Surigao del Norte 2nd District Representative Robert Ace Barbers has appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to revoke an executive order permitting the conversion of tourist visas to student visas, expressing concerns over potential misuse.
In a statement released on Monday, Barbers highlighted Executive Order (EO) No. 285, formulated during former President Joseph Estrada’s administration, asserting that its application has been exploited under current circumstances. Reports indicate that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has issued over 16,000 student visas to Chinese nationals.
EO No. 285 originally empowered the BI to facilitate the conversion of tourist visas into student visas, aligning with the government’s objective at the time to position the Philippines as a hub for education in the Asia Pacific Region and attract foreign students.
“In today’s context, this authority granted to the BI can be misused. Allowing arbitrary visa conversions represents a perilous loophole that unscrupulous individuals may exploit for financial gain,” Barbers remarked.
“The staggering issuance of 16,200 student visas to Chinese nationals by the BI in 2023 is untenable. It is irrelevant if other countries have higher numbers; we must not benchmark against them, especially considering our strained relations with China,” he added.
Barbers argued that such authority should rest with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which possesses the necessary expertise to assess the eligibility of foreign applicants seeking conversion from tourist to student visas.
“The DFA should be the exclusive authority for visa issuance to foreigners. It is best equipped to evaluate the qualifications of applicants,” he emphasized.
The surge in Chinese nationals obtaining student visas prompted the Inter-Agency Committee on Foreign Students (IACFS) to convene on Monday to address this development.
Several legislators, including Barbers, have raised concerns about the growing number of Chinese students, particularly in sensitive areas near military installations.
While the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines accused Filipino politicians of stoking anti-China sentiment by linking the influx of Chinese students to territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea, lawmakers assert that investigating the matter is essential for understanding the country’s situation.
On April 30, Representative Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez accused China of attempting to interfere in Philippine politics after it criticized a lawmaker for calling for a probe into the issue.