The Philippine Senate passed a bill in its third reading session, approving the grant of Philippine citizenship to a Chinese citizen, Mr. Wang. Despite concerns expressed by Senator Risa Hontiveros, who issued a "warning," Senator Sherwin Gatchalian clarified that there is no concrete evidence linking Mr. Wang to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).
During an interview, Gatchalian stated that he had carefully reviewed the documents and found no evidence that Mr. Wang did not meet the criteria for citizenship application. He noted that the Senate Judiciary Committee sought additional certifications from multiple security agencies during the review process to further verify Mr. Wang's background.
"We requested information from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the National Security Council, and Interpol, which goes beyond the statutory requirements. The results show that these three agencies found no negative records about Mr. Wang," emphasized Gatchalian.
He added that based on the committee's investigation and information, no direct links were found between Mr. Wang and POGO or other illegal activities. "Rejecting his citizenship application based solely on unsubstantiated allegations would set a bad precedent," he said.
Gatchalian acknowledged that the government must be extra cautious when approving the naturalization of foreigners to prevent collusion with criminal organizations. However, he also warned that arbitrarily blocking someone's application without solid evidence could lead to the abuse of the system and even become a tool for targeting individuals.
"If we allow unsubstantiated allegations to become a reason to block citizenship applications, this standard could be abused. Anyone could suffer from unfair accusations, which would be unjust to the applicants," Gatchalian stressed.
