Tulfo hits Chinese envoy’s ‘bullying’ of PH, OFWs in Taiwan
SENATOR Raffy Tulfo slammed Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian for “threatening” to put the jobs of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan at risk if the country failed to oppose Taiwan’s independence.
In a recent statement, Tulfo called Huang Xilian a “bully” who is not contented that China is “harassing” Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and now using OFWs as “hostages” amid its issue with Taiwan on Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
“Si Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian ay nagbitaw ng mga salitang lantarang minamaliit ang mga Pilipino nang dahil sa away ng China at Taiwan. Ginamit niya sa kanyang pambubully ang inosente nating mga OFWs sa Taiwan para utusan tayong gawin ang mga kagustuhan nila,” he said.
“To Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian, this is not acceptable, and we will never bow down to this kind of bullying! Sa mga kababayan natin sa Taiwan, huwag po kayong mabahala. Hinding-hindi po namin kayo pababayaan,” he added.
Recently, Huang said China has “advised” the Philippines to oppose Taiwan’s independence instead of offering the US access to its military facilities near the Taiwan strait. He stressed that the Philippines should do this if it cared for the 150,000 OFWs in Taiwan.
Huang also noted that Manila’s announcement of the four additional EDCA sites, in line with that 2014 agreement with Washington, “has caused widespread and grave concern among Chinese people.”
Tulfo said that Huang has been China’s foreign ministry officer for a long time, but instead of establishing a “government-to-government” discussion, he openly decided to threaten OFWs.
For Tulfo, no one, not even the “highest official” in China, has the right to tell the Philippines what to do, much less threaten OFWs in our own country.
Likewise, the senator from Isabela and Davao told Huang that their issues with Taiwan or with the EDCA should have been dealt with in a “diplomatic way.”
Tulfo then assured OFWs in Taiwan that the Philippine government will use all its resources to protect them from any harm and to secure their safety.
