BI says only over 1,000 student visas issued to Chinese in Cagayan last year
Amid the reported influx of Chinese students in Cagayan, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that only over 1,000 student visas were issued to Chinese nationals in Cagayan last year.
In an interview at Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon, Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said only foreign students who were endorsed by legitimate schools and the Commission on Higher Education are able to get their visas to study in the country.
"Based on our figures we have issued a total of 1,500 visas for Chinese nationals in the Cagayan area in 2023," she said.
Of these figures, based on the information on the ground only 400 were onsite (mostly) because of distance learning." she added.
In a previous radio interview, Chester Cabalza, president and founder of the International Development and Security Cooperation and a professor at the University of the Philippines claimed there are more than 4000 Chinese students presently enrolled in a university in Cagayan.
Considering the existing conflict in Taiwan strait which is just near the Cagayan province, Cabalza expressed concern on what he called a sudden influx of Chinese students.
"The influx of the Chinese citizen, which is now at 4,000 plus, especially in one university, is quite alarming. The data shows that amid the tensions in Taiwan Strait... we are hosting two (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement) EDCA sites. So the timing is dubious and it will make you wonder why all of a sudden you see all this influx of Chinese students," he said.
However, Sandoval said in case foreign students committed any illegal acts or violated the law of the land, the BI can initiate deportation.
"Once any government agency determines that they have violations, they usually file cases to our courts and at the same time we could always add the deportation charge against the foreign national and we'll kick them out of our country and include them in the blacklist," she said. Robina Asido/DMS
