Chinese espionage associated for Chinese poaching in the province

By Ruelle Albert D. Castro

Grand scale espionage is being looked into by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representative as the main cause of recurring Chinese poaching in the province as matters developed during the committee’s inquiry here Saturday.
Committee Chairman Cong. Apolinario Lozada expressed belief that Xu, Quing jiang, locally known as Lucio Ong, is part of the Chinese government’s network of spies who were dispatched to the world for information gathering. Ong, Lozada said, could be one of them and could be the reason that the Philippine government is having a hard time curbing the incident of Chinese poaching in the Philippine waters.
“Kung bakit malakas ang loob nilang pumasok is not because the Coast Guard is not doing their job, the Philippine Navy is not doing their job, the PNP is not doing their job, but because they have somebody here that is telling them what to do,” Lozada said.
Lozada and the other members of the committee went to the province to conduct a Congressional inquiry on the incidence of the Chinese poaching in Palawan waters, the recent of which is in Tubbattaha Marine Park.
Tackled on the inquiry was the recurring incidence of Chinese poaching in the province’s waters, the lack of conviction of the perpetrators and the participation of Lucio Ong in the foiled bribery attempt during the arrest in Tubbattaha. Ong answered various questions from the committee where Lozada later surmised that Ong is spying for the Chinese government.
Lozada ordered the tight watching of Ong and his presence in the next Congressional Inquiry with the Chinese Embassy’s presence in the next 15 days.
Lozada surprised everyone when he accused Ong of playing with the Committee in the inquiry. He said that Ong knows tagalog very much and had his interpreter decommissioned and ordered the latter to answer his questions in Filipino.
Lozada, a former Department of Foreign Affairs employee whose specialty was in dealing with the Chinese government said that there is more in the issue than the Poaching case and promised that he will have a talk with the Chinese embassy over the issue.
“There’s more than meets the eye. I direct the concerned offices to get hold of this man because I have a suspicion that he knows tagalog and Palawan more than we are,” he said during the inquiry.
In the series of question hurled at Ong, it was known that he first entered the country in 1985 as a tourist through a travel agency. He never returned to China since then until he got married. He claims to have availed of visa extensions then, which the agency had been facilitating.
He claims to have no job and only relies on his wife’s income. In Quezon, he is known to have a wide array of business.
Lozada’s questions though revealed that the Chinese Embassy facilitated Ong’s entry in the country. From his native province of Fujian Hainan, China his papers were processed without any documents being presented.
Lozada afterwards revealed his suspicion for Ong based on the facts that it was hard to get out of China in 1985 and the country have a standing restrictions for the influx of Chinese in the country until recently when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited the China.
Lozada during press briefing afterwards revealed that it was hard for a Chinese in 1985 to come out of China without an order from the party leader of his/her province. He also emphasized the situation that time when the Philippine is having a hot territorial dispute with China over the Spratley’s chain of islands.
Lozada said that China sent out many scholars as part of the four folds policy of the then Chinese Premier Deng Xiao Peng where they were sent to various part of the world collecting informations.
Committee member Loreta Ann Rosales also branded Ong as a security threat.
Lozada also said that with the latest development, the two country’s diplomatic ties but expressed that its how things must go. He also expressed belief that they will soon receive invitations from the Chinese embassy to discuss the matters.   ^ Top