The Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday said it had started
implementing an order to stop stamping Chinese passports that bear a map of
China extending its territory to include disputed islands in the South China
Sea (also known in Philippines as West Philippine Sea).
In a memorandum, Immigration
Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. directed all field offices and ports of entry
nationwide to instead place their stamps on the back page of a Chinese
national’s visa application form.
The said visa application form
should be attached to the passport of the holder upon his or her arrival in a
Philippine port of entry and whenever he or she does business in any of the
bureau's field offices.
David said his order was based on
a circular issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in protest against
China’s issuance of passports bearing a map that includes islands in the West
Philippine Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam.
David said immigration officers
shall refrain from placing any immigration stamps on Chinese passports. The
directive applies to all BI stamps, including arrival, departure, conversion,
downgrading and extension stamps.
The BI order excludes diplomatic,
official and service passports of Chinese officials.
The DFA earlier said the new
procedure for stamping Philippine visas was necessary to reinforce the
Philippine protest against China's "excessive declaration" of its
maritime domain.
Still welcome
The DFA spokesperson, Assistant
Secretary Raul Hernandez, said the new visa stamping procedure for Chinese
applicants should not discourage Chinese travel to the Philippines as Manila
continued to "promote people-to-people exchange".
"Chinese nationals who would
like to visit the Philippines are very much welcome," Hernandez told
reporters. "We have been trying to emphasise that the other aspects of
bilateral relations should move forward. That's why we don’t think this will
affect tourism."
The DFA has sent a circular to
its embassies and consulates and to the immigration bureau advising them of the
new visa procedure for Chinese applicants. Under the new rule, Philippine visas
will be stamped on a separate visa form.
The procedure will apply to both
old and new Chinese passports to avoid confusion among consuls and immigration
officers, the DFA said.
"We are not stopping anyone
from coming in, only that there will be new procedure, which would be done on
our part," Hernandez said.
Chinese arrivals in the
Philippines last year reached more than 240,000.
Jocelyn R. Uy/Tarra
Quismundo
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