Secretary of Tourism, Bernadette Romulo Puyat, told them, however, that while the programs for these allocations have already been drawn up and the documents submitted to the respective government agencies, the Bayanihan 2 funds “have not yet been released [to them]. “
Drilon noted that DBM had not released the Bayanihan 2 funds, “because there are no funds to release.” Like his colleagues, he emphasized the need to prioritize funding for TOD because of the great contribution of tourism to the local economy. However, DBM had capped the DOT budget for 2021 at P3.52 billion.
(See “DOT Will Review Plan When Covid-19 Reverses Targets” in BusinessMirror, Aug. 31, 2020.)
