Senate Majority Leader Francis ‘Tol’ Tolentino
Tol sees expulsion of Chinese diplomats over ‘interference’
THE ongoing Senate inquiry on foreign espionage and interference in the country’s internal affairs – including the upcoming midterm elections – could lead to the expulsion of China’s top diplomatic officials.
Thus stated Senate Majority Leader Francis ‘Tol’ Tolentino, chairman of the Senate Committee on Admiralty and Maritime Zones, who is spearheading the probe.
“I look forward to seeing the day when we will be expelling some Chinese diplomats because of this incident,” Tolentino said in a media interview, when asked where he thinks the inquiry could lead.
The senator noted that the Philippines can follow the same actions undertaken by Canada, which ordered the expulsion in 2023 of ranking Chinese diplomats for their purported role to influence the 2019 and 2021 elections – particularly against the reelection of a lawmaker critical of Beijing’s policies.
“There’s a similar instance where China meddled with the elections in Canada, which produced a 194-page report coming from the Parliament. That was during the 2019 and 2021 elections,” cited the lawmaker.
“These are classified documents coming from the Canadian intelligence service, it would show that [China] funded [the electoral bids] of several candidates, and it led to the expulsion of several Chinese diplomatic officers based in Canada because of this spying activity and meddling with the elections,” he added.
“So hindi lang po ito sa atin. Nangyari sa Canada, sa Australia, at New Zealand. These are advanced countries with advanced counterintelligence equipment,” he noted.
Since exposing the service contract between the Chinese Embassy and a Makati-based ad firm to push pro-Beijing narratives in social media amid the West Philippine Sea dispute, as well as a check worth nearly P1 million as initial payment for the latter – Tolentino noted that the Chinese embassy had yet to issue a statement to refute his claims.
“What has been issued so far is a blanket statement from China’s foreign ministry. But no one has come out to claim that the documents I showed are fake,” he added.
In closing, Tolentino renewed his call on the Department of Foreign Affairs to summon China’s Ambassador Huang Xilian to explain their side on the allegations.
“Let’s have some self-respect. How can other countries respect us if we do not respect ourselves?” he concluded.
