Paradox for Philippines as Chinese set up shop
By Roel Landingin
Source: Financial Times

She hardly speaks any English or Tagalog but that does not stop the white-haired grandmother from China’s southern Fujian province from running her clothes store in Divisoria, Manila’s bargain shopping centre. She has three Filipina assistants and she haggles with customers via a calculator.

Like many of the shop- owners in the “168” mall – which, in Cantonese, sounds like “prosperity all the way” – the grandmother is a recent arrival from China and part of a new wave of immigrants who have arrived in the Philippines.

See the slideshow: Asia immigration: Launch slideshow  

The woman refuses to give her name but says she landed in Manila in 2002 from the southern city of Shishi with her son and his wife, who were escaping China’s one-child policy. The couple had a second child in the Philippines and plan to eventually return to Fujian, where the husband runs a clothing factory. Another son and his wife followed for the same reason and are awaiting the birth of their second child. The clothes store was set up to generate an income while they prepare their return to China.

The family are part of a wave of immigrants leaving China even as rapid economic growth is transforming the world’s most populous nation. Most head to the US, Canada and other rich western countries, often as illegal aliens. But each year thousands also seek to make their fortunes in a middle­-income country growing only half as fast as China.

The trend has created an immigration paradox. The Philippines, perhaps best-known in recent years for its outgoing migrants, has become a destination for immigrants in its own right.

The new Chinese arrivals are drawn by a combination of weak law enforcement and huge fortunes to be made selling cheap Chinese goods to a swelling Filipino middle class. Feeding the growth of that middle class is the one in 10 of the country’s 86m people who are working abroad and their remittances, which reached $12.8bn (€9.25bn, £6.2bn) last year and have helped to drive consumer spending and economic growth.

According to Teresita Ang-See, an expert on Chinese in the Philippines, there are 80,000-100,000 illegal or overstaying Chinese nationals in the country, roughly a tenth of the million or so ethnic Chinese living in the Philippines. The latest influx has come in part because of Manila’s move in 2005 to liberalise entry procedures for Chinese tourists and investors, a move that helped triple the number of Chinese visitors to 133,000 last year.

But their growing presence in the Philippines is resented by many Chinese-Filipinos who have worked hard to assimilate. Many local Chinese consider the recent arrivals unfair competitors in business and fret that they could stir up resentment of the existing Chinese minority.

The Chinese-language press in Manila is full of bitter exchanges between the new and old immigrants. “Although the new immigrants appear to be better educated, they are considered more uncivilised, uncouth and ill-mannered,” says Go Bon Juan, director for research at Kaisa (Unity), a group promoting links between the local Chinese and Filipinos. “Even young students in Chinese-language schools tend to dissociate themselves from classmates who are newcomers.”

The resentment is even more pronounced among businessmen, in part because the new arrivals have a “tendency to be brash and pushy in their business transactions”, says Mr Go.

Many are drawn to illicit activities such as smuggling and drugs, he says. But they also stand accused of violating the law in more benign ways. Filipino law prohibits non-citizens from retailing but the rules are openly violated by new Chinese immigrants, whereas previous generations would often simply register businesses in the name of Filipino spouses or associates.

There are also questions about how long the new migrants want to stay. Immigration officials say some recent arrivals from China are using the Philippines as a transit point for entry to western countries using fake documents. According to the Bureau of Immigration, eight in 10 of the foreign nationals now caught attempting to enter the US illegally on flights from Manila are mainland Chinese.

“The Chinese come here as legitimate tourists or investors but try to leave for the US or Canada using forged passports or visas,” says Danilo Almeda, an immigration spokesman. But “the illegal scheme hurts the Philippines’ image and makes life harder for overseas Filipinos who have to face extra scrutiny from immigration officials all over the world”, he adds.

Puzzling inward migration to RP
By Raul Palabrica

IF the recent survey finding of Pulse Asia is to be believed, 19 percent of Filipinos will, if given the opportunity, emigrate elsewhere because of unfavorable living conditions in the country. At the top of the survey respondents' grievance list is their frustration with the workings of the existing political system. A seemingly unmanageable peace and order problem, economic hardships and government inefficiency add to the dissatisfaction. But as hundreds of Filipinos fly out daily to places where they think they can earn a living or start a new life, scores of Korean and Chinese nationals have been entering the country for the same reasons that motivate our countrymen to leave.

