Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana slammed the recent remarks of Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua saying that Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) can be considered as security threats by Beijing.
Last week, Lorenzana along with other lawmakers said that Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) can be used by surveillance activity because it is being operated by Chinese.
The Chinese Ambassador then messaged Presidential Spokesperson Sal Panelo saying that Beijing might also consider OFWs as spies as well.
“Nag-text si Ambassador Zhao sa’kin. Sabi niya, ‘Kung kami mag-isip sa overseas workers niyo? Isipin namin na nagspa-spy sa amin?,” Panelo said.
“That’s the most preposterous statement I heard in a long while. POGO workers here are not comparable to OFWs in China,” Lorenzana said.
Lorenzana said that POGO workers came to the country because gambling is illegal in China. OFWs, on the other hand, came to China with legitimate visas.
OFWs head to China “for specific work that’s legitimate there with Chinese visas,”. They are also “widely dispersed, working in homes and schools away from military camps,” Lorenzana added.
“It could be just coincidental because these were the only facilities offered for POGO operations and I believe that the POGO workers are here just for work only. What I am alarmed is the potential that they could be tapped for information gathering purposes,” he explained.