Haven't you noticed the proliferation of Korean restaurants, groceries and other commercial establishments in the commercial areas of Manila, Quezon City, Makati and other Metro Manila cities? The Koreans and their ubiquitous signage are everywhere. They seem to have taken over the places that were once occupied by Chinese-Filipino entrepreneurs.

On a major street in BF Homes, Parañaque, for example, you will find either a Korean diner, grocery, travel agency, taekwando gym or distributor of used Korean appliances in every five or six houses. Some residents have described that commercial strip as "Korean territory."

As if the commercial presence were not enough, the nascent Korean community has built its own religious centers that bear names that reflect the cultural origin of its members.

Chinese influx

Joining the Koreans in their silent migration to the Philippines are Chinese nationals who come in as tourists and later disappear in the bowels of Divisoria or Binondo in Manila.

Their inability to speak Filipino has not deterred them from putting up stalls in those commercial centers, including the Rizal Park at the Luneta, to sell various Chinese-made goods and merchandise. They are able to sell their products with the use of the sign language or small writing pads where they write the prices of their wares.

Filipino traders have already complained about the heavy losses they suffered in the hands of their Chinese competitors.

Unlike the Koreans whose physical features are different from those of ordinary Filipinos, the Chinese nationals blend easily with the community. Only their inability to speak the national language raises doubts about the legitimacy of their presence in the country.

So disturbing has the surge in illegal Chinese migration been that the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation conducts periodic inspection sorties into places where Chinese nationals are known to be engaged in business. The number of undocumented Chinese arrested has become a cause for concern.

Economic giants

After Japan, China is considered (and prides itself as) the most economically developed country in this part of the world. South Korea may not be as rich as China but, in terms of productivity and financial sufficiency, it is not very far behind.

Aside from their economic strength, the two countries have a common denominator: Their citizens are known for their strong nationalism and willingness to sacrifice personal interests for the good of their country.

Why some citizens of two of the strongest economies in Asia want to leave their countries and put up stakes in the Philippines is a puzzler of sorts. While many Filipinos are exiting to escape unfavorable social and economic conditions, Chinese and Korean nationals are coming to the country.

Why are they abandoning their own green pastures in favor of a place whose economic development is nowhere near that of their homeland?

There must be strong reasons for making that sacrifice.

Justification

One possible reason is that they want to enjoy the country's democratic space. China suffers tremendously in this area. Free speech, press freedom and the right to assemble for redress of grievances are taboo in China. The Chinese Communist Party controls virtually every aspect of the lives of the Chinese people.

It is doubtful, however, if the desire to breath the democratic air motivated the Chinese nationals into coming to the Philippines. They have immersed themselves in commercial activities. They have not engaged in political acts that would show their desire to exercise the rights inherent in a democracy.

In South Korea's case, democratic rule has taken strong roots there. Its press may not be as free as that of the Philippines, but it has proven to be effective and vigilant. It's a tribute to the strength of its democratic institutions that it was able to swiftly prosecute and punish two of its former presidents.

Contrast this to our country where the prosecution of a former president for plunder has been dragging for more than one year already. Worse, there is no certainty that even if convicted he will be punished.

To claim that the Koreans now living in our country prefer the Philippine-brand of democracy to the no-nonsense character of their own is to engage in wishful thinking. Strike out democracy as the motivating factor for their migration.

That leaves economic reasons as the principal cause of the recent Chinese and Korean influx. They probably believe there are better business opportunities here than in their homeland. They foresee a good future for trade and commerce.

Their optimism about future economic prosperity remains strong in spite of the kidnappings, inadequate public infrastructure, corrupt public officials and all the problems of governance that many Filipinos have cited as excuses for leaving the country for supposedly greener pastures elsewhere in the world.

No doubt, the Chinese and Korean economic migrants know the problems besetting our country. But they also see its potentials for growth and development. And they are willing to invest their time, money and effort for the opportunity to get a piece of the "golden egg" that the Philippines can provide.

They must know something about this country that our countrymen, especially those who have given up on it, do not know as to inspire them to leave the safety of their native land to try their luck here.

They probably believe the expected rewards from that move will more than compensate for the sacrifices they have to make in living and working in a society with a social and political culture totally different from theirs.

What irony! Some foreigners have a better outlook on the Philippines than its own citizens.